Popular Post Hachi-ichi Posted July 7, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2019 Whaddup OS! Foremost, it's been a while.. Since my last old(ish) car, I've been pretty absent from OSNZ due to new car life. Turns out that new car life is actually not what I had hoped and JZXs aren't really my thing. I'll skip the sentimental shit so tl;dr, I wanted an old car again for the last year or so. Two years of JZX ownership was cool, but I was fiending for a 1G-G again.. Well around a month ago, I began looking for a GX61 as thats what I've always wanted. It's a shame that I'm a picky bastard as limiting myself to factory twincam24 models (yikes) meant that I was unlikely to find what I wanted easily. I had a few leads to follow and quickly learnt that what I wanted in the GX61 scene was going to cost me quite a bit. Acknowledging that, a couple of weeks ago I opened up to this idea: What if, instead of getting something familiar and "dream car tier", I wing it and get something completely new. So putting this into practice, I decided to view a Y30 Gloria hardtop located in Dunedin. Some of you may know the car. It came up a week before the hand-in date for my thesis, so I chucked a deposit on it (oops) and booked flights for the day after uni finished for me. From pics and description, I thought I knew what to expect. Well Saturday morning came around and Zeb picked us up from Dunedin airport. The mini-tour of Dunedin was great and it was a pretty good way to fill in the morning before Y30 viewing. We drove past where the Y30 was located before viewing for a quick sneak peak.. Well it was apparent right then that it wasn't what I was expecting. For the money I was looking at paying, it was too much work to get it to a good 'base' type spot. It was this point when I realised that I'd be doing my South Island trip via bus or rental instead of in my own old car. Pretty sad, but I remembered I had a back up. An MS112 Crown hardtop in 033 white located in Nelson. To keep it short, it belonged to OS user: Slacker_Sam and from the pictures, it appeared just what I was after: Clean & Tidy; 80s; sedan body. To summarise, I managed to coordinate the trip to Nelson where I'd view and then buy if it was right. Turns out it was what I was after as I was heading to Picton in it later that evening. The trip back home wasn't completely without fault. A suspected dicky alternator killed the battery 45 mins before ferry boarding. Bluebridge moved us to the next ferry for free and a replacement battery had the Crown roaring again. In the North Island, Google Maps directed us through the Tararua Forrest Park via Akatarawa Road.. Holy shit, what a road.. The poor 5M felt it and developed that 'hot' smell that M series seem to produce. These fucking things have the thermal stability of an RBMK-1000 in heat... A coolant drip in two places which I was aware of in the South Island was likely the culprit, however I was loaded up with some extra water and i banged on a couple of extra clamps to put my mind at ease. I kept my eyes on the temp gauge like a hawk despite its potential inaccuracy. Thankfully the road didn't induce a 5-MRBMK meltdown and we made it back to nice open roads where the M could bask in cool fast moving air. Other notable moments include: The AC belt lunched itself on Desert Road, however, I brought tools with me including a socket set which allowed me to remove the belt in a minute and keep on our way; The trans began slipping from Taupo onward. I felt it earlier but its here where it became pretty clear. As of now, I'd say the trans needs attention. I'll flush it and see what that yields, but my sparse knowledge of torque converter automatics leads me to believe its likely lunched. Not an issue though as I'll later explain.. For now, here are some pics: Some things pertinent to the car which I really enjoy: It's untouched. No shitty headunit, no "mods", NOTHING. It has a towbar and some Bridgestone Texas alloys which I consider a cool bonus; Blue interior. 033 white and blue interior go together perfectly; OEM floor mats, need I say more; Dealer sticker and plate frame, a WOF sticker from 1997 and some ancient JAF sticker on the door; Blue glass all around. There is more, but I really don't want to ramble more than I am. I'll make a new post outlining my first impressions and initial "going over" of some bits. Discuss here: https://oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/60957-michaels-ms112-crown-hardtop-discussion/ 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Hachi-ichi Posted July 7, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted July 7, 2019 So as promised.. A follow up post to show some initial investigation into the car. On the way back up to Auckland from Nelson, I began to think about ALL the places this thing would be rusting that I couldn't see. Like many, I prod around window seals, crevices and all sorts of places I should probably ignore on the car... But alas, I found some quite soon. Having had a X81 MARK II Hardtop, I know that window seals provide a prominent area for water accumulation and subsequently allow rust to develop. Makes sense, so I knew the Crown had the potential for rust here. From the pics, you can see there is a little rust but regardless, it needs to be attended to. I pulled all trims off gently, broke nothing and got it down to a ready-to-repair state. A+. I cleaned the area up and this is how it sits now. Its both sides from inspection and I've yet to do the other. I've got a good panel beater who's essentially told me to bring it to him when I'm ready... sweet. I do need to find a pair of front door rubber rails which screw to the body. The ones on the car are so long gone (pic attached). Any leads on a pair of these NZ-side would be appreciated, YAJ/croooober/Mbok etc are dry. I kept going and removed the lower screen trim to reveal.... NO rust north of some surface rust. Yay, I'll take that for now. The car failed a WOF on front wheel bearings and rotors being pitted. I tackled the wheel bearings that day as I grabbed a pair from Repco. When I took the hub apart, the hub bolts were on finger tight, so I'm not sure if the bearings were properly stuffed or it failed on a loose hub bolt, whatever though. I need to grab new brake rotors too as these are far too thin to skim apparently. I was going to leave putting the new bearings in until after I get the new brakes. I take it the hub and rotor can be separated from one another? I haven't encountered a setup such as this before. Some cleaning up of trims happened after all of this. The door rubber was brought back to life and all ready to go back on.. I'll autosol when it comes time, I assume thats a good way to bring these back to 100% But yeah, that's it for now. I may keep up with the minuscule updates, I may not. Until my JZXs sell, it will be quiet sailing.. After that, I've got plenty of plans for it which I'll be able to bankroll. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hachi-ichi Posted July 17, 2019 Author Share Posted July 17, 2019 Decided to sort the slipping A43D yesterday. Did a sump drain and fill. In the morning, I realised being lazy would prob fuck me over so went and bought a filter kit and an extra bottle of DEX III. I grabbed some new clamps and a top rad hose to sort the coolant leak too. 5Ms don't need coolant leaks and I doubt they tolerate them either. Swapped the hose, tightened the ho. A+ no leaks. I was pretty sure ol mate at Repco would give me the wrong filter kit. He was pretty certain A43DL kit will suit A43D, I didn't think it would and it appears I was right. Pretty sure valve bodies are a little different across most A series autos. Good lesson learnt! Oh well, means I have to go back and do the filter some time, but the sump I managed to clean out and then flush the trans. I cycled like 6 liters though it so I'm pretty confident it will love life a little more now. It pulled MUCH better tonight and I took it for a good wee drive. Success. Also, the sump had a magnet sitting in it. I take it this is a thing with autos? I've never done an A-T pan drop before so seeing an object in the pan took me by surprise lmao. (Yes there were axle stands before I went under it) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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