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Late to the party, sorry to hear about the unfortunate ending and parting of ways. Surprised you weren't aware of the padding, it's been required for the last 3 years or more, for CAMS/MA events at least. Part 11 of Schedule J

In WA they've figured out there's a risk of dehydration and sunburn if you're standing outside holding the Lollipop. So the lollipop person sits in the aircon cab of the cruiser and presses a remote button to switch the sign back and forth .... Progress !

Spring wouldn't hit, I'm just not a fan of those type of mounts as you can't effect a camber change without also affecting caster. I'd also resolved to keep the camber as stock, any additional camber pulls away contact patch, which on a front wheel drive, doesn't just affect your braking, but also takes away drive patch. The loss of braking on a RWD car is offset by the potential gains, but 0.75-1º is about all you want to run on a FWD and the AE92 has that standard. The only thing left to change then is castor and my experience with castor has always been more is better, so I looked at how far I could move the top of the mount, left some room for the weld around it and then went the maximum distance. As it stands I could of crept a little more as my Brother's TIG welds were smaller/neater than the MIG welding I was originally planning. Still, with the offset I think that now gives me nearly 4º of castor, plus I'm running the Nolathane Castor offset bushes in the lower control arm, which has the effect of pushing the arm/wheel forward and adding castor as well. The car handles pretty well on the short, sharp twisty stuff that I typically see on a Khanacross, but when it comes to the Autocross I'm getting OK turn in with a mid corner understeer/push that's affecting my corner exit. I'm also seeing a fair bit of wear on the outside edge of the tyre. Camber would fix the outside edge tyre wear, but at the expense of braking/drive. Castor effectively camber's up the wheel only as you're turning, which is exactly when you need it the most. There are potential negatives with running excessive castor as well, but power steering solves some of them and the rest tend to sort themselves out in the practical world.

Alright, so I'd mostly been doing what I said and just trying to wear the thing out. Couple of small issues, busted gearbox mount and things like that, otherwise had been enjoying just taking it out, throwing some spanners at it when I got home and then taking it out again. Guess that can only last so long though .... Everything seemed like it happened in slow motion, felt like I was heading for that tree for 3 minutes, but the video shows the real time it took. You can hear the tyre on the guard right after the bump, so that along with the half turn of lock that did nothing as I headed for the tree, leads me to believe that this happened before I got to the tree and possibly even before the bump and I just hadn't realised. I seriously expected the front of the car to be destroyed, fortunately the tree was dead and mostly just disintegrated on impact. The front bumper developed some big cracks, but I'd already bounced it off some tyres at an autocross, so wasn't that devo about that. The bumper brackets had copped a hiding as well, so replaced the left one. There was a small dent in the front of the bonnet, but it's so small I'm not doing anything about that. Unfortunately part of the tree fell down on the rear spoiler and got not just the spoiler, but the hatch itself. Again, not bad enough to be too concerned about, so going to get the fibreglass fixed by a friend, a dash of paint and that will be it. http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/angrygnome79/media/Corolla%20Mk2/20150614_191512_zps9bygh73l.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6 So the major bit to sort out was the strut top itself, which wasn't exactly repairable; http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/angrygnome79/media/Corolla%20Mk2/20150614_191257_zpsz3x1fqce.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7 I'd seen some minor cracks developing in the rubber, but hadn't figured on this sort of catastrophic failure, thought I'd get longer out of it. Crazy thing is, didn't break apart where I saw the cracks. Had a look in stock and didn't seem to have another good strut top, they all showed suspect signs that I was game to put back into the car. Never researched the price of the new ones, figured they'd be ex-japan, but perhaps there's an aftermarket version. Either way, I figured they'd be exxy and there was the option to improve things and given the recent (and now timely) purchase of a lathe it seemed a good idea to go custom. There are versions from XYZ and the such that you can buy and just bolt in, but I didn't want to mess around with caster angles and camber angles for each wheel alignment. And I already new the camber/caster was pretty close to the same on each side from a previous wheel alignment, though maybe the hit to the left hand control arm might have changed that, anyway I decided to go with a fixed design. I didn't want to increase the camber, after discussing with my mechanic mate and remembering back to pics of the FWD Honda competing in the local ARC round, camber seemed unecessary, even detrimental, so I just tried to dial in as much caster as I could. The keener eyes may notice the shock absorber shaft doesn't stick thru the nut, but I've actually stepped the nut, so the thread is down inside the uniball, I've got more than a nuts length of thread in there. The reason it's jacked up so high is to try and get as much of the shock absorber travel as possible. The standard arrangement does that by having a pressed metal spring seat and the 'turning' bearing bonded into the middle of the flexible rubber. Because I now had a spherical and needed to fit the 'turning' bearing in the spring hat underneath, I basically ran out of space for everything. In the end I've compromised on losing less than 5mm of suspension travel. If I had access to a milling machine, I would have turned the top nut and then milled a hex into it. As it was I was stuck by hex bar sizes and to fit over the spherical I needed at least 24mm, so 1" it was. Thinking about it now, I guess I could have done it with a smaller hex and sleeves and what have you, but this works and was a fun little project to turn out on the new lathe. Unfortunately work and other comittments have got in the way, so I've already missed at least one event, about to miss the next event and from there I think there's only one left for the year, so bit disappointing, but that's the way the cookie crumbles I guess.

Quota free, but not Free Netflix. I've also heard that because of FOX owning the license in australia, there's a bunch of shows that you won't get on Netflix because of that. If you can find a page that shows what's on Netflix, let me know, I looked and couldn't find it. WRC hasn't been shown on Australian TV for ages, that's about when I gave up on TV.

I thought clause 2.6 (which references 2.5) of CAMS Schedule J, meant that you couldn't make the front leg a 3D object. At least that's how some rollcage fabricators over here have viewed it. Or were you not going to compete in CAMS events anyway ?

Don't know about an 82, but on a 92 it's all 'stock' mounts that hold it in. E58 isn't a great swap unless you're looking for strength anyway. Heavy and final drive ratio is taller than standard.

Not sure, like I said I couldn't get my kit to fit the damn thing. Hard pipes to fuel filter and long bolts into the fuel rail. Easiest was looking like under the floor where the flex lines come from over the top of the tank and join the steel lines running under the floor. But you'd need the adaptors and test gear still. Fuel pump doesn't really fit with the symptoms to my mind. Perhaps that main ECU relay is failing and not letting enough juice thru to injector drives and all that fruit ? Really grasping at straws though

How warm does it get with each start ? Just spit balling, but perhaps the computers seeing temp and pulling out the cold start enrichment for subsequent restarts, which is covering bad injectors, fuel rail pressure or fuel pump ? Either way, I'd recommended against the cheap fuel testing kits on ebay. Gauge and everything looks good, but not a useful damn connections amongst the 70 pieces that came with it.

Tyre size ? gearbox ratio's ? How modified is the motor ?

Just to throw an option. My 4AGZE was messing around, wouldn't accept throttle and if it wasn't warm, wouldn't even start. Fortunately it did it while it was idling, sat there and idled happy as larry, but wouldn't take any sort of throttle. Turned out to be a toasted ECU. But I did have a CEL on and jumpering the diagnostics plugs I couldn't get the CEL to blink or anything.

Symptoms are a bit odd, but definitely worth checking the TPS. They have a setting as Toyota do this weird thing where it switches between an 'idle' map and a 'running' map, which is set by the position of the throttle.I forget the procedure, but I found it easy enough with google the first time. Usually responsible for a stumble on acceleration, but perhaps if it think's at idle it should be using the 'running' mapping, might explain the over fuelling. Usually if you've got spark and fuel happening at more or less the right time it will run and you can sort it from there, but EFI with all these weird sensors does complicate things.

Fuel pump only runs with live ignition. At least on mine if you just turn the key on, the fuel pump won't run. Runs while cranking though.

Maybe it's just the dodgy wiring on my AE92, but there's a plug in the signal wire that runs down to the starter motor. If you disconnect that and turn the key, fuel pump runs but it doesn't crank. I do this often for mine as the starter motor's a bit dodge, will fire first time with fuel there, but without it, let go of the key and the starter solenoid might not want to engage next time, problem goes away once it's warm, but I digress. With the key cranked you can hear the fuel pump running (though my car is gutted), so should be able to rule that out. Just thinking on mine there's a 'circuit opening relay' that opens power to the ECU. Pretty sure it will crank even without this relay working, but as it doesn't fire up the ECU, it won't run. Mate has done the battery lead backwards trick, not many fuses on an old escort so he actually smoked the cable to the starter motor and alternator. Fuses should have caught it on yours and now that you have dashlights it should be good, but may just pay to check those main cables, make sure nothing has melted thru.

Depends on what tools you have available. The bearings come off the spindle easy enough, but to change the shell out of the hub requires a punch and a big hammer. Installing them is a bit of the same, but with a lot more precision as it is possible to deform the bearing shell with trying to punch it in. And if you slip and score damage the surface of the shell it won't last very long. Best done with a workshop press. But if you know someone with the tools, it's not that hard, I'm sure there's YouTube videos describing it all.

Guy I know had his RA40 knuckles machined out, then press the DMS body into the knuckle and weld around. Easier if you can get the shock/tube to fit over the existing tube. Used to be the trick with converting old Datsun struts to Bilsteins. Use a slightly larger, completed threaded tube that fit over ~25-50mm (just as location) of the existing strut tube the clearance was such it usually allowed you to can't it slightly and pick up a little more neg camber. Getting away from what you're trying to do, but felt it was relevant info. Unless I'm completely mistake, RA40 is the same stub axle size as Datsun 240K.

Without a press, you're stuffed. The hub is pressed into the upright with the bearing. As I understand it, if you get the hub separated from the upright, the bearing's no good. Requires new bearing and press to re-install.

And the answer is ... dead ECU ! Found another ECU for sale on Gumtree, had a 'remanufactured' sticker on it, but the dude had tested it on a working engine. Swapped the plugs over. bit of a splutter and it fired up. Was hesitant on the throttle initially, but I think it must have been slightly fouled plugs, once it had some heat into, no problems, revs nice, all good. Just to double check, while it was still warm, swapped the plugs back to the old ECU. It started, but threw up a CEL straight away and same messing around with the throttle, have to play with it to get any sort of revs and popping, farting and carrying on. Swapped back in the old MAP sensor as well, still no problems on that. Bit of a weird problem, but at least I can now park the beast under a cover, confident in the fact that it's ready to go for next season. If anyone know's of someone who 'fixes' broken ECU's, I'd be interested in getting this one looked at, they are getting a bit rare.

I'd press the bearing off and do them off the car. I believe the AE92 upright is similar to the AE82 and looking it at, you may be able to get one stud at a time past the upright if you managed to jag it, but it would be dodgy. It won't fit on a straight run, but you may be able to get the stud thru enough to have the knurled part square to pull in, assuming you don't have backing plates. I also had trouble finding the right sized stud, so ended up having to open the hole in the hub slightly (~0.2mm) as there was no way they were going to press in there without that happening. Even then they worked the press fairly well to send them home. I've heard of people pulling them in with wheel nuts, but it's not something I'd do or recommend.

Alright, putting the call out for help, I know there's some experienced 4AGZE people out there. Car has been doing pretty alright, been to a couple of Khana's and another Autocross, getting further up the order and starting to come to grips with the car and up till the last Autocross it performed flawlessly. I forget whether I mentioned it before, but I did have an O2 sensor failure, showed up on the diagnostic codes when I checked and was able to pinch one from a mate and connect that in, all been fine since. Last Autocross it was hauling like a trooper and I was driving reasonably well, despite the stupidly slippery conditions (Ended up 5th behind two buggies and some much more experienced drivers, so pretty happy with that). Part way thru the 2nd last test, it went a bit limp. Still drove, guages were fine, no lights, but just lost it's punch. Came out of the test, turned it off and on, checked a few things (thought I might have spat a supercharger belt) but all seemed to be OK. Took the car for a quick test drive and when you stood on the throttle it still wanted to go, so thought maybe I was imagining things, so carried on and lined up for the last test. Nup, this thing is definitely off it's game, it goes, but not punching anywhere near like it should, particularly noticeable up the slight hills, so I just kept my foot buried and kept the corner speed up and got thru the test. Fortunately it was the last test and I got a reasonable result, if it wasn't the final test I was going to have to withdraw, so thankful for the fact it made it thru. Back home and after chatting to a mate, figured because I was pulling some revs (not at rev limit on this track, but had tickled the rev limit in the past) and I do have the big pulley, probably melted the vanes off the charger. Check the supercharger oil, it's at the right level (have heard they'll pull the oil into the charger with bad seals) so attach a boost gauge and give it a few blips at idle. 0.7bar boost as a spike, so I'm fairly confident that the charger is working well. Up till now it's started and run fine, moved it on and off the trailer and around my yard, no problems. While it's sitting there idling and I'm scratching my head as what to check next, idle note changes (similar to when the O2 sensor died) and when I check the dash, I've got a check engine light. Start to think perhaps the 2nd hand O2 sensor has died. Search the internet again, find the pins I'm meant to bridge, switch on the key and the check engine light doesn't flash at all. Odd, I got a code out of this thing in the past. Disconnect the battery for a minute or two, plug it all back in, Check engine light comes on with bulb check, bridging the test ports still doesn't yield any flashing. Decide to start it back up (it's still warm at this stage after I had it running before) starts up fine and idle's away, fairly happy, but still got a check engine light. Blip the throttle, does not like that ! Basically tries to stall out any time you give it any sort of throttle, if you play with the throttle I could bring it up to ~4K, but it's popping and farting and really not happy about life, but will sit there idling with no problem. Time to phone a friend, talk it thru, decide on MAP sensor. Had seen on the internet that the engine should stall if you unplug the MAP sensor, makes no difference to mine, still idles fine, still won't rev. Even tried disconnecting the O2 sensor, also didn't seem to have an effect (not surprising, but I'm grasping at this stage). So, back to my mate, he hasn't got a MAP sensor from a 4AGZE, but does have one from a Turbo MR2 of similar vintage. Internet search seems to indicate that all those MAP sensors of a similar vintage will yield the same result. Decide to check the harness with a continuity tester as it just so happens that the Diagnostic pins are on the same plug. MAP sensor checks back to the ECU plug all OK. Plug in the new MAP, try to start it. Hopeful, but won't go. Because it's now dead cold, doesn't want to play the game. I did get it to run a couple of times for all of 5 seconds, but it starts to idle and then trails off, blipping the throttle results in instant stall, so it seems as though I haven't made any progress. Decide to check the next option, TPS. 5V to the sensor. IDL to E2 goes to infinity with very little throttle movement, so it means it is switching off the idle map. Plug it all in, 0.4V from the signal wire at closed throttle all the way to 4V at full throttle (which seems to be in spec ?), doesn't jump or skip, all seems quite OK. I haven't checked the TPS wires back to the ECU, I'm assuming they're all good as I have ground and 5V connection there. SO now I'm really stumped at not sure what to go chasing next, hopefully someone out there might have come across something similar, or have a helpful idea. Little worried that the Check Engine light won't go away and I can't get it to flash when bridging the Diag plug, don't know if that means there is something more sinister going on or not. Any thoughts ?

I agree, great condition ! Car looks pretty tidy as well ;)

You can't meet minimum CAMS spec in a closed car with anything less than a 6 point cage. The front legs mean you can't license it in any state that I'm aware of (not full rego anyway). This doesn't mean you can't bolt a harness bar between the rear strut towers and have a proper harness installed for your track days. Half cage is only going to help you in the case of a roll over and the help is going to be somewhat limited. You have to have a fairly big off before you'll squash the roof down far enough to cause you issues. More likely you'll spear off the road and hit a wall at the track and squash the front of it in, half cage isn't going to help at all in that case. It's also extra weight to carry around.

Not necessarily a write off. You can roll and crumple a roof but not mess up the roll cage. Guy did that over here with his escort recently. I'm sure you could salvage the roof skin with a lot of panel beating, but sometimes easier to cut and shut a new section into it. Even if you bend a leg of a cage, that leg can be cut out and replace it, just depends on how much the rest of the shell is worth to you and time of building a new car vs time spent repairing bent car.

Give the guys at 'Outer Control driveshafts' a call. I didn't deal with them direct, mechanic mate did, but they knew all about the CV type and had one in stock which I promptly bought (~$120 I think ??). If you don't get any love, give me a nudge via PM and I'll chase down the details from my end.

I used a Dekka battery, marine battery meant to be for Jet Ski's and the sort, so they can take a pounding. The only drama with them is the terminal posts are no designed for cars, so making the leads fit is a bit of an issue. Heard of issues with the Odessey batteries, so I'd avoid them. There's also the new Lithium batteries out, lighter than my Dekka and still packing a good punch. I've seen Braille (sp?) used, but don't know of any that have been in use for a while to be able to comment on their reliability/suitability. Worth noting, if you're building your rally car to CAMS PRC rules, the battery will need to be mounted in a Plastic leak proof box, with a vent to the outside of the vehicle. Some scruitineers have let the dry cell batteries pass, but there is still the chance of the alternator going beserk and over charging the battery, in which case they will 'vent' into the cabin. And at this stage the rules make no exceptions for 'Dry' batteries. If you consider the weight of the latest Lithium batteries and then the weight of all the cable that you have to run thru the car, unless you've got a real space issue in the engine bay, standard battery location is probably not a bad place to have it.