jackeo21

Just got in from a 770km journey over the long weekend. Whangamata, Tauranga, back to Whangamata, then back to Auckland. Car had minimal trouble, aside from the diff running itself out of oil just off the southern motorway, thankfully right outside a friends shop in which we swiftly jacked it up and threw some moreys/random gear oil into it. Made the rest of the trip down the line nicely, if only a little louder in the rear than usual. Little photo spam to follow from the trip. Car is at a stage where I'm happy with it, but there's still so much more I'd like to throw at it. Plans to accomplish before the end of the year: Custom dash mat, get MOMO wheel centre and fix horn, as well as repair cracked plastics in the interior and general interior tidy (maybe seat covers too). Swap diff centre for mint replacement and install new brake shoes for safety and general maintenance purposes. Front brakes and rotors. I'll also be looking into the S13 front strut conversion. Purchase new tailgate and paint/fit. Also would like to tidy up number plates somehow. Pinstripe, cause the sides are pretty boring as it stands. The push is on to get this thing prepped up for it's warrant next month. It cuts close with OS drags, so it'll be a fun little week if she doesn't make it through! I remain pretty hopeful. Chur

Bouncy Bouncy fixed now, VX commodore wagon shocks make it a dream to drive Although now if put on a hoist the diff droops down heaaaaaps so I need to find something shorter I guess, but it's way better. Full new exhaust installed today, 2 inch all the way with a couple mufflers. Keeps it pretty quiet but it's good for daily use and abuse. Local Place did an awesome job. Have planned a Coromandel drive/getaway last night for upcoming labour weekend, all smiles and fun until my diff really started fucking out tonight. The whining has gotten far louder all of a sudden, even though it has plenty of diff oil. Yay! Diff is coming out tomorrow. New diff housing is different. Mint. Will have to swap head and axles over before friday. Never done a diff, but dad has, so should be alright. Crossed fingers.

Sweet as, yeah I'm thinking that the shocks are too firm. Will update this weekend and let you know what the verdict is. If that's the case, I'll get some more standard shocks with a little more height to see if I can fix the problem. Cheers!

I bet it looks hilarious in motion haha. I'm happy with the rear height, but I'd like to get the front a little lower to match. Sits about 30mm higher up front.

Thanks for the info, Currently, I've cut the bump stops in half in the rear to allow for lots of travel. So, I know that there is no way that it's riding on bump stops. I figured this was the initial issue as there was a really small gap between the stop and the spring perch. This is fixed. I didn't cut an awful lot off the original spring, everything still sits nicely etc and looks legit. There are a good few coils left on the spring, and the shocks I'm using are really stiff but adjustable with a little screw on the side. I don't have a part number, but theyre KYB's from a mitsubishi of some sort. When my diff comes out this weekend I'll be sure to measure them up and find out exactly what they are. I'll also measure out and see if they're too short, like you mentioned, they could well be too short for this thing. I figure if I find the extended length of my original shocks, and take a good 100mm out of the max extended length, I would be on the right track. I previously tried VT commodore rear springs as they're a great fit but they're far too stiff. Basically this weekend I will remove everything and do some measuring and report back. The front is running standard KYB replacement inserts, but the springs are far too soft as it comes down hard over speed bumps in the front, but stays rock solid in the rear. I've definitely mucked something up somewhere! I'm just hoping it can be fixed with relative ease, I don't mind spending money on the right bits. I'm super new to lowering cars with this being my first "lowered" vehicle. If it makes any difference, when I jack the car up/lower it down the wheels almost don't move. Stays the same height on or off the ground. Shocks are set to the stiffest setting although setting them to the lowest makes bugger all difference. I feel like this is pretty standard knowledge but I'm learning! suspension isn't my thing.

In regards to the automatic transmissions, I've bought a really cheap W series bellhousing, clutch and flywheel, so it will be converted to manual when the 1G-GE is ready to get in there. A little more fun. Thanks to all for advice on how a more modern automatic could work though.

It's got really short shocks at the moment, but maybe not short enough! I've checked and modified the bump stops, they still look factory and function correctly. I figured with cut standard springs they'd still be soft enough (quite a narrow coil) but it's awfully bouncy. I'll be pulling it all apart this weekend for the new diff so I can take some proper measurements and get to the bottom of what the issue is. Even people who deal specifically with low cars tell me its pretty tragic haha.

Quite a bit has happened, I removed the rust holes in the roof, welded, and refinished the areas. Had a go with spraying through the gun, don't think the results came out too bad but it was done in a bit of a hurry to beat incoming bad weather. I also cleaned up the scruffy tailgate, the bottom is still made entirely of filler and will be a major to fix, so I'll follow a lead I have on one in Australia. First time seeing it with badges! This was pushed in bad when I got the car. I also painted the front lip to blend a little nicer with the bodywork. I spent some time and fibreglassed the ends too, to reshape them for my lower panel. For anyone interested in the same lip, it was to suit a KE70 Corolla. I think it works pretty well with the car. Also picked up a low k's E series diff, unsure on the ratio but it should be fine as it was spun by a W55, which is what the wagon will eventually receive. I can make it work. Gave the diff a clean and paint tonight, even threw in some non-factory, factory looking markings for lols. Tomorrow it will get new slaves and shoes and be put into the car this weekend. The current diff is so noisy, at the pinion but also both wheelbearings, and the brakes leak. So, cheaper and easier to just put this fresh diff in, which also doesn't leak which is perfect. This month's focus is prep for next months warrant. Being entered in at drag days, and with a big road trip planned over summer I'll be screwed without it! So fingers are crossed she makes it through. I'll give it some fresh suspension bushes in the rear too, for peace of mind. Also, I managed to find a full set of NOS toyota centre caps for a corona. With the gold Hayashi Street's I think it really works. Happy with this current setup. That's all for now, I still (desperately) need springs that fit until the S13 coilover conversion next year. Cheers

That's what iv'e been warned about following a few talks I had with car folk yesterday. I might head over to zebra today and have a look how it's connected. Physically the transmissions all look the same, although I do believe altezza ones are electronically controlled so that could be the end of that idea.

Cost, finding the pedal box, and interior manual surround, and i'll need to change the handbrake setup from foot brake to the normal pull type. It's quite involving is all. Ideally I'd like to have it off the road for a maximum of about a month, and I don't think I could pull all that off in that time.

Impulse bought KE70 front lip resulted in this, of which I would call a win: 20 mins of cutting and marking and it's sitting pretty good. Just gotta make up some little stainless brackets for the corners, sand, prime, and paint body colour. I'll be painting the bottoms of the guards, and the lower panel to bring them back to life at the same time. I think it gives the car a little more of an aggressive look, and when I drop another 40mm or so out of the front it'll really come into its own and look the part. Time off work is coming up very soon which means I'm able to get across town and have my engine block dipped. Unfortunatley the need for a new phone sets my head rebuild back, but I'm not fussed. I won't be putting the 1G-GE in for quite some time yet, so I'm working more on the car itself. I've been thinking about my auto. I'm not keen to manual swap for a variety of reasons, but the old A42/3 automatics are awful. I had been thinking about adapting an altezza 1G-FE auto to fit, and I think the only hiccup I would encounter is the rear X member. I'm thinking that the late model auto's, especially if sourced from something low kms, would be far smoother. And for the price of them, it would be a far cheaper option than rebuilding what I already have. Let me know if this is a bad idea. Entered in OS Drags too, so hopefully the 1G-E and slushy auto can smash out a sub 30 second run

Success! The 1G SOHC crankshaft and connecting rods have, and will work perfectly in my twin cam block. Need to find time to get my block sent away to dipping. I'll be taking the head in to get refreshed sometime next week, I've had it quoted up. I'm currently waiting on the cheap and probably shit really good value complete gasket set from Aliexpress. Cringe all you like, I've heard good things and it includes every gasket + seal required On the body side of things, I really need to get into the rust spots that are forming under the paint. I'm expecting some lovely filler work when I go digging rust out, shes had a repaint at some point in the past. Hopefully it doesn't become a huge nightmare and I can keep repairs small and neat. The bonnet has rusted out on the inside, but I have a basically new, perfect bonnet that needs to be painted and put on someday. It would be really neat to have the stickers in the engine bay and under the bonnet reproduced so I can put them on after the engine bay gets it's respray. As far as ride height etc goes this is awful to ride in. If it weren't for the comfy seats I'd be seeing a physiotherapist by this point. The rear springs have had some meat removed and it has really short and stiff Mitsubishi springs to keep everything tight but it jumps over bumps, bounces over every little thing in the road. Suspension + springs etc is certainly not my strong point so any advice on making it a little comfier to ride around in would be awesome. I thought X73 king springs may be the solution, but I'm not sure they'll fit. I had even brainstormed the idea of fitting the IRS rear end but really haven't put thought into that. I don't really have the coin for S13 front coilovers at this point in time. That's all for now, I'll update the thread when I rip into it and start changing things (again). Grabbed some pics out on a weekend cruise.

That's the plan. It's still a little pushed in around the taillight area, so I'll pull all that out and repair it all when I can get it into work.

it is indeed I have access to the appropriate repair tools at work so shouldn't be many dramas. The damage isn't bad at all really. Tailgate needs the whole bottom reconstructed though, thats about the worst of it all haha. It's rusted pretty bad, but the entire rest of the car is close to perfect. Quite strange.

talk about wagon here does anybody know the production numbers of these things? I can't imagine these were ever a popular car in wagon form.