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For some reason I have a memory of writing this out already but perhaps I just told it to so many people it felt like I wrote it. Apparently I have dementia. So the whole radiator thing, see exhibit A: The actual outlet on the radiator isn't even round.. which could go some way to explaining why the hose wasn't seating properly on it and water was seeping out the side. I ended up bashing it out a bit and making it rounder then jamming the hose on nice and good. Ran it for about 20 minutes and didn't leak water.. maybe it solved that problem. Also I noticed this (well probably noticed it ages ago but never REALLY noticed it, you know?). I wonder how I can repurpose this to make it work for EGT sensor, or perhaps O2 sensor? Probably O2 sensor would be better for tuning. Not sure because it has what looks like two bolts holding it in rather than what you'd usually have which is just one threaded thing. I'll have to work on getting it out to see if there is a threaded bit in the middle for a sensor.. looks possible. Also bought some wood to make a new parcel shelf but we don't even have power tools to cut it here. Who has a shed without power saw? State of it. It probably got attacked by sharks or something.

Honestly I thought it was going to be warmer in Melbourne by now, I'm using this excuse as to why I haven't done much. Also because I was a bit shitty about chinesium alloy radiatior being the wrong one (have refund now from seller at least). This is basically how it's been sitting for the last while because when I was last playing with the tail lights I found one had some kind of reflector in it so was trying to source some new ones/gave up because money. Also around the same time I was playing with red tint on the tail lights to get rid of the orange. That ended up much darker than I wanted and today I spent about an hour cleaning the red VHT tint shit off the one I tried it on (as pictured above). As it turned out I'm just an idiot and if I had realised that these could all be separated I could have just taken out the reflector thing, which is what I've done now. Without a doubt one of the lights has been changed in the past though. The other reasons I wasn't rushing to put the lights back in is these.. some rust around one of the light holes as well as these pressed in studs a few of them have come out of one side. I decided I didn't see that rust and just put it all back together using what was available. Most of the studs still work ok, good enough. Out of sight, out of mind. You can see the before(top), after (bottom) of the VHT red tint on the right tail light. I still want to get rid of the orange but will use Tamiya paint next time. I just couldn't remember which one it was but now I have the part number. It's still a little darker on the right side but shouldn't be enough to cause problems. Now off to get the correct radiator so I can run it for any length of time without water falling out!

So it's been cold in Melbourne, and I'm a bitch so I haven't been in the garage really, no motivation over the winter. And also need to buy a few things and money and excuses. So anyway before I went back to NZ last a guy from QLD sent me down some of the OEM hooks to hook the back seats properly. Mine were missing/cut off because of it's previous life as a race car so I don't know why they cut them off but they did. Anyway I didn't have any so he cut some out of a wreck he had and sent them down. I received them like this. Then I drilled out the spot welds and left with this. Now as I'm also a piece of shit I didn't really get any finished product but I had to drill through the welds on my original mounts because part of them still existed. Then I just put a bolt/nut through. It kind of works, better than it did at least. Problem is the massive square mounts where the cage was mounted preventing the seat from sitting properly anyway. Ugh, have to do something about this. #justaustralianinstalledsunroofthings How about those wheel nut seats though.. on the 13" Globes that are on there at the moment. All bad. In fact I'm fairly certain some of the holes aren't even perfectly round anymore. While I was waiting for the drill to charge I put on some 15x6.5 +38 wheels that I was going to (maybe still will) use on the my Accord. So much room for activities. Should be able to fit 8.5 under there without much issue. Many people go 8/9 I'm thinking 7.5/8.5, in 14" of course.

Yeah it worked out well, but the brake line is not the same which is annoying but chances are someone will make one that suits. Car like this has a big following now so it's actually pretty easy to find most bits and info. lol used combo of tin snips and bolt cutters hahah

Well I had to take my big brakes setup off my Crown (6 pot 380/4 pot 356) so I thought I'd upgrade the Hako ones.. After a little bit of custom modification to the dust shield or whatever it is this happened.... That's an 80s Hilux (reproduction) 4 pot caliper. These fit on without any modications whatsoever, exact same bolt holes and fit around the disc fine. There's also one advantage of having the brake disc mount behind the hub.. miles of clearance! Thinking I'll probably need to get custom lines made up to match the new to the old but otherwise, success. So a decent up grade from almost 50 year old twin pots to 4 pots. Also I plan to just remove that heat shield thing from the hub anyway or cut it off properly when I finalise the install on these so it won't be all super cutty.

I like setting easy goals because then it makes you feel good when you complete them. For my brief time back in NZ I decided I needed to get the car running with the triple carbs as when I left for Aus I had just got it running but it wouldn't idle and was generally not going well. Since buying the TA22 in Aus which also has Mikunis on it I've learnt quite a bit about tuning them and setting them up which I've been able to transfer to the Skyline. So when I had a bit of spare time I started by checking the pilot jet settings which were waaaay off. No wonder it didn't run well. Fixed those up, cranked it over for a while to get the gas to go through (mechanical fuel pump) and with some dodgy choke opening and throttle fiddling the car started. Took it for a burn up an down the road and considering I spent only a couple of minutes with synchrometer it works really well. Idle is a little high at around 12-1400 at the moment but it sounds good when the carbs are on song ! One thing I haven't checked is the timing so I've purchased a timing light to do that sometime in near future. Aaanyway novel over, here's some photos of stuff. Another one of the tasks I wanted to do is install a choke cable (or starter wire) for the triples. The one that was for the OEM single wasn't long enough and as I found out it anyway the previous owner just used one which was for a twin carb setup and cut one of the wires off! Mine is kind of janky and sort of works but it's not really that good. Maybe not required now that I've sorted out the basic jetting but it's something. Mainly has issues on the right side where it goes into that first holder. Needs a better mount somehow. So being that I just took the car out for it's maiden voyage on the triples there was of course teething issues. One of them involves this pipe here. The brakes worked pretty much as well as they did before (to my knowledge) however the brake pedal was pulsating kind of with the motor. I'm informed this hose should have a one way valve in it so have now purchased one and should be here next week. And a parting shot for your time. Also a quick walkaround if you're on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/BkqjBL3gbW7 Chat - https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49704-mlracings-hakosuka/&do=findComment&comment=1936391

My primary task this week over the weekend was just get the carpet and interior back in. Also after my last post about the 700rpm idle I found another manual, or maybe I was just looking at the wrong one before that says approx 1000rpm is all good for idle. Not sure which works but I'll take that as a win. The reason I was holding out on doing it sooner is I was waiting on these kick panel trims to arrive without speaker holes in them. Stoked that I now have them and they look much nicer. I did have to cut them out to fit as well which was a pain, stupid roll cage blocks. I also received the new leads.. hm the still aren't quite as good fit as the NGK ones I had before but they should work. And finally a Barry spec shot of the interior looking basically the same as it did when I got it.. next thing I need to do is get the replacement tail lights and then work out if my radiator is leaking or not.. might just end up replacing it anyway. Which would mean a fluid drop which would mean might as well do a basic fluid service at the same time.

Ahh another good day and bad day, more bad than good today unfortunately. Installed new plugs, easy job. These are the old ones which actually don't look tooooo bad aside from heaps of oil and of course the one which is totally wrecked. With new ones in it fired up perfect and quick. That's where the good ends. So these leads I got from NGK were listed for 2T-G.. ahh yes you can see my original ones on the car on the left.. and the new ones on the right. Yeah not gonna work. Back to the drawing board on that. And found there's probably a leak in the radiator. Replaced the cap as the old one was flogged so it doesn't leak there anymore.. but mystery pools of coolant are appearing. There could still be some kind of leak seeping through the top hose but I think it's coming from somewhere else. Perhaps some kind of crack in the top tank or similar. The radiator has heaps of bent pins so maybe its for the better to replace it anyway. Time to buy more parts ! Also I've adjusted the idle and idle screws so they are OK but seems like if it goes under 1000rpm it's not a good idle and usually stalls. Manual recommends 700rpm for warm idle so not sure about that one.

Hmm so not sure what happened with the fuel pump but it seems to work now.. I think perhaps it was just sitting too high and couldn't pull the gas out properly.. I tested it at a lower height and it worked so I wonder if it will work if I put it back to the place it was or try to find another spot hmm.. Also was playing around and it popped a few times out one of the carbs.. found the idle screw to be wound right out so wound it in a bit and she seems to be idling much nicer. Video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjO5lChgJcS/ Annoyingly the spring that I replaced yesterday for the starter disc.. still doesn't seem to be good. When the choke is pulled all the way it makes the hell hissing noise and it's coming from that area. Also the car runs balls when that is happening as air leaks for Africa. I think the way to combat that for now is just not pull the choke so far. I need to work out what to do with this bunch of stuff.. it looks terrible. Sometime in the past an ignittion system called Piranha was installed.. I guess it works but it just looks really untidy. Also thinking maybe the top radiator hose wasn't leaking but I've got silicon ones on the way anyway. I did find that the radiator cap is about as useful as empty air so I'll definitely need another of those. Discuss:

Good and bad tonight.. and a wall of text. Oh I guess that's just the same as normal.. always things to repair or replace after doing something else. "While I'm here" costs alot of money. So the good news is the headlight situation wasn't anything, I just had the high beam stalk on hahaha, moron. But at least that was easy. That's about where the good ends. Found out there is a leak coming from top radiator hose it looks like so I will get another hose. So the next conundrum I have is with the fuel pump. When the stereo was all in there it was no problem. Since I took all the stereo out it doesn't seem to be pumping fuel despite sounding like it's on. They have tapped into the stereo fuse to power it, or give it signal or something but either way it's done in a bit of a dodgy way. It does sound very feeble so what I plan to do is just run a wire straight from the battery and see if it is better then go from there. Also for some reason the Mikuni gasket kits that I got don't seem to fit my 40PHH despite being 40PHH kits. I know there are different types and I suppose I should've researched it first but now I'm wondering if it will be the same as 44PHH kit. Anyway, I managed to replace the spring on one of the starter discs so it doesn't flex as much now. Hopefully once the fuel pump situation is sorted it'll be back working again. Oh, also found out my tail lights are different despite looking externally the same. One has an internal reflector that the other doesn't so I'll need to suss some new ones of those.

Been doing a few bits over the weekend. Got the motivation so might as well get stuck in right? I had to clean the carbs, couldn't live with myself keeping them as terrible looking as they were. Pro tip if you don't have a fancy way to clean stuff like this is use some bars bugs (or whatever brand) wax/grease remover and some brakekleen. Works super well with a bit of time, a toothbrush and some rags. Here's a look at some of the worst bits underneath. Before and after speaks for itself. And how about this for a comparison to how they were!! Super stoked with this. I've still got the gasket sets coming in to replace gaskets in these too. Also had a sniff underneath to check for anything dodgy and found most of the steering arm bushes are flogged so I'll get some replacement tie rods and ends and will have to look for a new pitman arm too as that bush is also knackered. Good news is the steering box itself seems to be pretty OK. Found a few leaks underneath including speedo cable thing and of course the rear diff leaking like every toyota ever. Other than this and perhaps the sump gasket it seems like not too much leaking underneath. No rust either aside from a bit of surface so that makes me happy. Down either side of the interior where the scuff panels are there is this black paint.. the scuff panels are riveted on which is odd so to see what's under I'd have to drill them out but I wonder if it has something to do with the cage?

Interesting discoveries today... I decided I would remove the "pretty good sound system (previous owner)" and what a mess. Everything twist and taped, I'm surprised any of it worked. Of course they cut stuff with no hesitation so there are now holes where I don't need there to be holes.. Why is it every time I buy a Japanese classic there's always terrible wiring hah. So now I'm on the hunt for some uncut kick panel things and also I'll make a new parcel tray shelf. Hopefully that'll be enough to get it back on the road. Mint wiring on the fuel pump.. which I presume is not factory. Now for one of the interesting finds.. this car used to be caged! When I picked it up and took it for a test drive etc I noticed the front square blocks but never clicked they were for a roll cage, only when I tore out the interior is when I found the rear mounts. And also that explains why the rear seat doesn't fit that well.. and is also cut to suit a cage. I presume they kept the rear interior in when they had the cage which is interesting. I never noticed this logo before but pretty stoked to find these are Fujitsubo headers. Originally I wasn't sure if they were OEM or not due to them being very old and looked like they'd been there a while. Ahh the fun continues.. now one of the seat rail sliders won't unbolt because the captive nut behind one of the mounts has broken off.. >_< In the next few days I will jack the car up and see if there are any bonuses underneath like extra bracing or some kind of seam welding going on. Discuss https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/58863-mlracings-ta22-celica/

Oh neat learnt something today then cheers ! No other Toyota box has this ?

Made a post for sharns and info https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/58863-mlracings-ta22-celica/

Started doing some tear down today on the intake side. Binned that garbage pipe and will get some trumpets on the way. Carbs have seen better days ! Looks like they've pretty much leaked out from every seal possible. Nom nom old rusty fuel and other mysterious substances How's this for a spark plug? Turns out one of the gaskets was missing from this too (the far left one) which would not have helped air leaks. I'm amazed this car even ran as well as it did considering the plug, the oil in everything as well as one of the spark leads was missing part of it's insulation. And of course the missing/damaged intake gaskets. So I've ordered new plugs, leads, dizzy cap, gasket set for the motor and a box of brake kleen.. that should be a good start. Will also order a couple of carb rebuild kits and work out how to clean the crap off these ones. Oh maybe someone can answer this.. the build plate says it should have a T50 but it has a reverse lock out thing where you need to pull up the shifter to go into reverse. I've never seen this on a Toyota box.. any thoughts?

Post for sharns

So I was hinting at it but today I picked up the thing. It's pretty tidy overall. Runs, drives, stops all good. Steering is vague and seems like a shit load of play in the steering box but brakes are good, sounds good, goes good. I need to check out one of the carbs as it has some problem with the choke hat causing a giant air leak when it's on. Also need to remove that funky intake and put trumpets on as well as give the engine a good bit of brake kleen. Flatmate reckons it should probably be OK for roadworthy without too much dramas so once I've fixed up the couple bits I'll send it in. Oh, also it runs on after I turn it off so have to figure out why that is. Could be carb or timing related perhaps.

Yeah can ship small things to aus, and will be able to ship big things to aus soon too when we open up container options there. Send me a message or email sales@mlracing.co.nz @Brucehc

Yeah not hard to come buy, just don't have one, it's on the list though because now I'm curious about that cam

Nope and nope lol I could take the cam cover off but I don't have a new gasket to put back on it at the moment.. and chances are the gasket will disintegrate when I remove it

Went down to the shop and did some fiddling today. Short story, car runs on the triple carbs now, but won't idle. With a bit of throttle actually doesn't feel too bad but yeah long way from running nice yet. I purchased some new gaskets but turns out there were a few that weren't right so need to get a few more which I hope will improve the idling and running of the car. Old gaskets meet new gaskets. This is where I set the timing. Originally it was a bit on the retard side but read that it should be advanced for triples and this seemed to be about where it ran the best. What I'm not too sure about is the vacuum thing on the side. I presume I've got a vacuum advance distributor so unsure if leaving that vacuum line unpluged will make it run worse or better as there's nowhere for it to go. The new throttle cable looks and feels super nice, and it's strong too. A bit thicker than the original. It is a little longer though which is kind of annoying to route but seems to work. Janky ghetto fuel hose routing seems to work.. no leaks amazingly. Ideally get an electric pump, fpr etc down the line. So next on the list is to get the cold start/choke circuit working as I did find it would idle better when I activated couple of the chokes on the carbs manually. The interesting thing is even with the OEM single carb it wouldn't idle properly when cold (but it did run better than this) so I wonder if there is a different cam in here or something; it was always a bit lumpy on idle even once warm. Specs on carbs anyway are: Triple mikuni 44s 150 mains 200 air 60 pilots I did get some 57.5 pilots but seems like it runs a little better on the 60s which is kind of interesting as Mikuni recommends 52.5 for an L24 which is about as close as USA gets to an L20. Thoughts, ideas, abuse etc all welcomed here - https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49704-mlracings-hakosuka/&page=8

OK since last post I have got the smaller jets now, just need to put them in. I also purcased the throttle cable mount and hooked that up.. but then suddenly the stunt went horribly wrong.. As I was tightening the nuts to hold the cable in place it snapped off. The metal is so old and soft it had no chance. I was able to jimmy it up and make it work but I'll probably just go to a bike shop or similar and get a new cable made up. Can confirm it does work well and opens the throttle bodies Also that white stopper thing seems to just dangle around and get in the way, perhaps not necessary for triple carbs. Scraping off shitty old gaskets is not fun.. There's still much to do.. get the fuel lines sorted and also block off a coolant hose which used to run to the single carb setup. Thinking I'll just get a bolt slightly too big and wind it in with a hose clamp on it too. OK so there's not actually that much to do.. just some small things that take ages. Oh, and regarding the sticky brake situation.. I've decided to just upgrade the brakes instead of fix it.. because that's what you're supposed to do right? I've also been toying up getting a new stainless exhaust manifold in because that rusty one looks nasty.

Quiet afternoon at the shop so I thought hell with it, I'm gonna fit these triples on the car! I've ordered some new jets to bring it back down to OEM spec as at the moment they're way too huge (came off L28, big cam). Highly likely to run like garbage on the 2L but whatever, will look and sound sweet haha. Give me motivation to get an L28 working. Obviously there are a few things to work out before we can try to start it.. such as fuel hoses, coolant hoses, throttle and so on so there's a bit to do.. but they look rad! Will have to polish up the trumpets for sure! And annoyingly still the left brake caliper sticks. The whole brake system could use a going over so I will look into rebuilding the front calipers. PS: If you know of/have an L28 for sale holla at ya boi. Don't need most of the bits mainly just long block will be good. Needs to have been running, or still running. Yarns: https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/49704-mlracings-hakosuka/&page=8#comment-1888368

Had a really good day today on the Skyline. Decided I was going to get it out of the shop and go for a drive. Picked up a new battery and went out, the left side was still pulling badly and I knew it was something to do with the brakes so I pulled off the caliper and pads and had a look. Turns out it was a really simple answer. These are two piston with two pads which are the same shape, one was worn down more than other and when I put them back in after doing the discs I put them in the wrong way so had the less worn one where the more worn one was. I think the calipers need rebuilding anyway as the pistons dont fully retract in so I couldn't put new pads in but for now the braking is back to it's normal uselessness and not pulling violently to the side. I was also testing out the replaced caster arm and it's worked really well. The car doesn't track entirely straight but I feel once another alignment is done it will be really nice. Feels good to have it out and about again, oh and wired up the front fender indicators too.

New caster arms have arrived with the most recent container shipment. So that was today's task.. pretty straight forward. So the reason I needed to change the driver side one was.. well as you can see it's bent. Looking at the area surrounding the front mount I would say it's taken a punt. If I had more time I would've done an oil change too.. oh well maybe in another year I'll get around to that