turbo_rolla

It looks like the car is pretty much ready for Regency on friday - went to u-pull-it this arvo and ripped the front end off a ke70 there (both lights, brackets, surrounds and grill) - only paid $27 for the lot which i was happy with (guy wanted $30 but i only had $27 on me if he wanted cash :P). The passenger side has a little crack up the top of the surround, but no biggie - it is missing the lens cover for the indicator though, so gonna try and source one cheap tomorrow. Only concern is the 5-10mm gap under the lights where i chopped the beaver panel for the quad lights . Not sure if they'll pay any attention to that or not :yes: Can i just say though - standard front = :sob: Cleaned up the engine bay too, and removed the plugs i could and gave it a general tidy up to make it look less "backyard". Will give it a wash tomorrow arvo, and should be set to go for friday arvo and hopefully get a big tick from them! :(

Got out this arvo/evening after work and pulled the fronts out and put the stock springs back in! I always hate doing the fronts cause when it comes to putting them back in i ALWAYS have issues getting it over the steering arm and sitting properly :( Got the other half out there to help me though while i bounced on the control arm to push it down that little bit extra :P All sorted now, and has stockies all round (the cs-x "rims" on the front, stock steelies on the rear) - f$#k they're thin!!!!!! :yes: Just need to tidy up the engine bay now, and either mount the RHS front headlight properly, or swap it for a standard front again for the inspection (which i'll have to source - shouldn't have thrown the old one out :sob: )

Got the aircon regassed today with some colder stuff - its called "minus 30" (pretty much LPG from what i've read???) and is better at cooling than the R134A that they put in after i got my new lines made up after the conversion - from what i sampled this arvo its pretty good, but the best test will be on a hot day, not a low 20's day like it was today! The guys who gassed it up also put some dye through it and changed the filter - i got a call from him saying "we've removed the old filter and found it was installed upside down" :) ;) ;) WTF? How could the previous guys not notice it was upside down? :D That obviously would've had some effect on the efficiency of the old gas, but happier with this new stuff in it. Also made the trek out to Gawler to pick up the other 2 stock rims and springs off a nice chap off ae86dc - had a good chat, and a look over my car. Decided i should probably post-pone my inspection again for a little as there's some stuff i should still tidy up (grille and headlights for one, some other stuff in the engine bay), so will see when they're available for another appointment soon. Better to get it all finished properly and pass than have to take it through twice :wink:

Thanks mate! Looking forward to getting it all finished - only tricky bits are the wheel arches, but if i can get them looking half alright i'll be happy! :P

Had been thinking about doing this for sometime, but finally got around to getting off my ass to do it today........what was this thing you ask? Well, i was sick of having a shitty looking boot, so went out and got some carpet and went to work with the stanley knife - only half finished at this stage as my back got sore ( :P ), but you get the idea - big improvement already i reckon! :P Before After Might get out there and finish the oher side off, and make some little kick panels for the sides (was gonna put some MDF down under the carpet on the floor, but not needed so will use it for the sides). Also discovered that i could do with a new boot rubber, so will try and source one of them too!

Yeah, they are fairly picky, BUT we don't have to have our cars inspected to get rego etc, so you win some and you lose some i guess :P Decided I'm gonna make up something for the boot today, as there's holes in the carpet from where the "in boot" fuel setup was, and 4 holes in the floor :P

Yeah, it sucks - as mine is its still sitting up heaps high above the guard, so i don't see what the issue is :P was thinking about making up like a 5mm spacer to sit in the bottom of the spring seat and under the top hat to push it up a bit, but will be a stuff around. Only thing holding me back now is just waiting on the other spring (got the 2 of the guy, but there's about 20mm difference in them so probably wouldnt get away with it :P

Went to get the stuff - ALMOSt got everything i needed :P Got the compressor to do the springs, then went to the guys house to get the springs and rims, but the two springs he had werent a pair and only had 2 rims. BUT, he is getting the other bits for me on sunday, so should be finished sometime shortly after that :P

Just had second thoughts after reading your post so went out and sussed it out :P the pump is mounted just off centre, and has got approx 130mm clearance to the diff. With the current springs in, there is only about 90mm travel before the bump stop will bottom out. SOOOO, it SHOULD be enough clearance there (just), even when the lowered springs are back in from that I'm guessing :P

Spent alot of the morning on my back under the car today trying to mount the fuel pump properly - think i've done it the best way i can do with limited resources (and effort :P), so HOPEFULLY its alright for the regency boffins :P Old "setup" New as of today And I'm off tonight to pick up some stock springs for the front and stock wheels ready for next week - unless there's anything i've forgotten, that should be everything ready to go! :cool:

yeah, was hoping i didnt have to take the front end out to swap the springs over but looks like it'll have to be the case! :cool: something in the front needs adjusting as it doesnt feel right, so this will give me an opportunity to strip the struts down atleast

went and measured the height of the front with the stock springs back in the rear - both sides were about 335mm or so from the centre of the wheel, but the "minimum" ride height for regency is 345mm :cool: :y: :y: gonna call them tomorrow and see if they'll let it through, but expecting "is it 345mm above the centre - me "no" - them - "well then, you'll have to change it". Hoping that's not the case but will see!

Took a wander down to u-pull-it today to try and source a new rear demister switch! $2 well spent i think (well, $3 incl entry) - popped it in, and worked first shot, so turns out i don't need the other 3 i got while i was there just in case :hmm: Just gotta mount the fuel pump now, and maybe change the front springs depending on height!

i think you can have it 1" lower than standard or something - they measure the minimum ride height from the centre of the wheel to the lip of the guard, well that's what they've told me before. Will confirm though, but pretty sure thats the case

Yep, can't wait to get the rear lowered after regency again - i can handle the front being a little higher, but the rear just looks wrong :hmm: Got the front bar off a T-18 corolla - drill a hole in the bracket and its a straight bolt in :y: actually thinking about popping the standard bar back on though :lol:

Thanks for the explanation - that actually makes sense :y: I'll have to take it in to bob jane where i got the nuts from and see what they've got then

Thanks - might look into getting some centre caps, but will see :y: I agree - E7's look good with 14's on them better than 15s! Pretty happy with them though, and now just looking forward to getting the rear back to how it was, and consider options for the front (decided not to get the 210mm's for now). What are hub centric adaptors? Are is that just another name for spacers? If so, I'm not running any at this stage, but will see how it all sits when its back to the old setup after regency. I now wanna get my a/c regassed with something other than R134A as i was driving the other day in 30 degree weather and it was really struggling. So gonna see what other options there are out there to chill the air a bit better. It was all replaced (custom made setup after the 4age went in), so pretty sure its just the gas not performing too well. So that'll be the next thing done!

Yeah, definitely a different look compared to the hotwires hey - once its through regency the rear kings will go back in, and still deciding on those new 210mm ones i was gonna get for the front. Was good though with the new tyres and stock springs as i was actually able to take the car for a drive fully loaded with passengers (all about 90-100kg each) without scrubbing :hmm: looking forward to the whole process being over shortly! Was happy with the wheel nuts - anything under $50 was gonna be alright, and they fit well and seem to do the job (doing 130 on a freeway last night and none of them popped off :yes: ), so can't complain!

Ah, here i was thinking it was a special manufacturer :yes: All good though - rang around this morning and found some at my local bob-jane - set of 16 for $40, which was alright (most places wanted $3/each, got them for $2.50 :yes: ). So they're on now, the LHS spring has been replaced (still a slight difference in height, but will do), and test drive completed, with no issues! Anyway, less talk, more pictures hey: Got a feeling I'm gonna have to put stock springs in the front too (the pic of it on the slope where the rear is almost level with the front gives me that impression :hmm: ). Will measure the height though and see if regency will have any issues with it, which i think will be the case :yes:

i had this car for a couple of years before Lesley got it and made it heaps nicer, so might be able to be of some help. The cars themselves were imports in that they were brought in from japan, but alot of the work was done in Aus - got this from some info i found when i first got it: So i'd maybe try and track down T-Cam if you're not having any luck? Or a body kit place could prob make the raisers up for you? Are the grills different though? i thought the levin would've been the same?

Thanks mate - always happy to hear good feedback! :hmm: Excuse my ignorance, but what is SCA? Guessing its some kind of manufacturer? Was hoping to be taking the car out for a drive today so gonna see what i can find out there, but will see how i go. definitely want to avoid buying SSR nuts though if i can avoid it :yes: The spider bite has gone down today so I'm heading out to pop the LHS spring out and then should be able to get pics of the wheels on it (at 4wd height). Thanks for the comments!

SO, i picked up another pair of standard rear springs last night, and thought i'd chuck them on the car tonight as there's about a 20mm difference from the RHS to LHS heights. Thought i'd start with the side that was higher (drivers side) - took the spring out after a bit of banging around, and realised that this spring was actually the same size as the new ones i got (thought this one was too high) :yes: So looks like i have to take out and swap the LHS spring as it would now appear this one is too short - will look like a 4WD when they're all in, but that's what regency wants :hmm: Also looks like i've gotta get some tapered wheel nuts for the rims as the ones i've got don't lock properly (as the hole on the rim kinda tapers in). So will try and source some of these and some lock nuts tomorrow Unfortunately though i couldnt get around to do the other side as i got bitten by a f$#ken white tail spider :yes: so gonna have to go out tomorrow morning and try to get the LHS out, then get some wheel nuts, and it'll be set to take for a drive. Also had second thoughts about the 210mm 7kg springs - think i'll just stick with what i've got in there as there's a bit of travel, and its not gonna draw much attention :yes:

Fair enough - will have to wait til i've got them, see what they are like with the standard shocks and go from there :y: Thanks again for your help!

Yeah, that's what i kinda had pictured in my head - i would've thought short strokes would've kept short strokes captive though, but i guess not. Looks like it'd be best to have the spacer at the bottom though spring captivity wise :y:

Cool, thanks Adam - you're running st204's in yours arent you, or ST185? What do you mean by putting a spacer between the gland nut and shock (like t3 gland nut style???). I do like that height though :y: THis is the info i got on shocks off kyb website AE86 Standard Part No.: 365015 Cartridge Length: 400mm Cartridge O.D.: 43mm Compressed Length: 416mm Uncompressed Length: 604mm ST204 Celica Part No.: 365092 Cartridge Length: 333mm Cartridge O.D.: 43mm Compressed Length: 355mm Uncompressed Length: 519mm AGX Part No.:765017 SW20 MR2 Rear Part No.: 365100 Cartridge Length: 360mm Cartridge O.D.: 43mm Compressed Length: 370mm Uncompressed Length: 542mm AGX Part No.:765016