mjrstar

Mate has been dealing with a similar situation a knock limited Evo, he expiremented with a few brews of ethanol plus peasant 95, I think he settled on E30 for his conservative road tune, and full fat e85 in race time.

That particular engine (2.4 stroker 4g63) was pretty much garbage on straight 95.

One other thing to consider if that both Commodore and Falcon 6 cylinder models go through what I would consider "peak scumbag" phase at about 15 years old, where they are reasonably prolific but nearly all have welded diffs, mis matched wheels, shotgun exhaust, and peeling paint. 

This is where the market really troughs, after this phase the older models are then owned by decerning gentlemen, think XD, XE, VK,VL and the prices rise accordingly as they exit out from the scumbag phase.. it's very repeatable through the years. So pick your spot and you might be in to something that doesn't depreciatie much.

Maybe EA and VN are on the turning point? Perhaps some models take longer to shake off the scumbag status. 

Had a friend's ford territory that did that..one of the main relays was brown inside and occasionally it would only let about 8 volts through.. quite trickey to diagnose, uncool for her when it shuts everything off and every warning on the dash starts scrolling through..

After some poking and prodding I decided it was play in the inner end of the tie rod, not a lot, but some... I do feel like a bit of a scumbag for reusing the steering rack boot and outer tie rod end, but they passed my inspection, it did at least get a new lock tab. 

Turbocoon is dreamy, tows well, reasonable on fuel. Seating position is a little marginal with steering wheel a little low for my liking, I was able to make a vast improvement in cabin noise by fitting a bunch of additional sound deadening...

Running gear seems well capable of big mileage, but expect ongoing brake and suspension maintenance.. mine has Brembos which has eliminated the shudder, but added more brake dust to the equation.

Interior is ok for the age, no nav in mine being fg1 and the leather on the driver's seat hasn't worn that well considering pretty low mileage.. it's slightly better than my 240,000 km airtrek but Falcon has only 1/4 the mileage..

Would I get another one, yes, would stuff go wrong with it, probably, does it make me grin when it's on full boost at 2200rpm, you bet it does.

On 14/03/2024 at 15:21, cletus said:

It looks like they are asking you to check if the play is within manufacturer specs 

 

Ie they don't want to make a decision themselves 

Gah I don't want to diagnose something I just want to fit new parts and get on with my life. 

Wof question, is this just talking about needing a new inner tie rod, which is nice and easy or some more balls aching like a complete rack swap required?

Nissan ag0 from ~1987

The lease cost still has to cover the depreciation, so leasing isn't a free lunch to avoid the loss.. 

Gss342 is algood, I have used them as a near OEM fitment on a bunch of stuff.

I have messed around with numerous clutch setups that have been piecemeal together from different cars.. they can be trickey to get juuust right..

It kind of sounds like the release bearing is backing off too far from pressure plate, or it's getting air in the system, or maybe a spongy clutch hose. Ie you don't get the travel at the release bearing that you apply at the pedal..

Finger damage probably occured when you fitted the bigger master which is over-throwing the release bearing, assuming the bearing profile and diameter are correct...

Great job, Isn't it amazing how much time and energy can go into a single component..

oh yeah I'll just whip up a shift mechanism that does exactly what I want and doesn't fall apart, or make shit ho backwards..

This is what the mx5 one ended up looking like, the Nissan box didn't come with a shifter, and needed to come forward anyway due to engine position..

(Note this was version 2)

Yeah, not the end of the world... I have a narrow block to w5* Toyota bell housing unused in my stash, and a spare vr4 block.

Although unfortunately most w boxes are overpriced garbage these days.. it was part of the early plan and the Nissan 6 speed the mx5 project ended up with , although a little bulky is by far a superior option..

1 hour ago, shrike said:

Hi Dave

Remind me do the evo 4 4g63 motors have holes in the block to bolt engine mounts too? 

From memory the 4d56 uses the Wideblock Bellhousing Pattern that was commonly found on the Mitsubishi 2.6L 4g54

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Astron_engine

You would need a wideblock 4g63 block for it to work

From memory the sohc rwd 4g63/4g64/4g69 motors for the petrol utes (mitsi/greatwall/haval) are also wide block.

Though it wouldn't be hard to grab a spare gearbox with one of these as well if your pulling a motor anyway

Any 7 bolt 4g63 block should take the evo 4 internals and pretty sure you can swap an evo 4 head onto any of them (4g63,4g64,4g69)

 

The Evo head swap can be done, but it's not that simple...

Vr4 6 bolt has reasonable provisions for a rwd engine mount arrangement.

Probably an aftermarket Dorito motor item could be worth looking in to?

You could consider hard line with a flare and an AN dash fitting for the boost reference on the wastegate where heat is an issue...

Then connect your rubber hose somewhere closer to the boost control solenoid.. works well after I suggested this on a mates 2jz with twin wastegate gate twin scroll with one wastegate well tucked away into a hot spot.. he also has water cooling to keep the diaphragm in tact... 

7 hours ago, Vintage Grumble said:

Yeh 70 series is obvs a very niche market, I guess their selling points are just BASIC & HEARTY AF. I think it makes me sad how soft and girly other utes/4wd's have gotten, and they are like the last relic of a bygone error. I'm actually surprised how many of my customers have them TBH.

It's a Landrover without the breaking down a leaking.

On 02/02/2024 at 20:56, cletus said:

Possibly unpopular opinion,  but..

70 series have to be one of the most over rated over hyped over priced vehicles ever. Toyota must have been laughing their arses off the whole production run 

80 or 90k to buy one and it's bare bones, still a design mostly from the 80s, the V8s don't actually go that well, they are heavy, ride like shit, the track width is considerably different front to rear, they have dx corolla door handles etc etc etc

 

So you buy one, and then need to spend another small fortune to make it actually good. Then once you've barfed up the whole arb catalog on it , it's too heavy and you can only carry a pie before it's over GVM

I had one of the V8 70 series for a work vehicle in when I was in Hedland. Maybe they are good for something but I couldn't figure out what..

if was lucky I was able to swap with a Camry for my shift which was far superior as I needed exactly 0 of its land cruisers off-road capability.

On 06/02/2024 at 09:31, sheepers said:

Anyway I have decided to buy a hilux surf.

Currently looking for one. 

Would like a red one. 

Fucked paint no drama because I'll probably re paint it. 

 

Blue Prado? That's basically the same as a red surf yeah?

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/184577471384574/?mibextid=dXMIcH

9 hours ago, 87creepin said:

If one were to purchase “street-friendly” semi slicks like the advan ad08r, wouldn’t their grip be quite bad because semi slicks are supposed to be warmed up and then they perform well? 
 

and they last for a few heat cycles right?

I dailied Dunlop 02g and 03g on my Evo, it was fine. Even in the wet a semi slick is fine unless you are doing dumb shit in standing water.. 

The only disclaimer here is if you are in near ice conditions they can be marginal.

The ad08r has a pretty open pattern to some of the others I have tried so I'd say they'd be fine..

Things to look out for in a 2000's (or actually pretty much any)Falcon

Rust, diff whine, slipping trans, rust, shuddery brakes,fading paint, leaks, falling apart interior, rust etc..

Maybe the "road tax" take on lawn mowers, chainsaws and boats is not insignificant? I'd assume some bean counters have an approximation of this number on hand.

Have used them before for Honda parts.. they were fine, although I think the parts I was after were in stock.

I think @chris r used to work there?

4 hours ago, 87creepin said:

I’ve got about three good Bridgestone potenza tyres, two re003 and one s001 that were on a car I crashed in 2017 and less than 1,000km old. 
 

now cos they were made in 2016, appear To be in good condition, have always been stored undercover, would they still be okay to use? 

If not will just use for 11s or in my case 1s

I'm running some 2017 spec tyres on my wagon, it's got a bit over 40,000km on them, tread wear wise they may have seen their last wof, but I'm not concerned with imminent failure due to the age of the rubber.

With the 4.77 first and second are pretty close to what my Honda will do with 8750 rpm and a 4.4 final, which works fine in real life conditions with maybe 190 flywheel HP on a good day and 1000kg.

The difference is my 3rd is good for maybe 125kph, 4th 155kph and 5th 185kph which is what helps the little 1800 feel alive.

I'd be looking at something that brings 3rd 4th 5th closer and ignore 6th for racing duties and treat it just as a touring gear.