Matt's '81 KP60 Starlet

_Matt · March 17, 2016

Here's a video with the straight pipe, needs a tune still. Will try and do a better one once the mufflers on.

_Matt · March 27, 2016

Got tuning done, needs to go back soon to get the top end done, since we didn't want to rev it too high too soon.

Any suggestions on what oil to run? I'm guessing some mineral oil with plenty of zinc?

_Matt · March 31, 2016

Put some 175/60/13 tires on. They make such a huge difference. Just needs lowering another couple of inches.

_Matt · April 30, 2016

Now has a K50 in it, so no longer sits at ~3600rpm at 100kmh

Also bought some struts to start cutting up for more low!

_Matt · June 17, 2016

Made some coilovers. Ended up getting MR2 inserts I think, they weren't really short enough and 5kg springs.

I shortened the struts and TIG welded them up.

Applied paint

Test fitted and the springs were too hard, didn't go anywhere low enough unless I pulled out the keeper springs and wound the collars right down.

De-sprung the rear to see how low it could go.

Removed the bump stops as well

Did some calculating and figured some 3kg springs would be better and shortened the insert shaft a bit.

Bought some cheap evo camber plates and drew up some new top hats to get laser cut.

Cut another coil off the rear springs and installed some shorted shocks, so this is how it sits now. Hopefully settles a bit lower.

Bought another K50 shifter housing thanks to enzee. Shifts much smoother without the one that's been brazed and welded!

_Matt · July 4, 2016

Did a little photoshoot

_Matt · July 23, 2016

Couldn't find any front brake rotors the correct size, the smallest I could find was 226mm diameter ones whereas I needed 205mm ones.

So we made a pattern and got some cast and then machined.

Installed them today along with new pads and wheels bearings

_Matt · August 21, 2016

Since it seems like every other KP owner makes another improved set of adjustable coilovers, I thought I'd follow that tradition.

Used some ae82 Corolla shock inserts this time, way shorter than the previous ones.

Drilled off the brake hose mounts and dropped them 30mm lower as well, so the threaded sleeve could go lower.

Picked up a pair of Recaro seats as well. So much nicer than the faded pink factory ones. Also so much better sitting lower.

Need to do something to those belt buckles though!

Coilovers can still be wound down 25mm (captive) or 35mm (non-captive) but was rubbing way too much.

Back needs to come down an inch or so now.

_Matt · August 23, 2016

Done some things to the engine bay. Polished up a rocker cover, painted a couple things, changed the air filter to a K&N one

and made a strut brace out of stainless steel and aluminium round bar.

I think next up is to make some heater lines out of stainless steel tube, as having a working heater is kind of nice.

_Matt · October 17, 2016

Installed some MRP RCAs and some rear superlow springs which made it higher, so now has even more rake than before haha.

Will get them compressed once they have settled a bit.

Got sick of the tires rubbing on the plastic inner guards, so pulled them off. Also rolled the guards and then undercoated everything to try and prevent rust.

No longer rubs at all, so that only means it needs to go lower!

_Matt · November 6, 2016

RUST! Was just getting worse so I decided I should probably fix it.

As you can see this panel has been painted quite a few times; Original brown, then yellow, blue, another coat of blue and then red haha

So stripped it all back to bare metal.

Did the valance as well, since that had some decent stone chips etc.

Just two bits of rust to fix now; a hole under the wiper motor and a bit under the fuel flap. Not looking forward to trying to fix them.

_Matt · December 12, 2016

Got the compressed superlows in awhile ago, so here's some pics:

_Matt · September 11, 2017

Not a lot has happened to this thing, still drive it as a daily.

Bought some 13x6.5" and 7" Hayashi Streets from Japan a year ago. They were fully powdercoated black so I stripped that off and gave them a polish. Only recently purchased some tires and fitted them.
They're too wide for the guards without pulling them out, which I don't want to do. So I'm selling them if anyone is interested.
Also after another pair of starsharks in 13x6.5" if anyone knows of any.

_Matt · October 16, 2017

Swapped the 175/50/13 yokohamas onto the starsharks. It's so slammed now haha. It's also nicer to drive in most ways because it sits at slightly higher revs, apart from high speed cruising which still isn't too bad. Speedo is waaaay out now though!

_Matt · October 23, 2017

The passengers door lock actuator seized at some point, only noticed it last week. When I was pulling the door apart I noticed there was a bit of rust coming through the front inside of the door, and since the door was basically half in bits I thought I may as well fix it now.

Looks like there may of been a previous repair done here.

Now I just need enough courage to fix the rust that will most likely result in a respray haha

_Matt · April 24, 2019

I guess I finally got enough courage to fix the rest of the rust. Had plenty of spare time over Easter so thought I'd better do something and was sick of having a puddle on the floor each time it rained heavily.
The rust hole under the wiper motor was the worst of it, kept putting it off because of the location and how tight the space is to get at.

Ground the mounting plate off, the rust was a little worse than I thought it was gonna be.

Made a patch to fit and then cut a much bigger hole. Took a few attempts to get the patch the right shape.

All welded in, didn't come out too bad.

Got a rust cut from Olds Cool Autos as the wiper mount was a bit past it after I cut it off.

Carefully removed the lower skin and gave it all a sandblast.

Welded it in place after testing the wipers still worked properly. Had to pull out the mig welder for the first time in a few years since i couldn't get the rear plug welds with the tig. Mig does plug welds nicer any way.

The drivers door had quite a few holes on the bottom.

Also had some tiny holes on the outer skin in the front corner, was easier to just cut that whole piece out and make a new patch.

Made a couple of patches for the inner skin and welded them in, then brushed on some paint.

Next made up the outer skin patch, welded that up and then hammered the edge over. The outside has a little distortion since I couldn't get a dolly in there properly to stretch the weld out, but nothing a light skim of bog won't fix.