sheepers

this is the old compressor from work. its been on a pallet kicked around from place to place for the last 10 years or so.

its Italian, 44CFM 7HP 3 phase with a 270L tank.

and because of that its fucked in many ways. the pressure switch is smashed off, the inlet filter is completely gone, the shroud around the belts is badly broken, the wiring for this thing is all up the shit also the electric motor shroud is all smashed in.

it hasn't run in many years and when i picked it up from work it wouldn't even turn.

i took it home, waterblasted it and pulled it to bits.

So when I left off the motor was back to completely disassembled. 

I got the cap machined and now it's back together with the correct crank end float.

The other thing is that I got the head flow tested with the porting and bigger valves. 

It shows about an 11 percent increase over stock. 

I was kind of hoping for a bit more but using the "no science just hog it out" method is probably why 11% was the result. 

Anywho,  now it's time to get the head all sorted and I can bolt it on. 

Need new valve springs,  new spring washers and retainers - all of which will need to be custom or at least sourced from some other engine. 

In preparation for this I shortened the valve guides to suit the machining that the head needs to clear the higher lift.

3mm off the exhaust and 6mm off the inlets

Out with the old, 

In with the nucleus. 

Finished up the new brake install. 

New shoes, new wheel cylinders and not pictured new front brake pads. 

To say that it stops better now is a bit of an understatement. 

You're not going to believe this but the top bit of the swaybar link that wasn't broken broke when I tried to undo it. 

So I welded a new end on it. 

Story time/ going down the rabbit hole. 

The issue- I never did any homework at all when it came to buying this blaupunkt head unit.  If I had of I would have very quickly been made aware of how crap it is. 

Is unusable as far as changing the volume, shipping tracks or doing anything.

Its physically impossible to change the volume accurately, and most of the time is not possible at all. 

Totally my fault for not checking a single review or anything. 

So,  present day me (well yesterday me actually) was yarning to Nick the sparky about steering wheel controls and clock springs and whatnot and he said "I've got a 2013 Highlander steering wheel,  see it that fits"

It does. 

I needed to make a indicator canceling wheel to adapt the new wheel to the hilux.

Not super difficult,  made a frankinstien rig up to machine a parallel diameter in the back of the wheel. 

Them made a ring that I will shrink onto the back of the wheel once I confirm  its fits the truck.

Then the next hurdle will be getting signals through the clock spring. It has 3 spare wires that aren't used so we can use those to send signals to the head unit. But there are probably other clock springs that will fit the truck that have more wires if we need it. 

Nick recharged the AC system and now it works fucking ace. 

Couldn't feel my fingers by the time I got home so I'm calling that a win. 

Installation of new discs and drums.

Front was easy,  as you'd expect. 

Rear was a bit bit difficult to get the drum of due to the massive lip on the inside. 

However once I got the drum off I discovered the thinnest brake shoe I've ever seen. 

And of course the wheel cylinder was leaking so I'll get new bits next week and re- do the whole back brakes.

Also I found the reason why I'm now the best 4wd driver in NZ. Auto disconnected sway bar for max flex bro.

That's what the 4wd people say,  you wouldn't understand. 

All of which I have on order.

The seats actually came out looking quite good. 

So I put them back together and put them back in the truck. 

Fuck,  so much more comfort. And now both seats have adjustable lumber support. 

Then I fitted a cooling fan I had to the AC condenser.  I made a bracket and it's in there pretty good.  I made up the wiring loom for it but it got dark so I'll fit it tomorrow.

Also I bought new discs and drums for it. 

Also fitted a new radio. 

The one in it had FM and CD player. 

And nothing else. 

Yip yip new radio.  Nick the sparky found this thing on special so it was cheap enough. 

Also fitted a reverse camera which was quite the job getting the cables into the rear door.

By some fluke it works. 

New AC system. 

As previously I bought one of everything from rock auto. 

Then I installed it. 

It was quite the job to get the TX valve out but yea whatever. 

I still have to fit a fan to the condenser,  factory they don't have one which doesn't do the rest of the system a lot of good and is the reason why the TX valves shit themselves. 

Also shit I forgot to mention that I put the rear bumper back on. 

This was harder then it sounds but basically I pulled all the brackets apart,  soaked them in evoporust for a few days then painted them all. 

I beat most of the dents out of the side bits and then bolted it all back in. 

One of the mud flaps was broken in two so I welded it beck together with a soldering iron using cable ties for welding rod. 

Is it good as new? No. 

Will it last a thousand years? Also no

But it's back on the truck and works until it doesn't so I'm calling it a win.

With no idea what I'm doing I decided to pull the seats apart and see if any parts are interchangeable. 

Long story short, the cushions can be swapped over. 

So I did. I now have a fucking ace drivers seat and a fucked passenger seat. 

Then I found a pair of good looking seats on TM in the same colour so I bought them. 

Between the 4 seats I should have no issue making 2 good ones. 

Stoked tbh