Well disaster has struck. Big time. The poor little 4K finally went bang. Lost all compression coming off the Tasman bridge (and lucky it was off the bridge, as it attracts a fine around $400ish), and spluttered to death in a pool of what looked to be a mixture of coolant, oil, and general 31-year-old sludge.
I thought twice about having it towed to the wreckers and decided it deserved another chance, so I had it towed to the workshop at a college where my Dad teaches. It was either there, home (where I'd probably let it sit and rot), or to the wreckers, where I'd be lucky to get $100 for it.
It was out in a matter of hours, the benefits of having a hoist and engine crane handy! (Damn I need to spray the rest of my car - two tone snot!)
Pulling the head off revealed all kinds of bad - a cracked piston, warped head, and generally a complete mess. Was time to can the old 4K. Luckily I picked up a decent 4K from Leigh a few months back with a measly 125,000kms on it, and it was compete minus fuel pump, dizzy, and flywheel. Over the last week the new 4K has been completely dismantled, de-carbonised and cleaned, a full regrind gasket kit put through, timing chain kit, and any decent components left from the old motor have been swapped. I was heading out to pick up a K50 yesterday but the @rsehole sold it without telling me, so I'll stick with the K40 now for high-revving highway action.
With the bad news comes the good - hopefully by the end of next week I'll have a healthy 4K without the concern of any further hassles, and I can focus on the bodywork - some bolt-on flares arrived from Megat, so I'll be cutting out the remnants of the rust-converted, sorry looking rear guards, and fitting the TE27 replicas.
It would have been more logical to fit the TE37 reps, but I prefer the look of the TE27 flares (TE37s looked way to fat), plus I've seen TE27s fitted to KE30s/55s with minimal modification.
And probably the best news - there will be a Toyota 86 GTS in the garage (albeit, in about 6-9 months). It's not mine - the old man was sold after a test drive and a thrash around the Hobart domain - the same road as the old Targa Tasmania circuit.
Might have to lay some cash down on one myself.