Stu

So i made a thing from ali this time Will likely bomb it black at some point, its a bit too shiny for me. Thanks to Richie i now have some cam covers that have the lower bolt provisions for the COP plate so im working on getting those tidied up, modified for breathers and painted. I've also been making a few brake hard lines and about to start buying the ecu and sensors etc.

Nice result! Can you link to the bluetooth battery monitor you use?

Oh cool! Yeah the old neon 15000v transformers pack a decent punch, if not I have access to a neon bombarder which runs much higher amperage / death

That doesn't surprise me at all! Youtube provides good examples of it going well and bad. Ive got a pile of neon transformers at work so was going to try those.

I'm not entirely sure yet if Im honest - it needs some body work and I'm about to pull the trigger on getting it done then back on the street, but would obviously want more for it then. I'll have a think about - send me a PM if you are genuinely interested.

Yep! Rego on hold.

Oh yeah, I also added this turd to the fleet. I have no idea why, seemed like a good idea at the time. Will likely move it on if anyone is interested. Its a 1985 EP70, that someone has spent alot of time/effort/money into squeezing a silvertop 4age into. Its quite hilarious to drive and unlike my blue car it doesn't try to kill you. Comes with a Link g4+, coil overs, si interior, rear disc brakes, etc. If I keep it I'll turn it into a track hack. It needs some new panels and a few bits so if anyone knows of a reasonably tidy EP70 going or not then let me know - just needs to be tidy.

Haha thanks but I'm far too lazy to go Blinky spec! CNC machines are handy / cheating!

Haha thanks man, it's pretty funny. I just wanted to make sure the design and program were good before cutting one from ali, but now it's done I kinda like it! Was reading up on how to get lightning style burns thru it by connecting high voltage either end, might give it a go!

So Stu, what have you done in the last 6 months or so? Well, short answer is fuck all really... In non car related issues a rat somehow got in and ate through the water feed to the dishwasher, the house flooded meaning the brand new kitchen, the brand new t&g floor, and the garage ceiling below all needed to be replaced - yay. Insurance somehow managed to take 6 weeks longer to do the job than they said it would, and in that time the car and everything else for that matter had to be put in storage at the in-laws. They didn't seem to mind too much but its stole pride of place in their garage somehow - better than outside where it would fizzle away to a rusty pile. Anyway, its back where it belongs in the garage and I've been sneaking in the odd hour or two and chipping away at it. Last year I made up some new fuel lines from bundy tube, i was never 100% happy with it so ripped it out in favour of running new -6 teflon line through instead as I had a roll left over from my car building days. At work I butchered some brackets together on the cnc router using 10mm plate ali. They hold the breather, feed and return, and brake line up under the car. Here's the first test one I made. So I made a hole bunch, tidied them up and then ran them all through. It came out reasonably well. I didn't take any pics but these run through to a billet filter mounted low on the drivers chassis just under the fire wall, then up to the rail. The fuel reg is mounted low in front of the brake prop valve so its all pretty stealth which is what I was going for. So that's the fuel system done finally. Moving back to the engine I dummy fitted the coil plate which will work - just need to pickup some redtop cam covers that have the bolt provisions to hold the thing down. Richie might have a set for me so hopefully will try those up with some new breathers at some stage. The top cover then hides everything. I have finished wiring the hall effect sensors and put all the timing gear together and buttoned up the front of the engine. Just need to find the top cam belt cover which is currently awol. Still need to make a dizzy blanking plug. I got thinking about the factory spark plug cover and that it has the spark lead provision at the front that I don't need, so decided to make a new version without the up step. For now I've made a timber one but will run this from some 16mm plate at some stage and matty b it for a simple look. Here's the timber one anyway. Its pretty funny being timber - might just varnish it and leave it till it catches on fire Other than that, ive been working on the brake lines and have rebuilt the steering rack along with new boots, new rack inner and outer arms etc. Need to get a few hard lines made then check the system for leaks. Then its onto wiring then skids! See you in another 6 months...

Silvertop and blacktop have physically different distributors. Also the early bigport ones have 4 tooth reluctor pickups inside inside rather than single tooth that the redtops have. If your using an aftermarket ecu you can make a bluetop/bigport dizzy work, but stock ecu doesn't like it much even if you grind the teeth off.

Are you sure on that? My Silvertop had two different filters

1nz+t Carina is looking more and more likely

Full send. I approve

This thing has been a pleasure to help with - so stoked its just a sniff away from being road legal. You've built one hell of tidy car mate!

Yearly update Life has been busy, and while juggling kids, a growing business, and another couple of projects for people it's meant I haven't got all that much done on either car. I had visions of making OS Drags this year but yeah nah the 86 isn't running yet and I've left it too late to resurrect the EP71. EP71 wise it still starts up and drives fine, except the gearbox is now leaking so will need to come out. I've got a new Cusco LSD on the shelf along, several good gearsets that I already modified a few years ago, so really just need to put a box together and swap that in. Will aim to build the traction bars Ive got in my head at the same time. I also still need to build the 3 inch exhaust system from the stainless tube, bends and flanges I have in stock, but finding the time is the hard part. The alternator bracket that I made years ago has also mysteriously broken while the car has been in hibernation - easy fix though. I bought a new GTX2867 Series 2 turbo for this a while back and Kris has run this up on his Hilux for a comparison to his GTX2860 series 2. It made for some interesting results, and I think on the engine in the EP71 it should make some reasonably decent numbers compared to the GT2876 on there now. Anyway, will work on this car next year and hopefully actually put some effort into racing the thing the following summer. Pic for motivation. Onto the 86. I've made some progress, but no way near enough to make the OS Drags. Next optimistic goal is to make Toyota Fest. Things I have done though: My boys helped me fit the front and rear bumpers so thats all done and tidy now. The front lip has been grafted into the bumper, not sure I like this idea now but it will do for the time being. I definitely don't like the gloss black paint though, will repaint in bumper black once its going. Picked up a battery and made a wee bracket for it in the engine bay. I'm no longer a fan of relocating batteries so thought this was a good compromise. I've also been mucking around a little bit with the front end. Stripped the front end apart, cleaned up the arms, fitted power steer knuckles, new brakes set of rotors and pads. Dropped some lowering springs onto the stock shocks for now so its wof friendly but will swap in the coil overs later. I've got new rack ends, rack inners with spacers, new front Cusco sway bar and full bush kit to go in too - hopefully onto that very shortly. I'm considering a Cusco caster arm setup too, haven't quite pulled the trigger on that yet. Wiring wise Ive had the front chassis loom and rear chassis looms out of the car to make a few changes and re-wrap them. I've taken the aircon wiring out and added in larger dia wire for the fuel pump in the rear and new wiring for the twin radiator fans in the front. I'm setting up the fuel pump and dual fans on solid state relays so I can speed control them all. Jacked it up and ripped the fuel tank out, have fitted a Aeromotive Stealth pump and changed all the lines to AN fittings and black teflon braid that Ive had left over from previous projects. Also took all the old fuel lines out and have run new hard line through. I need to redo the brake line too at some stage. Gave the underbody some love so thats all tidy now. I managed to pick up a new Cusco panhard for a good deal and a new Cusco rear sway bar so those have gone in with new bushes - will get photos of that next time. I've got various CNC gear at work to play with so have been working on coil plates to suit Suby COP's that will fit under the standard small port cover. Finished product is in but I havent taken any photos yet so here's so progress shots while making a few trial units. Should have these for sale at some point. Other work underway is the dash wiring, have taken the loom out for a strip down/few changes/re-wrap and have the Link ecu wiring planned out and started. Getting back into the engine bay will be next, there's not alot to do really. The hall effect setup is all done so I just need to make up a blanking for the CAS location and that's done too. Also got this. And this to fit at some stage Hopefully will get a good week on this over the Christmas break which should almost see it running, fingers crossed.

Dare I say it, but throw a Link on it instead? That way you can use the dizzy you have? Plus it will be better in the long run once you inevitably slide carelessly down the "might just do a couple of subtle modifications" route...

^ Thats awesome!

Easy as, send me a PM and we can work out what you need. Im super fussy with cutters and the edge finish being perfect straight off the machines so I buy quite reguarly. Im my game if I can save labour hours each day cleaning up edges its well worth buying more cutters instead.

What sort of cutters are you using? Ive got some partially worn but still pretty reasonably ones here you can try if you'd like?

C series in my EP - seems to take the 11sec punishment fine.

Looking great! Out of interest, what step over % are you using for the tool paths?

At worst use some double sided tape to stick it to the bed, it scraps off again easy enough with after.

The 4.762 is a straight cutter. With ACM, if the pieces are really fine and need small internal radii then you can step down to a 3.174 vortex down cutter that will push the swarf into the gaps which helps cut parts to stay on the bed rather than flying off or getting sucked up the extractor.

Yeah spindle speed makes a world of difference, especially for clearing the chips. There's a few calculators around for working out feeds and speeds but I've found all machines vary a bit so its really a case of fine tuning. I use 4.762 O-flute cutters for ACM, single pass, 18000rpm spindle speed, feed rates around 3000mm/min but you may need to drop back to 1800mm/min depending on how your spindle and servos handle it. For ACM you could also try a 6mm 2 flute slow helix spiral cutter at 16000rpm and 3600mm/min feed rates. Finish is usually perfect on the top edge if you find that sweet spot. 3mm ali I cut in a single pass using a 6mm x 12mm single flute up-cutter with 8mm shank at 18000rpm and 1800mm/min, good suction is key for holding shit down or even screw the stock down to the bed, things get really exciting if the stock moves and fires off around the workshop. My main machine runs a 14kw spindle so stops for nothing. Thicker ali I drop back to multiple passes if using the 6mm tool, but will cut 10mm in a single pass with the bigger dia cutters. We cut up to 40mm plate but its pretty slow going with many steps. MDF wise we don't cut a lot, we used to make 3D vacuum mold tooling but not so much these day. We sometimes will cut 18mm in a single pass with a 9.25mm compression cutter (down/up cut) with chip breaker. Just be careful on your entry path and speeds are slow - too fast of an entry or direct plunge and you risk setting fire to the MDF which is super sketchy as embers can fire up into the extractor... One of my guys didn't take this into consideration when programming a job and it was lucky I walked in just as it happened so disaster was averted. Hopefully some of this helps.