cletus

i thought about doing something similar, but figured the wheels on the dolly would have to "steer" with the car on, otherwise the only way to get round a corner is for the tyres to drag/skid

how does it turn with a car on it?

so after checking axle lengths, and deciding narrowing the diff was too hard, i attacked the guards with a hammer & dolly. Rh side was easy. Lh side was like i thought it was going to be, it already had old repairs and bog in it, so it needs a bit of work. good part is the tyres fit with enough room.

yep 245/50/14

not sure how high with those tyres yet, the guard is sitting on the tyre and stopping it going down to the proper height

tried wheel on now its lowered, front is good...... back not so much. rub city. oops

got stupid rusty door done

all the wire wheels ive seen have had no brand name or markings on them, all wheels should be from a reputable manufacturer or have a safety standard marking, like JWL, DOT etc for cert purposes. wire wheels need cert because of the adaptor required to fit them

a 'c' notch can be certed, maximum size depends on the car and application.

Those front struts would be no good unfortunately. At the moment, no aftermarket strut that has a welded join between the cast spindle and the strut tube can be certed. LVVTA is working on this, not sure where they are at, but welded BC struts may be legal in the near future, i think they were waiting on some details to do with the welding process. as far as the rear goes, there is some strengthening needs to be done on a starlet if going to a coilover in the rear where the shock was mounted, the shock mount isnt strong enough to take the weight of the car as well.

ha. someone gave me a vk once, it had a rebuilt starfire with a lumpy cam and a weber on it. can remember wondering why someone would bother. it actually went ok ish

what year is it ?

the usual belltech/chassis tech bolt in notches are no good IMO, i have seen the chassis crack on a couple of them not even used for towing. for cert i usually get them to weld it in properly, and cap the inside of the rail as well. shocks need relocating too cause they end up on spastic angles and dont do very much, and drive like shit. the last one i certed was a SWB 454SS, it drove sweet after fixing all the cockups, i was a bit tempted myself to buy it. went good too. one of these as for a way round having to convert one younger than 20years- there isnt one as far as i know. thats why they are cheap when they need converting, because its so expensive to get done properly. as for driving with the handlebars on the wrong side, the only time its a bit tricky is passing, turning left onto a busy road( not bad in a truck as you can look out the back window) and drive-thrus

theres nothing in the book that specifically says cam belt covers must be fitted it does mention in the external projections standard that any exposed drive pulleys must have an effective cover or guard, but that refers to pulleys outside the vehicle ie a blower belt drive

What year truck are you looking at? it is still possible to cert a RHD conversion, it is more difficult than it used to be mostly due to advances in safety, ie air bags all have to swap over and work, this includes things like weight sensors in the seats, etc etc. it is a very big job. older pre airbag trucks arent as bad but it is still a major job getting it right. We dont do a lot of RHD conversion certs any more, due to that SIV rule where new mustangs/camaros etc dont have to be converted, most of the vehicles getting done that im aware of are the larger pickups, most of which are over 3500kg so they get certed under the heavy vehicle certification system not LVV. if i was looking at buying one personally, id be looking at an older left hook one. there are many pretty average conversions around which are never as nice as a factory one, things like the dash never really fits perfectly, heaters are often bodged together, squeaks and rattles when driving etc....

so, how many kilograms of underseal, rustflakes, and dirt went directly into your eyeballs?

you may not have to do anything with the sills. you could fit the connectors, check how much twist is in a stock 2 door with a roof, then check how much you get with the convertible. if the convertible has less movement than the original car, job done. different certifiers would probably have different opinions on what needs to be done as well, might pay to talk to your local guy and see what he says

yeah they look pretty good.

Are you sure its a crack and not just a scratch? odd place for a crack. like Ktrips said, i also used to do bazillions of mazda rocker cover gaskets at my old job to fix this problem. also make sure you replace the little rubber washers under each rocker cover nut

i havent done a convertible yet, its not very common these days but i think if you replicate what the factory does or something like that, would be a good plan. if it was me id make some chassis rails that tie those front and rear chassis sections together, and run some reinforcement down the insides of the sills. i made some chassis connectors for my sedan when i put the v8 in it,, it made a big difference, the doors open and shut with it jacked up on a corner now

long term. well as long as a cheap paint is going to last anyway. cheers

I have 4 litres of satin black acrylic top coat for my ute, is this actually worth putting on if i paint it in a black epoxy primer like DP50?

too big turbo on an engine with no torque is not fun to drive. have driven a number of rb20 powered things with oversized china turbos, they mostly suck. power happens too late in the rev range, you have to cane it to get the most out of it, fine for a racetrack but no good for practical road use

http://image.sporttr..._right_view.jpg because of the shape of the guards, they dont tuck much /at all even when the chassis is on the deck drop spindles front, notch chassis and relocate springs rear or go to a 4 link/coilovers. depending on what your springs are like you might be able to get the spring eyes reversed for more drop. if the leafs get reset so much they curve the wrong way, it will ride like shit

i think its cool that you kept it all those years in storage, unchanged. i usually get sick of a car, sell it, then wish id kept it 6 months later