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J21's '83 Toyota Corona MKII Wags


jackeo21

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  • 3 weeks later...

Success! The 1G SOHC crankshaft and connecting rods have, and will work perfectly in my twin cam block. Need to find time to get my block sent away to dipping. I'll be taking the head in to get refreshed sometime next week, I've had it quoted up. I'm currently waiting on the cheap and probably shit really good value complete gasket set from Aliexpress. Cringe all you like, I've heard good things and it includes every gasket + seal required :) 

On the body side of things, I really need to get into the rust spots that are forming under the paint. I'm expecting some lovely filler work when I go digging rust out, shes had a repaint at some point in the past. Hopefully it doesn't become a huge nightmare and I can keep repairs small and neat. The bonnet has rusted out on the inside, but I have a basically new, perfect bonnet that needs to be painted and put on someday. It would be really neat to have the stickers in the engine bay and under the bonnet reproduced so I can put them on after the engine bay gets it's respray.

As far as ride height etc goes this is awful to ride in. If it weren't for the comfy seats I'd be seeing a physiotherapist by this point. The rear springs have had some meat removed and it has really short and stiff Mitsubishi springs to keep everything tight but it jumps over bumps, bounces over every little thing in the road. Suspension + springs etc is certainly not my strong point so any advice on making it a little comfier to ride around in would be awesome. I thought X73 king springs may be the solution, but I'm not sure they'll fit. I had even brainstormed the idea of fitting the IRS rear end but really haven't put thought into that. I don't really have the coin for S13 front coilovers at this point in time.

That's all for now, I'll update the thread when I rip into it and start changing things (again). Grabbed some pics out on a weekend cruise.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Impulse bought KE70 front lip resulted in this, of which I would call a win:

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20 mins of cutting and marking and it's sitting pretty good. Just gotta make up some little stainless brackets for the corners, sand, prime, and paint body colour. I'll be painting the bottoms of the guards, and the lower panel to bring them back to life at the same time. I think it gives the car a little more of an aggressive look, and when I drop another 40mm or so out of the front it'll really come into its own and look the part.

Time off work is coming up very soon which means I'm able to get across town and have my engine block dipped. Unfortunatley the need for a new phone sets my head rebuild back, but I'm not fussed. I won't be putting the 1G-GE in for quite some time yet, so I'm working more on the car itself.

I've been thinking about my auto. I'm not keen to manual swap for a variety of reasons, but the old A42/3 automatics are awful. I had been thinking about adapting an altezza 1G-FE auto to fit, and I think the only hiccup I would encounter is the rear X member. I'm thinking that the late model auto's, especially if sourced from something low kms, would be far smoother. And for the price of them, it would be a far cheaper option than rebuilding what I already have. Let me know if this is a bad idea.

Entered in OS Drags too, so hopefully the 1G-E and slushy auto can smash out a sub 30 second run ;) 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Quite a bit has happened,

I removed the rust holes in the roof, welded, and refinished the areas. Had a go with spraying through the gun, don't think the results came out too bad but it was done in a bit of a hurry to beat incoming bad weather. I also cleaned up the scruffy tailgate, the bottom is still made entirely of filler and will be a major to fix, so I'll follow a lead I have on one in Australia.

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First time seeing it with badges! This was pushed in bad when I got the car.

I also painted the front lip to blend a little nicer with the bodywork. I spent some time and fibreglassed the ends too, to reshape them for my lower panel. For anyone interested in the same lip, it was to suit a KE70 Corolla. I think it works pretty well with the car.

Also picked up a low k's E series diff, unsure on the ratio but it should be fine as it was spun by a W55, which is what the wagon will eventually receive. I can make it work.

Gave the diff a clean and paint tonight, even threw in some non-factory, factory looking markings for lols. Tomorrow it will get new slaves and shoes and be put into the car this weekend. The current diff is so noisy, at the pinion but also both wheelbearings, and the brakes leak. So, cheaper and easier to just put this fresh diff in, which also doesn't leak which is perfect.

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This month's focus is prep for next months warrant. Being entered in at drag days, and with a big road trip planned over summer I'll be screwed without it! So fingers are crossed she makes it through. I'll give it some fresh suspension bushes in the rear too, for peace of mind.

Also, I managed to find a full set of NOS toyota centre caps for a corona. With the gold Hayashi Street's I think it really works. Happy with this current setup.

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That's all for now, I still (desperately) need springs that fit until the S13 coilover conversion next year.

Cheers

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just got in from a 770km journey over the long weekend. Whangamata, Tauranga, back to Whangamata, then back to Auckland.

Car had minimal trouble, aside from the diff running itself out of oil just off the southern motorway, thankfully right outside a friends shop in which we swiftly jacked it up and threw some moreys/random gear oil into it. Made the rest of the trip down the line nicely, if only a little louder in the rear than usual.
 

Little photo spam to follow from the trip. Car is at a stage where I'm happy with it, but there's still so much more I'd like to throw at it. 

Plans to accomplish before the end of the year: 

Custom dash mat, get MOMO wheel centre and fix horn, as well as repair cracked plastics in the interior and general interior tidy (maybe seat covers too).

Swap diff centre for mint replacement and install new brake shoes for safety and general maintenance purposes.

Front brakes and rotors. I'll also be looking into the S13 front strut conversion.

Purchase new tailgate and paint/fit. Also would like to tidy up number plates somehow.

Pinstripe, cause the sides are pretty boring as it stands.

The push is on to get this thing prepped up for it's warrant next month. It cuts close with OS drags, so it'll be a fun little week if she doesn't make it through! I remain pretty hopeful.

Chur

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  • 4 months later...

I did a thing.

Well, quite a few things, actually.

I jumped at the opportunity to buy an '84 Cressida up in Whangarei. The car had quite a bit of rust and was in fairly rough shape. However, it had a full manual conversion and 1G-GE, so I had to have it! A deal was done and I drove the wagon up to have a look at what I'd bought. Leaving it at a mates place in Whangarei I later had it transported down to my place in Auckland where it has now unfortunately met its demise. Thankfully, I've now got plenty of spares for my wagon and also for my X61 sedan project, so it's sacrificed itself to save two others. The 1G-GE heart has gone off to a fellow X60 wag owner so it can get out on the road.

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Anyway, ripped into the wagon Saturday morning. Old foot handbrake out (which involved removing a bunch of interior), new pull type handbrake in, auto out, fresh flywheel and clutch in followed by the W55 and driveshaft and we're back on the road. Night and day difference over the auto, that's for sure! It now has reasonable power, can get up hills etc without much struggle. So good.

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Also found that painting the brown interior parts with automotive 2K basecoat works a charm. It's all I had and it worked perfectly. I just need to find a nice blue leather shift boot to finish the console off nicely.

Aside from the manual conversion the car has remained much the same since the last update. A few shock/spring changes is about all.

Next up is to get the 2JZ on an engine stand so I can give it a good service and detail/prep to go in.

- Also, ran a whole lot of 20 second runs at OS Drag Day last year. Hopefully I can chop that right down with JZ power.

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The car has come so far in the 10 odd months I've owned it. Excited to modify it more in coming months. Good fun!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Like many I've taken some time during lockdown to sort out some work on the old girl.

Got pretty tired of looking at the old rear bumper in its sad state, with holes dents etc all through it really ruined the car.

Thankfully the sedan I parted out opened up the opportunity for me to modify a straight (sedan) rear bumper to suit my wagon bumper as they are NLA.

So after some mixing and matching of bumper mounts and the careful hacking apart of the sedan bumper I ended up with a fairly reasonable looking bum.

Tailgate is next on my list for a re-bog, just need it to last until I can really hack it apart and re-fabricate large amounts of it (it's very bad).

Took the oppurtunity to tidy up my exhaust tip, too. It's a nice quiet car with no drone etc which is cool. But I'd like it more aggressive for the new motor.

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Also fitted factory grande head unit. It struggles to work so I've just wired my lights to work and I'll relocate my BT headunit under the seat for max functionality. 

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