InSaNiTy

Actually you are wrong. This Rolla is a York Motors IMPORT.... That means it was BUILT IN JAPAN FOR THE JAPANESE DOMESTIC MARKET and then imported to Australia. It is about as JDM as it gets? The mirrors are genuine old school Toyota JAPANESE mirrors, with JDM SSR wheels which were imported from Japan for racing in JAPAN. The term JDM has turned into a more colloquial term over the last few years; meaning that a car is styled to suit Japanese drift/street/racing culture. This Rolla ALSO meets this definition.

Love the RA23 Seb! I'm interested to know what you did to the dash to fill in the cracks? Look way better! :) I understeered off and bent the same side in my first rally ever so yeah, shit happens but there's so much more fun to be had! :) In regards to the pistons; Nick Arias the 3rd is basically the bloke in charge at Atomic Speedware (their website is currently offline) in America that makes Arias pistons. You can't buy off the shelf pistons anymore for the 18R-G, so no matter where you go they are a custom job. I enquired to JP Engineering in Adelaide who make custom cast pistons but you're looking at nearly a thousand dollars and they didn't seem that keen to do it. Most of the 18R-G guys seem happy with the forged arias pistons. They offer whatever bore and comp ratio for the same price as far as I can tell. I'm currently waiting to hear back from Nick but this is our current conversation. Hi Stephen- Thank you for your inquiry. I can supply a custom forged piston kit (pistons, pins, rings & locks) for your 18R-G. Your price is $652.00 for the complete kit. Process time is 4 weeks, plus one week for coatings if desired. Custom piston options: Tool steel pins (over 20# boost): Add $60.80 TOTAL SEAL gapless top ring set: Add $118 Coating, ceramic crown: Add $112 Coating, Moly skirt: Add $112 Shipping USPS Express insured will be $94.00. I can also supply a PAUTER connecting rod set for $820. Thank You, Nick Arias 3rd www.atomicspeedware.com 805.552.0808 ph | 805.435.1691 fx AIM: na3atomic | ICQ: 285309851 Cheers, Stephen

Nuts. Subscribed. Check out our rally car build! :) Here: http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/64027-how-not-to-build-a-rally-car/

Please don't molest them, find a rough car like I did if you wish to molest... Seriously nice cars dude! ^^

Had to stop myself at 23 mins... amazing video... just need to learn Japanese :P

I received the car already painted- it's a quick and cheap job though. It had 2/3 of a rollcage too. That was it though, the rest we have done ourselves. Yeah, the idea is for it to be a replica of the 1980/1981 Toyota Team Europe RA40 sponsored by Duckhams Oil.

So it's been a few months... the rally car has taken every free second and I fear that this will continue to be the case. Altezzaclub has put up the rally car build thread on it here: http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/64027-how-not-to-build-a-rally-car/ I ran 5th and 4th outright at the last two motorkhanas in Grumpy, and that's first RWD for both days. Next step is to make a YouTube account to put these vids onto and then this thread shall be revived! :)

Epic thread Keith! :) Love how you quoted me after the first drive after the rebuild haha- thanks so much for everything! Now for more mods before the Rallysprint on the 16th Feb mwhahaha! =D I'll track down the photos I took of the rust removal and painting when I was "wasting time"... Nope, we didn't place because the second you DNF a stage the whole rally counts as a DNF. We were, I think, running 26th/55 cars or something when we dropped out with only two stages left! We totally should have sent somebody to distract the sweep car and not let him run the stage before us hahaha!

But if you flip the leaves isn't all the pressure applied to the open side of the spring eyes instead of the closed part designed for the weight?

Love it man! Perfect! Keep it exactly how it is, thanks for keeping the original wheels and hubcaps and putting the period correct white walls on it. :) I drove a 1973 RT81 'Butterscotch' that was Butterscotch orange for 2 years YR12 and first year of uni, So reliable, loved by the ladies because it was so cute haha, drove it like 40 000km with no problems, upgraded to an 18RG RT104 since but will always love Butterscotch- she sits neglected in the shed at home now... :(

And think of the ladies... once you tell them you're "... a legend of the u-turn now!"

Just use spacers if it's only $20 a pair, the wheels are epic, and the moar lock the moar you will be winning! :)

Interesting...

Yeah, I laugh when I hear 'fully rebuilt' LOL! My light comes on with hard uphill breaking! Yeah definitely going to baffle the sump on this new engine rebuild if it ever happens. I definitely recommend switching to the 40-70. I don't notice any difference in performance or engine temp. It is a very grumpy rg, he reground cams make it wild, I do have some Khana vids but I don't have a youtube account or anything... Ah now he asks for the impossible haha. I'm at uni atm, Gramps is at home in the shed, so that's a bit difficult to do. Basically it has had an extra leaf added and then all leves reset flat. It then has 2" lowering blocks also. gramps handles like absolute shit though. Wouldn't recommend it's set up. It's purely for looks. It's still 100mm high all round except for the exhaust, so that's good. Next step on Gramps is to get the exhaust raised about 100mm from the ground, exhaust reattached where it feel off from rough roads, and then extended further back so it doesn't stain under the rear bumper with soot.

Haha cheers man, epic shot. I can't believe how much attention it got! :)

Okay Altezzaclub, you can tell the kids the story! :P Okay longboy, you've been more active in my build thread than me so I had better answer those couple of questions... I'm currently waiting to grab the 18R-G conversion photos off another computer as that's the next step in the build. Engine setup: bought the engine as a 'fully rebuilt' 18R-G from Stanthorpe in QLD for $2000, after looking at rebuild costs, thinking this was an okay deal. After messing around getting a custom accelerator cable, switching sumps from the old 18R-C, cutting the gearbox tunnel to make the W50 fit, tightening every bolt on it as most of them were strangely loose, we had done the 'bolt in' 18R-G conversion into Grumpy. After firing it up we quickly worked out that it was only running on 2-3 cylinders. After trying everything we could without opening the engine, we took the head off to find it in what most would consider beyond repair. The head had odd valves, the water channel thingies were completely blocked up with corrosion- meaning no water was circulating through the head. We dropped it to the local engine reconditioning place and after there inspection they suggested that I start looking for another 18R-G head. So that I did and I scored 3 18R-G heads for $80ea off an awesome RA40 restorer in southern Sydney. After making contact with the reconditioning shop again it turned out that the alloy welder there had a love for the 18R-G engine because one of his mates races old Celicas or something. He basically took over the job, having to weld the timing case up, water jackets up and resurfacing everything 2 or 3 times to get it right. The head got a complete rebuild- cleaned, crack tested, hardened tested, new valve seats cut, new valves, tappets and cams reset. They even added stage 2 valve springs and stuck to there orignal quote of $600! I was feeling good about saving this head as it was a 88210 head (the earliest and rarest 18R-G head with the lumpiest cams and most power from factory). So we bought our $170 VRS kit and after hours of work by Adrian with me standing by holding the torch and reading torque settings from the green bible, the head was backk on and she was running on all four! Our luck soon same to an end though, as we noticed the oil seeping out the cracked timing case at the front- which happens to be exactly where the oil squirters for the chains are. Then it started to piss out and into the fan and blowing everywhere. This was a disaster. We were devo. Gave up for a month and then bought another VRS kit and a tube of bluemaxx silicon and Adrian pulled the head completely off again, after cleaning the surfaces, another head gasket was installed. But this time we used that entire damn tube of silcon plus the head gasket. Put it all back together the night before my pink slip inspection and to our disbelief didn't drop any oil for a couple of months! Finally! Happy face! :) After driving it about 15 000km it started seeping out the timing case again but it was managable- just made a big mess from a little oil. The real problem now was that after a fair bit of thrashing and motorkhana events, it appears that the rings had let go or something because oil started filling the engine bay and each time we degreased it we noticed it wasn't from the timing case. After getting it degreased again and run while on a hoist it was noted that we had pressure in the sump forcing oil out the dipstick! So after getting a spring and wire around the engine mount to hold the dipstick in, we could drive it again! Oil was still coming out so we ran some dodgy garden hose we found in the shed up to the breather under the carbies on the side and from the breather on the cam cover into an empty orange juice container. It seemed oil was pissing out the hoses. But now it was in an orange juice container and not all over the bay! I just kept dailying it and monitoring the dodgy catch can and pouring it back into the engine lol. I might even add I went though an RTA pit inspection with this garden hose and re-juice orange juice catch can held in place with bailing twine and they didn't even mention it! This is how we roll in the bush! LOL! So atm I am running Nulon 40-70 extra thick oil for worn engines and it sems to be blowing about about 20% of what it used to with regular thin oil. So long as I keep it below 5000rpm it barely spits any out! I also scored a genuine 18R-G with the 253 head that suits rebuild for $250 + $250 shipping costs to get it here. Currently have a quote for $750 for custom 11:1 comp pistons shipped here from the states and $1500 in machine work for the short motor. I want to get a lightened flywheel too: 4.4KG instead of the stock 11KG. Then I'll stick my rebuilt head on and away we go! Anyway that's the latest on the engine longboy, anything else I can help with let me know. :)

... And this is what he means by towtruck haha. Once again the humble Corona saves the day!

Thanks for the comments guys, you have motivated me to actually keep this build thread going! Spent a few hours today organising photos. Now to just remember which order they go in. Get a build thread happening on the wagon Garagedefend! Would be sick to see one with flares and watanabes! :) If you're on Facebook and have a minute to spare... every vote counts, the winner is only 2 votes ahead lol, thanks: https://www.facebook.com/justcar/130076853675010?sk=app_455835864428304&app_data=108

Thanks for the pics people, so I've been so lazy with updates. :P Old school race cars used to have taped lights so if they crashed on the track the glass didn't shatter everywhere and blow other cars tyres. I'm happy everyone loves Grumpy, as you keen see from the early pics it has come a long way. :) 130 likes on Facebook and even a mention on Speedhunters! http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/08/the-wtac-sideshow/

Your number plates are AWESOME! I have an RA40 rally car, good to see some other people showing some RA40 love. :)

I know it's 9 months old but if other are still llooking for brand new CW&Ps Weir Performance in the USA is probably cheapest. Works out at about $360 shipped to your door. 3.91, 4.11, 4.30, 4.778 ratios plus others. http://www.weirperformance.com/finaldrivegears.html I just received my 4.778, keen to install it in the RA40 rally car now. :)

For anybody who's interested both Grumpy and Gramps (my other RT104- nanna spec) will be on display in 'Showcased' on Saturday in Sydney - http://www.the-lowdown.com/showcased/ Hope to meet some of you there! :)

Thanks Rob! You weren't at the last motorkhana to see me grab 8th outright in Grumpy either... :) People have suggested that I stop joking around with the Corona and put this engine in my rally car, but this engine has bad blow by- compression in the sump is forcing litres of oil out the breathers and causing oil to literally piss out the leaks from the chain tensioner and timing case. :( - It would also be a bitch to drive in rallies with the 3.9:1 diff ratio that the Celica currently has, especially when nothing at all happens until 5000rpm. The Celica's 18R-G engine (we put it in after the Bago rally- just in time for Sunny Corner with help from Yeomans) seems very healthy even if it is only a standard build- no oil coming out the breathers, next to no oil leaks, 45mm webers, elecrtonic dizzy and electronic ignition. If we found some TRD cams and ported the head on the Celica it would be insane. Currently though, it seems the Rona is way faster than the Celica, which I believe is due to the Rona weighing 200kg less and having a fully rebuilt head, 9.7:1 compression pistons and 282 degree cam regrinds - even though it has bad blow-by.

These wheels are 14" x 8.5" -13 on the front and 14" x 9" -19 on the rear of my 1975 Toyota Corona RT104. The first photo should give you a bit of an idea about how much they'll hang out. The second photo gives you an idea on what to expect from the piggly wigglys. :P But in all seriousness that's one defect after dailying it everywhere for the last year and a half. And this defect was at Albury - was too close to VIC where the piggly wigglys are very mean unlike country NSW as I have found. My guards required severe panel beating by a panel beater - they are bashed out as far as they can go with the lip also rolled and flares added. The front is at stock height with the lowest profile 14 inch tyres I could find 185/55. Also stretched 195/60 on the back. You must run stretched tyres to have any chance of them fitting. Hard as hell Bilstein shocks all round finally stopped the scrubbing in the rear. I can't go any lower front or back or it will scrub. But as it currently is, after about 5 development phases it never scrubs - I enter it in motorkhanas. :) Basically it's a lot of work to make it work but looks epic and then you know you have the best wheels. :) ... You could always go the hard yards and cut the guard out of the way ad weld it higher for more clearance but I can't weld, and I don't have thousands of dollars to pay somebody to do it. Good luck! :P Oh and I'm running a Tarago F series diff which has added about 3cm track to each side at the back - so imagine that, but pulled in about 3cm... Haven't got a good shot with original diff sorry. :(

Oh and silverra23... I've read your entire build thread on your RA23 - inspirational stuff! I might have read your build thread on ToyMods or something because I swear it was longer than 6 pages? :)