Roman

Haha, yep I get what you're saying.

Well, it didnt have the engine or box to start with, and to be fair the original motor was probably the lamest thing about the car.

I guess you could say we're trying to keep with the spirit of the original car by retaining the same type of motor.

(EFI straight six single turbo)

Newer motor mainly for better economy

Argh.

Can you please stop making me want to buy an S12 silvia?

See pics, do want.

Nice car/project, love it.

Are these much of a lego set in terms of parts compatibility with other nissans?

Yeah, dynamat or similar could be a good idea for sure.

Obviously not concerned about adding a bit of weight if it makes it nicer to drive.

I originally owned this car a few years ago, drove it back up from Wellington to Auckland in one hit. Was by far the most comfortable car I've ever driven long distance! was an awesome trip, even as completely standard car.

Agree about wiring, hahaha. You should see the JZX100 loom, about 10 billion wires!

He spent ages with the wiring loom in his lounge sprawled out, to figure it all out, strip out things like airbag wiring etc and draw diagrams for how everything works.

Seeing an ECU sitting amongst a sprawl of wires, I think I get the same kind of terror as if it were a giant spider in a web that I'd just walked into with my face.

I would say that the most notable feature of the first generation Toyota soarer, was the amazing amount of modern conveniences that it had for a car that came out in the early 80s.

The factory car had a 2 litre EFI turbo engine, (MTEU) air conditioning, power steering, electric windows, central locking, an awesom stereo system with a recordable tape deck and mic input (aka kareoke system), and a few other things which were pretty cool.

So we have decied that since it was a technology laden car originally, it would be nice to have all of that still, plus some more discretely added modern additions to the car that will not detract from its appearance as a reasonably tidy original sort of looking car.

Sooo, in terms of drivetrain etc we will not be using early 80s gear anymore.

We have got what is pretty much a front cut from a 1996 JZX100 Toyota chaser.

From this, we will be using:

2.5 litre 6 cylinder single turbo engine, and automatic transmission. AKA VVTI 1JZGTE + autobox (280hp, max torque @ 2400rpm)

The full airconditioning system

Full traction control and ABS systems fitted (Can be turned off, of course)

The full front loom, to replace all Soarer wiring forward of the firewall (Chaser fusebox/relays etc will control headlights, indicators etc)

Steering rack, with variable rate power assist

Brake booster and master cylinder

ABS/traction control unit

And a few other things which I may have forgotten about, hah.

Here's a picture of the engine and trans fitted: (Thanks to Ryan Fels for engine mount drawings!)

JZX100 steering rack, seeing how it can be mounted to the Soarer crossmember:

Front mount intercooler fitted, in front of a radiator from an Auto Altezza (As it has the trans cooler built into the bottom of the radiator)

Welcome to wiring hell! There's no way I'd ever want to tackle a job like this, hahaha.

Heaps of progress has been made in terms of tidying up all of the suspension parts etc...

Everything has been sandblasted clean, then painted with what is like a 2 pot version of POR15 that comes out matte black, and then some marine grade 2 pot gloss black.

Gas tank before:

And after:

Heaps nicer, and definitely nicer if working under a car not to have 30 years worth of grime to contend with!

Build thread here

Coupe life!

Hey people,

Just thought I'd share some pictures etc of my Dad's car project.

(discussion thread here]

Basically we've got an MZ10 soarer shell with about 170,00kms on it, but like many 80s Toyotas it's seen better days in terms of rust etc.

Here's how it looked a few years ago:

The idea of this project is to make it a nice standard looking car again, that can be used comfortably on long road trips etc for going to see family and things like that.

So it's not going to be race car, drift car, or be super low or have hard suspension etc. (deal-with-it.jpg)

Here are a few pics of the current state of affairs in terms of rust etc:

Inside the boot didnt look tooooo bad initially...

But when we stripped it out a little more, turns out to be not so good. (not beyond repair, just a bit more work than anticipated)

Rear quarter windows always seem to be a problem with 80s Toyotas!

Engine bay etc is all reasonably good

Rear subframe all looks okay, just old/dirty

Inside the boot is pretty bad, few areas like this under bog:

Integrale is win.

If I had one I'd probably decide to do something like change the brake pads and accidentally pull the whole car to pieces, so I'm not concerned about issues that might arise while it's running

I suppose you could argue its the widespread adoption of DOHC tech?

That was more the angle I was getting at, yeah. The point where pretty much every manufacturer had DOHC and multivalve engines flying off the shelves.

http://www.toysport.com/technical%20inf ... rticle.htm

I have 80s cars because I'm poor.

I would have a 2011 / 12 car over these shitters any day.

But in saying that, I still got love for the ol' coupes.

Sounds like you might suffer from a rare condition known as Coupe Life.

Either way though, talking purely in styling terms rather than technical.

The 80s definitely contrast opinion... A lot of people cant stand squarbox type cars! Love em or hate em I guess.

I guess maybe 5-10-15 years ago, 80s cars were synonymous with generic shitty old cars on the road waiting to die.

However now there's a higher percentage of remaining examples in nice condition, or just the sportier more desirable sort of cars left, so general public opinion may sway back a bit.

I would be pretty stoked to see any of those cars Tomstament posted up driving around!

Or, more likely, just being in his garage in pieces is fine too I guess

Last of a lot the common platforms being made in rwd/going fwd

This

Without all of the major advances in microprocessor technology allowing for more precise fueling methods, turbocharging/forced induction, computer aided design, etc etc, which all took place during the late '70s and throughout the '80s, the car industry probably wouldn't be in its current state today.

I agreed that it was definitely a time of change, and I heart 80s cars.

But the above statement above seems a bit redundant?

If something wasnt invented when it was, it would have been invented some other time.

The car industry wouldnt have simply stagnated if these events did not occur exactly when they did.

Many of the early EFI cars had the ECU equivilent of an abacus deciding to tip fuel in or not anyway, haha.

I think the most influential change in the design and perception of Japanese cars, was the cancellation of Group B rally in the late 80s.

New rules meant that contenders needed a 2 litre turbo charged engine, and a 4wd chassis based on a street car sold in considerable numbers.

The design of 4G63, EJ20, SR20DET, 3SGTE and the various iconic 80s/90s Japanese cars they come in, were largely influenced by this requirement.

I would us nissan or mazda stuff now. hilux is sooo heavy.

Nissan 4 pot setup is HALF the weight of my previous twin pot setup.

Heaps easier to change brakepads too!

It's win win.

Car's looking awesome!

You bringing it up to Aucks when you're coming to grab the diff housing?

Aaah yep true that.

Just speaking as the voice of experince with having a large immobile piece of metal in the garage that you cant use. It aint cool! keeping car running and mobile as much as possible is best way to keep the motivation going.

Some pretty grand plans for the car Nathan.

Have you considered starting out with something a little more conservative to get the car running etc before running out of motivation / missus tells your money heap to GTFO?

I definitely wouldnt do things like sell the wheels before you've got other ones to fit, anyway.

The idea of a mechanical oil pressure gauge gives me the shits!

Yeah, a car with really long overhangs (like a charger or something) with lead bricks right at the far extremities could have a 50/50 split, but understeer horribly into corners and oversteer horribly on exit compared to a car with all of its mass inside the wheelbase.

Ever noticed that most/all modern performance oriented cars have got the front calipers mounted on the back of the disc, and rear calipers mounted on the front?

(And a million other tiny, seemingly insignificant details that obsessive engineers have pored over)

keen!

Yeah shouldnt be too hard to find a T drum.

Will keep an eye out for anything Carina/celica/corona.

Hey, there's that guy in the for sale section parting out the ST141 corona? Should have what you need.

edit:

PM this guy.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=30950

Sooo, I just got back from spending 12-13 days lurking around the South Island.

Just before I started my trip, another Carina popped up for sale in Timaru...

3AU, T50, T series drum rear. Really tidy interior!

Major draw card though, was next to no rust due to being in such a dry place for so long.

Soooo ended up having my arm twisted into getting it

Ended up driving it from Christchurch > Reefton > Christchurch > Timaru > Oamaru > Dunedin > Queenstown > Haast > Fox Glacier > Greymouth > Nelson > Piction > Wellington > Palmerston North > Taupo > Hamiltion, and then finally back to Auckland in it.

Did over 3,900kms on the way home, didnt miss a beat! It's got new gaskets/rings/etc, rebuilt about 30,000kms ago.

Probably the most love that I've ever seen given to a 3AU, hahaha.

Had an awesome time wandering around, going skating, going swimming, and being a general nuisance.

It was pretty much the perfect car to tour around the south island in. It was reasonably good on gas, and it was just happy putting along at 90/100kph the whole time. If I was in a fast car, I'd be more interested in hooning around the roads rather than looking at the scenery.

Still not sure what I'm going to do with it, Not sure whether to put it up for sale, daily drive it, or put it in storage in case I smash my other one into a wall

In other news,

Just prior to leaving Auckland I put the motor and gearbox etc back in my other car.

After fixing a few vaccum leaks etc, all started up fine, but then stopped dead and now doesnt want to start again.

I'm not sure what the problem is yet, but one thing that's always been a total pain is checking for error codes.

I can never remember which pin to earth out, which wire to connect up to a light, and then its always a pain trying to find a list of the correct error codes for this type of engine. I'd hate to have this type of problem at a trackday, and spend half the day chasing my tail trying to sort out these things.

So I've decided that I'm going to turn the glove box into a diagnostic bay of sorts.

There's normally a switch on the glovebox door that activates a light when it's opened.

So I'm going to use the glovebox light to flash the error codes, and the switch will be used to earth out the diagnostic pin.

I'll also have a list of error codes printed on a panel in there, so if I'm at a trackday or something and I'm having problems, I can just about instantly check for errors just by opening the glovebox door

Will have something printed out sorta like this.

If you're still struggling for the desired amount of camber, you can swap in AA63/TA63 celica/carina/etc struts, these give you more camber and bolt straight in.

For sure, dont need a bonnet scoop for it though

edit: Never realised thats what those bonnet bulges do, thought it was just to give clearance for a high rise manifold!

Yeah for sure! you could definitely have the air feed to your intake coming straight from the drip tray below the windscreen, this is definitely a high pressure area. (Which is why its where the air for the heater/fan comes from)

Probably makes a bit more sense than running to the front of the car.

It would be best leaving the rear of the engine bay sealed though (helps your radiator do its thing)

And then have a sealed pipe feeding to the airbox from there.

His will be an east/west setup in a FWD car...

So the intake ports face the rear firewall.

Standard manifold is as per that picture above though, heaps of space for it! As the engine is tipped over like 30 degrees.

Do it