insanebrain

So I got hold of the guy storing the car, great news for me but bad news for you, the car is now in his shed being worked on by him and his teenage son.

please feel free to remind me if I don't get back to you - I'm in Aus, car in NZ, not likely to get home anytime soon (grrr) and I've tended to forget about the thing...

let me do some checking - I know of one in Methven, well I actually own it but haven't seen it in about 4 years and don't know what has happened to it. It've kept the rego on hold but it also has rust etc. A mate has it but has moved, his wife was getting sick of it etc so I need to find out whats up with it. 1982 GSR 1 Jap import - no power steer or electric windows, motor supposed rebuilt ~2000km ago by previous owner but hardly run in the last 10 years.

As someone who has stepped off one of those things as it started to tip and watched it roll/bounce it's way down the hill, I agree with the comment to be careful with your centre of gravity. Your concerns regarding steering when the front is heavily loaded is also justified. That said I think your biggest issue is going to be traction - it isn't hard to get all 4 spinning (I presume it is 4wd) when towing heavy loads (once it has traction, it will pull your house truck). Putting the weight over the wheels will help but then you are back to your heavy steering issue. I'm sure with your skills you will come up with something to amaze us all just like your other projects.

We had a trailer with zeph rims about 20 years ago. We replaced them we xd falcon rims to match our tow car at the time

I'm in

more inspiration http://www.cyclekarts.com/Scamps.html

awesome idea - I've had similar thoughts! I've always wanted to get involved in a bit of motorsport but the $ are too much. So I thought about why it costs more than it used to (when it appeared to be within the reach of the average guy) and my conclusion is traction. Modern tires have too much which (a) means we go faster and thus need more safety equipment/better protection and ( traction exerts more force on the vehicle, meaning they have to be stronger/more reliable etc - all of which costs dollars. Hence why I thought of a light weight chassis (and yes I have considered carry vans) with space saver tires just like you are talking about, a bit like the cyclekarts that are discussed in the General Car Chat section. I am leaning towards using a modified quad bike chassis now (cut behind engine, extended to allow for a seat etc).

Whereabouts in Aussie did you get the repair panel? Cheers

http://www.build-threads.com/build-threads/1985-hino-housetruck/

saw this on retro rides a while ago I think - looks awesome

Epic thread resurrection (but better than creating a repeat thread isn't it?) I've got to get a bit of rust (structural dammit) at the top of my drivers side A-piller removed for a WOF. Does anyone have any recommendations? I've been recommended to Chartwell Panel and Paint and Adam's Smash repairs are near where I am staying.

according to that great (but sometomes inaccurate) infomation source in the sky (wikipedia), the cologne V6 range includes the BOA/BOB amd they have the most horsepower standard. However, finding them here would be a mission. However, something you would find here is the 4 litre variant of the cologne with fuel injection etc, found in the Ford explorer and some older import couriers/Mazda B series utes (badged as B4000 in the states). I am not sure if the modern utes use the same engine or a more modern duratec.

saw an early dark blue mondeo today and automatically thought of this but Radisich influenced. Sooo tempting!

One of the issues of Australian Muscle Car actually covered this swap a couple of years back. Sorry I cant check which one/scan it for you as I am in the wrong island for a while (collection south, me north)

and so departs one of my favorite oldschool.co.nz cars, so whats next UJ?

I must say I actually don't mind the balloon tyres - IMO they suit the style even if they are contradicted by the stickers. Overall I quite like it as it is a bit different and (apart from the stickers) has a fair bit of sleeper appeal without being boring. What gearbox have you got to hook up to the VR4? - I presume you know there isn't many options for a simple bolt up rwd box (starion boxes have different bolt spacing).

So did I and I agree that it is looking damn good. Was unsure about the huge wheels little car thing but that does look hawt

I had bright yellow one just like that after I wrote off my 1st car. I called it DB because the yellow was similiar that on DB cans and also because it stood out like dogs... I gave the 12's the flick asap as I found 13s were a lot cheaper

I think it depends on which motor you are looking at, the sting motors (903cc I think), 1100 and 1300 motors in the early Uno's were quite an old design whereas I was lead to beleive that the FIRE motors (1000cc in early Uno, 1142cc?? in later uno and punto were new in late 80's). Regardless was good fun - 50mpg, managed to get it to 157kph one day, was pissed not to make the ton but rode in one owned by the local dealer that had a few tweaks and would do 170! Stiffer rear shocks (from the turbo) made the handling way better!

hell yeah - my first car was a 1000cc one, I thought I was going to see pistons pop through the bonnet at 100kph in 2nd gear... and the bloody thing was wanting more! In fact the 1000cc (& later 1100cc Punto) FIRE (Fully Intergrated Robotised Engine - supposedly 1st engine 100% built by Robots) were designed by Kawasaki and also found in some of their cruiser bikes.

^^^ that is awesome

Is the cologne V6 based on the essex or is it a clean sheet design? Good ole' wikipedia confirmed that the 4l V6 in the explorer is a cologne derivative. I see some of the English guys are investigating the duratech v6 for an escort but I'm guessing still way to expensive here and as yet unproven Sorry for the post hijack.

think it was the cologne V6 but I could be wrong. I hear ya regarding the Essex

Didn't the factory experiment with Capri V6's ? I remeber something in Australian Muscle Car mag about Ford Sus importing one to test it's feasibility vs the XU1 Torana. If you wanted to keep it in the family you could use a V6 out of an explorer - apparently they are based on the Capri V6.