DirtyThirtys 1984 Toyota Starlet KP61

[DirtyThirty]

Discussion thread: 

G'day team OS, 

Owning an E30 in my youth meant we made terrible mistakes in usernames, but now getting close to being thirty, I guess its kinda fitting. Maybe, just make better choices when choosing usernames. Anyways.... 

We thought it was a fantastic idea alongside having a half completed Mini Clubman (a project, but legal and runs well. Just looks like a POS) and just having a newborn that we buy another longer term project car. In consultation with my better half of course, we bought a rego on hold, primed shell of a KP Starlet because you know, we naively thought there would be time to take on a project like this. Its arrived with all the interior bits floating around, about 3 different cut up body looms in a rubbish bag and some other extras. No running gear. Most the rust has been cut out hence the primer.

The big sell was, it is a live shell and certed for a 4AGE & modified suspension. All we needed to do was source the running gear and we'd be in business? Famous last words. 

As it sat on the PO's driveway (Note: didnt come with the wheels pictured). Gregg was an absolutely great guy to deal with, have still kept in touch for bits and pieces. He owns a VERY well built turbo 4AGE KP now. 

After a quick discussion over a pie out at a lovely beach in Beachlands with my very good Toyota Century owning friend, I decided to take the plunge. 

The plan was to borrow our builder's car trailer and head up the following weekend out East to collect it. Its at this point im glad I had a Triton with a towbar, as I dont think our new glued together Haval would be capable.

 

The following weekend, we drive down. Load up. Lose my hi viz along the road, but we make it back home. The Mini got reshuffled and here it is sitting in what will be its new home for the foreseeable and unforeseeable future. Boxes of parts.

Mini:

 

KP:

  

I've always loved these. Prior to looking for a KP, I was keen on an Imp but they were either too far gone or just unable to be made road legal. I prefer the slant front, however the flat front has grown on me especially while following Ritchie's built which is somewhat a source of inspiration (this wont get to that level of build, but we can all dream). The idea was to build something road legal we could use on autocross/grasskhana/skid pan type events and not worry too much about breaking it. As always, my goals arent ever to make much power, its about reliability more than anything. Plus I could live out my dream of having fender mirrors and small Japanese wheels. Mainly documenting so its online for all the bits and pieces I couldn't find too much information on in the hopes it helps someone along the way.

Build Overview:

• 4AGE 16v with ITBs, COP
• T50 22 Spline gearbox
• MaxxECU Street
• Standard diff (although have a good lead on a T Series) T Series RA29 diff
• Stripped out but tidy interior
• Reinstate half cage (Can see where the old one was due to the foot plates)
• Recaro Fishnets
• Generally put the thing back together

 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Now for the part where we collect parts…..

Sourced an incomplete engine & gearbox from a guy in Wellsford. It had come out of an AE86 so most the RWD stuff was there. However it was missing an intake manifold, alternator bracket, flex plate, driveshaft yoke, loom, ecu and generally everything else that’s hard to find. It was the best shot we had at a 16v, considering at the time there wasn’t much around. Money exchanged hands, we loaded up and deal done.

 

Immediately after we make it back to base, im online ordering a gasket kit for it. The idea here is to change whatever is easy enough to change for now, but the goal is to sit the engine and box into the car to see how it all works.

 

 

I went back to Greg who sold me the car and picked up an ECU and loom (turned out to be from a FWD with some plugs missing and wires cut and joined in random spots, more on this later). I forgot to mention that he sold me the car with a variety of gearbox crossmembers and engine mounts for a 4AGE to KP.

At this point we have a gasket kit, flywheel resurfaced (quick turnaround from GER), new pilot bearing (was a tough one to track down, think I ended up getting it ex-Aus with some other goodies) and clutch kit with ARP fasteners.   

 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Immediate Issues:

Ill run through some of these with the potential solutions we have used/are working on

 

1.       Cable to hydraulic clutch conversion

2.       Intake with TVIS

3.       Distributor

4.       Rear water outlet

5.       Gearbox mount

6.       Fuel Lines

7.       Radiator Mount

 

I should explain that my fabrication skills are limited to grinding and drilling holes (hilarious). Anything I need made or welded, I either tac together/use CAD (Cardboard Aided…) and take it to Ronnie @ RSL or I wait for me best m8 @mk2marty to pop up with his welder. Recently been staying up late and learning basic actual CAD, at least I can flick it off to an engineering company to make me what I want since I don’t have the skills to.

 

 

1.       Cable to hydraulic clutch conversion.

MK1: After much thought, there is a nice depression in the firewall that looks roughly the size of a AE86 clutch master. After acquiring one, we set to drill this out and just come up with a linkage from the clutch pedal to actuate it. It was a good idea, until the linkage had to be made quite strong and the tube we used, wasn’t.

MK2: I went to Oldscoolautos who fabbed up a clutch pedal nicely reinforced that would actuate the MC pushrod. This was great, didn’t cost moonbeams and worked, fantastic! Well, it was until you see how much the MC sticks into the intake area which meant the TVIS wouldn’t fit. Balls.

MK3: The current setup. I’ve been interested in the Hasport conversions available for Hondas for quite some time as they look like they could easily be made to work (https://hasportperformance.com/products/cma/). I wasn’t brave enough to pull the trigger on one new, one popped up from a KP! Someone had a similar idea. It came with a plate to mount it exactly where I wanted. Only thing I need to do is get the clutch cable shortened. Now the MC is out of the way and having no issues fitting the intake with TVIS, I’ll still proceed to leave it on the shelf and well onto the next issue!

 

MK4 (research stage): S2000 cylinders as theyre same 5/8 bore, and only 2mm difference in stroke from what I can see. 28mm vs 30mm. They are overall only 50mm long. Which is EXACTLY the same available, just the mounting studs are on the piss, so will have to see if that works out. Stay tuned. 

2.       Intake with TVIS

Wasn’t going to work with clutch conversion MK1 or MK2. It will with MK3 however, of course I’ve already purchased an ITB manifold and 20v ST ITBs along with the SQ Engineering downpull kit, waiting for my KE70 throttle cable to arrive from Malaysia. So that’s it, intake issue solved in the best possible way. Got some trumpets turning up at some point too. Job jobbed.

 

3.       Distributor

The engine had (once upon a time) a TRD carb setup so im told. The distributor was modified to have vacuum advance which we didn’t need anymore. I managed to swap my one for a standard 16v one. Eventually I think a COP conversion will happen so we’ll get rid of the distributor anyways. But for now to keep things simple and not change too many variables, we’ll retain this system.

 

4.       Rear water outlet

It was only JUST clearing the firewall. SQ Engineering to the rescue again. Modified the waterlines coming out the back of the waterpump. Needs a bit more refining but itll work for now. Also car didn’t come with a heater, Ill need a good windscreen demist solution (bilge pump seems to be the go) OR find a heater from a KP and install it, not too hard with all the takeoffs the SQ engineering outlet provides. Ill need to unmodify the waterlines possibly for that, problem for another time. I can hear The Beths telling me now that “Future Me, Hates Me”.

 

5.       Gearbox mount

This one sucks. Nothing lines up. The 2 crossmembers I was given are good for scrap value only. We put together something basic which eventually once the car is running, Ill get Ronnie to remake nicely and make sure the pinion angles of the diff etc all line up nicely to the gearbox, for now this will do.

 

6.       Fuel lines

Being a carb car with EFI engine the fuel lines needed some work. Currently looking for a wrecking KP to take the steel line from. I made a really nice one out of aluminium fuel tubing and flared the ends, but its too soft for my liking so looking to just use a steel one. I could remake this in steel tube, but worth getting one for a wrecking car to save time. 

 

7.       Radiator Mount

Just got an aluminium FENIX AE86 radiator, with 2x 12" fans on the outside "pulling" air. Managed to source some AE86 top radiator mounts which with went in easily, just the bottom mount to be made. Came up with this which will work, ill just bolt it to the car and make an appropriate sized hole for the bottom mount grommet to go into.

 

[DirtyThirty]

Trigger me timbers!

Bought kpr's last trigger brackets. They are so much better than anything I could find on any other online stores with trigger wheels attached to the crank pulley etc.

 

Managed to find a spare hour to fit them up, I left a 0.8mm gap between the sensor. Kris recommend anywhere between 0.5 to 1mm.
Cable management will be a thing eventually, otherwise its getting eaten by the cambelt. 

To round it all off, ordered MRP's 1NZ COP kit. Hopefully it arrives before the weekend so I can get that all installed. 

Have finally gotten the correct flex plate for my 4AGE, so eventually when I can be bothered the engine/gearbox can come out again. Itll give me a chance to install the standard AE86 gearbox braces as well, as they currently dont line up with the (incorrect) flex plate. The guy I bought the intake/fuel rail, alternator bracket, flex plate from was a bit of a shit show. Wrong alternator bracket was supplied to begin with. Flex plate wasnt what it was supposed to be. 

 

Anyways, ohhhh shiny. 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Every day I go to the office, the Clubman watches me and probably wonders where all the attention it used to get has now gone.

Trigger kit fitted to the cam gear with @mk2marty this weekend. We decided to follow the slot given on the bracket to allow for adjustment for where the pickup will be. Aiming for a cam tooth to have 3mm added and that should clear the backing plate at TDC. Have also used more flush fitting fasteners for the backing plate behind the intake came to allow some more clearance. Will get that pickup welded on this week and get some heat shrink and P clips to tidy up the wiring. 

MRP coil kit fitted! Such a nice bit of kit, opted for the 1NZ coils rather than R35 for ease of replacement. Rather annoyingly, one of the bolts inside the valve cover to mount the coil kit has been snapped off by PO, will get that sorted when the cam gear gets its silver tooth. Spot the SQ Eng alternator bracket too, makes the lower coolant hose easier to deal with too. 

Have decided that I need a heater setup from a KP so actively looking for one.... 

Am also trying to get the fuel tank to have an in tank pump rather than external to tidy things up, so watch this space.

Radiator bracket MK1, not the tidiest but good enough to test fit. Will get my CAD design actually sorted from a laser cutting place.

[DirtyThirty]

Small update:

 

Bolt, locktite & jam nut on the cam pulley to activate the sensor.

 

Got a small bit of bling I've been waiting on from Japan for 3 months, looks like a Cusco strut brace.

Radiator mounts should be done this week and I've tracked down most of an exhaust and driveshaft local to me. Excuse the lower radiator hose, its only on there because it was getting in my way while working.

[DirtyThirty]

Got the cambelt etc on so its looking much tidier. The aim is to get it running then sort out how it looks. On the topic of just getting it running and not worrying about what it looks like, a brand new T3 hatch spoiler turned up (unnecessary, for sure).

Waiting on rad brackets to turn up next week. Ill need to draw and get machined a plug for the distributor hole or buy the JSP fab one. The now redundant distributor is a slight eye sore.

The AE86 driveshaft I have acquired might JUST fit. Also got an exhaust off a 4age+T KP, so just need the front flange adapted for my headers, even came with an o2 bung. Pretty simple and thats the exhaust sorted.

Have decided that it will run a proper heater system, with procurement complete hopefully I have that in hand soon. The SQ Eng coolant takeoff will be handy for sorting the connecting to the heater out. Im procrastinating but the driveline needs to come out and have some bits done to it. Also gives me better access to run lines etc under the car. 

I've made some calls on the fuel system. I think I'll use hardline to AN adapters with the compression fitting. I dont like that for high pressure fuel lines, but people with more intense applications than me use it so I guess it'll be fine.

I've made some nice lines out of 5/16" black alloy fuel hardline from Aeroflow, but the alloy lines are just way too soft. Ill change this out for 3/8" steel bundy tube for the fuel feed, and use the existing 5/16" for the return. Also with the compression fittings, I can do away with trying to flare them.

Next up is finding some spare time to test the hall effect sensors actually work.

 

ECU all paid for, wiring to begin in about 6 weeks so thats really my timer to get stuff sorted. 

[DirtyThirty]

Time is a luxury I dont have much of.....hence the lack of an update. Also just seen the autocross events being put up for the summer, so I really need to get cracking/maybe start trailing the car to a garage to get the work completed quicker than I can in the odd hours I do get. 

The nice JSP fuel rail DOESNT fit the ITB setup, maybe just in my case where they're installed upside down. Im using the MRP adapter. Not sure, but if a T3 adaptor has a slight bend upwards that might help my clutch MC clearance. Wont help the fuel rail issue though so 2 options. Drill and get some AN fittings welded to the stock fuel rail as that seems to fit fine, maybe tap for the NPT fitting for the gauge OR get some longer spacers made and use longer injectors (?) then it will work fine. Option 2.5, take a bit of material off where its contacting to make it work (Ill probably give this a crack first), the issue is the SQ adaptor holds the ITBs upside down so the boss for a screw at the bottom of the throttles is what is causing the clearance issue. 

Remade all the fuel lines from 3/8 hardline (some of this was done at 1:30am while everyone was asleep hence the waviness of hand bending some parts). They terminate at the engine end with -6 fittings which makes it easy. Having the driveline out made this infinitely easier.

Just have some work to do at the tank end with the filter and pump. I dont want to use a banjo on the pump due to clearance and angles so waiting on a M12 one way valve to -6 fitting to arrive. 

 

Radiator has finally found its final place. Used some rubber irrigation top hat fittings for the lower bushings, they seem to work a treat. 16mm ID, 19mm OD perfect for the bottom lugs on the AE86 radiator and hole in the bracket. Radiator isnt 100% center, allowed space on LHS for an oil cooler or the like in future. Generally car looks a bit shit but I'd rather get it running first then tackle the looks. 

 

Got me bestest lil helper making my AN lines for me

 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Grinded back the threaded boss from the ITBs. Fuel rail now fits, just need to tidy the grinding up a bit. Trumpets dont fit properly, Ill redrill them.

Anyone got an high impedance injector recommendations for a Bigport 16V? Closest to the standard blue top flow rate would do: 220cc @ 48psi

 
 

[DirtyThirty]

Cock up #3487238423, probably due to doing this at 1am.
Radiator slightly too far over to the drivers side. Hoses seems to work okay enough and not kinked. Managed to fit a fan in, a shame the shroud with the 2x fans on the engine side doesnt fit. Maybe a future fix. 

 

Been using the part diagrams to figure out the route the loom takes, which isnt ideal as they arent that in depth. Anyone able to help with a photo of the loom route behind their dash? Or can forward me a wiring diagram? Looks like fuse box bolts to the kick panel as shown, but i cant for the life of me figure out the relay box mounts. Note the PO fix for the rust through the cowl, just another on the list of rusty bits. Losing motivation and just wanting to finish the damn thing. Definitely keen to pay someone to sort the wiring out for the body side. ECU wiring to start in a couple of weeks!

 

Fuel system almost done, just waiting on some extra fittings to arrive. Having a hard time getting clearance for the trumpets due to the brake booster, not sure if any of the ITB adaptors point the intake more upwards towards the udner side of the bonnet? The one I got from MRP is great, but a bit too good. It faces everything straight out the side of the engine but I need it to be facing on a more hEcTiK angle upwards.
 

Oh yeah, and trying to replace the ignition barrel as I have a replacement with a key. Cant get the cylinder out easily without having a key, turning it to ACC and popping the cylinder out. Surely theres a trick to it without a key. Im not that criminally saavy so I cant even break into my own car. 

 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Fuel system update, we thought that there has got to be a cleaner and easier way of doing this. 
Decided to order a C5 Corvette filter/regulator so it will just have a single line running to the fuel rail and the return to tank will be much shorter. Fixed at 60 odd PSI, and no vacuum reference required. That'll simplify a few things in the engine bay, and has the nice GM quick connect to -6 lines so all the fittings I've acquired should work well. We'll redo the single line so it looks much neater than it currently does. I assume this will work, why don't more swaps use this??

UPDATE: I decided to not be lazy and ended up running a adjustable FPR in the engine bay and running a feed and return. I overcame my laziness. 

 

 

[DirtyThirty]

Interim update:

Fuel system still hasnt been touched. Tested fitted the T3 wing, not a huge fan so might sell it. From all the photos online of these, they just dont seem to sit that well. Maybe a fiberglass one that can get glassed into the hatch? 
Have seen some full fiberglass hatches with spoiler molded in as well. Problem for a later date. 

 

 

Managed to get the heater in, just tracking down some fire wall grommets. Dash dummy fitted to see whats missing (just a few brackets which are on their way to me). The chassis side loom is figuring itself out once the dash went in so thats been handy. Been piecing the dash together using parts diagrams and random photos online, a difficult job to put it back together if you didnt pull it apart. Missing random stuff like the heater control face plate. Probably needs a better center piece on the dash as the heater control faceplate part is weirdly cut up. Just tracking down a heater tap, figure run a line to heater tap from back of the waterpump then to the SQ eng adaptor to the back of the head. And the other side of the heater to a fitting to be welded onto the radiator as the return. Seems the easiest way to go about it at the moment given the heater core outlets on the firewall face in opposite direction. 

Main bits to sort is the seat mounts and fuel system. Got a rear diff from a RA29 to pick up, drum rear end so looking for a disk upgrade in future. However the 1360mm width vs the KP 1370mm should be a good fit. It needs a bit of a birthday as you can see.

 

 

Having trouble tracking down some flat front bumper mounts, found these guys for 3D printed ones for use with fiberglass bumpers: https://triibefab.company.site/KP61-Toyota-Starlet-Front-Bumper-Brackets-p258958934 . 

[DirtyThirty]

Went ahead and installed the T3 wing, again not overly happy with how they have gaps. But turned out better than I thought.

What I dont like is that they sit back from the hinged area of the boot, i get why, because otherwise they hit the roof. And I dont like they have gaps on the corner sides, but every single one I've seen installed looks like this. 

Few more screws to be installed but overall, not terrible. 

 

[DirtyThirty]

INJECTORS:

Shout out to NZEFI. Ordered yesterday, arrived today from Chch: https://www.nzefi.com/product/bosch-210cc-min-high-resistance-top-feed-fuel-injector/

Dave has machined down the injectors to fit the 16V and they fit great! Has changed the O rings to suit the sizes needed.

Bonus photos of a measure of the existing injectors since I had a hard time finding any info online for measurements.

Also if anyone has some proper wiring diagrams for a KP, please PM me. 

Photos of old vs new:

   

[DirtyThirty]

Mixed bag update.

 

First of all, fuel system. Finally ran the return line (black hardline, ignore the braided line dangling). Have the hardline to return in tank to complete, ended up using aluminium hardline with compression fittings to -6AN. You can see the connection past the fuel pump not done. The thing off the fuel pump is the non return valve to -6 fitting.

Have to run the feed line, I gave up trying to make the hardline work so going with -6 stainless braided hose for now. 

 

Battery acquired. Optima redtop 25. Seems to fit well in the little nook behind the passenger seat, just need to make a bracket for it because I cant find any optima ones that fit (they're all for the 34).  The plan is to have a resettable breaker at the battery. For now to make things simple, we will just run a positive feed to a post (like an E46) and use the original harness and battery connections from there.

Lastly, I never put a photo up of the gearbox mount we landed on. Some meaty RHS and EA. With 3 holes through the RHS for the T50 mount bolts.

 

 

Decided to change the oil pressure sender to a proper sensor for the ECU, so ended up getting a nicer Bosch temp/pressure sensor so the one sensor can monitor both. Maybe some fail safes based on oil pressure wont be a bad thing.

[DirtyThirty]

Better get on with things, the first start is looming over me........ (now that I'm a Dad, shitty jokes are acceptable). PM me if youre after a loom made from a MaxxECU dealer, my mate who is doing my car has made it very easy!

Few more packets of Haribro gummies and we'll get there! Shout out to Shyam: Get Grounded

It's looking far too crowded for my liking but the 50mm trumpets look great. They are BT trumpets on ST throttles so something will need to be done about that. Looks like I will be able to get a ITG filter on after all. (EDIT: too keen on the filter update, no, I cant run the ITG filter).

 

[DirtyThirty]

Over the holidays, not as much progress has happened as I anticipated. But we got a nice trip down to Welly, and got the whole family chauffeured around in a Toyota Century. Our little girl living her best Japanese businesswoman life. 

Wiring basically complete, just need to find a place to mount the fuse box and ECU. Somewhere behind the glovebox, easy access to fuses/relays should anything go wrong. Tried to mock up an air filter solution, there is simply not enough space without deleting the booster. So might just have to run filter socks which is the least preferred method, however the cable tied ITG filter was a mock up.

 

 

Found a set of headers in the shed, much larger diameter than what I had on the engine so far. Just needs a gentle massage to stop it from contacting the body. Will get an O2 sensor bung welded in for the wideband. This header gives way better starter and oil filter clearance. Also swapped the double row crank pulley for a single row, gives more radiator clearance (annoyingly, not enough to fit the fans though)

                                                                                    

Still some fuel line stuff to finish, fucking hate SS braided hose. What a nightmare to get the fittings on, and cant find anyone selling a "Koul Tool" locally to speed the process up either. If anyone has a -6AN one, let me know. Be keen to pay to borrow/buy it. 

Got the wrong ignition barrel with a matching key to the locks swapped over to the ignition that works. Some KP's have a flat bottom and some round on the ignition barrel so they arent interchangeable. I should've checked. Anyways, waiting on an ignition switch to arrive this week and thats all sorted.

 

[DirtyThirty]

PSA:

If working with braided AN line, buy a Koul Tool.

 

[DirtyThirty]

As always, everything takes a life of its own so here we are....

Stripping the body loom right back and tucking it as best as possible. Battery to sit in the boot, ended up with a Vertex battery. The mount is to be modified to allow for the circuit breaker to mount to it too. 

 

 

Decided to get the engine mounts modified (along with gearbox) to move the engine forward. Heaps of room with the single row crank pulley now, and will help alleviate all sorts of clearance issues. 

Fuel lines all done, cant rave enough about the Koul Tool, made things MUCH faster and easier.

I thought swapping a 4AGE into a starlet was meant to be easy...

 

[DirtyThirty]

Battery box with breaker mount. Need better fixings for the battery mount but works for now. I managed to get the breaker JUST to fit on the top bracket, probably a couple of threads welded on would be best to hold it down. Currently the dome head fastener has a slight protrusion into the battery zone which I don't like.

The bracket I got with the battery has been repurposed to mount the ECU. This one was a lucky find for cheap off marketplace. PC680 sized mounts WILL fit a Vertex battery easily.

Note, there is a thick rubber gasket layer between the battery and battery bracket.