_Matt

Got the compressed superlows in awhile ago, so here's some pics:

Today I pulled out all the stuff from behind the dash, chucked the seat back in and temporary mounted a Commodore brake booster/master cylinder along with the accelerator and brake pedals. The firewall now has an excessive amount of holes. Will definitely be welding most of them up. My Dad didn't believe me that the dash was spot welded in all the way along the top, so out came the windows. Really not looking forward to trying to remove the dash, if I decide it needs to come out, otherwise I'll just chop it up and weld it in place so it can be RHD. Little bit of rust in the lower windscreen corners, but not too bad.

Thanks all!

Front shock mounts are nearly done. Spun up some sleeves and spacers for them, since the hole in the rubber bushes was 3/4" and wasn't keen to use bolts that size. Modified the lower mount, needed to be wider to fit the larger shock eyes. Shock at full extension. Slammed. Just need to weld a plate of some sort between the two upper mounts for some extra strength.

Swapped the old commodore driveshaft for a station wagon one which is slightly longer and pretty much the perfect length. So then picked up a new yoke and universal joint to mate up to the transmission. Even clears the floor by ~2mm! Made a driveshaft mount to dummy it up, which worked alright but the driveshaft angled quite a lot when the bags are right down. Need to make another that's about 30mm higher. Running gear basically complete!

Was told to change the 4-link bushes from the rubber ones to some spherical rod ends, as the previous ones loosen the locking nut when the diff twists and the spherical ones allow more twist. Had some spacers spun up out of aluminium, hopefully they don't clunk too much. Also started designing an Aluminium fuel tank.

Made the extension parts on the front end for where the sway bar mounts to. Cut out old piece that looked like this: Fabricate a new piece that fits in nicely. And another piece for strength. Weld, weld, weld Mounts like so, just waiting until I get some sway bar link bushes first before drilling the holes, as the current ones are pretty stuffed and pull it over to one side.

Spun up some shock mounts for the rear. Top ones got welded through the RHS that goes between the C-notch. Bottom pair got welded to a plate which was then welded to the lower 4-link brackets. Added the commodore sway bar as well. Once everything was fitted we tested it and worked well. Fully welded all the diff and airbag mounts etc so is pretty done for now. Started on the front end again. Test fitted the sway bar and it only just fits in between the chassis and front end. Need to make up some mounts and maybe scallop a bit out for more clearance. Front shock mounts will look something like this. Drew them up and now just waiting for them to be laser cut.

RUST! Was just getting worse so I decided I should probably fix it. As you can see this panel has been painted quite a few times; Original brown, then yellow, blue, another coat of blue and then red haha So stripped it all back to bare metal. Did the valance as well, since that had some decent stone chips etc. Just two bits of rust to fix now; a hole under the wiper motor and a bit under the fuel flap. Not looking forward to trying to fix them.

I looked at doing that before I decided to get some cast, but the only problem was that the inside pad wouldn't of had full contact with the rotor as it had a recess (that was the case with the ones I had bought anyway, some might be different)

Thanks! I used CRC Proseal in an aerosol can. One can was just enough to do one guard. Sprayed on really nice. The base was in really good condition so just cleaned it well with some wax and grease remover and then sprayed it on.

My dad is a pattern maker, so he helped me out. Will pm you details

Installed some MRP RCAs and some rear superlow springs which made it higher, so now has even more rake than before haha. Will get them compressed once they have settled a bit. Got sick of the tires rubbing on the plastic inner guards, so pulled them off. Also rolled the guards and then undercoated everything to try and prevent rust. No longer rubs at all, so that only means it needs to go lower!

Tried on the bumper guard that my parent's bought back from the USA a few years ago. Might need some slight modifications if I want to use it, as it already sits on the ground even though it's not as it's lowest. Started stripping some of the inside. Pulled out the seat and fuel tank which still had about 10 litres of petrol in it. Had some decent lumps of something in there and the outlet was blocked up, which is probably why it never ran anymore. 65 year old sound deadening is the worst to try and remove! Also some steel that surprisingly doesn't have any rust on it. Re-mounted the airbag mounts in the correct place and did some tests.

I'd definitely try another ecu if you can get your hands on one. Mine was doing similar, opened up the ecu and couldn't see leaky capacitors or anything either.

Made up the 4-link bars and tacked all the mounts on. It's now roll-able for the first time since I pretty much bought it. Lifted the cab and front end back on to check clearances and it all looks good. Won't need much of a gearbox/driveshaft tunnel through the floor. The engine wouldn't fit between the inner guards. Needs a little bit more of a trim, or a lot more if I want to make some better headers for it. So keen for some ITB's! Tray fits well, needs some cutting out of the side for airbag clearance. C-notch doesn't stick out too much

Have done quite a bit of work on this in the past week, been doing a few hours each day after work. Made the engine and gearbox mounts, just need to weld them in, but that can wait until the front guards and cab are test fitted. Headers just clear the chassis rails on either side. Gusseted the front end brackets Holes No more holes Started on the rear end again. Trying to position the lower 4-link arms first and then will figure which way to mount the top ones later.

Didn't realise it's been 5-6 months since I've worked on this. I guess the engine swap on the Starlet and buying a house didn't help! Oh well, I have some motivation again, so back into it. Chassis was fully welded ages ago and started setting up the rear suspension. Made a hoop for the drive shaft to fit through. Had some brackets laser cut for the mounting of the arms. Originally thought I needed to use the top hole on those brackets but that ends up making the diff twist way too much throughout the suspension travel. Tops arms need to be closer to parallel to the ground, which keeps the diff the same level throughout. Acquired some 4-link rod ends thanks to my parents Next up I think will be fitting the engine and making sure the driveshaft is at the right position and then figure out where the 4-link brackets mount.

Done some things to the engine bay. Polished up a rocker cover, painted a couple things, changed the air filter to a K&N one and made a strut brace out of stainless steel and aluminium round bar. I think next up is to make some heater lines out of stainless steel tube, as having a working heater is kind of nice.

Since it seems like every other KP owner makes another improved set of adjustable coilovers, I thought I'd follow that tradition. Used some ae82 Corolla shock inserts this time, way shorter than the previous ones. Drilled off the brake hose mounts and dropped them 30mm lower as well, so the threaded sleeve could go lower. Picked up a pair of Recaro seats as well. So much nicer than the faded pink factory ones. Also so much better sitting lower. Need to do something to those belt buckles though! Coilovers can still be wound down 25mm (captive) or 35mm (non-captive) but was rubbing way too much. Back needs to come down an inch or so now.

Definitely get a LSD in there. Pretty sure KP_james has rebuilt a C series gearbox before

Couldn't find any front brake rotors the correct size, the smallest I could find was 226mm diameter ones whereas I needed 205mm ones. So we made a pattern and got some cast and then machined. Installed them today along with new pads and wheels bearings

Did a little photoshoot

Made some coilovers. Ended up getting MR2 inserts I think, they weren't really short enough and 5kg springs. I shortened the struts and TIG welded them up. Applied paint Test fitted and the springs were too hard, didn't go anywhere low enough unless I pulled out the keeper springs and wound the collars right down. De-sprung the rear to see how low it could go. Removed the bump stops as well Did some calculating and figured some 3kg springs would be better and shortened the insert shaft a bit. Bought some cheap evo camber plates and drew up some new top hats to get laser cut. Cut another coil off the rear springs and installed some shorted shocks, so this is how it sits now. Hopefully settles a bit lower. Bought another K50 shifter housing thanks to enzee. Shifts much smoother without the one that's been brazed and welded!

Now has a K50 in it, so no longer sits at ~3600rpm at 100kmh Also bought some struts to start cutting up for more low!