smitty

I'm an idiot aren't I? Oh well, guess you learn new things every day.

Bought some Cheviot mesh wheels from Blizzo. Nice wheels, will have to give them a bit of a tidy up but nothing too major. Only problem is that the ke70s wheel studs are too short to fit the wheels on. So this leaves me with three options: Option 1: Extended lug nuts. This seems like the simplest option but I have no idea if it will actually fit between the wheels. Option 2: Extended Lugs. This actually seems like the best option in terms of durability and safety. It will definitely work which is good. It's just that at 10 per lug it'll soon reach 160 dollars for the entire car and I just wanted cheap rims. Not a big hassle added price tag. Option 3: Wheel spacers. Also not really that cheap but should probably work. Of course I could sell the rims and buy different ones but don't really want it to get to that. So what should I do? If anyone has any ideas then please feel free to post.

All of the wiring is now finally working, other than the horn which had to be relocated because of the front end. But that will soon be connected too. Other than that we have fixed the dent in the front fender until I find another fender:

Hey! This may have been asked before but here goes: I want to reregister my 1988 ke70. I bought it from r100 who bought it from turners auctions. Turners chucked the plates (I think). However, even though they are white plates I'd still like to have the original number seeing as it's on all of the car's windows. I have invoice from Turners and the car is still on carjam and everything. Just wondering is there any way to get the original plate numbers back without having the plates?

This is sick!

Yay! Local wreckers had a recess front wagon with an intact bonnet and latch support. Now all I need is a new driver side fender and for everything to fit properly...

Nah, it doesn't have the ridge in the middle. It may look so because of the photos. It used to have the chrome trim at the front like the normal flat front but I removed it as it was only attached on the ends and in general being a nuisance.

Nah, the bucket don't match either way. Maybe they are from a different year or something, hard to imagine though as the twin headlight was only for like one or two years.

OH BOY NOTHING FITS TOGETHER... But first: It looks okay for a start. I've had to drill some holes into the radiator support because the guy I bought the front end from already scrapped the car that he got it from. Although I am having doubts if that car was originally twin headlight too, seeing as the bonnet, which is in worse condition that I thought, is actually flat front. Anyways, lets get to the problem at hand. I've already had to mess around a bit to get all the guards and the valence to fit properly with each other but this takes the cake... You can't really see it from that angle but: And then now you can definitely see what is wrong: After all of my expert professional drilling, one headlight sticks out further than the other, by a fair bit. Right: Left: Upon closer inspection it looks like the left is an entire centimetre ahead of the right! So I'm not sure if the headlight is meant to stick out like that or if it is meant to be flush with the bonnet, because it seems like the right side (flush side) is bent back: While the left side is not: So maybe the twin front bonnet has a different curve at the front? I mean, otherwise I'm just gonna push it back a fair bit and hope for the best. Also I'm missing my middle connector for the grille, which is why it's not really lined up properly... Actually writing about it now makes it seem a lot less worse than what I thought it was, lol. If anyone has any twin front spares hit me up! Also, my driver side guard is fucked. Proper fucked, can't open the door.

Failed the WOF Ayyoo! Loose inner steering ball joints were an easy fix, friend with the gold wagon recently came along a stash of spares from 3 different 1501 sedans.Still have to fix a hole in the tailgate that has been there since I bought the car and the lights for the rear licence plate. I also went to the international Simca Meeting while I was in Holland visiting family a few weeks ago. Managed to pick up some parts, mostly badges and light stuff, would've bought more if I knew that we would still have 30kg left when we were at the airport... Met a guy from Germany with a lovely restored grey 1500 wagon who might be willing to sell me his roofrack, seeing as he has a larger one on his wagon to put his kids bikes on. There was also a Belgian with a whole lot of stock who might have some synchromesh rings for my gearbox as when I shift to 2nd there is a loud crack. Earlier I made a comment about getting my wheels widened like the guy with the red 1501 wagon. Spoke to him there too, turns out the aren't stock. They are actually stock Fiat 124 coupe wheels. The wheels fit on a 1501, 98x4 or 100x4 or something, but so do the 1501 hubcaps. Pics for those who are interested, not mine, but a Dutch guy's: https://www.flickr.com/photos/140983117@N08/shares/hz85YD

Bought a new loom from the wreckers but it seems to be slightly different from the loom in my car. Anyone know if there are any differences between models and what that would mean for the loom?

I wasn't pushing hard enough, it was clicky thing. Dash is out, I'll give it a good clean and then once the wiring is done I'll put it all back together.

I have removed all the screws, the only thing holding it in place now is the choke. I have no idea how to get that off. There's a hole in the bottom but no screw, just metal. Thought it was one of those clicky things so tried pushing it with the screwdriver and that didn't seem to have an effect either.

So about half way through taking off the dashboard and I realise there is a little panel on the driver side where all the wiring goes to. Turns out nothing in the dash is gone, only the connectors from the engine bay to the interior. I will still take off the last part of the dash off though, to finish cleaning all the dirt and dust away. Which leaves me at my last question. I have removed all of the screws and so now the only thing holding the plastic to the car is the climate control stuff which is screwed in place. To remove the screws I first have to remove the chrome/metal plate, anyone know how I can remove this?

lol meant new loom, not car. Wiring will be possible, dad has done Simcas before. It'll just take a while to do all the wires, probably.

Woo! headlight swap! No, not really though. Picked up the car yesterday using my friend's truck. Bought some (stock) wheels from a guy at my dad's work to get it onto the truck Which now leaves the car at the first picture. Have taken the bad fender off. It's not actually that bad. What's worse is the wiring, absolutely fucking gone from headlight to dash. My dad (sparky) may be able to help with the wiring, but if it's too far gone I'll have to acquire a new one loom. Know a guy in Napier who has a basically wrecked 2 door wagon sitting outside his shop but he doesn't want to part with the loom. Other than that the fender can probably be pushed back for the time being and it needs some work but not a lot to get it back on the road.

Double post haaay! I thought it better to ask here than in the build thread, because it's not really progress but anyone know if wheelbase for 2 door wagon is the same as the 4 door wagon?

Steering was locked, or at least, we tied the steering wheel to the seat in the straight position with as many ratchet straps as we could. There was no wiggle in the wheel IIRC. We didn't actually set the wheel into steering lock because usually it goes into lock on an angle, and that's not what we wanted.

Yeah, we think it was the alignment that was screwing with the wheel. We thought about turning the car around and lifting the front but the way the dolly connects to the car means that if we towed it backwards it could potentially damage the front suspension and definitely dent the bumper. It also meant that if I had another flat I would definitely be stuck, due to having no spare. But I will get the alignment checked out once I get the car back.

Discuss, or not, I can't tell you what to do. Build thread - Not that much is being built, in fact, it's worse of than when I bought it.

Bought R100s Ke70 wagon for use as a daily. Very nice, close to no rust. Basically mint. Picked it up on the weekend using a quite fancy towing rig I borrowed from a friend (Who has been using it for 20 years without fail). Would have used an actual trailer but my mum's Rav can't handle it and my friend's truck was being used to move house. So we got the car onto the tow rig: And the tow rig was working great! Until... Disaster Struck!: One of the tires popped while towing. We didn't notice for a solid couple of minutes and as of that not only was the fender dented back, wires pulled out and bumper broken but the rim is also absolutely destroyed. So we chucked on one of the back wheels, taped the wiring to the car, and went on our merry way... Then that popped too. And it popped a lot sooner than the other tire. Meaning that we were scared. Not only because 2 of the tires popped, I mean, how often does that happen? But the car also had only 1 spare tire, R100, lent out the spare tire and never got it back, lol. Second flat also destroyed what was left of the bumper end cap AND pulled out the wiring we had taped to the side. And with pulled out I mean that the wiring is absolutely gone. Nothing is left. Anyway, we chucked on the last tire and drove into Taupo (30ish ks away from where we had the last blowout) and we left the car with some friends for the time being: Kinda sad story. Hoping to pick up the car soon. Meanwhile buying some stock ke70 wheels so I can get the car onto trailer. Then need to find someone in Napier with a ke70 to check what all the wiring is that I am missing. Also want to buy right end cap for my front bumper, lol. Discussion, for if anyone has any tips.

Do you want to build a snowman race car? Also a while back I also had an exhaust leak where the manifold met the exhaust, leaky seal. It was a bitch to get off and even more off a bitch to get back on, with me using a seal that doesn't actually belong on the car.

Thanks! It's one of only 25 sold in New Zealand and as far as I know there are only 2 left in New Zealand so most people don't really know anything about the car. They used to be reasonably common in Europe where you can come across Simcas in most photos from the '60s and '70s. And yes, the picnic table is probably the best part.

NO! Both have their own thing but these are more rare so keep them this way. Maybe lower it and get some better wheels but keep the front end the same.