Taistorm

Long time, no update.. 2 years later... Had a quick steering box heat deflector hammered up then got the car back home in the garage. Sold the recaro seats as they were still a little too wide and had fouling issues when trying to slide and had next to no clearance with the recliner adjuster. Picked up a pair of Daihatsu Mira TRXX seats which were a bit narrower and pretty supportive and some awesome chaps off OS helped me out getting them up from down south. This brings us to early 2021, had to move out of our flat and relocated to a small unit around the corner that had no garage so this went into storage at a family friend's shed up north to hibernate. Next we decided to have a kid so the car had been put on hold a bit longer as priorities changed up. We also were in the process of building a house so funneled our money into the drafting then after wasting thousands of dollars and a decent year the banks no longer wanted to lend us money to build which was lame, so also no spare coin for the car. Now on with early 2022. Due to the above we decided to plan to move back to Aus so we can buy a house and get on the big money to try get ahead. I decided to try sell this even though I knew I'd regret it, had a few people dead keen but no one ended up following through due to various reasons. In hindsight I'm glad it didn't sell even though I won't be around it for a long time. The family friend who had been storing could no longer keep it at theirs so I managed to convince the olds to let me convert part of their firewood shed to secure dry storage for this thing to slumber in. I'm no chippy, nor am I a concreter but gave it a crack. I used only reclaimed timber from around the property, a few lengths of timber that the old boy had milled years ago, old tin roofing iron that was left on the property and left over bits and pieces from odd jobs. Really only needed to buy some nails, screws, and materials for the concreting (which was all mixed in a mixer). None of the shed posts were square and I was truly limited with what I had haha so don't be too harsh on my shed bodge. We had a digger scrape out the bark and dirt and built up shit to reveal the compacted metal that was laid about 10years ago (awesome that it saved me a tonne of work). Filled in the holes with sand and metal to get it semi level. Boxed it up, and prepped it for pouring. Used a bowed piece of timber to try and screed it hahaha rough as guts. Next I build an inner wall to section it off from the wood storage. Rebuilt and added to the rear and side, framed up the front then screwed some iron to it. Made a door frame on some cheap hinges and hung a door that barely had enough clearance for the tiny mazda. Then earlier today we picked up the 50 year old mazda and threw it into its new home. This was all done across the last 1-2 months. It's locked away for the foreseeable future. I'm off to Perth on Tuesday and it looks like I'll probably accept a job in the mines and be starting in a few weeks. Fingers crossed when I'm back in NZ next April I'll be able to drop it off at a shop to continue with the build. We'll see how things go anyway. Thanks for looking. Tai

Usually just swap them out bro. I've never replaced the bearings besides on a cat skidsteer that had this oddball setup that was grease one side and oil on the other.

Another short lived project. Was planning to keep this one as it didn't owe me much as I'm planning to move over to Aus shortly, however my Mazda hadn't sold (which is a good thing) so this was next on the firing line. Sold in a day so maybe I should have listed it for more ! Went off to a super chuffed buyer so that's a good thing. Chur

Contact chamberlain auto springs im Christchurch. They make cobra springs and can set them up however you like.

Awesome progress bro! Looks so good.

Not chch but I would try AES in Henderson, Auckland. They're pretty good to deal with and have a good range.

Fake update. Bought a 2nd hand factory bov, gutted it out and dropped it off to my machinist mate to do his magic to blank it off. A block of speights and a block of alloy later, he spun up a alloy plug and pressed it in with loctite. Old: Now I just need to find a cheap bov so it can make dumb noises. I'll probably get sick of it after a blat but I'll keep the original diverter valve to swap back if I need.

This was it. More or less standard but it was mint with leather interior, sunroof, heated seats etc.

Our mk5 gti used to use about 1-1.5L of oil between services. Had been told this is very common from a Volkswagen specialist who did some other work on the car. That was using penrite oil as well.

Have you tried any engineering shops as opposed to fabricators?

Another piece turned up today.

Not a real update but I've got a second hand Kurt's custom dump pipe coming over from Aus. I've also put in an order on amayama for all the gaskets/seals/other bits (hopefully everything I need) to swap over the dump pipe. Really not looking forward to this as it looks like a prick of a thing to do so may just work a few more hours and pay someone else to do it hahaha as I'm a lazy cunt sometimes. From what I've read apparently just by upgrading the dump and a 3" exhaust the boost increases by about 3psi and can see gains of about 50hp as the factory dump pipe is super restrictive. See how it goes anyway...

These turned up today! Hopefully get these in sometime soon.

Haha might have to grab a few!

Plates on this morning and shot up to washworld for a quick once over. Lowering springs should be here early next week but they probably won't go on for a little while yet. Also looking at getting a Kurtz custom downpipe from Aus now as ones popped up second hand for cheap. Also filled this thing up from empty fuel light. Damn fuel is expensive, 70L of 98 about $185! Good thing I have a work car and will only drive this maybe once a week... Tai

Finished cutting this thing last week. What a mission! It looks a lot better so that's good but I'm so amateur at it. Also I received a few things in the post today... 3" exhaust from dump pipe back. Rear sections are stainless and the front section is just mild steel. I think it's got a 4" bore on it, I'll see how it goes for now but I'm keen to swap it out for some twin pipes. Really wanted to go for a twin 2" exhaust system with twinpipes on either side but this second hand system came up cheap as. It was off a facelift soarer with a Kurt's kustoms downpipe, hopefully there's not much modification needed to bolt it up as I'm a lazy cunt but we'll soon find out. Also got these.. Have been wanting to get this plate for years, it was intended for my Mazda (which it will end up on at some stage). Limit break in regards to the high revving rotang but also a nod to my gamer/nerd side for anyone who is into the Final Fantasy series puhuhuhu. Chur

Picked up some wheel nuts this morning and threw them on. Pretty stoked, it looks heaps better. Took it for a drive and there weren't any rattles or wobbles so no need for balancing. Front wheel fitment is nice but the rear needs to be spaced out about 20mm. I'm also hoping to drop it about 40mm and all should be gravy - still want the thing driving without rub and scrapage. Chur

Spent another couple hours trying to tidy up the front end. Look heaps better but it really still needs someone to do it properly, well really it needs a new paint job but oh well. Tidier for the time being. Also picking up some wheels nuts tomorrow for this so will get the wheels on if I get a sec.

I've also picked up some wheels. They're Work Termist TM-1, staggered set in 18x8 +35 and 18x9 +38. They're by no means mint but tidy enough. Got them for a good price but damn have wheels got expensive in the last few years! Everyone is asking stupid money these days but I guess you've got to pay the cost to be a boss. Unfortunately my accounts only allow for this much dish for the time being. Went to throw them on yesterday but I found out the factory wheels are shanked nuts where as these are taper seat so I'll need to wait a few days until the public holidays are over to grab some. Im also on the hunt for some lowering springs, will be in touch with Chamberlain springs down south to organise something to drop it a bit.

Had an amateur attempt at trying to cut this thing today. Spent about 2 hours giving it a quick clean and had a go on the buffer. Ran an El cheapo crc heavy cutting compound and then went over it with the meguiars scratchx. I only had enough time to do the left side of the vehicle - probably a piss poor effort but fuck me it's a boring task and stupidly hot today. Couldn't get anymore time though as I've recently had a baby so time is slim at the moment. Will see how we go tomorrow. Here's some results... didn't even realise it was a metallic navy blue haha thought it was just straight standard...

Not sure if this will eventuate to anything but with the joy of picking up another vehicle the mind always tends to wander and gets excited. As some of you may have seen in the 'Goes hard for what it is' thread, I recently picked up a 1994 Toyota Soarer GTT-L. Got it off this old boy operator at my work for an excellent price, I even offered him more but he was happy to let it go for what he was happy with. GC. He was the first NZ owner with 17,000kms on the clock and it's now sitting at only 76,000kms! Its running the early non-vvti 1jzgte and twin parallel turbo setup mated to the A340E automatic. It has the optioned sunroof, tems suspension, wood grain trim and rear air purifier system with the awesome digital HUD gauge cluster. Full log book of service history and wofs too, stoked as! Mechanically it is mint, veeery slight tick from the engine and I think the turbos are a little smokey (apparently these run ceramic turbos which are renown for de-laminating and going smokey). Interior is pretty tidy, only a small crack at the top of the driver's door card and some staining on the carpet and seats. The body however has seen better days - covered in tiny shopping trolley dings, scratches around the edges and pretty bad paint fade on the rear wing, bumper and roof. The plan at this stage is to do some minor mods, a general tidy up and roll as is. Then in the near future wind up the boost and slowly collect bits and pieces to turn this into a weapon. I've got a mate over in Aus that has a 600rwhp JZX100 who's been feeding me all sorts of info in regards on how to get an easy 400hp out of the 1jz. In reality I should be spending time and money on the Mazda but with it being stored over an hour away from where I live and not having access to work on it for the near future motivation is at a low. Anyway here are some pics of the Toyota as I received it. and the worst of the body.. it also has dents/scratches right up the left side of the vehicle.

This thing is sweet man. Very jealous!

With the shaft/carrier that the 5th gear needle roller bearings sit on, you can probably get it metal sprayed and spun as an easier/cheaper alternative to replacing. There's an awesome old bloke in onehunga, Auckland called Malcolm at MacLean Metalsprayers who sorts alot of similar work for us. Unsure if there's someone down the line that does similar work but worth looking into.

Yeah I would probably look at fuel first, possibly not the issue but it's an easy place to start. Could be as easy as perished lines causing air leaks or possible blockages. I've had many call outs from machinery not starting or running like a bag of shit due to them having fuel blockages in the tank.

https://nzsafetyblackwoods.co.nz/en/speedglas-welding-helmet-9100xxi-air-parp-adflo-each--03056455?gclid=CjwKCAjw_L6LBhBbEiwA4c46usZt_1qzCPp2wszTNuYNFjvkPtG5tKxy5dCBa3vW36msVJIoQIr70BoCqP8QAvD_BwE Have been rolling this for the last 4 months. Pretty spendy but one of the cheaper respirator mask setups (got it for about $1600 through trade deals and a special sale). Definitely recommend if you're welding often as I do a decent amount of heavy fabrication at work, usually a few full days a week so it gets a good workout. I've only needed to charge the battery a handful of times and the filters are barely worn in. I've never had any issues with sore eyes or arc eye in the last 5 odd years I've been welding and and my previous hood was a ASAB Sentinel A50. Only reason I upgraded was due to work hookups and also I've had galv/zinc poisoning in the past (which is fucking horrible, really bad fever and aching muscles for about 1-2 days) due to fumes. The only real issue is with it being a little bulkier with the lines and belt, it can be pretty difficult with work on site getting into tight places especially if I'm climbing under track gear or such on a bulldozer or what have you.