jackeo21

Still have this, had just been sitting idle for the last 2 years whilst other projects got all of the attention. Recently put my ass into gear and made something happen. Yup! It's all painted up and has come out amazing. Decided to keep the roof body colored as the paint turned out so nice. The little 850 has been running nice and strong. Next I need to finish installing my new brakes and bleed them up so I can safely move the car around. Assembly time now and then hopefully within a month or two she'll be out on the roads. Been a long process and definitley something to learn from, leaving projects sitting for so long gets to be a drain and motivation gets lost, but seeing paint laid onto this has inspired me to get it done and on the road for summer. It'll be damn near a brand new car when its done so I'd love to pull through and make it happen.

Like many I've taken some time during lockdown to sort out some work on the old girl. Got pretty tired of looking at the old rear bumper in its sad state, with holes dents etc all through it really ruined the car. Thankfully the sedan I parted out opened up the opportunity for me to modify a straight (sedan) rear bumper to suit my wagon bumper as they are NLA. So after some mixing and matching of bumper mounts and the careful hacking apart of the sedan bumper I ended up with a fairly reasonable looking bum. Tailgate is next on my list for a re-bog, just need it to last until I can really hack it apart and re-fabricate large amounts of it (it's very bad). Took the oppurtunity to tidy up my exhaust tip, too. It's a nice quiet car with no drone etc which is cool. But I'd like it more aggressive for the new motor. Also fitted factory grande head unit. It struggles to work so I've just wired my lights to work and I'll relocate my BT headunit under the seat for max functionality.

Completely forgot that I didn't update since before drag day. The morning of drag day I went right past the dragstrip and ended up in Hamilton, where a 2JZ-GE engine found its way onto the trailer I happened to be towing. It's been sitting around since I picked it up in December but this mornings purchase prompted me to get into it. These came up and I had to have them. They're a set of 6 40mm Individual Throttle Bodies to suit the 4A-GE engines, that have been adapted to a modified 2JZ inlet. It utilizes the standard fuel rail and injector setup, with a piggy-back ECU for fine tuning. Overall a pretty neat little setup. Hard to find stuff like this for the 2JZ as 95% of aftermarket is to suit the turbo engines. It'll prove to be a good learning experience with wiring and all that stuff, but I look forward to the challenge. Spy the 1G-E extractors Only on there for a mock up. I'll be on the lookout for the 1JZ stock tubular exhaust manifold to modify. I'll also need to find a turbo valve cover etc. This far, for my engine I still need: Alternator P/S pump Flywheel, clutch etc ECU Mechanical Fan (or do I go electric?) Overall it'll certainly give the wagon that extra bit of "unique" I've been looking for.

I've already got someone after them but if that falls through you're first in line. When my engine lifter comes back I'll be putting the JZ on a stand and getting into it. It's high kms but I'll be avoiding a rebuild and just doing your normal service items. Hoping the swap isn't super complicated haha. Seems it's just engine mounts and wiring.

Parting it was my last resort, I was hoping to sell it as a rolling body but with space and time constraints I couldn't get a buyer. Thankfully I'm able to use a majority of the parts. Cheers!

I did a thing. Well, quite a few things, actually. I jumped at the opportunity to buy an '84 Cressida up in Whangarei. The car had quite a bit of rust and was in fairly rough shape. However, it had a full manual conversion and 1G-GE, so I had to have it! A deal was done and I drove the wagon up to have a look at what I'd bought. Leaving it at a mates place in Whangarei I later had it transported down to my place in Auckland where it has now unfortunately met its demise. Thankfully, I've now got plenty of spares for my wagon and also for my X61 sedan project, so it's sacrificed itself to save two others. The 1G-GE heart has gone off to a fellow X60 wag owner so it can get out on the road. Anyway, ripped into the wagon Saturday morning. Old foot handbrake out (which involved removing a bunch of interior), new pull type handbrake in, auto out, fresh flywheel and clutch in followed by the W55 and driveshaft and we're back on the road. Night and day difference over the auto, that's for sure! It now has reasonable power, can get up hills etc without much struggle. So good. Also found that painting the brown interior parts with automotive 2K basecoat works a charm. It's all I had and it worked perfectly. I just need to find a nice blue leather shift boot to finish the console off nicely. Aside from the manual conversion the car has remained much the same since the last update. A few shock/spring changes is about all. Next up is to get the 2JZ on an engine stand so I can give it a good service and detail/prep to go in. - Also, ran a whole lot of 20 second runs at OS Drag Day last year. Hopefully I can chop that right down with JZ power. The car has come so far in the 10 odd months I've owned it. Excited to modify it more in coming months. Good fun!

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.