Bling

Something to keep in mind is you need a minimum 40mm suspension droop and bump. Starts getting hard the lower you go as you have to get pretty specific with spring rates used vs car weight, to keep that travel. Also comes down to budget. I am almost at the right bump/droop figure with my setup, and because front and rear are adjustable platform height, changing ride height doesn't affect those figures. It just changes steering geometry / bump steer which is also measured come cert time. To quote Cletus

Probably a form at the post shop to get that sorted.

Impressive stuff. You even got props from Billzilla! Haven't seen that name in years.

So nice man, so so good. I need that paint job on mine haha.

Are you sure where it pitted wasn't tiny bits of rust? Even after a grind down you'd likely have dots below finished surface. I've found that sort of stuff goes for the easy stuff first. I've dunked bits in that are 100% legit in areas and rusty in others. The legit bit doesn't even get touched, but it will eventually work it's way down into the pits a layer of rust at a time.

It can take a few treatments. I have had pretty good experience with similar products. Deep pits will take more time for sure. When I have big areas I just keep brushing it on to keep it wet while doing other jobs. Have used it on some pretty serious rust, but works better if it's only having to dissolve small thicknesses. Except for small parts that will be consistently wet (totally submerged) I haven't left parts with it on overnight, results would be patchy as most of it would dry. How was the condition of the material before treatment?

If it's for use on the road, and you don't want to spend money, it's a pretty easy no. Doesn't seem like a good design and even if it was, it would need certing, so you're out of luck in every way.

Yeah I found that out when I built the one for the corolla. I cut and shut one then got it copied. Problem that time though was that there was no possible way to bend the impossible angles I needed. Lesson learned, cost was the same, just more of my time needed to fine tune, every, bend.

It's only the last 1m or so of pipe, I certain'y ain't got the motivation to build a whole exhaust for a work vehicle lol.

Sweet, will get it booked in then, just didn't want to find it was restrictive for the engine. You could be right about the 3" bender, would make sense. If I had the space i'd do it from bends like you mention. I don't think the dmax would even fit in the garage space I have to use. Thanks.

Work truck needs the last section of exhaust replaced, approx 1m of pipe that goes over diff and that's about it. It's 2.75" from rough OD measuring of 70mm. Shop said 2.5" will be sweet for the last section (crush bent I assume, if that's the norm). Is that correct? I suggested 3" but they said 2.5" is fine as it's not doing much (pointing out the muffler has already done the restricting work). Sounds like 2.75" isn't really a common thing, it's factory system that looks to be mandrel bent. Any thoughts on that? 2012 3L turb diesel d-max. Cheers Not that I doubt them, just getting a 2nd opinion due to reducing size.

I'd just rattle the repairs if he just wants to drive and enjoy the thing. There's my shit advice for the day. /good enough for my fridge This thread is super handy for backyard butchers like me though, so much info.

Shit yeah, nice car

Dicksmith one is probably the same as ones from aliexpress? Which was the same ones resold on trademe, which could be cheaper, worth a look. I got one from Ali like this: https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/tools-repair-kits/other/listing-2613493571.htm?rsqid=954ab67877364b37be4e457500fcd1d6-001 (requires air compressor) Haven't used it on brakes yet but it worked really well for draining my power steering! I very rarely find someone willing to pump the pedal so just run some pipe into a bottle and open the bleed screw a little bit. Seems to work, once there is some fluid in the bottle, air can't get back up the hose if it's submerged.

If you like the car and can do the work, then go nuts. Pricing is always a hard one as they don't come up often so price ranges aren't too specific.

And find one that is manual if you want a manual car. Less headaches and likely cheaper in the end, unless you can get all the parts cheap and do everything yourself.

Yeah probably a year. Will keep on looking into it while lockdown is a thing as they have a store in town, so may go visit when things open up. Currently radiator doesn't leak too much, a lot more than it should for one I paid to be fixed a while ago though. Thanks for all the replies, gives me something to ponder.

Yeah a recore is an option for sure. But it will likely cost twice what a brand new aluminium radiator will. Which i'd be open to if I had oodles of money (I don't) and didn't need to buy a new heater core too. Just doing research to see what is my best bang for buck really. Haven't seen an aftermarket one yet in anything other than full aluminium. No one sells the heater core either, so i'll have to modify one to suit. Recore on that won't work as the end is fucked lol. Just old car life, just wanting something that will do the trick.

Oh for sure, but if the bottom basically falls off, the design of that particular one can't be great. I think all my modern junk has the plastic stuff.

The Fenix option i'm looking at is a completely alloy unit. That sounds like a fabrication fail for sure with the plastic one though.

Yeah lets blame the coolant for the oil leaks eh. I'll looking in to that thanks.

Yeah a lot of talk on the web about coolants. Green and red both seem to state they are compatible with everything. Just not each other, in any volume lol. You're right though, red does contain more "stuff" to protect aluminium. If I go aluminium rad i'll go red. It seems they come from the factory (AE70) with only three of four holes lining up (two of which are rubber mounted). Thought one may have had a prang so didn't line up. Checked other car and sure enough, mounting hole seems to be in the wrong spot from the factory. It does sit in a rubber padded craddle too though, so not going far. I wonder if the one random bolt that actually contacts the radiator itself is an earth?

A search on here did bring up rumours of quality change @ Fenix at some point in the past. They all look to be much of a muchness. Will check them out, will do more homework on Fenix / copper ones. Cheers team. edit - Redline do one for my car, that should require slightly less modification. Promising.

Radiator question time. If I want to spend $500+ I can get mine rebuilt with copper / brass core. I don't really want to spend that much though. Just so many things left to buy to finish the car. So what is the deal with using aluminium radiators? I keep seeing things about electrolysis this and that. I can get an uprated Fenix aluminum radiator for much less. Cooling level isn't going to be a problem, i'm only making 14HP. Is it a case of flush the system 99 times, then fill with demineralised water / coolant mix and good to go? Or are there reasons I shouldn't be looking at aluminium? Engine in question is typical 80's toyota lump. Has a bunch of cast aluminium parts already attached. When replacing waterpump / thermostat housing I didn't notice any corrosion on them.

I sourced garnet for mine back in the day, just got it from one of the local sandblasting places. Just wanted to avoid using glass and the nasty dust that creates. Not that you should breathe any of them. Long time since i've done any though, but from memory garnet was better. It also can be reused more than some other products. Alistair isn't active on here nowadays, but he knows all about the blasting media game.