nothingsfree's Toyota Corolla Ke70

[Guest nothingsfree]

Saturday and Sunday was a mad rush to get the last bits done to the body before paint. Mainly things like welding covers into the holes in the floor that were not needed, and making use of the clean underside to seam weld the chassis rails etc.

Lastly, I added a little protection to my poor little chassis, Im well aware that at the height I have it, its gonna hit stuff, but Im not raising it, so Iv added a few grind plates to protect/prolong the life of the under body. One under the radiator support panel, that doubles as a jacking point, the leading edge of the chassis rails, the chassis rails at the lowest point, and the leading edge of the lower suspension arm mounts.

[Guest nothingsfree]

So while the shell was away getting the interior, engine bay and underneath painted, I took advantage of all my parts being out of the car and had a bunch sand blasted. After getting them back I metal prepped them, ready for POR 15, and then went to town painting basically all my running gear parts with POR 15.

I used the chance to modify a couple of things I wasnt completely happy with as well, mainly my lower control arms. They were well made, but had been built with fitting wheels under factory guards in mind. And now that the rear track had increased due to the 25mm spacers to run the brakes, I needed to increase the front track to make sure it is wider than the rear. So Surfab cut the arms in two, just to the outside of where the castor arm mounts, and then added in a 30mm section.

By adding it to the outside of that point, you dont mess with the castor, or the pick up points for the sway bar.

[nothingsfree]

I didnt get a chance to get alot of photos while the body was in for panel/paint, was too busy prepping the body, and rubbing back etc. A MASSIVE thanks to Jet and Tony from James Lee Design for coming on board at late notice to paint the car. They did an excellent job in short period, and will be taking care of the exterior when I return in Nov, from our world trip. Onto the limited photos I did get...

The interior after rubbing back the first layer of colour.

Etch primed and Hippo Liner for the underside.

Engine bay all painted.

Paint all finished, inside and out painted in Battleship Grey.

[nothingsfree]

With the freshly painted shell back in the workshop, it was time to bolt everything back in so I could put the car away for storage.

Although I was in a rush, I had to get an exploded car photo, as this is the last time I intend to have the car in this many pieces for a long long time haha.

[nothingsfree]

Got a quiet day in Tokyo before we fly out to Thailand tomorrow, so thought I should put up the last photos of the car before I put it into storage..

With everything bolted back in underneath, I got the car back on its feet and started putting what little interior items I have back in, FOR THE LAST TIME!

First was pedal box and hand brake, then run the fuel and brake lines and get them all tightened up and attached to the side of the tunnel. Next was steering column, battery, and seats. Annnd thats pretty much it haha. The wiring I will tidy up and wrap it before plugging it back in to fire the car up.

 

 

Then bolted on the panels I had on hand, the rest are in various places getting modified, panelled, or moulds taken of them. Kinda tempted to leave the outside like this hahaha.. The engine bay is complete now as well, other than the wiring for the engine under the top cover, and the throttle bodies, everything else is in place, nothing more to add, pretty stoked how empty/clean it is, exactly what I wanted from the start of this project.

 

[nothingsfree]

Only a month till Im back in NZ. Top priority, other than sorting where Im living, is getting this thing on the track. Exterior paint may be a wee while off as Jet who is sorting it at James Lee Design, is about to have a baby. So Im going to get the car running, tuned, and ready for the track. Once I can use it, then Il start finishing off the little things, dash, door cards etc.

Anyway, couple of photos just before tucking Kermit away for 6.5 months...

 

 

[nothingsfree]

Well after spending 6.5 months travelling around the world with Shan and Bairdy, made it back to NZ in one piece, if not a little fatter from indulging in too much food and booze. Anyway, pulled Kermit back out of storage last week and got it back round to Surfab to finish off a couple things and get it ready for tune in Dec, Friday 13th lol. The next stage will be getting the car ready for the track, as there maybe a wait before paint, and Im hanging out to drive it, so will probably try get a few days at the track looking the way it is haha. 

 

 

Also organised importing 3 sets of wheels while I was in Japan, they are all 13x6, but am getting new bands to widen them out to 13x8.5. Will def hang onto the Enkei Silver Stars, but will probably sell the SSR Mk2 and Advan A3.

 

[nothingsfree]

While I was away, Surfab had been messing around with another set of blacktop itb's, which we are going to try on Kermit. They have been bored out to 48mm from the standard 45mm. This required making up some new throttle plates, and modifying the shafts to suit. Iv started putting them together, and will finish it over the next couple of days as Simon finishes the manifold. If we have time before the 13th, we are looking at making a second manifold to suit the 45mm itb's that I had already modified. Then we can do a back to back comparison on the dyno to see what real life differences there is...

 

[nothingsfree]

The list of things to do before tune has slowly been shrinking, I pulled the sump off to weld up a couple of pin holes that were just leaking a touch from where I shortened it up. While I had it off I double checked where the pick up was sitting, and welded a support tab to it to keep everything secure.

 

 

Next up was modifying the cam cover. Obviously the engine needed breathers, particularly for motorsport, but I wasnt interested in running the factory set up, its ugly, and that would be too easy... So the first thing was rotating the 90 degree elbow on the exhaust side to face straight back. On the intake side the breather is out the side of the cover. So I pulled out the plastic sleeve and Surfab welded up the hole. I drilled a hole into the top of the cover where there is a convenient recess, and then tapped in another 90 degree elbow that I had from the grenaded engine I bought a couple years ago.

 

 

The plan is to run -10 braided line off the elbows and out the back of the plastic cover then to a catch can tucked behind the strut tower.

[nothingsfree]

On Friday Surfab and I got started on the intake manifold for the itb's. We decided to try something different and make the runners out of silicon with an aluminium flange on either end. There was several reasons for this, firstly, its not unusual for intakes to crack over time from vibrations, bumps etc, and because we want to make the intake as long as possible, it means more leverage. Secondly, we want to try two different sets of itbs, the set of blacktop throttles that I first modified with a standard 45mm throttle plate, and the set of blacktop throttles that have been bored out to 48mm. With the silicon runners we can simply undo the clamps and slide in the other flange/itb's while on the dyno. Also we would like to try changing the length of the runners to see what real world differences it makes...

Will let you know what happens on Friday haha.

 

[nothingsfree]

 

Well, looking at that list, that must mean...

 

 

Yeahhh buddy! All together, wired up, annnd... Running!

 

Stoked with how it has turned out! Its exactly what I pictured right thru the build, a simple and tidy engine bay that basically looks like it shouldnt run. Got a few little things left to sort out with the wiring, a few warning lights, thermo fan hooked up etc, but we are on track to be ready for tune on Friday.

[nothingsfree]

Well, its been a long week, and a lot of late nights.Yesterday I cut a hole in my boot floor so I could easily access my fuel pump if I had a problem or anything. Will make up a removable cover to go over it soon. Sorted out the rest of the wiring needed to run the car, and will tidy it all up and wrap it after tune.

 

Anyway, I took the car for a wee drive this arvo to make sure everything was working properly annnnd...

 

 

My nice relaxing evening disappeared, and it turned into the typical racecarlastminuterush.

Relax, it was nothing too serious, just had to weld another muffler onto my exhaust. Doing it after the dyno could be detrimental as it can have a bad effect on the tune, particularly with a n/a car. And I would leave it, but it was fucking loud, now its just loud lol. So a big thanks to Dylan at NZEFI for staying late and welding the second muffler on. Stoked I had the foresight to buy a second muffler just incase haha.

So it turned into another late night, but its all sorted and Iv done everything I can. Now its in the hands of the gods/Phil/Phil is god...

[nothingsfree]

 

Well Friday 13th turned out pretty good! Didnt have any issues on the dyno, didnt get hot, no leaks, no explosions. There is a little rattle in the head, Phil thinks it might be valve related, but the engine runs fine and revs out well.

Ended up making 188rwhp and a solid torque curve. Took the car for a quick blast down the road, and farrrk I cant wait to get this thing on the track! Its going to be a fun wee car...

[nothingsfree]

I had the wknd off, and then got straight back into finishing the wiring and all the other little jobs that need to be done before I can thrash the car properly.

I needed a catch can for the radiator overflow, it didnt need to be big, so a 440ml should do it...

 

 

Its actually an alloy tube with a base, welded to the side of the radiator, and the Dou Bro just slides down over top.

 

I ended up rewiring a bunch of things as my OCD took over, which then kicked into a higher gear when it came time to tidy everything up. I ended up buying a few lengths of the braided sheathing to wrap all the wiring in, which meant pulling pins out of plugs to slide the heat shrink over. So I spent yesterday arvo messing around with that job, the entire rear half of the car is done, and the front half of the body loom is almost finished. Once thats sorted its onto the engine loom which is going to be a barrel of laughs...

 

[nothingsfree]

After the dyno the other day, decided I should probably investigate what the rattle is that we could hear. Something was causing the engine to run rougher than it should, so we compression tested all four cylinders again, and they all came back good and even. So we went next door to Canterbury Automotive Repair and borrowed Beau's bore scope to have a look at the valves. They all seems ok, but we did find something else...

 

 

Merry xmas Dan, you bought another shitty engine!

T Parts is long gone, so there is no chance of sorting out some kind of deal, so Im just weighing up my options before I decide what to do... I will probably just thrash this thing, and start building up another engine on the side, we will see.

 

I did have one bit of good news yesterday, Mike at Bamber Motorsport called to say two of my flares were finished, and the other two should be next week!

So what better way to cheer yourself up than to get some new flares mounted...

 

 

Totally worth it.

[nothingsfree]

Once these lists are crossed off, we should be pretty well sorted. Only thing is, Performance Car would like to shoot the car in mid Feb, so I have 8 weeks to get the car finished haha. Game on...

 

 

It may not be heaps of progress, but getting the flares all mounted up certainly makes a difference visually. Just need to tidy up around the door line, and finish welding the new arch in the doors up, ready for panel and paint.

 

[nothingsfree]

After a week or so away for new years, I pulled the car out yesterday and sorted a couple of things. Then decided to go for a wee drive with Gal the Piner, and Surfab, and get a few photos as this is the most complete the car has looked in 5 years. Even tho the doors were only ziptied on, so at one stage when I put my foot down the passenger door turned into a gull wing lol...

 

[nothingsfree]

Its taken faaarr too long, but I finally finished tidying up the engine loom. Definitely in no hurry to do it again, but stoked to have it done. Worked out a few tricks for making it easier to work with the braided sheathing. Once you have slid the section of sheath on, if you slide both bits of heat shrink down to the far end, and then bunch the sheath up and hold it in place with a peg while you do your soldering/crimping etc, the heat shrink will stop the sheathing expanding at the far end, and keep it from moving.

[nothingsfree]

A couple of the boys and myself organised a private drift day at Ruapuna yesterday, so decided to take Kermit out for a thrash. Only had the shitty old slicks that iv been pushing the car round the workshop on, no windows, rear doors ziptied closed, missing a bunch of panels, but had an absolute blast!

 

 

For an unfinished build with an eyelignment and a sad engine it ran really well. Iv got a couple more things to add to my to do list, mainly a decent radiator cap, as it was pissing coolant everywhere, and was having issues with oil pressure dropping thru a few corners. So will have to look at making a winged and baffled sump for it I think. Regardless, I had an awesome day! 5 years of building the car, was all made worth it, cant wait to get this thing finished!

 

 

 

[nothingsfree]

Picked my harnesses from the depot, after they spent two days cruising round Chch without getting dropped off. Fitted up on Friday, just in time for the track. Good quality, and loving the contrast...

Nzdm yo!