Shakotom

Option number 3 so you can teach little one to do standstills when you put brakes on the front wheels

Good to see that it's been given a second chance. Would've been a shame to see it crushed. Looks like you've got a good base/a lot of work to do. But am keen to see how this ends up

Stalkers?

^If it wasn't for the hot rodders we'd probably be like aussie with next to no scope for legal modifications. Plus have to be a member of a NZHRA hot rod club for two years before even being eligible for application of fenderless exemptions. And then once you've got it you have to attend certain number of sanctioned events and get logbooks filled out to keep it. Plus most rods are usually scratch built so there's little bit more in getting them legal than you bolting your 'precision japanese adjustable suspension' one evening

Very jealous of your collection

Welcome fellow VK owner! Car looks good

Had an interesting evening tonight. Got paid so took Commodore to the gas station. On the way home, happened to go over a pedestrian crossing speed bump at the exact same time a police car coming to opposite way did, exhaust must've decided to rattle itself loose again and went SCRAAAAPPPEE resulting in police car doing a U-turn and pulling me over 200m from home. after the police officer had a nosy under my car and decided that my car wasnt even low, and it was just the droopy exhaust. I was told to get that fixed. He also mention that my tyres looked a little stretched but left it at that. He bid me a good evening and sent me on my way. On point.... decided that 15x10s were too impractical so I sent two wheels the the steel surgeon and got them widened to a more sensible size. and gave them a quick rattlecan (extremely averagely must i say) and threw some old tyres off parts car onto them. much more practical See Im not even low.

So much jealous of your wheel collection

What have I been up to lately, a bit of maintainance. I changed the cambelt, tensioner and waterpump. flushed the cooling system and filled with coolant. replaced the leaking rocker cover gasket. Removed the exhaust manifold to replace some broken exhaust studs. Also cut up some of my parts car. Cut most of the quarter panel and passengers floor off to take to panelbeaters as patch panels Mid way through replacing rusty wheelarch, (thoughts of radiused guards and over fenders were brewing in my head) and a photo of the replacement wheel arch tacked in place and rust in the floor cut out forgot to take a photo of it all patched up.... Went out for a sunday drive and had exhaust clamp come loose and exhaust drop and drag along the road. had to ghetto fix it to get it home Also had the clutch master cylinder pushrod strip its thread and make clutch pedal not work. so had to replace Clutch master cylinder. And managed to make it down to the NZHRA Club Champs at Meremere dragstrip! Car didnt miss a beat. Day consisted of: PRACTICE: beaten by 10 second supercharged torana beaten by angry V8 HK beaten by a 302 ford Granada DYO: lost by .2 to a cobra GRUDGE: beaten by an old ford coupe Raced a bright orange cortina and got beaten twice by 0.2 (found out he was running an SR20 so I think he was cheating really) but was the most fun of the races all day. sort of evenly matched side by side down the strip Really I had an awsome day. Ran a 17.01 @ 130Kmh which was 4 seconds faster than when it was powered by the mighty Starfire. Did some skids. consistently ran between 17.01 and 17.08. Need to get into the 16s now.....

^that would more so be because it was factory designed or original equipment for the vechile not a custom setup that is a change from the manufacturers original design.

Once I get the thing back together and if then I do decide to keep it, may look into motor swaps for it But the 3y will be sufficient for now But at present probably just gonna reassemble it and sell it

It came with a cable type thermostor to sense with, is that what you glued into your sensor? Link to what you did? As I'm not 100% on having wires sticking out of hoses @nvmpaj

Current position in the shed.

So i got my axle straightened by Diffs R Us, chucked it back in and bolted everything up and drove it.... Shudder is gone! but am having issues with the handbrake at the moment, it doesnt want to grip on one side. I dont really like how the handbrake actuator is on the top of the backing plate so I may look into swapping it out for VN backing plates which the actuators on the bottom Next thing was after pestering Cletus in his Technical cert thread I decided that maybe my front suspension idea needed rethinking and the gearbox I put in had stupidly noisy bearings so I was sort of looking for one so I put those adjusties up for sale on the tard and sold them and then spent the money from the coilovers on a gearbox. Which I swapped into the car on a Saturday morning SO MUCH QUIETER! Also decided it was about time I tried to centralise the diff so I got an adjustable panhard rod and also put my adjustable strut tops in the front may possibly have sold my 15x10s also. I decided they were too offsety so if that goes through Im going to get some 15x9s made for the rear Also I picked up one of these digital temp controllers after browsing that 1UZ pajero thread on the RB30, the top hose has the thermosat and the bottom goes into the motor. which would be the ideal location for the temp sensor? and on the following wiring diagram, is there anywhere that I could put in a manual override switch? Thanks in advance for your assistance //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36140-shakotoms-84-vk-mayte/page-4

Well its been a while since Ive done anything on this thing. With my Commodore being nearly done, i decided it was time to get this back out from the back of the shed as motovation levels to get this thing done are at a maximum. (mate at works just picked up a 80s series? landcruiser and keeps giving me shit about this thing not being done) Before I pulled the commodore apart, I had trailed this thing around to my panelbeater friends place to have the rust cut out and replaced with new metal. There was rust in both corners of the wiper channel, both floor pans, sills which was removed and fixed and being repaired.... so the rust in the cab was done, and id made arrangements to go back at a later date to get the lower rail of the radiator support replaced (at some point in its life its been hacked out completely. and while stripping the radiator support I found what looked like a 2 year old had been given a knife and cut a hole by the right head light to put some plasic air intake through it? So was like ugh and was just gonna get a flat patch welded in place untill i happened to stumble upon this Hilux at Zebra parts and went back better prepared the next day and did this I hacked the front off because the radiator support was pretty much immaculate. I also got a complete hand brake assembly from the lever to the drums which mine was missing and the glove box as mine was broken and some other bits and pieces That was all stored in the garage with the cab untill today. Today I unstitched the radiator support off the cab in preparation for fitting of the new one new one is blue one and other one is old one (note missing lower bar and yuck hole) Im thinking about making it so that the radiator support can be fully removed to make it easier in the future if i ever have to pull motor and box out also more motivation... tell me how I havent made much progress here : //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/40381-shakotoms-1985-toyota-hilux/ thanks

hello again, sorry for being annoying... (yes i have searched but managed to confuse myself) Certifiable or nah? to try to find a remedy for possible bumpsteer as steering ends up on stoopid angles with adjustables even though it doesnt have much travel as ... oh and if i was to run super stiff springs to try and stop guardrub on lock .... yay or nay? Thanks again....

Im not to sure really, I know that the bit the wheel bolts on is not true, but if you roll the axle along a flat surface it just appears the face isn't true. It measures about 2mm out from face to top of the axle. Gonna go talk to diffs r us and see if there is anything that can be done about it. Or if the longer axles have enough splines to just be cut shorter....

Adjustable suspension install: For some odd reason I thought it would be easier to swap the front suspension out of the Vk for that of a slightly later model commodore. Why you may ask. I actually dont really know. For the headaches its given me so far Im sort of wishing I had just got some adjustable Konis made up be George Stocks. they say you learn from your mistakes well heres to hoping that Ill learn something from this one. As you may have seen a couple of posts back, I purchased a set of VR/VS style adjustables. I paid a good price for them and there pretty much new. After spending some time admiring their shininess I though that they may be better suited to actually being in a car rather than sitting in my bedroom. I made a trip out to Drury Car parts and came home with VR lower control arms, steering knuckle/hub assembly and VT commodore front callipers. excuse the filthy parts but everythings just being trial fitted at present. VR and VK lower control arms note how the VR lower control arms (bottom) are a little longer than that of the VK. The subframes in the early commodores are the same (apart from engine mounts ect) but the bodys after the VL are wider/ have wider tracks. This means that the distances and angles between the inner and the radius rod bushes are the same, but the balljoint to radius rod bush is further out. This should allow the front track of my car to come out to match the wider track of the diff in the back. VR knuckle/hub assembly VT commodore front brakes Factory the Vk commodore came out with 270mm diameter 22mm thick front rotors and a single pistion callipers, these however are 296mm diameter and 28mm thick rotors with two pistion callipers. and they just squeeze in behind a 15inch wheel! so hopefully this will improve the braking a little bit. however I think im also going to have to look at upgrading to a 1 inch master cylinder and a larger booster in the future now. well thats the bottom sorted sort of, so onto the top. Now Vks have a 14mm diameter shoulder at the top of the shock tube and my adjustables have a 15mm shoulder. So they wont work with the factory top hats. So messages were exchanged with Toyshop Engineering and I ended up with a pair of adjustable camber tops that have a larger insert in them to suit. Im stoked on the service and on the quality of these top mounts Also the upper spring seats that came with the adjustables werent compatible with this style of top mount so I had the Steel Surgeon make me some new upper spring seats (the red bits below the top mount) and assembled the adjustables ready to go in. resulting in this. (at coilovers on max high settings) as seen in previous post! Sort of concerned at the moment due to not thinking about asking questions regarding certification of changing of front suspension assemblies before dropping cash moneys on this. Potentially could end up being problematic... Oh also with widening the front track out the VL rack has ended up way to short so Ive got stupid amounts of toe out at present so am either going to need longer rack ends/tie rods or possibly a later model steering rack also. time to do more research and measuring. tbh i sort of assumed that the steering rack would be okay. Any ideas? Oh and the LSD diff I bought has turned out problematic also. Was told it was out of a VN. so went to zebra and pulled axles out of a VN to find my axles about 20mm shorter. so i pulled axles out of all the commodores there and they were all to long. But were 28 spline! and the handbrake assembly on my diff is slightly different to the VNs also..... but looks the same as those in the VL workshop manuals. So im thinking its actually something stupid like a VL V8 or a VL turbo diff as those were the only ones around that era with 28 spline axles. and finding those axles are going to be like finding Unicorn Poo. and probably just as expensive. laugh at my misfortunes here ----> //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36140-shakotoms-84-vk-mayte/page-4 A big thanks so far to Drury car spares, Toyshop engineering, and the Steel Surgeon for their time.

Yes, I'm putting (well have already purchased and installed) VR/VS style struts/brakes and LCAs into my VK. With adjustable Coilover and adjustable camber plates. This is to widen the front track to match the vn diff that's now in the car. And possibly a vn onwards steering rack. The subframes in these commodores are the same up to VT. As in the radius rods are exactly the same length and holes in subframe and on LCAs are all in the same positions/angles. I think the only change (apart from the fact it's a cast LCAs rather than a pressed) is the distance between the ball joint and the radius rod hole the the lca Are you able to do 1D certification? Or if not who would be the best certifier to talk to then before I spend anymore doing this? Thanks

Dunno of this has been asked and probably should've asked it earlier, but regarding changing lower control arms and struts what do we have to be aware of for cert? Just Like binding or contact through out travel of suspension/steering ect? Are professionally widened steelies certifiable? And spaced out rack ends? Plus how much minimum thread must a rack end/ tie rod need to be deemed 'safe'? Thanks

BRAKE SHUDDER STILL PRESENT. Have figured out that the face of the left axle is not true so the rotor therefore has excessive run out. I should've picked up on this before because of the rotational tsktsktsk noise that was there with out the brakes applied and then being worse on application. Unfortunately i put that down to the oil on the drum shoes but nope. Now to find a pair of 28 spline axles. and then have to buy and replace the wheel bearings again. F*CK Also, after numerous trips to take measurements, and getting parts I have finally pieced together all the components needed for my adjustable suspension. with being slightly annoyed about the axle/diff issue I thought Id trial fit one side tonight. This is the suspension as high as it will go... and theres still heaps of room to go lower with the suspension but not with the wheels like they are currently (mad rake is because the rear is up on axle stands) And camber/fitment photo because racecar? Looks like im going to have to rethink my wheel/tyre combination... And 15s are now as small as I can go due to planned brake upgrade More details next time //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36140-shakotoms-84-vk-mayte/page-4

So as I said last update, The diff axle seals had let go and put diff oil all through my brakes. Im putting this down to me at the time just chucking my drum brake set up onto a disc brake rear end and the retaining plate deforming due to the drum brake backing plates being thinner than the discs. I didnt know it at the time, but supposedly disc/drum brake diffs have different axle seals for that reason. As the shoes ect were dripping in oil and needing replacing, I used it as an excuse to get around to putting the disc brakes on as I shouldve originally. New wheelbearing kit, brake pipes,calliper kit, brakehoses and pipes, brake pads and rotors All new everything! I cleaned up and rebuilt the brake callipers, which went from this to this And popped down to see Lee at Diffs R Us to get the the old (still new) wheel bearings and axle seals pressed off and my new ones fitted to the axles. This was done so much faster and easier than it wouldve been to try to do this at home. Go see Diffs R Us for all your differential needs. all ready to fit to the car. and put it all together to get this... mmmm disc brake LSD. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36140-shakotoms-84-vk-mayte/page-4 Big thanks to Diffs R Us for their help.

I took this out for its first proper drive yesterday, Which turned out quite eventfull for the following reasons 1: didnt make it out of my street before the rear tyres started smoking from gurad rub due to the slightly wider diff. 2: after changing tyres and half way into my excursion, developed a real bad brake shudder from out of no where. 3: limped home only to do this going up my drive. $ 4: inspected brakes to find that the left rear axle seal had let go and poured diff oil all through my brakes contaminating everything. 5: mangaed to do this while kneeling down to pick up a tool that had rolled under the workbench yes... that is one of those clips that is ment to hold the seat upholstery onto the seat frame embedded in my knee. Stupid thing curved on entry aswell. that ll teach me for not keeping my work area clean . YUCK. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/36140-shakotoms-84-vk-mayte/

The interior of this was the next mission. Ive used the factory VL gauges and made up some mounts and trimmed some stuff in places to make it fit. I think it almost looks factory ish. Im currently trying to mount the warning lights next to the instrument panel which you can sort of see in the photo below (there just sort of stuffed in the gap currently) but the wires need extending. and I need to make up a switch for the wipers and the rear window demist. The improvement between the backlighting of the VL over the VKs instruments is phenomenal! excuse the fuse box on the floor in the passengers side, that will be tucked up under the dash out of sight soon I picked up a maximum attack sticker an 4&rotor nats and some cool Mooneyes door lock poppers at Kumeu Also fitted and aerial for my non-existent stereo (thinking about it as I write this makes it seem really stupid now.) And to be like all you cool JDM kids out there I now have an ADM (straya domestic market) kit yurrrrr

So last update said that I tried to start it and it wasnt getting power to the fuel pump, after some poking around with the multimeter I found it wasnt getting power to the ECU. There ended up being a break in the wire between the igniton switch and the ECU power feed which I repaired, aswell as a dodgy fuse that wasnt blown but just not being a fuse and carrying electricity. I connected the battery, turned the key and the ECU flashed and the fuel pump started pumping! It started as soon as I turned the key. Which i was stoked on but that lasted about 30 seconds till it started coughing and spluttering. It was misfiring on cylinder one . I thought it may have just been a spark issue so I fitted a new distributor cap, rotor, ht leads to it and still no change, After pulling the spark plugs and inspecting them to find no fault I decided to put the brand new plugs I had fitted to the motor from my donor car (that ive used the wiring from in this car) trying to fix the misfire back then into this supposedly good motor. On removal from the other motor i found that the spark plug which was removed from cyl#1 was still brand new where as all the rest had signs of combustion so the old motor must've been missing on #1 aswell. This quickly bought me to realise the only thing the motors had in common that may cause this was the wiring loom. found out it waqsnt getting an injector pulse to #1 injector. Engine looms were swapped and new plugs fitted and the misfire dissappeared! The next issue was high beam wouldnt work. to cut a long story short, the common dodgy VL fuse box melted high beam fuse holder turned out to be the issue, I cut it out and put a new fuse holder in and yay all lights work! and another difference between a VK and a VL is the lower radiator support and due to the design of the VKs, the VL radiator doesnt fit due to the positon of the lower outlet. So i fitted a V8 VK radiator into it and got some universal hoses and a joiner and created this monstrosity of a set up to solve the issue of the v8 radiators outlet being on the wrong side. I also purchased 2x10" electric fans and mounted them on to the radiator. The fans are currently just wired in on a manual switch, but ideally i would like some form of thermosatically controlled on off mechanism for them with the ability for a manual override