KSR's KP60 Documentation

[kseries.rookie]

Alrighty, I figure it's probably about time I put something together for this forum.
I don't want to call it a build thread because it really isn't when you compare to others.. More of me documenting the ownership of this car, the mistakes, the fun and everything else in between.

I've been searching for a KP for quite some time and while there has been few and far between options on the table and mostly were repsprayed/molested which I wasn't too keen on. That being said, I probably would have brought one if something like this didn't pop up..
I decided to chuck something in the buy/sell thread in the hopes that someone had something or knew of something.
Thread below for reference.
 

As can you can see, it was based in Hamilton and I am based in Wellington. I am incredibly grateful for Michael (myk00l) who spent some time getting it WOF ready, giving it a service and preparing it for a long drive home.
Once it was ready for me, I caught a flight up to Hamilton, he picked me up, I checked it out, dropped him off and drove 600kms home without a single hiccup.




It's worth mentioning that I have now owned the car for 12 months so I am writing this retrospectively.
I will update the thread as I have time to do so, but stay tuned for more!

Discuss here 

 

[kseries.rookie]

Immediate plans were to tidy it up a little bit and fix the small amount of rust. I also needed to get my hands on some head rests as these were missing.
Once that was all sorted, all I had to do was give it a really thorough clean on the inside and just drive it around and enjoy the nostalgic feels of cruising in a k series.

I'd like to keep it as original as possible for as long as possible but the inner bogan in me will no doubt eventually make some changes (read: dumpy, modgies, mirror tints, 12a bridgy, camo interior etc).
These will be reversible subtle changes such as suspension upgrade (not slammed on it's ass as I don't want to muck around with the guards) for improved handling so it no longer feels like a boat and some period correct wheels.
Engine is a 2k and a 4 speed manual box, it's the slowest car i've ever driven. Dangerously slow, especially pulling onto the highway..
Ultimately the game plan is to go for an OEM+ KP60, something that you could look at and believe me if I said they were all options you could select when purchasing one brand new.
Note - I don't plan to bring this to brand new spec. It gets driven and I don't want to obsess over making it mint otherwise it will be a never ending unenjoyable story/trailer queen. Quoting ajg193's mentality.. "it's maintained"

The colour is Toyota Peacock, it's stunning in my opinion and only until recently, it was the first KP I had seen in this colour.
In other lights it looks different but I would say it's a turquoise/teal.

I gave it a quick wash with some top of the range frangipani dish washing liquid and nabbed a couple of snaps down the road.





No sound system at all, just the OEM blanking plate.
I will need to look into a hidden sound system. Perhaps a really small amp with blue tooth capabilities under the seat with a small speaker tucked in the factory slots.
I don't want anything crazy, just something to have as background noise. In all fairness, I have been using UE boom placed under the glove box and it has been doing the trick..




I've not seen one with the green and tan combo before. I quite like it

 

[kseries.rookie]

Next on the to do list was the rust. I'm not a real man as I have not welded before so I outsourced the repair.

I rang around 6 or 7 different places to find a panel beaters that would take on a rust repair instead of insurance work..
I found 3 and got quotes. One was astronomical and two were reasonable.. Buy cheap, buy twice and all that but I figured that it didn't really matter if it's show car quality as 99% of it is covered by a rubber seal.. As long as the tainted metal was removed and new stuff was welded in place. Between the two, it came down to when they could fit me in. 

Location = top left corner when you open the boot




No after pictures specifically without the seal on but paint is close enough in colour - you'd barely notice that there was a repair..





 

[kseries.rookie]

At this stage I had racked up over a thousand kms on the weapon, which was more than enough to make me prioritise a suspension upgrade.

I picked up some Cobra Super Lows and Munroe GT rear shocks (shorter)..
I am fortunate enough to have a friend who has done all this stuff a thousand times before so he came on round and we got to work.
After fitting the rear, we came to realise that the front shocks (albeit aftermarket KYBs) were not holding the springs captive (barely, but not captive is not captive). 

I ordered some shortened KYB shocks slapped them in and happy days.
You can scroll up for a ride height difference.



Look at the difference between the paint on a sunny day VS cloudy.. It goes front a light green to a dark blue.

The drivability increased big time and the ride was surprisingly comfortable still. I was very aware that the cheap tyres were going to let me down I did also manage to find a period correct AA badge that had Wellington on it which I put that on, along with a JAF badge but later on decided there was too much going on and removed the AA badge. Who knows, I might try again later on.

Those with a keen eye may have also spotted the monsoons. I had thought/was told they were OEM however, this was not the case  
They still look cool but they were made for a slant front 4 door and it doesn't quite fit on the front doors. I might try modify/bend them a bit.. or just not use them.. What do you guys think?




 

[kseries.rookie]

The rear carpet had seen better days and so I decided to replace it.



I grabbed a second hand one that had also seen better days but no holes or rips and cheap enough to give it a go




After some elbow grease



After more elbow grease and fitted



 

[kseries.rookie]

Now that the KP isn't feeling like a boat anymore, I had to address the wheel and tyre situation.

Continuing with the OEM+/Maintained vibe, I wanted to get my hands on a set of KP61 sprint wheels. I managed to get my hands on a pretty run down set but I was optimistic that I could make them look cool again.
I spent several hours cleaning and polishing before the optimism ran out and I gave up and started to look around for somewhere to do it. I actually ended up searching the forum and I found a post from 2009 mentioning a potential lead. I gave him a call surely enough he was still doing it for funzies



They came out pretty neat


I then spent many hours with some sand paper, a couple of different paint brushes and some black engine enamel paint



I wrapped them in some Yokohama A539's, got a wheel alignment and put them on.
So far they have outlasted the mighty 2k engine.



I used to collect stickers back in the days and had an reproduced rego sticker that I had intended to use on a different but I never ended up using it. Same year too which is cool
 

[kseries.rookie]

Interior wise I think I will keep modifications to a minimum at this stage. 
If in the future the scope creeps up, i'll get some period correct front seats and try to match the original pattern as much as possible but for the mean time I did want to do something about the steering wheel.
I picked up a wood grain Kaizen steering wheel which I believe (correct me if I am wrong) is from a late 70s early 80s land cruiser and was an optional wheel from factory. The only issue there is I have had a hard time sourcing a horn button that fits. All the ones I have seen for sale at 51mm inside DIA and by calculations I need a 56mm one. If anyone has a toyota horn that suits, i'd love to hear from you.

I also managed to get my hands on a Wildcat wheel with a Toyota horn button which suits my application perfectly. I love the feeling of the wild cat, it's small, comfortable to wield and period correct. 
Fortunately, the wheel came with the boss kit as well which can be hard to come by. I did have to do some minor modifications to it for the horn to work consistently, gave it a good polish and slapped it on.



Stiffer suspension, excellent tyres and now a smaller steering wheel has made a world of difference in terms of drivability. A+ would trade again

[kseries.rookie]

I want to keep the paint work as original as possible but it was in desperate need of some love.
Off to a groomer it went for a full exterior detail including ceramic coating.
It's hard to tell on camera but wow, what a difference it's made. The paint really pops in the sun




Something else that I had acquired was a WOF. Not just any old WOF but a clean sheet WOF!
I didn't anticipate there being anything major (or minor to be fair) but it's always a sigh of relief when it does pass




 

 

[kseries.rookie]

Few small updates..
Due to failure to locate beige headrests, I picked up dark brown headrests awhile back.. I've always kept an eye out for the correct brown and recently got my hands on some very dirty beige headrests.
The waifu offered to bring them back to life to which I jumped at.. Top is how they came, bottom is scrubbed



Another win that took far too long to find, was locating three of these clips as there was only one present when purchasing the vehicle




I also re-painted the number plates, attached some Toyota backing plates and got my hands on an S front badge albeit faded..








 

[kseries.rookie]

I've just driven this on a 1300 km round trip so I am feeling inspired to talk shit about it but more on that later.
Jeepers, it's been a few WOFs since the last post.. I'll sum up the last couple years..

I did a grass auto cross, it was a hoot

I changed the cluster for a rev gauge one (shout out to Matt for the wiring diagram. that would have taken me far too long to figure out)



 

The inevitable happened, and the 2k just wasn't cutting it anymore so I started to build a 5k (got a cheap van, drove it home and pulled the motor). While I was building it, a well used 5k came up for sale locally and for what it came with, it was too good of a price not to grab. I gave it a birthday, put that in, blew the head gasket driving home from getting it tuned, replaced the head gasket and then had a few months dorting around.

 

 

I was told all the classic yarns when I got it.. bored block, ported 3kb head, oversized valves, massive cam, high compression etc. Which surprisingly, were true. Unfortunately the lifter prolapsed.

With my tail between my legs I ripped the trusty 2k out from under the house, gave it a spray can rebuild and put it back in place. 

 

 

 

[kseries.rookie]

I have always loved Advan A3As and I managed to I pick up a set of 13x6s. I got the lips fixed, painted the centres and convinced the bro to polish them for me (not a member but cheers mate).
Orange and blue is a sharp contrast, but it's grown on me

Which brings us now back to first sentence of the previous post.
I've just driven this from Wellington to Horopito to Toyota Fest at Hampton downs and back (1300 kms) with a couple of mates. There were a couple of small issues with the KP on the trip but those were quickly and easily rectified. It might be slow, but it got there ha

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Have a squiz the oldschool.co.nz sticker I got over a decade ago and never used until now.

That's all for now