J-calico's GX61 MarkII Sedan 'mk1'

[J-Calico]

This is my initial GX61 F/L Sedan

Purchased around mid-late '09 from memory.

Tard-me pic from just before I bought it

Pics at home, some time not long after getting it.

[J-Calico]

AS with many 'apprentice OS users' I've been a reasonably long time lurker and felt I should finally post a build thread and contribute.

and, as with many young people into cars, I grew an intrest in/appreciation of old japanese vehicles.

The more I found out about toyota (and also nissans) intruiging and tough range of awesome old school luxo spec cars, the more the urge to own one grew.

Early run-ins with RWD japanese cars had been through the common models and my love of the EX lancer, but i beagn to find not everything has bland low spec interiors(&exteriors?).

After seeing a factory turbo one on trademe years ago,

and numerous tastefully modded examples in Japan, (always leaves you in awe)

(gogo6171 i blame you..)

I decided I wanted a GX61, and more precisely a Facelift MarkII Sedan. Now im not so sure which X60 series version I like the most, but the MarkII sedan seems to be the platform for the other models and also seem to be the easiest of the F/L's find find in NZ. I do love its tough 'square as hell' look.

After this decision around mid '09 the search was on. It always seems like exactly when you want something its hard to find, or I don't look hard enough/in the right places. (Dont think i browsed OS for one around that time?)

Until November, when one sat arvo, a tidy looking example pooped up on TM in Nelson. I called the guy that arvo, told him I wanted it but that I was in the North isl.

He seems really astonished someone wanted it without seeing it in the flesh, and that he could sort shipping it across the strait no worries. For some unknown reason he wanted it done As soon as poss, and we ending up organizing it for that coming Tuesday night. (he wanted to do it on Monday..)

Me and a good mate took my trusty '32 gts-t sedan, with very bald rears on the newly purchased wheels i had bought from being on a lowered (read-cambered) S15, to fetch the big ol' Toyota.

We arranged to meet at the train station in wellington and he was in the car park when we arrived.

I checked it over with him briefly, admiring its definitely early 80's squareness.

It wasn't as tidy as I'd hoped, but i was still really happy. It ended up being about 2300 after he got it over the strait for me etc

which wasn't too bad. As i said, I'd hoped it was tidier but it was complete and almost everything worked perfectly so there wasn't much to complain about.

The guy selling it was quite buzy, with a 'flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants' type approach. He hadn't even organized accommodation, and wanted to go to the casino? (why there, now?)

The car wasn't dodgy, it was sound as, I think he was just a character, although he did say to me on the phone

pre-buying it, if he kept it he wanted to paint it (matte?) Black, "because there is just so much chrome on this thing"

I felt I had to rescue it.

After unsuccessfully trying to get us to drop him at the casino (we didn't know where it was either..)

we dropped him a little closer to the central city and tried to convince him bunking up at the backpackers would be his best/cheapest bet.

He left me with this piece of advice when exiting the car,

"careful, it's longer than you think" and he was right, it was odd driving it for the first time, much different to R32 Gts-t

I'd drove down in, and with that we started the journey home.

I instantly loved it.

I even thought it smelt kinda cool, and pictured a Japanese business man, smoking heavily, rolling a mint example down a highway in the mid 80's. (though it didn't smell like ciggy's)

The comfy interior, like a old lounge suite, the quiet engine, seemingly effortless and apparently great on gas, according to the gauge on the trip home.

After a 'moment' of my friends doing in my r32, and a long stop at BP in Otaki(?) yarning about how awesome it was and how it kinda looked like a smaller version of a late 70's early 80's Caddy we made it home to Palmy pretty late.

[J-Calico]

Bone stock and with everything in order.

The heater control makes something 'click' repeatedly when set to anything other than full hot or cold

(this thing)

but it worked and was a minor flaw considering the gadetry they have stock, which is now 25+ years old.

It became my daily, as planned and has stayed standard for quite some time.

After someones appetite for drivelines,

Broke this \/ After demo'ing the lay shaft of a (FS5R30A/r34 25T)gearbox, leaving the box useless, previously too..

in turn leaving me little cash for the MarkII's progression.

So not alot(nothing..) has been done to the car itself.. yet.

[J-Calico]

The plan was always to make a jap styled crusier to serve as the ultimate daily.

At the time (2 years ago) my commute to work was very short and flat. It would have been feasible.

Now, the want is still there to have it the same, but it really isnt needed or intended to serve as a daily.

So my plan was

-NA JZ engine.

I didn't want nor need another turbo car, and the package move to a far newer & smooth 6cyl seemt like natural progression from the old and gutless 1G-EU.

-W58 g/box (if i colud) get one or similar from the W-series.

-Coilovers to get that japanese-like 'its the super low ride height that makes it look so good' look

-3pc or similarly tough 14" Japanese wheels with widths around 8.5"-9.5" (at the time the Enkei 'Focus racing' wheel

alot of the gogo cars had.

-Custom stainless exhaust

-hopefully get it all running fine on the stock ECU or swap to a link and GTE engine later in the piece.

For some reason I had an obsession with the VVT-i motors at the time, and believed them to be far superior to the normal older versions. So i wanted one of them, but VVT 2JZ-GE's were thin on the ground and expensive(again i didnt read into it too much though) and normal 2JZ-GE's were asking good coin too, so I got a low km's VVT-i 1JZ-GE from Toyota's ulgly duckling, the 'PROGRES' for around $650-700 I think.

So during the long periods of ownership and no progress,

I've basically just been acumulating parts for the build.

Firstly i got an enigne

then a box. (supposedly a '58 from a G-GTE mk3 Supra) im hoping so, ratio check seemed right/.783ish.

can you tell another way?

Then coilovers From BC, I went with the AE86 set-up hoping it'd be easier to work with, (given they come without hub

mounts or stub axle set-up) and again hopefully provide that 'on the floor' ride height.

Then wheels via OS, (thanks Rob!)

and then a JZ-W bellhousing via toyota/Cusco NZ in AKL, which they listed for cheaper than nightparts/convert ltd sell theirs for. (but stated they 'retail' for $1600+!)

[J-Calico]

Also, more recently I got a flywheel from Nightparts/Convert ltd,

But not before buying the incorrect one! , for Pull type clutches/use with the R154 box

so if you are in the market for a good flywheel if your using the R154 in anything, hit me the fuck up, i need to recooperate some costs

And after stuffing them around at Auto Brake and Clutch here in Palm. North with the whole flywheel ordeal,

I also got a 10" HD Excedy clutch for a pretty sharp price.

-Plus clutch alignment tool and spigot bearing in the pic /\

Also some other bits, some not super important but meh, everyone loves 'spruce-up not-so-important-to-the-builds-progress shit.

slave cyl

Open ended alloy wheel nuts

and another silly-ass dildo shifter..

[J-Calico]

So for the last 6+ months shes been living in some sheds I've rented from a really nice, if not rather excentric guy, which are behind some flats he'sowned for 20+ years.

Managed to score 'em for Only $8/Week! per side, so it had to be done. Not enough space round home.

Went down today 'cos my freind was going to sort out something with his car(which is incidentally my old CD5A GSR) in the other shed next to it.

Dragged the old girl out, took a couple snaps of it, took some things out of it home, and also brought down a couple of forms of cover for either car.

Bit Dirty, should have covered it initially.

I don't think i will ever tire of this shape

[J-Calico]

I know its another 'not crucial to the Actual build' item,

and im not usually a big fan of personalised plates unless they're lowkey and kind of scriptive.

But ever since embarking on, or even dreaming up this build I've wanted one of a few designs,

this being the most prominent one on my wanted list (that wasnt taken..)

and was a 'classic' not a 'premium', so a bit cheaper too. (thik because it has 2-3 letters first? like a normal rego..)

Got the 'spaced to the back' idea from a really choice 'onevia' that was at (*cough*4& roticery *cough*) nationals

a couple of years ago (Was [ 1VIA] i think?)

Bit of a subtle change on boring old centred

Also thinking I should also make them like old black plates after I actually get them made.

Sadly the MarkII had a personalised plate previously (TOMPRO ) so has white 'FBZ...' plates.

[J-Calico]

couldnt help myself...

15x9.5 w/ 195/45's

fronts are 9" and -16? also 195/45 NS-II's.

(measured [i think] at -16 for the 9"s, and -26, not +/- 0as i had thought/was told, for the 9.5"s)

[J-Calico]

Finally found a F series LSD.

3.7 Ratio too! (every little bit to help with tiny rolling diametre)

Paid way too much for it, as when I was bidding for it off 'the tard',

the other kat bidding on it was unrelenting. & I realised he'd also bought the last

F-LSD I spied on there, and upon checking his feedback, 2 open F-series' too!

how many did he fucking need?

So I wanted to make him pay as much as possible for it.

Ended up pushing him to his max bid, waiting then deciding to go one more, at which time his auto bid was done,

and I was offically owning it for a semi astronomical price.

Ah well, dont need one now, was recently rebuilt etc, and is a good ratio...

Worked in picking it up form Taranki with a sat morn @ work (w/ a trip to Wanganui)

and met him in Patea.

Was a really good dude shooting off to Aus, selling up his car stuff.

Also bought the W57 he had, as it was a decent price & to help him out, turning assets into cash

for the big move.

[J-Calico]

Crappy 'what you ain't got no pictures?!' update

As to be frank, I haven't even done Sweet fuck all lately.

Again I've been too busy with work and new cars(sorry, don't hurt me..) which alway keep me from prgress.

DOHC Whitey MarkII has been sold via the tard to fellow OS-member TMC-KE70/Rick, all the way down

in the mighty Timaru

Was the dream X61 car (in my tired eyes..) for this shit really, being factory 'TwinCam24' (as its badges bragged subtely ), white, manual

& WHITE ('cos it may be boring/common, but it looks so good on them!)

But alas always too many cars (at mine, dads rented workshop, and my rented sheds) and I dont really want to ruin the factory good spec one,

and can't bail on my previously aquired, and 'to-be-project' car initial gold MarkII

so off she went with a metaphorical tear in my eye..

Also sold an R32 Gts-t sedan i had purchased reasonably recently (I usually have cars for ages!) to a friend (on my gen. 17" Work Meisters! too!),

so more garage space (but not really at all...)

And finally sold my mistakingly purchased Chromo JZ flywheel for the R1 boxes to a local dude with a 1JZ-gte in a hilux...

I'm thinking one day im going to want to build something with an R154 and be thinking 'shit I shouldn't have sold that flywheel'.

but alas cash is priority over unuseable parts (well in theory maybe) so Im happy for now.

semi-eased the pain of mssing out on them sweet 14" mkIII's that were on the tard,

{C}http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... ermanent=0{C}

(which I was(/had my heart) set on, but were alot of moneies' anyhows, so not a majorly regrettable 'loss')

with some more wheels From the absolute living Legend that is Kelvin/Mini'Yakuza'

TBH Im not even 100% sure if they'll fit and look good on the MarkII, but I convinced myself I had to have them/Closet

wheel whore in me coming to surface

Worse case scenario I wouldn't imagine they'll go down in value terribly, so new investment idea FTW?

and very recently sorted out a GX61 F-series subframe, as goldy is dirty old/small T-series factory

A part I have so desperately needed (yet had done Sweet F.A about finding... ) until good old OS again came to the rescue in the

form of fellow member al_feinted, in all of about 20 mins after posting up the wanted add screening for one

(I still need that vvti JZ alternator if anyone can help though! haha)

Thank you so much Alex !

Truly another OSGC.

Yet to pick-up either of these items, unrealistically was looking at tieing it all in with a trip up to the big city

of sails to buy a car maybe.. Me trying to make it seemingly very worth while.

[J-Calico]

So I do still own this thing, and I still plan on completing it, apparently.

But alas, un-like the 'progress hound' that is Sheepers, I have to, been doing (basically) nothing...

 

As mentioned many moons ago above, /\ I drove to Auckland to get the F-series rear subframe, and any associated bits Alex had,

(driveshaft and axles IIRC?)

and scooping up mr minimafia Kelvin's BBS RS wheels on the way back through his neck of the North Island woods.

 

If the trailing arms are the same (surely Toyota?) I think I have pretty much all the parts I need, save for ones to be replaced, like bushes and hanger bearing possibly.

 

I had the subframe sandblasted, as it had seen better days, but I'll most likely do so again as a feline of mine so kindly urinated on it, and I also wasn't sure about being able to attain bushes for it (autolign had no listed stock for these models, or any that would use this subframe) so left them in.

 

 

And, after what seemed like and eternity, (was approx. 1 year) I managed to get a custom made set from the kind fellow that did RyanFels' in Auckland.

 

I would be set to go but now the whole idea of extending the exhaust passages' notch, (like Fresh's? car) and modding the outside trailing arm mount on the sub-frame to allow adjust of camber ( to combat un-helpful certification rules) has been discussed amongst us X-Chassis folk, I'm at the stage when it really would be the perfect time to do so.

 

Any Advice on how far to extend the notch team?

Would its strength be inherently weakened by doing so TOO much? (as it effectively 'thins out' the subframe buy notching deeper into it's 'thickness')

[J-Calico]

That kind, and fellow Manawatu resident 'Simon' also did this to my Starsharks...

 

 

But that was so this could happen...

 

Yay,

but I'm not super happy with them, mainly because I basically got royally tucked on the outer lips on them, paying 1.5X the cost of my entire wheels, for what i thought were custom made lips, that turned out to be a glorified set of a 1/3 of a set of wheels. (rear halves/lips/insides/barrels)

The auction seemed purposefully misleading...

And no stagger cos Zeb cuss'ed me out on this/said i really need it on X61, Lol

So they don't have the correct steps in them, nor the ability to correctly mount a tire with them sealed up.

But that's okay, as i will do as Simon has to with his, and 'build' the wheels around the tires.

 

Simon also kindly offered to machine the face off the 'star' that staries always have once painted, GC

 

Also, I bought new hardware (to bolt them together) old shit was allen dome bolts and NOT stainless, with dome hex nuts on the front.

I REALLY couldn't decide which style I preferred to replace them with in a stainless variant, (the stock style big nut heads, Cap screw type, dome style allens or using the stainless dome hex nuts on the front again..)

So I basically went with the cheapest/what Simon said/closest to factory, though TBH I don't think i was ever really a fan of them.

 

Tried the local 'Steelmasters' shop first, who quoted me on cost/bolt and nut for each, so I had an indication on the relative cost of of each style for the entire set of 64 needed, then tried EDL, who were much cheaper.

 

Initially they were like $36, $74 and $96 respectively for 64, for the normal hex, cap screw type and Dome allens, but he could get the cap screws down to around $45-50 IIRC for me, so not too bad on price.

 

I should have taken a camera and photo of a few of each in the wheels to give you an idea/get opinions as i really couldn't call it.

If I hate them enough after running them I'll just go back and get another style in future.

 

Any preference yourselves/ help with above post on modifying the subframe?

New-Page-Time???

[J-Calico]

Finally got one of these hard-to-find bishes!
Vvt-i JZ alt.
And more un-important bullshit.
DENCY wheel/lock nut set.
Simon told me about these puppies YEARS ago, and showed me a video on YT of them and how they work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFde55P7Uk
I stumbled upon a set on Trademe!
Toyo tires on the BBS RS's ages ago!
Trailing arm nolothane bushes

T3 NC-RCA's off BRENNAN locally (cheers man!)
After buying regular ones off ANT moons ago haha
Facelift Chaser Seatbelts I got awhile ago too,

unsure if I'll run them, but the whole logo down the entire belt is so cool!
Bought these average engine mounts off a member on OS years ago too, but the non-solid urethane-type section might be of use,

Then Levi sold a set of the batch- made plan ones someone did a run of a while ago too, which I missed initially so was glad when he offered this set for sale.

 

My Father surfaced the back of them at work, even though we were sure the block had bosses that stuck out of for it to mount to and probably wouldnt have mattered at all, I wasn't about to complain, cheers pops haha

 

I'll double check a certifier doesn't need to see them raw/un-painted then get them powdercoated black along with a few other things I'd like to have done, Ideally most of the rear end components.

[J-Calico]

lowered it,

basically just to re-ignite a sense of interest in this car as a project..

Will end up much lower and on 14's of course