Snoozin Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Okie dokie then... After a fairly rigourous weekend I have this car up in Auckland, safely in my shed. A thankyou to a number of people is in order, namely Sam (Dodgysam) for the ute, Cam (slacker.cam) for the trailer, Ed (Orion) for the roadtrip company, and John (CXGPWR) for coming to help unload all of my treasure at 10:30pm on a Sunday night. Ended up with the car on the trailer chock full of parts, plus the deck on the ute crammed full of parts... and I still have a trailer load minimum sitting at my folks place! We'll start with the bad things eh? - the car is coated with epic amounts of shed filth, 7 months in a barn has not been kind - bonnet is royally, properly fucked from the blasting - there are a few scratches on it from where cats or possums have been crawling on it, hopefully it's a simple buff to sort these out. - little bit of uncovered primer overspray that's visible through the fresh air vent!!! Argh!!! - wheelarches not done in stonechip/underseal as requested The good things! - engine bay looks spectacular! Shiny, red and better than a new one. - I have a new, good bonnet from Wez that will be painted to suit and slapped on So I need to come up with a plan of attack for the car. Looking at the empty hole, with the wiring loom just sitting there I think the best thing to do is to first get an engine dummied up in the hole and begin a wire tuck to hide the majority of the wires. This post is essentially going to serve as a reminder, something to hopefully keep me focused and to get some work done in a methodical manner. - sort out bonnet and overspray issues - get original motor bolted in the hole purely to work out wiring - work on loom hiding/extending/shortening to suit original ignition system (future plans won't use it) - once wiring is done, remove engine and start on reconstructing front end with all new parts - install front coilovers with rekitted/recond calipers and skimmed discs - strip and powercoat front bumper iron - strip diff housing, paint with POR15 - clean up drum backing plates, repaint, new wheel cylinders and shoes - install U code center and appropriate axles - figure out appropriate shock and spring combo in the rear to match front height - tart up original 4K - maybe even treat it to a refresh - clean up K50 gearboxes to mintness - reinstall original 4K at this stage so I can start driving it again Sounds expensive and time consuming but I'll see what I can manage! Pictureless update epic fail I know, but tonight I'll roll it out of the shed and pop some pics up of the bay and current state of the car/bolt the A3A's back onto it because this is a good thing to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted September 30, 2011 Author Share Posted September 30, 2011 Current status: Engineless but awesome, I think. Add to this some pictures of PROGRESS! Awwwww yeeeeaaaaah. That doesn't happen too often now does it? After a hearty clean, of 7 months worth of farm/barn/general filth was removed from the paintwork of my baby. It still looks pretty bloody sharp, however there are several abrasions and scratches that have been caused (I can only surmise) by possums and cats climbing over the thing as it was barn stored. I've removed a few with a light polish, so I don't think it will be much to worry about. The current state of the engine bay... shiny! Pretty chuffed with the job overall, barring the damage to the bonnet caused by blasting - more on that later - but the spots where the brackets have been removed, and holes filled are undetectable. Right hand side inner guard - the battery tray has been removed from just forward of the guard and some holes filled. Passenger side inner guard, voltage regulator removed from the front of the strut tower and once again holes have been welded up. Firewall, relatively untouched bar a few holes filled... In behind the grille, I did consider a satin black finish on this, but as it was red from factory I thought it best to retain as much originality as possible... if I don't like this at least it's simple to go back to a satin black finish. Scuttle panel on both sides of the car, both of these spots had fairly serious rot in them. BAM! The rust is gone! Bugger about the overspray on the wiper mechanism but an easy fix I guess. Psuedo arty shot of brand new fasteners used to reattach the panels. I'm thinking stainless cap screws would be cooler... so these will be replaced. Argh! The bad part... the bonnet is poked, with the distortion clearly evident in these pics. A bit pissy about it, at least I wasn't charged, and Wez (1vaknd, who is the MAN by the way) has kindly assisted with providing a replacement bonnet. Lastly - the motivational pic (as long as it doesn't overshadow the actual progress!!!) as scribed by everyones favourite automotive artist, Nikk (Squid). When I saw it, I think my words were something along the lines of FUCK YES. Ok so the A3A's are a touch wider than what I have, but you get the general idea. Over and out - broadcast your thoughts on my hatchback here ---> //oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4207 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted December 28, 2013 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 28, 2013 Did a couple of things today. So I've had the coilovers kicking around completed, since about 2009 I think. Initially (as in previous posts) I intended to simply refurbish the stock calipers, throw some new rotors at it and be done. I got as far as stripping the calipers back and acquiring all the seals... then realised the rotors are pretty much NLA. The Repco/BNT listings inevitably result in being supplied a KE70 rotor, which is slightly too large in diameter. Nevermind.  Anyway, a while ago I began researching, with the help of an esteemed member of Club K, front brake options. I have settled on the Wilwood Dynalite 4 pot caliper, Hawk HP+ pads and a set of commonly available vented rotors which require adapting to the stock KP hub and remain mounted in the stock position so I don't end up with an excessively wide track.  Pics below from todays proceedings, none of which could have happened without the welding, machining and fabrication skills of Sheepers, Esq. IMG_7339 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7390 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7343 by Richard Opie, on Flickr  IMG_7375 by Richard Opie, on Flickr  IMG_7430 by Richard Opie, on Flickr  Better photos to come, I wasn't able to complete a final assembly of the strut/hub/rotor combo (which I also chucked new TGP wheel bearings on) due to being unable to find anywhere that sold M10x25 grade 8.8 bolts on a Saturday afternoon.  Check back because I will be doing stuff on this again, and TBH have HEAPS of shit I have been doing in fits and starts I should really document.  Thanks!  Discuss - //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/18803-snoozins-1981-kpiz-starlet/   11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted January 7, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 7, 2014 Right then, since I'm on holiday I figured I'd best make some attempt to get some work done on this old thing. Step one was rolling it out into the sunlight. The front end parts have all been refitted, with nice freshly plated nuts and bolts to maintain a good clean appearance. IMG_7462 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7471 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Visible in this never before seen shot of both of the jalopies together, are the new refurbished rain gutter trims. These are made out of some weirdo plastic-tinfoil hybrid shit that turns to dust with age, cracks and generally looks rubbish. I'd never been happy with my existing ones and managed to salvage these items off a car Mark (AE25) and I wrecked a couple of years ago. A quick prep, repaint and refit and they're looking better than ever. IMG_7474 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Another piece of work completed by the good lads at GT Refinishers in Penrose, was the painting and fitting of a new bonnet to replace the previous one that while it was painted ok, was royally fucked by the last painter who did some noob sandblasting to it and warped it beyond repair. Now nice and straight and as it ought to be. IMG_7567 by Richard Opie, on Flickr In addition to plating all of my fasteners, some of the fittings and brackets etc have also been done to ensure uniformity of finish throughout. This is the bonnet catch, you can also see the radiator blank off panel which has been powdercoated, next to this but not visible in this shot is a completely refurbished radiator fan which looks brand new. IMG_7493 by Richard Opie, on Flickr And the brake master cylinder and booster have both been rebuilt and painted. IMG_7499 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Here's a size comparison between the new brake rotors and the old solid items. IMG_7522 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7535 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Over the past couple of years I've been acquiring wheels when I find suitable ones pop up for a good rate. These are some of the current line up, 14x6 +3 BRX BR-1, 13x7 -5 (ish) Riverside, 14x6.5 0 SSR Brightspeed, 13x7 +6 and -8 Hayashi Street and 13x6 +6 Advan A3A IMG_7539 by Richard Opie, on Flickr And lastly, this is what I'm working towards installing this week, although plating and powdercoating of a few items is required before I can do it. New crossmember, new TGP lower arms, new TGP tie rod ends, reconditioned steering rack with new rack ends, powdercoated swaybar with new bushes, reconditioned hubs with longer wheel studs, new grease caps and new wheel bearings, homebrewed coilovers with T3 camber plates, 200lb springs and new Boge shocks, T3 RCA's, Wilwood Dynalite 4 pot with custom caliper brackets, larger rotors and a Cusco strut brace. IMG_7560 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Before I can do this though, I need to get up in the guards and apply some body deadener/underseal type shit. Thanks for looking! Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/18803-snoozins-1981-kpiz-starlet/ 26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted January 10, 2014 Author Share Posted January 10, 2014 I haven't achieved a huge amount, due to awaiting coating etc on a few bits. However here's where the car currently sits (excuse the phone photos please): 20140110_171637 by Richard Opie, on Flickr I've dropped the old crossmember, arms, swaybar, rack etc and biffed them. 20140110_171726 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Today I also cleaned and degreased the arches of cavity wax and attacked them with a rubber undercoat product. They came up pretty sweet! Next step is to assemble the brakes to the struts, check for clearances then have some new brake lines made up to suit the Wilwoods. Is braided worth the extra expense? //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/18803-snoozins-1981-kpiz-starlet/ 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 The final piece of the front end puzzle is complete! IMG_1349 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Fresh powdercoating on the brackets and knuckles, now I can assemble everything and pop it in the car! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted February 21, 2014 Author Share Posted February 21, 2014 So Richy, how's your 'spension coming along? Well, it's going pretty ok for the most part. Anyway, I shall let the photos do the walking/talking/gawking. This is how they looked all assembled at long last, everything torqued up, nice powdercoated brackets installed and hubs packed full of grease and topped off with nice new genuine Toyota dustcaps which I then polished because I could. IMG_9004 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_9009 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Then I tried to fit them to the car, and this is where the smile was wiped off my face a bit. Ok so it was muggy, hot and generally uncomfortable and I got quite grumpy when this became apparent: IMG_9018 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Disc is touching the LCA! OH DEAR! Thankfully, due to the help of some Facebook buddies I've been pointed in the direction of Bugeye KP steering knuckles, which have a different balljoint offset vs the strut bolts. I have some en route to try out, so will test fit before I go sandblasting and coating and generally spending money on them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted April 28, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 28, 2014 IMG_3464 by Richard Opie, on Flickr  So I got this. What a K series sellout. Probably the worst call ever but it was a relatively good deal.  So... 4AGE smallport, TRD Atlantic pistons, shotpeened rods, balanced bottom end, TRD headgasket, ports tidied up, on stock cams for now. One of kpr's old inlet manifolds with silvertop ITB's. Various new TGP parts abound. Also came with a Toda flywheel and a fancy clutch which I can't remember the type but it is a sprung center 3 puck. Came with a V5 Link which will be up for sale soonlytimes.  Also came with a T50 equipped with a C's short shifter, and a T series rear packing a 2 way TRD LSD.  Could be fun. So once the car is back on it's wheels, it's time to start removing the ancillaries from this engine and tidying everything up to immaco-spec and make things more hidden. Other plans too but I will enlighten all as I go. 35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted May 3, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 3, 2014 Today. I went into the shed and made a vow to get this old thing on it's wheels. Which was achieved! Â In pictures, it kinda went a little bit like this: Â So in order to negate the ever so annoying problem I encountered with the brake rotors mashing themselves against the lower control arms, I acquired (after some searching I must add) some early KP Starlet steering arms which have a different kingpin inclination basically. They needed some refinishing because like all old car parts they were oily and grotty. IMG_3492 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Boom! No more clearance issues, in fact, we now have millions of clearances! The added bonus here is a degree or so of free negative camber. IMG_3497 by Richard Opie, on Flickr With the struts and brakes properly offered up to the car, the end result is something akin to this below. You can also see the braided lines I've had made up for the front end. IMG_3501 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3511 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Strut tops fit like a glove - Cusco strut brace installed because I could right now. IMG_3522 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3530 by Richard Opie, on Flickr And lastly, this is a 13" Advan A3A bolted on over top of the brakes. Plenty of room in there, there's about 3mm to the caliper however. But it's enough. IMG_3537 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Actually that wasn't lastly at all. I threw something in the engine bay to simulate the weight of a 4AGE over the front axle and get an idea of ride height. I think these springs are going to be a little soft however. IMG_3517 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted May 4, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 4, 2014 After a solid day of hiking today, I returned home and removed the diff. IMG_3540 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Because with the engine, I also got an AE86 T code diff, the later kind with the big axles. It's got handy dandy disc brakes. And a handier even dandier TRD 2 way LSD inside. IMG_3544 by Richard Opie, on Flickr KP gear is so cute!!!! 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted May 11, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 11, 2014 Today, with assistance from the ever so kind and dashing Mr. Sheepers Steaken-Cheese we made a start on operation "chuck a T series rear end in there Trev." So here, in a few photos is how the day went. Firstly, I set about removing all the parts from the AE86 diff, not before a hub to hub measurement was taken so we kind of knew how much to shorten it by. IMG_3566 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Whilst I did all this, sheepers made up a jig of sorts and welded all the old KP arms into place where they sit on the original diff, in the name of easy location of mounting points: IMG_3559 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Then we set about removing the mounts from each diff, in my case I wa stationed on the AE86 housing with the shittier of the two angle grinders. Thanks to thin cutoff wheels everything was a relative breeze and shortly things were looking as below, following a quick burn with a flapdisk to tidy it all up. IMG_3578 by Richard Opie, on Flickr After marking the center line of the diff as a means of lining up each side for re welding and carefully measuring twice the serious cut took place. 35mm chunks were removed where the tubes meet the diff center. After the below pic was taken, the edges were chamfered. IMG_3586 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Now this is the part I found the most interesting - how to keep the diff straight while welding, so as it resembles something not akin to a long bow once stitched back together. Everybodies favourite slammed Crown builder had a technique in mind, kind of detailed below. Basically 4 rings turned up, replace the carrier bearings and axle bearings in the diff. A length of solid round stock is then slipped through them all to keep the diff true enough to tack together. Later on these will also be used to correct and variances in how straight the housing is as more welds are added due to mounts etc. IMG_3596 by Richard Opie, on Flickr As of the days end, we had a tacked together housing featuring a revised width of 35mm less per side. IMG_3604 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted May 20, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 20, 2014 Here, thanks to the welding powers of the sheeper, is a shortened AE86 T code housing that will bolt into a KP61 Starlet (we think). It's pretty straight, 1 or 2mm in it which tbh is better than a factory one. IMG_3683 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Golly Richy, I heard shortening T code axles for a KP was impossible, how ever is that going to work? Well, since sheeper is a much smarter man than I, he knows a thing or two about metal and doing fabricatory type activities with it, so below is a few shots of the start of the process. Step one, pop axle in lathe (something prepared earlier) and heat in order to prep for weld and burn off as much contamination as possible - gotta remember these suckers have been bathed in oil for nearly 30 years or somesuch. IMG_3636 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Step two, part one. Build up the section to be resplined with weld. At first glance the diameter of the spline vs the shaft diameter (after the step down) is identical, measuring with a vernier shows spline diameter is marginally larger than the axle diameter. This is due to the splines being roll formed from factory, which essentially displacing the steel and creating this larger diameter. Since we will be machining new splines, the axle needs to be built up to the spline diameter -Â this is done using a spiral weld process (and the applicable welding rods for the material, ER80S chrome-moly rods) which involves spinning the axle at super low RPM, laying one long bead of weld around the circumference. IMG_3638 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Step two, part two. Leave axle to cool, prior to machining. This is an opportune moment to indulge in a cup of piping hot English Breakfast and perhaps a choccy biscuit. IMG_3645 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Step three. Fairly simple here, machine the welded section back to spline diameter. Following this, the axle was further machined to emulate the original step in diameter from the main section of the shaft to the splined area. IMG_3661 by Richard Opie, on Flickr The axle was then polished using emery tape, with the next stage in the process being the responsibility of a man who specialises in chomping out splines and further from that a man who specialises in heat treating. Heat treating process will be induction hardening, as per factory treatment on these items. Package en route from the US also, so all going to plan this will be ready to bolt into the car in a couple of weeks... 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 SO MUCH PRETTY. T3 4 link arms, using FK RSM series rod ends which are PTFE lined for certifiable happytimes. Not pictured are the stainless spacers to enable fitment to KP brackets. IMG_3727 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_3737 by Richard Opie, on Flickr They also have stainless steel spacers to fit into the stock locations. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted July 13, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 13, 2014 A weekend of progress! IMG_9539 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Diff fit tested, all the links fit up without drama and it moves freely throughout the full range of movement. IMG_9510 by Richard Opie, on Flickr I between times, I acquired some platforms and springs for the rear. Springs are typical 65mm ID coils, length of 180mm and 200lb/in spring rate. IMG_9550 by Richard Opie, on Flickr The axles returned from the engineers with fresh new splines cut and have also been induction hardened to hopefully negate any chance of munching up splines due to the mighty torque produced by a 4AGE. IMG_9578 by Richard Opie, on Flickr With help again from the masterful sheepers and his magical machine that glues metal together, the next task was to create somewhere for the spring platforms to live on top of the diff housing. This shot shows the rough platform tacked in place so we could work out the right angle to mount it on the diff, due to the movement of the diff being in an arc as opposed to simply up and down. If the platform is angled too far forwards or backwards you run the risk of the threaded section clashing with the coil. IMG_9604 by Richard Opie, on Flickr After much trial and error (which is boring and not worth taking photos of), the mount location was finalised and the mounts welded into position for good. Side bracing ensures they're solid as hell and up to certifier satisfaction. I will point out here I couldn't have done this without the help of sheepers, being able to chop pieces up with an angle grinder isn't conducive to finishing a project within a project like this and without the welding and lateral thinking skills of the man with many Toyota's I'd still be sitting around talking about doing this. IMG_9588 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_9586 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Final couple of shots show roughly the final ride height, the diff is resting on the jack with the weight of the car on it, with the wheel centers in line with the ends of the diff. Not super low, but I'm happy. Easily able to go lower with a simple spring change.  Next up - reconditioning the brake calipers, acid dip and painting of diff housing and setting up the LSD in the carrier again for final assembly! 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted August 6, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 6, 2014 Anyway, the spring platforms ended up being a little bit off, and not allowing the spring to sit flat against each surface (top and bottom) with the spring fully uncompressed... as we overcompensated somewhat for the diff movement under compression. This resulted in not having enough droop travel when the spring seated flat when under some compression. So this evening sheepers popped around and modified the location of the platforms. Now it all sits as it should, with totally acceptable droop and compression travel. Also, other things: IMG_4533 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Bearings pressed onto axles, now! IMG_4559 by Richard Opie, on Flickr New Bilstein rear shocks, acquired! IMG_4569 by Richard Opie, on Flickr This is a TRD 2way LSD center. T code 4.3:1 ratio. Lush. IMG_4578 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Stack of goodies, new carrier bearings, new pinion bearings and a new crush tube. Diff carrier has been acid dipped and I'll paint it prior to assembly. IMG_4553 by Richard Opie, on Flickr On it's wheels for the time being... it's been a while!!! But happy with the height, and especially the room I now have to play with in the rear guards with the narrower diff. 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 WARNING! ANTI CLIMACTIC UPDATE AHEAD!  So I'm trying to smash out one small job on this per week, or even one big job if time and money allows. Anywords, this weekend with the help of sheeper and his vice I managed to rebuild the rear calipers. IMG_5025 by Richard Opie, on Flickr These were sandblasted back to bare steel, pistons removed, bores cleaned and in the end it turned out the pistons were pitted beyond usefulness - managed to find one brand new piston, and had the other resleeved with stainless. New TGP seal kit installed, then calipers painted up with VHT caliper paint to a nice semi gloss black. Mounting hardware etc all replated. IMG_5028 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Backing plates also painted following some straighting of the edges which were bent to hell, these were once again blasted with fine garnet and coated with the marvellous product that is Wattyl KIllrust etch primer and top coat. IMG_5052 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Lastly, I needed some open ended wheelnuts to accomodate the longer studs that have been installed, so picked up these "Project U" things off Trademe. They're steel so meet cert requirements etc and have a nifty spinning seat on them so you don't mess up your nice wheel paint... This will be a finished rolling chassis by the time summer is out....  Discussion is below in sig. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted March 2, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 2, 2015 IMG_0782 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Took it out of the shed to Toyota fest, wound front down a bit, yep. Scrubs up ok still. Some parts at the vapour blasters being tidied up at present, as well as changes impending for the lower 4 link brackets on the diff! Bought some 175/50's off Beave so I can have sick guard gap. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted March 18, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 18, 2015 Some things of late to note: So a while ago, I bought a T3 billet ITB manifold to suit a smallport. This will need portmatching to the head to be perfect (it was an "unfinished" item I scored discounted in their end of year sale) but it's a great start. This is a pretty beautiful thing though, and like all T3 things I have bought so far fits up like it was meant to. IMG_1939 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Then I decided, well, you can't go attaching dirty ITB's to a super nice shiny manifold right? I remembered Ryan had a set cleaned up by way of "vapourblasting" some time ago for his 20v, so tracked the joker down and put a couple of sets I have here through the same process. The finish is amazing - almost surreal! IMG_1926 by Richard Opie, on Flickr And then I thought, well hang on - I have a T50 I should probably clean up too. So following a degrease and waterblast (you cant give oily parts to the vapour blast man) this too was dropped off to be cleaned with the following result: IMG_1955 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Following a preliminary cert inspection on the rear axle mods, our friendly certification man Clint advised that the outer brackets for the 4 link were not cert compliant, as one half of the bracket was welded to the cast steel bearing housings at either end of the diff housing. After some head scratching and throwing ideas back and forward I ended up with a loose design brief to supply to Esprit (George) who then drew up the following replacement. Basically this one kicks in near the top to avoid the cast components, and additionally has a traction bracket setup built in to allow the diff to be setup properly when the car is at it's new lower ride height. image001 by Richard Opie, on Flickr These drawings were then sent to the laser cutter, the components sliced out of 4mm plate then the magical sheepers glued them together with his mythical steel hot glue gun. What a guy. IMG_1964 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_1971 by Richard Opie, on Flickr In the next episode, the diff finally draws near to completion, and probably a host of heaps of other goodies arrives. Discussion below, in sig! Thanks for looking 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Snoozin Posted April 29, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 29, 2015 Here's some stuff. Since we're in the market for a house, and it's likely I'm going to be pretty disposable income deficient in the next year or two I have used some of the Porsche proceeds as well as been working my ass of doing photo work to raise the money to get all of the expensive purchases out of the way. First of course, here is some recent work on the car: Diff is finally ready to be stripped and painted! The new brackets are attached, sheepers kindly did all the welding and generally tricky shit I can't. What a guy. Initially there was some drama where the shock pin was on a bit of a cack angle, and the larger body of the new Bilstein shocks (compared to the spindly standard items) was fouling on the lower arm bracket. Whoops. It's fixed now and it all seems to function as it should, diff's in the middle of the car even. IMG_7962 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7964 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Seeing as I had the gearbox back, all nicely stripped I figured a coat of paint to stop it tarnishing wouldn't go amiss. So it's been swathed in a coat of matte silver, likewise the bellhousing. Grabbed some new gaskets and oil seals from Toyota (thanks Mark, again!) and popped it all back together. One more job off the list. A couple of parts still waiting for some plating.... Also added a brand new Cusco trans mount as the old one was cracked and perished. IMG_7913 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_7971 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_8044 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Onto the goodies I have been acquiring! So I have wanted to go to a coil on plug type ignition since I conceived the idea of running a 4AGE in this car - if not for reliability, then definitely for an aesthetic reason so the bay is much cleaner looking. Ricer. Anyway, thanks to a headsup from Bigfoot (get on down to Zebra for ALL of your self-harvested car parts, these guys are true champions) I got down to Zebra to remove the coilpacks from a 2NZ-FE powered Toyota Vitz - these coils always seem to vanish in a hurry from these places so the headsup was more than appreciated! I still need to bring smoko down! To mount these, I grabbed an SQ Engineering (SamQ) COP mount plate that sits in the usual spot between the cam covers, and a distributor blanking cap as the dizzy will still be used for a crank angle and sync signal for the ECU. These are both really nice CNC'd components, and extremely reasonably priced (especially when the current exchange rate with Australia is factored in). Great service also, a well recommended seller if you need any bits and pieces for 16v or 20v 4AGE. IMG_7991 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Although the smallport has been rebuilt with high compression pistons, the top end is still largely standard. I'm intending to throw a set of cams at it, so picked up a pair of Toda adjustable cam pulleys for a good rate via Yahoo Auctions. We all love Yahoo Auctions. IMG_8000 by Richard Opie, on Flickr So how are you going to run your cammed, high comp 4AGE with ITB's and a poncy ignition setup? I invested in a Link G4+ Storm to run it all, yes it's probably a little bit overkill but nevermind.The plan is to give this thing as many inputs as possible so I can theoretically have the car running as best as possible. I have the assistance of a very dear friend to help me with tuning this at a later stage, but that's a learning curve I'm very much looking forward to down the track. IMG_8004 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_8012 by Richard Opie, on Flickr Once I had the existing coilovers adjusted (beyond spring captivity) to a height I was happy with it's quickly evident that due to a change in taste (ie wanting to run a little lower) they weren't actually going to work as well as I thought with the slight added weight of the 4AGE - largely due to a lack of travel, a softer than probably adequate spring rate yada yada yada. I've made the call to make a change to a body adjustable unit, and after some research, and asking those who are running them their thoughts have settled on a pair of Fortune Auto 500 series for the fronts, with a 5kg (275lb) spring and valving to suit. They're also damper adjustable so that's something extra to have a tutu with once they're in the car. This is a weld on style setup, so the bottom sections will be welded onto some freshly chopped into pieces KPiz Coilover Phase One models. Oh well. IMG_8017 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_8025 by Richard Opie, on Flickr I've also chucked away the old brake booster, and will need to make the transition to a hydraulic clutch for the T50. The ITB manifold and trumpets would have fouled on the master cylinders for both anyway, so following the lead of Kris (kpr) I've decided to go with a bias adjustable, non-boosted arrangement for the hydraulics. Pretty simple stuff, Wilwood reverse mount pedal box, and three master cylinders to suit. Also about 8896576236747843265 Wilwood stickers in the boxes. IMG_8032 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_8036 by Richard Opie, on Flickr IMG_8040 by Richard Opie, on Flickr That's all for this instalment, next up I'm hoping to have the axle back to me mid next week after acid dipping to both strip it back and thoroughly clean out the insides so I can crack on with painting it all, then final assembly and pop it into the car, hopefully for good! Thankyou for looking!  31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Kwikstrip in Patiki Road acid dipped the whole shebang for me. IMG_8988 by Richard Opie, on Flickr 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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