Rhyscar's Toyota Levin - ‘fab it all from scratch’ project

[Rhyscar]

Oh man 100% agree with these things it’s gut feel with what’s going to be suitable. Can’t be second guessing shit when flying down a back road at 200kmh! 
 

yeah a friend worked on St John merc ambos for years and reckon those clips are the go and super reliable. 

[BlownCorona]

3 hours ago, Rhyscar said:

yeah a friend worked on St John merc ambos for years and reckon those clips are the go and super reliable. 

sounds like your answer! 
though i would suggest you consider clamping them to AN fittings if the intention is that they are to be "regularly" removed. this comes from my experience in aviation but really youd probably be fine with both options, just give it a think/price up the fittings. 

this is a super cool car btw, havnt commented much/at all but been following, keep it up

edit - i just went back to look at the pump rig, that one serrated hose tail, if the hose is sized correctly should be very hard (sometimes ive had to cut them off) to remove even unclamped, just another thing to add the mix. the black single flare style one will be less grippy with tradeoffs in security ect. 

[Rhyscar]

Ah interesting. What’s the advantage of AN style hose barbs? To be honest I struggled to find anything that matched the thread on the fuel pump and fuel filter so just got what I could.
 

I still do need to add a couple of unicoils on the bends so it doesn’t go soft and crush over time. I used super high quality fuel hose which was a lot more flexible but still a little nervous about it. 
https://www.repco.com.au/parts-service/cooling/hoses-radiator-heater/unicoil-hose-spring-19mm-uc34091/p/A9635372

Yeah the stainless hose barns are super hard to get off. Everything is either 1/2” or 1/4” which makes it super easy. 

Thanks man, appreciate the support and info. It’s good to share ideas and get input. Sometimes I worry I overthink these solutions 

[BlownCorona]

its not so much the benefit of the AN barbs, they are basically the same. 
the benefit would come from having an AN b-nut and flare fittings, which have be undone with basic tools.

you have the exact parts on your fuel tank so i expect the following will be telling you how to suck eggs, but ill post it anyway incase its just a cant see the forrest for the trees moment. im guilt of that alot.

you would install the hoses/fittings like this


and there should be some adapters like this to go from whatever the pump and filter threads are to the AN standard, which would look like this or thereabouts. 


there are a few different options for the hose fitting from just a basic hose tail to a more involved self crimping/clamping system, but that often requires a special hose, they are really good but ive not personally used those systems. (speedflow is a common one)

[Rhyscar]

Ah yes I understand you now. I actually stayed away from AN and braided hoses for cost and pain in arse factor. Hence the stainless hardlines and rubber hoses to join. 

 

 

[Rhyscar]

Engine back in the hole. Had to fight the polly bushes to fit properly but got there in the end. Added a HD exedy clutch and gave flywheel a skim when it all went back together.

 

Decided not to run the ITB's to start with as I don't want to cut the bonnet and I need to cut/shut the CNC manifold to make it fit under bonnet. All achievable, but a big mission so not wanting to slow myself down. 

Got a few electrical parts to start fabbing mounts/buttons, fan shroud etc. I'm excited to be getting things moving. 

 

 

 

Kinda dig the front off look. Got a massive pile of parts to go to powdercoaters so once thats done then lights etc will go on for good. 

[Rhyscar]

[Truenotch]

It's looking great with an engine in the hole. Oil cooler ducts seem to be taking shape too!

[Rhyscar]

35 minutes ago, Truenotch said:

It's looking great with an engine in the hole. Oil cooler ducts seem to be taking shape too!

 

Thanks. Nice to not have it sitting on the floor and makes it look a little more finished. Yeah oil coolers and exit duct out bonnet require quite a bit more work to get right but slowly getting there. I'm trying not to prioritise things that aren't super important though - trying to have it running by end of year. 

I also got the swaybars in and the front one fouls my expansion chamber  so that has come out now. Unsure if I'll bother reworking it until after the car is running.

 

Key next steps;

- Get battery, fuse box/ecu mount and passenger footwell fabbed, mount switch panel & lights in dash

- Radiator plumbing, swirl pot/cap and overflow

- Install a washer bottle & piping

- Baffle sump

- Oil cooler ducting and hoses

- HEADERS 

 

Sometimes I get frustrated with my ethos for this car. Doing everything nicely takes such a long time but I can't be happy with it any other way. Next time/car I hope I find a middle ground that isn't so involved! //Rant over. 

[Stu]

Totally agree - finding a good balance between doing something to a standard but in a timely manner can be somewhat tricky.  

Your doing a amazing job - keep it up!

[Rhyscar]

17 minutes ago, Stu said:

Totally agree - finding a good balance between doing something to a standard but in a timely manner can be somewhat tricky.  

Your doing a amazing job - keep it up!

Thanks Stu! Nice to have lots of support from everyone who has been in similar situations. 

[87creepin]

Can’t wait to hear that zorst 

[Rhyscar]

@87creepin Me too, but I'm expecting to need to add another resonator as 3" could be quite raspy/loud. I'm expecting a similar exhaust note to B18cr Honda's.

 

As long as it doesn't sound like a 3sge I'll be happy. 

[Rhyscar]

Made some stuff, mounted some stuff. Lots of careful thought and consideration went into all these things. Let's hope it pays off!

 

ECU/fuse box mounted using rubber feet for vibrations. Should keep all this tidy and hidden behind the passenger footplate (work in progress). Added a reclined battery mount also for packing and short cables. If I was to do it again I'd swap which side battery is on. I'd originally planned to slot battery in under the ECU but it got too complicated as fuel lines run under the floor there.  

 

Blew the cobwebs off the tig. Still pretty rusty. Was trying a new Furrick cup and don't think I got enough stick out/too much gas flow for welding in the corners. Something to work on at least. 

 

Steering wheel buttons, lights and isolator switch in place. Trying to keep dash simple with minimal things to look at. 

Plan to run a Monit display in centre for speedo (driven from rear hub) which should meet WOF requirements. Also handy for rallying. 

 

Got a massive pile of parts ready to go to the powdercoaters so should be some tidy looking progress coming soon. 

[Rhyscar]

Due for a bit of an update here. Finished off battery mount, passenger footplate and switch panel. Drew is making headway on the chassis harness too. 

 

Switch panel design is quite neat and includes all the start/stop and major controls for the car, with the rest on the steering wheel. Racked my brain for ages to figure out how to mount without lots of fasteners. Made some little tabs that slot into a receiving plate. Should make it easy to pull apart/troubleshoot in the future if needed. 

 

Welded up a co-drivers footrest. Came out nice. Need to resist putting my feet on it and scratching it until it's powdercoated though!

 

Also, how good does the fuel pump setup look with unicoils to support the rubber hose? A++

 

 

[Rhyscar]

ITB's have made a comeback into the project plan as I've quite easily solved a couple of the headaches they were giving me. I'm quite happy about this because induction noises are great. 

SQ-engineering do a pull-down throttle bracket that relocates the pulley to use one of the TB shafts rather than sitting on top; Freeing up space for the fuel rail. 

So clearance to the bonnet is very tight. I've adjusted the drivers side mount (with a grinder) to lower the engine another 6-8mm or so. I'll also skim some mm off the manifold on a angle to pick up a bit more clearance. Despite this, I will need to custom print some funky-shaped trumpets to make it work with no bonnet mods. 

 

Here's my clearance for the fuel rail. Still working out an exact plan here but seems achievable. 

 

 

Next on the list is sorting out the engine cooling system. The 2zz cooling system works the opposite way than I thought, which is a bit of a mind-fuck with a dual-pass radiator. Anyone have experience or handy diagrams for a dual-pass radiator? I'm assuming Hot in the top and cold out the bottom like normal? How to bleed/prevent air bubbles has me a bit stumped as my swirl pot/fill point will be on the hot side (right side as it comes out of the head). 

 

I've also got a massive list of fabrication jobs all required to mount the radiator fans...

1. Engine mount mod

2. Remount headlights (I made mounts to suit headlights with broken tabs. Since then, I've picked up a mint set of headlights with all mounting tabs that I'll be wanting to use)

3. Top radiator mount

4. Remote swirl pot/radiator filler cap

5. Radiator piping

6. Radiator shroud & fan mounting

 

 

Putting this here for future reference. 

[Rhyscar]

Been chipping away at this thing slowly. 

1. Engine mount mod

2. Remount headlights (I made mounts to suit headlights with broken tabs. Since then, I've picked up a mint set of headlights with all mounting tabs that I'll be wanting to use)

3. Top radiator mount

4. Remote swirl pot/radiator filler cap

5. Radiator piping

6. Radiator shroud & fan mounting

 

 

A few cool things in this pic. 

Head light mounts turned out mint. Love me some speed holes

Cooling system swirl pot coming along. This will provide high point in the system for filling/bleeding. Still a while until I can confirm exact position & welding in/out pipes for a bunch of complicated & uninteresting reasons... 

 

Had to purchase a new oil cooler as I couldn't find fittings to suit the one I had (not AN or ORB or NPT grrr). Along with that went an unholy amount of $$ on fittings.. But at least it's looking a little more finished. Braided hose runs are super nice, no tension and sit nicely. Although I did wonder whether snapping/throwing an Alternator belt could take out a hose. Anyone had this happen before? Might need a belt guard (that meets AS/NZS 4024 and painted yellow of course )

I had the throttle cable extended by Apex auto centre here in Hamilton to reach the front of the engine. Super tidy route I'm very happy with how this turned out. 

 

My wife got me some DOORTY personalized plates for fathers day. Always wanted this plate for this car but could never justify the cost. Now its getting closer to running I'm super excited about it. Got the slim option and it fits the rear diffuser MINT. Looks like it was made for it, and much more aerodynamic.

Has anyone had experience with non-standard plate mounting like what I've done? Might be fine, might not. 

 

Drew has been working away on body wiring loom. Steering wheel and dash sub looms are done. Super happy with quality and finish of work. 1000x better than what I could of achieved. 

 

Forgot to add, I started mocking up sheetmetal for the powersteering cooler ducting. Have had this sitting in my head for a while so good to see it come to life in cardboard. Need to do similar ducting for oil cooler once I work this side out. I think I'll add some 'bypass' holes as the powersteering cooler is so tiny and won't let much air through/doesn't need much cooling. 

 

 

[mjrstar]

I reckon for peace of mind a little deflector guard in case of the accessory belt shredding makes sense if you plan on revving it to the moon.

[Rhyscar]

2 hours ago, mjrstar said:

I reckon for peace of mind a little deflector guard in case of the accessory belt shredding makes sense if you plan on revving it to the moon.

That’s a good idea. Doesn’t need to be a full shroud just a piece of decently strong stuff to absorb any impact.

 

I really do need to run a pulley kit for 9000rpms but it’ll be a little further down the track. So best to play it safe in the meantime 

[shrike]

No plans to convert to electric power steering? Ie from a newer corolla, echo , vitz, prius or GT86/BRZ?