OldNathans RX30 CRESSIDA 1UZ Build

[OldNathan]

Discussion Thread > viewtopic.php?f=18&t=28326

Thought I better start one of these for a few reasons. The car now has no engine and box so no turning back and if you tell someone your goal you are more inclined to do it.

So this link to the build discussion has all the dirt on how I got the car so this is all about where it goes from here.

Basically:

1981 RX30 Toyota Cressida

Auto speck running a 18R with auto

Brown interior and gangster brown paint. (one day I will do the body and repaint the same colour)

Here is the day I got her..

And a few weeks later I had added some lowering sus(very back yard and ended up being cutties so nothing to add) and some SSR Longchamp XR-4 14x6.5 +11 all round.

I have a 1UZ 1994 Series 2 engine all set aside for it. Will put more pics up once I have it out of storage and cleaned up.

Managed to track down a identical car at a local wreckers so go a better condition bonnet, clutch and brake pedal, master and slave cylinder with all the lines so all ready for the manual.

After a bit of research I found out the car at the wreckers came out with a W50 5 speed, so seeing I had all the driveshaft etc I thought why not stick to it as she will be a cruise car and the box should handle it.

Jumped straight on trade me only to find a W50 with a 1UZ bellhousing so grabbed it.

Also a mate was a while back building a 1UZ Hiace but work got crazy and he sold everything up bar the brand new clutch and flywheel. Yay for me. Mine.

As of 2 days ago one Seedy Al was kind enough to remove the old 18R and box for me in exchange for the box(so if anyone needs a mint 18r let me know) so now its all go.

I now have:

Engine

Clutch

Pedal box and lines

Gearbox with 1UZ housing

Driveshaft

Problem with the Bellhousing I have is the previous guy was running a twin plate tilton with hydraulic release bearing so Ill need to get a hole cut and pivot point and fork sorted in the next few weeks.

Will update with pics in the next few days

Nathan

Any questions txt me on 021487872

[OldNathan]

I somehow went from looking at radiators to a hellaflush site. Dont ya hate that.

Just in the process as I sit here tracking down a manual spigot bus, some bellhousing and flywheel bolts. Once I have these this week I'll bolt up the box and lower her in place. Need to work out what sump is going to work best with the subframe position. While its in I might get some measurements for the engine mounts.

Also adding up everything I need like radiator, fuel pump etc. Might spend a bit of time looking into these megasqirts. Would love to have a jam at wiring it up myself but unsure if its worth spending $500 and getting an auto sparky to do it then its done and dusted. Will update.

Stop

[OldNathan]

Well moving in slow motion with one arm I managed to make my way through the engines in the shed with the forklift until I could get to the 1UZ.

1994 Series 2 Celsior

84,000km (I imported it myself from when I was over there and k's are genuine )

Made my way around to my garage where the build is starting to take shape. Also found my old man had put in our sheds a perfect steel trolley with wheels. Exactly what I was after so I can move it around and get it outside to clean it up etc.

Also rummeged through some other bits to get my log header put aside ready for cleaning. I think over the next week of only being able to use one arm there will be a lot of toothbrush cleaning or headers, engine and engine bay.

Oh and yesterday I went out and brought a tool box with nice new ringgear spanners and brand new powerbuilt sockets and box. Roll on Tuesday when they arrive and will be welded to my bench. No one stealing nothing!!

One thing I hadnt picked up on when I got the engine was the guys at the wreckers I use in Japan have given me 2 engine managment ecus. Both look identical so will have to work out if there was a reason. One still has the airbag suspension computer on it as well.

Will add more picks once a few more bits are cleaned.

Also set the clutch up and fits snug as a big into the box and spline and housing. One less thing to worry about. Oh and I forgot I had a 1JZGTE in the shed with an auto on it and the bellhousing bolts fit the 1UZ haha. So only need flywheel bolts now. All coming together nicely so far. The cool thing is when I get all exited about having a 1UZ in it and the sound I go for a drive in my van haha. Going to do a you tube vid of the exhaust for a mate up in Auckland so migth post it in here. As a reference to what I will basing the cressida exhaust off.

[OldNathan]

Well bit of an update.

Did some measurements today and it looks like I may need to run a mid sump. But I am amazed at how everything lines up so well in this conversion.

Once the driveshaft and gearbox is in place( auto gearbox mount lines up, just will need the rubber bit) and the engine is bolted to the box, even the stock 1UZ engine mounts are only 20mm off the subframe mounts. I will be using the old 18R mounts on the motor as they are both single bolt and I had a 1UZ one missing anyway. Plus as Nigel was saying they are liquid filled and move a lot anyway.

Clutch is pretty much all on, just waiting on a clutch fork and release bearing to turn up from The car tune company and then we will be cutting a hole in the 1UZ auto bellhousing which has been adapted to the W50. Line up a pivot point and set it up and then away we go. Im hoping to have the engine in place by the end of next week.

I have decided to get the engine wired and running through a mate who is an auto sparky as he is only charging me about $350. I figured I would spend that, and then the time it would take me plus I would end up taking it to him once I ballsed it up anyway, so this saves the first process haha.

Have also had a bit of a play with the wheels and it looks like I will be going for a 14x9, so adding another 2.5 inches to rim in the outer department. If its able to be done and I have the cash left over I should be able to get some real nice tuck.

Also should be running brand new BC's and will update everything in the next few weeks with lots of pics with the process. Lack of pics in this post will be made up for it in the next few.

Then it will be spending a bit of time to get this exhaust right. Will most likely drop it to an exhaust shop with my Hiace and say "here, do that".

Really looking forward to this old girl taking shape and going for my first drive.

Also sat in the engine bay this arvo and had a bit of a clean up but didnt last long. Might pay my nephew to get in there with a toothbrush.

Rubber ducky over and out.

[OldNathan]

Righty Ho,

Some bits and pieces have arrived and underway. Couple of forks and release bearings turned up and have narrowed down the ones that are going to work. The cleanest ones in this pic are the ones we are going with

Also the one and only Seedy very kindly picked up some GX61 suspension parts(cheers benjike70) and in the next few days I will be pulling bits apart. Disks will be getting skimmed etc. But as you can see in the pics below the brakes are a slight upgrade as they are vented and the calipers are slightly larger.

Oh and I also got my log headers on during the week and also fitted the mid sump kindly once again purchased/swapped with Seedy.

Oh and one more thing my BRAND NEW GX71 BC GOLD Coilovers turned up from Redline. Didnt take long to get here considering they had to be ordered. Allan will be "stamping" his mark on these very soon-watch this space.

(please note I only just realised that sticker was there on the bench. Wasnt placement, its been there for about 2 weeks)

Will add some updates at the end of the weekend. I should have the gearbox back and the hole cut/fork and pivot point fitted.

Im exited.

[OldNathan]

Managed to bolt the rear coilovers in yesterday. Direct bolt in fit. Maxed out the low. Will be getting the wheels done asap and then can adjust it to suit some tuck. Might need more low. Front sus will be built in the next few days but I couldnt wait to see what it looked like so front springs were removed to match.

Car sits 70mm at its lowest point. I'd like the front lower then in the pic but is wheels dependent. Have decided on 14x9 and 14x8. That will sit both rims 10mm out of the guard front and rear. I have 25mm spacers on it in the pics so they will be removed. An extra 2.5 inchs of dish should look sweetness.

Also the previous owner had issues with water in the passenger footwell in the past so disconnected the heater hoses. A few of my mates over some beers yesterday pulled out the glovebox to reveal a loose hose clamp and rusty water marks. I wacked some water in there and she leaked in that spot, so we replaced the hose and 2 new hose clamps. Pressurized the system an=gain and no water at all. Heres hoping I can have a heater in this bad boy.

[OldNathan]

Oh yeah I knew we did something else! Got this bad boy in all ready to go. Very handy when you are going manual to have one of these.....

[OldNathan]

Decided to change up the look of the 1UZ. Will most likely be more changes over time but while I am waiting for sus and gearbox I might as well do something.

Wife thought I was doing the dishes. Nope. Washing my rocker covers in the sink.

After making the kitchen smell very strongly of paint I..

Still to get rid of the wording....

But so far a good finish in wrinkle black...

[OldNathan]

Got the GX61 Brakes skimmed today.

[OldNathan]

Right time for an update as a little has happened and about to happen.

Managed to shoot to the good old Danniverke car graveyard on the weekend. Scored me a shifter for my gearbox and also a gearboot from another car(but will briefly add that in this update)

But for the more major way more important stuff here are a few updates.

Added the spigot and the flywheel today

Then onto the clutch

Using the bolts that had been supplied with the clutch kit(brand new) this happened on tightening the last one up...

Went straight down and replaced all 6 with high tensile bolts. Bloody hell.

Removed a small added sleeve that was on the gearbox so it would match the spigot and slide the gearbox on

And here are a few better shots of the completed black intake and throttle body as well. They looked out of place with the black covers. Im happy with it.

And with the gearboot cleaned up it made its way onto the console. Considering the gearboot came form a Nissan nissan Prairie it is a perfect fit.

Signing out

[OldNathan]

Here we go boys its suspension time. Got them welded up today for a box of beers.Should be in this weekend.

[OldNathan]

Had a good night mission last night thanks to the boys. Managed to get new holes drilled and squared up for the top hats. As they are for MX73 they were slightly out, but also holes were in different positions. All sorted and look awesome.

Also go the GX61 bottom arm in which is about 10mm longer then the RX30 arm. It will give me more camber but anything unwanted will be fixed with the camber plates. Everything is bolt on for the brake upgrade to GX61 vented disks and bigger calipers. If you use the bottom arm, struts and calipers then you are sorted. Massage the hard brake line into place(its a different mounting point into the GX61 caliper) or use the GX61 lines, which I didnt have. All in all very successful night.

Only downer was due to me somehow getting a measurement wrong(still havent worked out how), the shock at max low is stupid high. Have called the guy who welded it and he is going to drill out the plugs and clean it all up and take off about 80mm off the tube. The tread doesnt go all the way up the BC tube so there is a bit to play with. Interesting and very good to add if you are doing this to your Cressy. I will have more updates with pics tomorrow as he is doing them tonight. MIght be back in tomorrow and the right height.

But this is where it sits if you weld the BC sleeve onto the stock tube about 15mm from the base(see about shock pic).

No major. Also I get my sump back this morning so the engine will be trial fit again today and if she is snug as a bug then the engine mounts will get made. All coming together nicely but doesnt look like it will be done in 3 weeks from now for the Powercruise. Never mind, going to have a very cool drive car over summer.

Thanks again for your help guys (Ant, Cole ,Seed Al)

Oh also had a look in the shed and I have a C34 Stagea aftermarket rear barrel for sale. Had a thought and it fits perfect under the car.Looks like it is a pass and will save me a little on my final exhaust price as well.

[OldNathan]

Had a bit of a scare when my motor didnt fit earlier in the week. Thought I would have to buy new headers. But with a tweak to the steering box and the headers I managed to get it dead centre with 4mm to spare. So now Im just waiting on the mounts to be made up but she is all in place

Also used a intake pipe off a 1JZGTE. Had to heat it up to get it over but it worked a treat. Then drilled a hole and screwed in a hose fitting for the idle up pipe and got that all sorted. Also got all my radiator pipes plumbed up too. Few minutes behind the Repco shelves and a coathanger bent to the shape of the needed pipe and Hilux it is. And a Sigma one from memory.

Also had a huge resolve with the suspension. Redline is replacing the shock inserts with Skyline ones(60mm shorter). This will give me all the needed drop I need and some room to play. Very happy man.

Carpet turned up today and will be in on Saturday. Thanks to Autodec.

Will add some decent pictures tomorrow of the piping and also the mounted RX7 oil cooler I added today.

Shes just been booked in to get wired on Monday. Humming along nicely. Whiteboard lists are the juice.

[OldNathan]

Big weekend for the old girl.

Saturday was spent making engine mounts thanks to a welder mate. Very nice job adn the engine sits in there nicley.

Ended up having a 4mm gap from the headers to the steering box and seeing the 1UZ's move jack all(my van moves about 1 mm on full rev) it should be a pass.

Mounts made

Carpets are in

Oil cooler mounted

And finally engine is in, piping complete with black hose clamps. Radiator piping finished with black hose clamps and ready for water. Just oil relocation kit then will be ready for oil.

She is off to the Auto sparky tomorrow Next update might have vids of her running.

Also spent the evening changing the throttle rod thing to cable. Thank you again 1JZ in the shed for your kind sacrifice of small parts.

[OldNathan]

Well some very bad news on the update front, hence the delays at doing so. Got the old girl fired up and she made a funky noise. Opened up the sump to find a lot of alloy shavings. So engine is about ready to come out and a new one going in. May pull the other one apart and look at what happened, but at this stage its easier and cheaper to stick another one in.

At least all the hard stuff is done.

Exhaust is all done and for the 10 seconds we had it running sounded amazing. Very happy. Wheels are all sorted now as well.

14x8 fronts and 14x8.5 rear. 4 brand new tires 195/45/14's all round. Coilovers are all in but still not low enough. Ended up getting R32 Skyline BC shock inserts which were 60mm shorter but still needs to come down another 50mm odd. Then I will cut the rear coilover spring to match and shorten the adjustable rear shock. Back needs to come down about another 15mm.

So this weekend Im planning on nearly having the new engine in and running. IS she fires up and runs well with oil pressure I should have the car going by Christmas holidays. Will be a lot of late nights and finishing to get it there though.

Also brought a W50 box with rear shifter so will be swapping over the shifter etc once it all comes back out again. Lost a bit of zeal for a while there but it is back. Shame crazy work is as well.

[OldNathan]

Sorted out the rear shifter on the weekend. The housing fit but the part the shifter goes into was d different setup. So out comes the welder again. Set up perfect and ready to go back in. Clutch and flywheel are on the new engine now and gearbox is ready to go on.

Ran the oil pig through the engine Sunday night and will be turning it over and getting pressure up with a mechanical oil pressure gauge attached. If it does it again I'll burn the car. Nah I wont.

Very happy with the new engine as its even tidier then the one I had. Plus it has every plastic cover like over the leads etc so looks better. Now that I have 2 sets of plug covers I chopped and changed the "V8 FOUR CAM" side for the blank side off the other motor. Looks so much cleaner.Also is now a series one(so stronger internals) and I'll be able to eliminate the air flow metre. This thing is going to boggie.

Also looks like I will be making the big jump and going to a link after all that. Only another $200 to wire it in but I cant turn it down. A mate has offered me his Link G4 for $800. Plus for an extra $200 his tuning guy will put on a tune that with mild cams and headers makes 240-260kw@wheels!!! So I managed to talk the wife into getting mild cams for the car to match the ECU and do it right the first time

So seeing I dont have headers but will have the cams Im hoping for 220kw@wheels. When I have a spare million dollars I'll get someone to make me some custom headers.

So thats the latest and there will be more this weekend as the engine goes in, is fired up(again) and maybe even some suspension tweeks. Plus Allan needs to do my pan hard rod. No pressure.

Updates to come.

[OldNathan]

Teaser

[OldNathan]

Sorry for the gap in update but have had about 5 1am nights in a row getting ready for cert. Shes had a once over and pretty much all sorted bar the coilovers snapping when I arrived at cert! Turns out the 60mm shorter ones BC sent me that were for a skyline(and I stress I put these in at my own risk) were not designed to take the angled stress of my setup. But all is well and still had the other inserts so they bolted back in and drove her home.

Once again big thanks to my man Seedy. Car wouldnt be where it is now without his help and a lot of my mates imput as well.

Once the car is completed I will get a video and post it up. I love this thing. So much more of a pleasure to drive then I thought and so much power. Going to be fun with link and lsd. Also the gearbox will be coming out after summer as 5th is non existant which sucks at 100km/h.

[OldNathan]

Here we go. All up and running

pJHMRgQ4WfI

[OldNathan]

Completed pretty much but not forgot on the thread side. Still more to come.

Gearbox was poop from the beginning with not having 5th gear. Took the car to Masterton and then to Taupo. 4th gear all the way but was still good on gas and didnt miss a beat. But time for a new box.

Should have the cert in a week or so and will update how that goes. Even though she is 99% passed just waiting on the plate to be sorted.

Should be getting a W50 of Sambo tomorrow and wack that in maybe on the weekend.

I also think Mac (Red S13 in the latest PC mag) has done his last round with his G4 so that will be coming my way very soon as well. Should be a few things change as that is installed. Loving the alarm and central locking thats in her now. No more checking everyone has locked their doors.

Also gave the interior a rug doctor and came up really well. Cant wait to hit the road for some meats and events. Should be down at Parmy nats and going to try and make the D1 at Mount Smart.

Still need to sort out picking my diff up in Auckland off Roman. The the fun starts. Have the goal to be drifting her at Powercruise with LSD and a decent W55 so I have 10 months to get that sorted.

Will keep this going as I change stuff and make the car better. Check out my brother in laws a15 Datsun "oldmatedan". Should see these two cars around together a lot over the next year.

Peace

For now