Vintage Grumble's 1984 Toyota Corolla AE86

[Vintage Grumble]

So I haven't had a spare wheel for ages, and decided I should get one before I get caught out. I ended up buying a whole set of wheels off @jono007 who was nice enough to drop them off at @Truenotch pad, and he was nice enough to store them for a while. Thank you gentlemen!

I decided to fit a set of tyres to them and use them over winter, as my semis are bald and are quite scary in the wet, and I still haven't had my promesh repaired.

I've never been so confused by a set of wheels in my life, they are kinda so gross they are Kool, or are they? 

Regards,

V "confused half mongrel" G.

[Vintage Grumble]

HAPPY 4AGE FRIDAY!!

Well not really. I  discovered this morning that the little pesky bit of rust on the edge of my windscreen, has caused my windscreen to crack. Looks like its time for some more rust work and a new screen. I'll also get the bonnet resprayed as its never been the correct shade of blue (due to being painted off the car) and it got a huge stone chip months after I had it painted. 

I am also, super, suuuppppeeeerrr close to sending my meshies away to be re-banded, lolololols.

Regards, VG.

[Vintage Grumble]

Happy 15th anniversary car! Sorry you're still rusty and covered in shit, stuck in a shed, and not going anywhere anytime soon. Also, I really should send those wheels away to be fixed, lololols.

[Vintage Grumble]

So I haven't used the old girl for roughly 4 years (I think I stopped using it around the first COVID lockdown) and I find myself pining to hoon it again. I was going to give it a real big birthday, but have realized that now is not the time (shitty old house and young kids sucking up huge amount of time and resources) so I have decided to do the bare minimum to get it back on the road. I want to use it for Nats 25, so have roughly 4 months to achieve WOF status. It should need fairly minimal work to get a WOF really, but last time I didn't use it for this length of time (Took me 4 years to panel/paint it, and that was about 10/11 years ago) all manner of I'll shit went wrong with it, so who knows. 

So it defiantly needs:

• Cracked windscreen taken out, rust repaired under said windscreen, paint and then new screen fitted. 

It might need:

• Drivers side headlight has a small hole in it, but has clear tape over it, it was getting WOFs like this in the past. I have a replacement lens to go on, but in the past I reattached the lens with silicon rather than polyurethane, so might be a bastard to get the old lens off. I've always had trouble with the adjusters braking/popping off, so will try find a solution for that while its apart. 

Things I want to do/long term items:

• Change all fluids, bleed brakes etc.
• Send mesh wheels away to be re-barreled (lols, like that's ever going to happen) 
• Fix up a few dents/chips/cracks and repaint the whole car again. 
• It needs to be tuned again, its running crazy rich under acceleration ATM.
• It has a few fatigue cracks around the place than need welding up and painting.
• General clean up of lights/indicators/bumpers etc.  
• FINALLY sort out rear main seal leak
• Sunroof mech needs a new part, which I think I have, just have to find & fit it.

This list will get a lot longer when I actually dig it out of the shed, wash it and do an inspection.

The chap that was doing my WOF's before I stopped using it has also moved back to the area and is back in business doing WOFS, so that will help my cause a little. Cars not dodgy, but helps to have a dude do it that knows the car kinda I guess.

And a random pic of a very similar looking car for inspiration and to tart up such a dull post a bit. (dem USDM bumper though, yikes)

Regards, VG.    

[Vintage Grumble]

Right, made a start on the resurrection of this crustacean. Moved lots of shit so I could get it out of the shed. Shes a bit dusty/*BARN FIND JOKE*

It still thinks it was made in England unfortunately.

I decided to remove the race harness as I doubt I'll use it anytime soon, and some inspectors don't like it in there at WOF time, and this is when I discovered another weeee job that needs doing. The right rear seat mount (on the drivers seat) is not happy, and the seat rail is also not impressed.

This was starting to happen 11 years ago when I was putting the car back together, so welded up the cracks and added a big washer to disperse the load. After pulling the seat out, I now know its much worse than before.

Now before you point fingers and exclaim "what a fat cunt" i'd just like to point out that I'm not just a fat cunt, but also a 6'4" tall fat cunt, so I have to have the seat full back, and when its full back, the rear mounts are near on half way along the seat. So the majority of my fat cuntness is right on top of or behind the mount, less than ideal. Finger indicating location of rear mount.

Not much I can do about this, other than make a beefy replacement mount, and reinforce the rail I guess. The other mounts are all fine.

Anyways, got the old girl going (started perfectly) but the gas is very off, so will drain that and replenish. Gave it a good wash, which reminded me of all its other haggardness, but meh, just needs a WOF, not trying to win no sho'n'shine. Removed everything needed to start cutting the windscreen out, most of it came out OK, but the top window trim was a COMPLETE BASTARD to get off, due to me gluing it on with a litre of window sealant years ago after it blew off. Got my first peeks at the rust.

Started on the cut out procedure, haven't cut a screen out for like 20+ years, but I managed to do it myself without rooting anything. Don't ask where the cutting wire came from. Check out my pro cutting handles though.

Screen gone-burgers.

Little rusty bitches.

Two main spots, and lots of little bits around the place, next I'll get the buff cup out and go to town, trying not to destroy any interior.

Regards, V "I regret not selling this at the hight of retarded covid pricing" G.

[Vintage Grumble]

Nothing going on at work, so lame update time. Haven't even started on roof rust yet, but I have sorted out operation "Restrain fatty 2.0".

There was a lot of angles involved in making the new grunty seat mount, so I had to get the press brake out,

 

Took a lot of smacking and creative fucking around with, but came out correct in all angles. Old VS new,

Drilled lots of holes in it for some dirty big plug welds,

I'm really worried about melting or setting fire to some interior part that is no longer available and impossible to get, so purchased a couple of fire proof blankets. Then welded the son of a gun in (after slapping a captive nut in) Just need to slap some paint on, and she's done,

Found a few spots of surface rust in the dash, which is a bit of a PITA, don't think I'll try cut this out, will just kill the rust as best I can,

Also had to rip the front to bits, to aid in getting the old windscreen urethane off, and so paint can be applied to a couple of areas that never got paint on them in the last re-spray,

 

Got a few weeks off, so hopefully I'll get that main rust done at least.

Regards, VG.

 

xoxox

[Vintage Grumble]

Got some shed time, so started cutting/bending/welding/grinding, GET DA FUCK OUT RUST.

Bit more of ^ that to do, but its going OK so far. 

Then, with a bit of assistance from the lovely @GuyWithAviators I ordered a new top window trim, as the old one got a bit wonky while I was trying to get it off, because I had to glue it on years ago due to retaining clip failure. Only took about 2.5 weeks to arrive, not bad. The correct one for my chassis (early/zenki) was obsolete, so took a gamble and got a late model one. Its very slightly shorter, which I don't think will matter because the ends are under the side moldings, and has a different clip arrangement, which also shouldn't matter. I hope.

 

While ordering the above item, I remembered about a couple of small items I've been meaning to get for the last 18 years, lols. Got a bonnet stay grommet (car has never had one) and the little clip that holds the stay when not in use (has always been broken). Pretty fucken excited about these items, will make it seem like a new car again!

Regards, VG.

xoxox