Toot Toot Timmy

Have been chipping away on a few things and collecting what I need for my sound system and interior overhaul.

Removed the bumpers and body kit and re painted them with black bumper paint from Repco, took two cans and a can of cleaner, no priming required and hides imperfections and scratches making everything look new. I replaced a few munted parts like wheel flairs and mudguards with good ones I had in the shed and sanded any scrapes on the trim before painting. Will post better pictures at some stage. Fitted new park lights that look a bit too clean but make a big difference.

After a few weeks of looking for a leather match I gave up and have ended up buying 2/3 of a hide in a similar colour I will have re dyed to match next week and then send it off to the re-trimmers with the seats to be recovered. At $150 for the leather and $100 for the recolor this was a bargain.

I had a good mate whip me up these speaker panels in MDF that I will be covering in vinyl and then having colour matched to the door skins at the same time as the leather work.

Collected a few bits and pieces of audio gear over the last year to put into a one day project, have a full Kicker wiring kit to wire up a 4 channel and mono block amp, also have some dynamat to deaden out the old girl.

If you can convert my ae82 to lecy power I would pay you $5,616.00 or about as much as it drinks in gas over a year.

at 900kg all we would have to do is make it more aerodynamic and it would go OK. Better that a Prius IMHO.

I then drove a 325i manual which was very similar to a falcon ute thats been slapped onto modgies and eagers,

it felt heavy and really solid on the road and it pulled pretty damn hard but by god it was nothing on the m3

The M325i is somewhere in between the two leaning closer to the M3. A stock 325i is not that heavy to drive, heaver in feel than a Japper for sure but that's not a bad thing IMHO, especially when driving further than six meters.

Cheers for the advice. Looks like 5 front and 3 at the back are good rates for a slow and low FWD.

Will mull it over some more but the chicken shit in me is raring its sensibility and is getting worried about unknown brand made in Taiwan. Looking at just King Lows and some nice shocks.

Thanks for the advice and I know exactly where you are coming from regarding cost and application.

I am told these are a good option to BC's, both are made in Taiwan and are a good quality product.

I have seen Tein's up for gabs but have had those in a car I owned before and even of the softest setting it was a joke.. Have have the opposite in the form of H&R's where they were just to soft and bottomed out all the time meaning I had to run the car no lower than I would with lowing springs.

A quick question, I have been told I can choose my spring rates and that's great only I don't know jack about spring rates, from what I have looked at and remembering this is not track car 7kg in the front and 5kg in the back look to be a good road rate?? Does this sound about right for a FWD?

Cheers

Cheers, he is indeed a good bugger and seems great to deal with, his pricing was a decent amount cheaper than on TM and he doesn't seem the sort that would take off and close shop. I spose if they come with a warranty I cant worry.

At the price he has quoted it doesn't cost much more than a KYB/King combo of failure... not accounting for the CERT.

Good call.

Was meaning more this though:

Looked like regular E30 but had a S14 and other M3 associated parts.

http://www.s14.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=97

Ok so my Corolla is in need of new shocks all round and TBH it needs to be a lot lower, I have had a few old Corolla’s now and I have been down the lowering road a few times and approached it in different ways..

.. first was cut springs and shortened bump stops, believe it or not it handled quite well like this, seem cutting the springs found them at a great spring rate. Got sick of pink stickers and swapping out shocks and springs every second week..

.. Munroe GT GAS and Super Low Kings. Handled like ars and was soft plus rear springs were still in-captive after having shocks shortened and even at its crap uneven low stance..

.. Seeing it handled better OEM height I decided I would find a nice compromise with some KYB shocks and Low Kings, this was the best compromise and handled quite well.

I'm sure a lot of you have been down this road.

I would like to go quite low seeing this is a town car and more a daily and my priority for Handling over Looks is not so high but I don’t want to go Super lows and off the shelf shocks again and even if I do it will run me say $800 and no guaranty of desired stance.

I have found these and know they will fit and give me a whole host of adjustment.

Can anyone comment on them or has anyone tried them out, they seem to be a good price and have been offered at whatever spring rate I want.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 213954.htm

Thoughts on these?

The Italian 320IS is what you need Brad.

This is a nice M325i and a realistic price IMHO, some people want near 20k for them. I like them but they are so impractical and selfish, you cant fit anything in them!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 617301.htm

Good call and a good formula. Although I prefer face lift

Haha BMW and BMW NZ didn’t make it easy to distinguish what was what and made it further confusing when they started throwing M badges around the factory like shuriken starts in the late nineties and these days the non enthusiast has every right to be confused what’s good and what’s not. And most are not. I was just trying to simplify.

The M325i (325i Sport in Europe) and M535i were stand alone factory delivered models, granted not built by BMW M division and not proper M cars but still a dealer delivered car packaged with all the good stuff.

The M325i is a coupe only and has all the stuff you want, the M535i is its big brother and perfect if you have more stuff/Children.

So if you buy a M325i, 318Is or M3 you are safe, there are plenty of hybrids out there though running all sorts of parts bin.

M325i F/L

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 354629.htm

M325i PF/L

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 223544.htm

TBH unless its a 325i or better with a LSD they do shit skids.

The M325i is a loose unit and will try and kill you ASAP and bar the M3 the only model that is is really that much fun.

318iS

Oh yea, and the 318Is! These are a good drive, especially if it was ordered with a LSD.

and ill just leave these here.

E30 Vs. GT-R

Cheers for that. Made my morning. Loved those days of racing and especially loved watching an old N/A BMW fight it out with a brand new Nissan with twice the power. Te E30 is the most successful touring car of all time for good reason.

The thing with E30's and any BMW for that mater is unless its a proper M car, M325i, M535i or a full on M3 M5 they are quite soft, the differences between a M325i and a 325i to drive is huge,to translate into old Japa speak its comparing a AE86 to a stock KE70, same chassis but one is a sports car tuned for fun and one is bread and butter model designed for old people and both drive completely different. A M325i/M535i gains a whole host of parts no other model gets, beefy sway bars, shocks and springs, LSD, these add up and transform them.

TBH unless its a 325i or better with a LSD they do shit skids.

The M325i is a loose unit and will try and kill you ASAP and bar the M3 the only model that is is really that much fun.

Choice. Couldn't do it without ya. Will miss Wellington this year. You would have a couple of my shirts then as I do all the merchandise for Targa.

On topic I am looking at having a hide of leather colour matched to my seats, should cover the fronts of both with one hide easy.

Let’s see. Brought it for the missus off one of her work mates. After a few weeks decided it was quite a choice drive, better than any other car I have driven and very very fast.. started tinkering with a few things and before we knew it we had to find the missus a new car as the Renault had become a bit too hard core as a daily. I use it for Targa but still drive it regularly on the road, have entered a few Clubsport events for a laugh, it drives a lot better than I do.

Thanks I appreciate the encouragement. I haven't spent that much time on it, a few hours here and there after work and on the weekend.. Decided to quit drinking Alcohole through winter so I have a lot of time that I didn't before, nice to have a mini project.

Interior and sound fit out is next, and an alarm with central locking, just revived a box of Dynamat to deaden the car.

Going to Retro Vehicle Enhancements today to have my Corolla's leather seats colour matched and priced up, hope to have them re covered next week.

Funny question but does anyone know where to buy dye? As in Dye I can re colour my carpets with?? I am struggling.

Bran new from Papakura Toyota in the flash new dealership, its only been open one day

New park lights, oil filter and key.

Picked up a Alpine 9887 and had Rapid Radio throw it in for me, they did a great job and didn't charge the world, discounted the head unit and the install.

Also fitted my Momo Knob after a clean and some shoe polish.. its 15 years old.

I have always thought that is the thing to do, I always sell a car with a less than one month old WOF would expect the same when buying a car.

Unless its AIWI.

Name (first is sweet): Graham

Location: Papakura

Cars you own: Daily: 85' Toyota Corolla GT. Weekend: 06' Renault Megane RS225 F1 Tarmac Rally Car. I know I have that ars about face

Mods to them (can be brief or detailed): Corolla has some aftermarket wiper blades, Momo Shifter.

Megane has lots done but is not old School so will skip the details.

Link to pics (if you have some, and keep it a link to keep 56kers happy)

How you found out about oldschool: Japanese Retro Car show, and talk on other Forums.

Anything else you want to add: Very cool atmosphere around here, no "haters" that I have seen, enjoying reading through the projects. Impressed with the amount of active users contributing quality. As a moderator and enthusiast on on other forums I think you should all be proud of oldschool.co.nz

Fitted my badge, took a while to get it looking good, three coats of paints and having to scrape it off as it looked shit. Found an etch primer seemed to be the only thing that would stick to the sanded back badge. Gave it a coat of clear to keep it looking good and re applied it with a strip of double sided moulding tape.

Found all these great treasures underneath the back seat, a jam lid and four pens being the highlight. Also $3.10 in usable currency and 90c in expire currency... and 26 years of fluff and dirt.

Yes.

Cut, Polish, Sealer and a coat of pure carnauba. Also attacked the black with Mothers "back to black" and to be honest its a waist of time, I will be removing all the black and giving it a coat of saturn black paint at some stage, hoping to find a lower lip first.

I have been using all Mothers products because they shop with my business and I like to use businesses that use mine, I like most of their products but wouldn't recommend them all, if anyone wants advice of any products or if they would like to buy any at mates rates let me know.

It all come up ok, problem with a good clean is you see all the previous repairs, it has obviously had a knock in the passenger side rear corner and other parts have been touched up at stages, a good cut and polish can mask this but can only do so much. I am happy enough though, its only a daily run around car after all. One day I will have it fully paneled and re painted.

Finishing off badge and have the missing head rest sent away for new leather to be matched. My wife says I should be cleaning up my house and fixing the guttering but the important things come first.

Cheers for that, much appreciated, I will try them if I can’t find something locally.

Hey man. I have a factory front lip for one of these, but it has broken peice etc

If your keen let ke know, will need some fiberglass work etc, but totally transform these hatchs

Looks mint by the way!!

Keen as. Will PM you with offers of Pie's and other home baked goods.. possibly beer.

Nothing much to update.

Got 100ml of touch up paint from Shanes Car Colours in Papakura, he matched the metallic blue and put it in a nice air tight tin. Also found an old20c coin under the seat. Bonus.

Hit the treated surface rust area’s with two coats. Also touched up the door edges and stone chips.

Dug deep in my shed to find my never been used GT grill I brought from TNZ a few years back when I found they only had one left. Will be attaching the freshly painted GT badge and fitting the grill after a few adjustments to the front. Also found an entire second body kit and a F/L GT Grill with GT badge.

Here is a picture of my last GT im using for inspiration, sold it a few years back and have regretted it since as it was a very straight car, owned by a TNZ employee before me and had had some new parts thrown at it. I hope to build mine to be better and not cut as many corners.

Note F/L front spoiler with brake cooling ducts. I hade two of these, the one on the car was brand new.

Need to get a new red stripe for mine.

I had one as a fist car. Car cost me $5,800 and about $10,000 in fines about 15 years ago, they were considered a quick car back then, it was a lot of fun and got me in a lot of trouble. Sounds a bit gay but at that age a first car was my best mate! Have a real soft spot for them.

For some reason the 5-Door does nothing for me, I have had 6 AE82's over the years, one a 5-Door and it was just never as good to drive as the three door.