Popular Post BlownCorona Posted November 3, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted November 3, 2019 Short version of the story goes, the guys who sold me the pallet of 18rg parts to help me repair the corona engine also had a Lotus Seven replica also running an 18rg on twin weber 40s. Has been in their barn for the last 14 years, but recently they dug it out. Some fresh fuel and a slight fiddle and it was running again. I heard through the grapevine that he was was looking at selling it, and it had my name ALL over it. So several phone calls and a bit of time passed and a deal was struck. So a car I've always liked but never thought I'd really be able to own was mine, even better it was RG powered. Traikered it to the ferry, drove on, drove off, allegedly a quick fang through Picton and onto another trailer back to chch. From what I can see, the webers will need a rebuild kit thrown at them, an oil leak from the sump plug, probably just a new copper washer, and the wiring for the lights repairing. Then wof time! Included in the deal was a roof, doors than can also zip in half, and a torneou cover which can also zip in half speedster style. I love it so much, even my wife admitted it was really cool, and she's usually indifferent to my cars. 55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted November 4, 2019 Author Share Posted November 4, 2019 Discussion thread here. Pulled the carbs off last night to check a few things before I order some rebuild kits. The head has been ported so that's pretty cool. Didn't take any pics cause I was enjoying myself and forgot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 Continuing through the list of wof things that done work. A new front right indicator bulb has the right hand side indicators working, wired in series maybe? Possibly the stalk switch just needed cycling to get the switch to work. Adjustment on the brake light switch has them working too. The horn stated working out of the blue, I suspect a similar issue to the indicators with some switch cycling magic. Still no tail lights though (have headlights Park/hi/lo) , however since one the the light units is cracked alot, and since they use weird festoon bulbs and since the identical unit is available new, using bayonet standard bulbs for like $40. I'll order up some new tail lights and if they still don't work, trace the wiring back. So apparently its true that this does have a Holden Torana (9"?) diff and brakes, and thankfully I only needed to remove one spring and nudge a pad sideways to get the slave cylinders out. There is fluid right up to the cylinder but zero movement. I can't budge the pistons on either side (should I be able to?) and I doubt they are costly so new items will go back in. I also have it fresh oil this weekend and had a look at the spark plugs, turns out they were mx5 plugs, so treated it to a set of correct plugs. There appears to be a weep still from the sump plug, I thought the lack of copper washer was to blame but put a new one on and still possibly a minor weep. Couldn't see any cracks and it wasn't threaded, perhaps I should have used a fibre washer? Things still to buy for a wof are some new headlights, the ones in it are sealed units and half blown or cracked lenses, hopefully I can get some H4 replacement units. I'll also need two new / good second hand quality harnesses. If anyone has any out of date but good/unused belts kicking around? Track day legal would probably be a must too, which I think is 5 years out of date? Else I'm just gonna end up paying twice. I'm also keen to make a 'track spec' roll bar. The stock unit is bolted on and would be okay for street use, plus works with the roof, but with a helmet and new regulations at ruapuna requiring 50mm head clearance probably won't be allowed. I also probably won't be able to full cage it easily so passengers will be a no go, fine by me. And means I can possibly run a foward running roll bar strut down to the chassis in the passengers foot well. I'll need to speak to someone who knows what they are talking about, but a hot swappable street / track roll bar would be ideal. Id also like to remake the OG roll bar to modern standards and ditch the crush bent tube, even if it is about 5mm thick. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted November 14, 2019 Author Share Posted November 14, 2019 New wheel cylinders and the rear brakes are mint. Robbed the headlights out of the mx5 for this, still sealed globes so will order in some semi sealed units at some point. Tail lights and carb kits showed up too, so that should get it 99% over the line. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted November 16, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 16, 2019 threw the seal kit into the carbs and no more leaks and no more lean spitting. (also put new O rings in the soft mount kit) went for a drive around the block and it cruised great but any time you tried to accelerate quickly it would hit the wall hard and sound like a rev limiter. not something you could drive through. clearly a major issue in the carb setup. Luckily i took photos off all the jets and tubes while i was rekitting them. Went inside for a coffee and looked up some suggested specs. found all the jets to be similar enough to the suggested specs that they were probably within tune, except for the venturi chokes, the were 30mm and suggested was around 35mm. Included with the car was a set of 34mm chokes, im not sure why the 30s were swapped in but i doubt it ever drove well. fitted the 34mms and it woke right up! still not perfect, but it runs pretty bloody strong! comes on cam (i heavily suspect its hiding something fun under the cam cover) pretty hard and sounds like the apocalypse at about 5000rpm. wof very soon and then ill have to try get some video. only new photo i have is of the grill i had a play around with painting. quite like it. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted November 17, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 17, 2019 New tail lights fitted, no dramas, all working now. Decided I'd let my daughter paint one of my spare cam covers. Turned out pretty cool in the end. Quite pleased and looks a million times better than what was there. The pretty cool looking headers will get a tidy up and probably heat wrapped at some point. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted November 22, 2019 Author Share Posted November 22, 2019 I was going to put this through for a wof this afternoon or tomorrow. Drove it in to work which was super fun, chucked it up on the hoist at lunch time and replaced several of the rivets that hold the floor panel on. The wind somewhat came out of my sails when looking just how scummy it was under there, no actual rust. But heaps of flaking paint and surface shit. I'd rather spend a day with a wire brush, some rust converted and a few cans of black paint, than ask a wof guy to ignore the shittest looking undercarriage he'll see all month. Also the radiator bottom tank is pretty hammered, looks like someone jacked it up at the front and hooked it. The cheapo half radiator civic ones everyone uses look to be a perfect fit, and will likly help with the overheating I experienced on the way home. Looks pretty yuck in the radiator and I'm picking its pretty blocked up, and that the thermostat is pretty similar, so a good flush out and a thick civic alloy rad should sus it. Also noticed the bush's on the rear shocks are done, will whip the shocks out and see if they are OK, and maybe just re bush them. Fronts seem OK, they are nice spax damper adjustable units, but are probably still too stiff for such a light car? On a more positive note, I discovered driving without mirrors is scarey as fuck, and found supercheap have these awesome little rear veiw mirrors on a suction cup! Very pleased with it. I'm also strongly considering changing the belts to normal lap and diagonal for street use, as cool as race harnesses are, they suck for street use, and probably arnt legal without an authority card, We'll see though. Maybe some dot rated clubman style harnesses with the standard belt clip, could be a good middle ground. But god damn is it fun to drive 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted December 19, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 19, 2019 After a substantial amount of fucking around, i finally have the honda civic alloy radiator fitted. everything was close which meant everything needed pissing around with. the radiator cap isnt the highest point which may prove problematic. got around it for now by filling it with the car jacked up in the front but an inline filler may be required. (radiator has a top mount now) other than that, just tidied up and splashed some paint around and its starting to look pretty good! took it for a wof today, too bad the que was out to the road and the man had to turn me away, will reattempt on saturday morning, but i fear every idiot whose left the family car wof to the last second might fuck it for me. legal for christmas is still the goal! 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Took it for a wof this morning. Never been so stoked on a fail in my life! I was prepared for serious issues given how long this has been sitting, although I'd been over it and felt everything was good. Maybe I should just back myself more. Only failed on No rear reflectors - new tail lights don't have them and I never noticed. Rear directional tires backwards - dumbass me out the wrong wheels on the wrong side when in a hurry the other day. And the only real sticking point being the harnesses, the wof man wants to ring land transport and clarify if they are OK without an authority card as the car was built with them. Not sure how this is going to go and I'm about to post in the wof/cof/cert thread, but feel free to comment on the discussion page if you have input. I would be happy to run a lap and diagonal belt on the street and a 4 or probably 5 point harness on the track coupled with a new roll bar, but don't want to stray into cert territory. There's a slim chance land transport will give me an early Xmas present on Mondays though... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 Spoke to Evan Fray from Chevron Engineering today. he said they were only ever intended to run a lap belt from factory, and the laws support this configuration so ive got some lap belts to put in tonight. that should see it wofd. but we all know how dangerous that would be. even the wof guys agree the harness is much safer, so ill probably put the harness back in for actual driving, but fingers crossed itll be wofed tomorow. 9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted December 23, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 23, 2019 Legal! So stoked. A tentative 2 months rego incase it all goes sideways haha. 28 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted December 31, 2019 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 31, 2019 Finally got a chance to take this on a real drive. 50km round trip this morning, out to governors bay hotel for a coffee and some wedges and back through lyttleton and through the tunnel back towards home. The drive was awesome and the car performed beautifully. Only issue was the steering doesn't want to return to centre very well, probably just an alighnment needed but will check over the uni joints and the rack. Wasn't pushing it hard at all because it's very early days, but it seemed far far too easy to keep up with normal cars through the hills, I suspect it just eats the road up better than anything I've ever driven. 27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted January 16, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 16, 2020 Ive been driving this a bunch and im really beginning to remember why i love old cars so much. it so much fun. except at above 75kmh.... then its a windswept hellscape. 100kmh and its borderline undrivable. there is such a huge amount of turbulent wind blast that i knew id have to do something. first port of call probably should have been to test drive it with the full doors on, but they are now burred in the back of my shed behind the crown. so i threw together some basic deflectors at work today, and figured if they showed promise then ill pretty them up, make them adjustable and removable ect. well turns out they work pretty bloody well. its still windy, but not unbearable, and i may be able to tune them better once i make them angle adjustable. after all its still an open top car with the flat windshield. another suggestion from someone at work has been to lift the screen up creating a gap at the bottom to hopefully equalize out the low pressure zone behind the window, i may give this a go, but will cause problems with fitting the roof. i think some form of ear protection may be a good idea as the wind rush can get quite loud, if anyone has any suggestions for something that can sheild my ears from the wind, but wont mean i cant hear surrounding traffic ect making it dangerous id love to see them. i tried some old ear phones but they blocked out too much surrounding noise for my liking. ive driven with a hoodie over my heat and its much better, but often not practical. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted January 19, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 19, 2020 2nd drive with the prototype deflectors. this time a reasonably sedate cruise into work through 50/60kmh zones. previously this would have been semi uncomfortable and left me with an unpleasant wind blast feeling in my ears that lingered. today it was awesome, no different than driving a normal car with the window open. ill definitely proceed to making some nicer more refined parts. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted February 2, 2020 Author Share Posted February 2, 2020 More just driving! The fuel line banjo bolt came slightly loose and I could smell fuel while driving, pulled over to see it spraying fuel everywhere. Not ideal. Tightened it back up and problem free for the rest of the drive. Drill the bolt and lock wire? Loctite? A different kind of fitting? What's the go to for these? (weber dcoe) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted October 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2020 Sadly, was intending on racing this at an even today but some real struggles we with motivation recently saw my prep and mods/additions to make it more track suitable and track legal started too slow and too late. Still, I have a new roll bar kit to install including a 5th removable point that will fit into the passengers foot well, and a super tiny steering wheel, this may prove to be too small for road use, but on track will make it significantly easier to exit in a hurry if required. Needs a spacer/adapter made up as the momo PCD will be too close to the edge of the centre. Cage just taped together for a look, obveously some of the tubes are still too long, so some dimensions may change. I also may move where the diaganol goes but need to look into what the rules say. Harness bar to go in here somewhere, but I think they bent it wrong as it doesn't match up the hoop width at the bottom 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted October 17, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 17, 2020 new cage starting to take shape really happy with how it looks given that MSNZ rules make you end up (rightfully so) with a really tall main hoop. but 5 degrees lean back and the uprights on 5 degrees make it look a lot less scaffolding spec 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted October 17, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 17, 2020 Also made up a hub adapter/spacer to fit the open wheeler steering wheel. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post BlownCorona Posted November 4, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted November 4, 2020 Got some new wheels for it since i dont really like the alloys, they dont fit that well, and they are super heavy. turns out these dont fit either. rears need to shift the barrels out by about 1.5" and the fronts could do with a half inch less offset too. silver lining is that the welds arnt fantastic so id by grinding them out and re welding anyway. rear wheels probably need to come out to about here, probably a touch less, to ensure enough clearance on the inside for full suspension travel. will experiment. plus side is i really like how they look and progress the car towards the late 60s racer that i want it to be. so overall pretty happy. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlownCorona Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 took this to get a wof today in preparation for another sweet summer hooning around, failed on general service items so pretty please. needs; rear diff/axle seals number plate light to go (already fixed was just some corosion) a crack fixed on what they thought was the steering mount, turns out its just an allow cover over a hefty steel mount, will still fix, but likley isnt an issue anyway. steering doesnt return to centre, and has a bit of a stiffer spot when turnin to the right hand side - unsure what this is, hoping no biggie, might be ball joints? wow shop suggest it could be the UJ but it apears to only happen one direction. maybe just good regrease. steering column has play near steering wheel - took the top end appart and looks like the bearing is wearing, looks to be an HB viva column to match the front end - *calling @yoeddynz * do you know where i could source that pressed steel bearing thats not $80+AUD? otherwise ill probably just jamb a normal double row bearing in there. could probably pack this one with grease and have it come right too if i get stuck. who are the rich boomers keeping rarespares in business huh? 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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