kseries.rookie

The rear carpet had seen better days and so I decided to replace it.



I grabbed a second hand one that had also seen better days but no holes or rips and cheap enough to give it a go




After some elbow grease



After more elbow grease and fitted



 

At this stage I had racked up over a thousand kms on the weapon, which was more than enough to make me prioritise a suspension upgrade.

I picked up some Cobra Super Lows and Munroe GT rear shocks (shorter)..
I am fortunate enough to have a friend who has done all this stuff a thousand times before so he came on round and we got to work.
After fitting the rear, we came to realise that the front shocks (albeit aftermarket KYBs) were not holding the springs captive (barely, but not captive is not captive). 

I ordered some shortened KYB shocks slapped them in and happy days.
You can scroll up for a ride height difference.



Look at the difference between the paint on a sunny day VS cloudy.. It goes front a light green to a dark blue.

The drivability increased big time and the ride was surprisingly comfortable still. I was very aware that the cheap tyres were going to let me down I did also manage to find a period correct AA badge that had Wellington on it which I put that on, along with a JAF badge but later on decided there was too much going on and removed the AA badge. Who knows, I might try again later on.

Those with a keen eye may have also spotted the monsoons. I had thought/was told they were OEM however, this was not the case  
They still look cool but they were made for a slant front 4 door and it doesn't quite fit on the front doors. I might try modify/bend them a bit.. or just not use them.. What do you guys think?




 

Immediate plans were to tidy it up a little bit and fix the small amount of rust. I also needed to get my hands on some head rests as these were missing.
Once that was all sorted, all I had to do was give it a really thorough clean on the inside and just drive it around and enjoy the nostalgic feels of cruising in a k series.

I'd like to keep it as original as possible for as long as possible but the inner bogan in me will no doubt eventually make some changes (read: dumpy, modgies, mirror tints, 12a bridgy, camo interior etc).
These will be reversible subtle changes such as suspension upgrade (not slammed on it's ass as I don't want to muck around with the guards) for improved handling so it no longer feels like a boat and some period correct wheels.
Engine is a 2k and a 4 speed manual box, it's the slowest car i've ever driven. Dangerously slow, especially pulling onto the highway..
Ultimately the game plan is to go for an OEM+ KP60, something that you could look at and believe me if I said they were all options you could select when purchasing one brand new.
Note - I don't plan to bring this to brand new spec. It gets driven and I don't want to obsess over making it mint otherwise it will be a never ending unenjoyable story/trailer queen. Quoting ajg193's mentality.. "it's maintained"

The colour is Toyota Peacock, it's stunning in my opinion and only until recently, it was the first KP I had seen in this colour.
In other lights it looks different but I would say it's a turquoise/teal.

I gave it a quick wash with some top of the range frangipani dish washing liquid and nabbed a couple of snaps down the road.





No sound system at all, just the OEM blanking plate.
I will need to look into a hidden sound system. Perhaps a really small amp with blue tooth capabilities under the seat with a small speaker tucked in the factory slots.
I don't want anything crazy, just something to have as background noise. In all fairness, I have been using UE boom placed under the glove box and it has been doing the trick..




I've not seen one with the green and tan combo before. I quite like it

 

Alrighty, I figure it's probably about time I put something together for this forum.
I don't want to call it a build thread because it really isn't when you compare to others.. More of me documenting the ownership of this car, the mistakes, the fun and everything else in between.

I've been searching for a KP for quite some time and while there has been few and far between options on the table and mostly were repsprayed/molested which I wasn't too keen on. That being said, I probably would have brought one if something like this didn't pop up..
I decided to chuck something in the buy/sell thread in the hopes that someone had something or knew of something.
Thread below for reference.
 

As can you can see, it was based in Hamilton and I am based in Wellington. I am incredibly grateful for Michael (myk00l) who spent some time getting it WOF ready, giving it a service and preparing it for a long drive home.
Once it was ready for me, I caught a flight up to Hamilton, he picked me up, I checked it out, dropped him off and drove 600kms home without a single hiccup.




It's worth mentioning that I have now owned the car for 12 months so I am writing this retrospectively.
I will update the thread as I have time to do so, but stay tuned for more!

Discuss here