Popular Post jackeo21 Posted August 19, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted August 19, 2019 Since selling off my other projects and dedicating most of my available time to this barge I figure it deserves a project log. Nobody wanted this, it was for sale on TM for aaaggeess until I thought to see if the seller wanted a ute. Thankfully, the answer was yes, and a deal was made to swap cars later that night. However, arriving to collect this, the bonnet refused to open, the exhaust was half falling off, the tires were low, and she ran on 5, but I had to have it. The deal was done and it chugged along to the nearest gas station on as many cylinders as it could, where no visible issues were present. Air in the tires, and a quick window clean saw us headed over the harbor bridge back home wondering if we'd even make it. Sure enough we made it back late that night. First thing out was the huge "fart cannon" muffler, and since it's my only functioning vehicle, I used it for the following two days until the warrant expired on Friday, and then went and got a fresh WOF on the Saturday. First Order of business was to clean it, and investigate the misfire. After a week of diagnosis I finally found the issue - the wires inside injector plug 2 didn't reach the injector after that was sorted it was relatively smooth (but far from quiet) sailing. At this point it looked like this : Although that didn't last long. Pulled the window tints due to not enjoying having window tints. Replaced weird wrong 5 stud spare wheel with a 4 stud one. Power steering pump seal quit life and shat oil across the entire engine bay, fan assisted. Replaced pump. Gearbox rear seal and sump pan gasket, rubber trans lines, along with the engine front main seal thought it would be fun to leak lots and drain the entire gearbox overnight. Lifter tick got annoying Removed whole engine and gearbox with pleasure Installed 1G-E and auto from later model cressida = success Problems = solved Problems left to solve = shitloads lots 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jackeo21 Posted August 19, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 19, 2019 Eventually got tired of the high life and found some cheap Hayashi Street CR mags with good tyres. Found springs at zebra that fit result: I think I'd like to bring the front down some more, the back sits just a little lower. I found some unknown mitsi shocks for the rear, and had bushings machined to suit. Such a huge improvement from the boat-like handling characteristics it previously represented. I just installed standard front shock inserts to get the front stiffened up. New Nolathane went in all round, too. On the lookout for a diff, this one has done nearly 300K and it makes some pretty terrible noises, not to mention both wheel bearings need replacing. The plan here is to sort another replacement diff (E312), new brakes and bearings/seals/clean and then install. To keep me busy until I sort the diff, I went ahead and tracked down a 1G-GE, courtesy of a fellow GX enthusiast. Sold in an unknown cond. I didn't really know what to expect. This should be a big improvement from the asthmatic SOHC 1G, having double the valves, bigger ports, and a cross-flow head. Although it won't be as simple as cleaning it up and putting it in, as it turns out it ran bearing number 2 and churned the metal filings from said bearing around the engine. Thankfully, the leaky SOHC 1G I pulled out earlier has put its hand up to donate the crank and rods. They have the same sized mains, too. (later 1G engines had different sized main bearings). That's all for now. Once the SOHC motor is pulled down and the crank and rods are test fit I'll send the block off for a dip and the head to be machined. 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted September 9, 2019 Author Share Posted September 9, 2019 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. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted September 20, 2019 Author Share Posted September 20, 2019 Impulse bought KE70 front lip resulted in this, of which I would call a win: 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 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted October 15, 2019 Author Share Posted October 15, 2019 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. 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. 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. That's all for now, I still (desperately) need springs that fit until the S13 coilover conversion next year. Cheers 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted October 29, 2019 Author Share Posted October 29, 2019 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 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 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. 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. 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. 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! 7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post jackeo21 Posted March 21, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 21, 2020 Completely forgot that I didn't update since before drag day. The morning of drag day I went right past the dragstrip and ended up in Hamilton, where a 2JZ-GE engine found its way onto the trailer I happened to be towing. It's been sitting around since I picked it up in December but this mornings purchase prompted me to get into it. These came up and I had to have them. They're a set of 6 40mm Individual Throttle Bodies to suit the 4A-GE engines, that have been adapted to a modified 2JZ inlet. It utilizes the standard fuel rail and injector setup, with a piggy-back ECU for fine tuning. Overall a pretty neat little setup. Hard to find stuff like this for the 2JZ as 95% of aftermarket is to suit the turbo engines. It'll prove to be a good learning experience with wiring and all that stuff, but I look forward to the challenge. Spy the 1G-E extractors Only on there for a mock up. I'll be on the lookout for the 1JZ stock tubular exhaust manifold to modify. I'll also need to find a turbo valve cover etc. This far, for my engine I still need: Alternator P/S pump Flywheel, clutch etc ECU Mechanical Fan (or do I go electric?) Overall it'll certainly give the wagon that extra bit of "unique" I've been looking for. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackeo21 Posted April 9, 2020 Author Share Posted April 9, 2020 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. 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. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.