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Well I have been preparing the car for ID inspection so I can get some SA rego on it. I was worried about a few little things that might get a closer look at the inspection station. The car had no working heater, some things in the engine bay were loose, it still had half the aftermarket A/C fitted poorly. I removed the condensor......look at where it was fitted: While under the back of the car I removed the towbar as well. Lets be honest, this is never going to tow anything again: Probably my biggest worry is that the car had no working heater setup, the pipes had been cut at the firewall and the heater tap removed. I was worried that if they checked the demister, there would be no hot air and would result in a defect. I had to make the heater setup from scratch as there was nothing apart from the heater core. Inspecting the heater I discovered why the plumbing had been removed. The pipes on the core were both cracked. A frantic trip to the local radiator shop, old mate was able to weld and pressure test the core. He did a great job. I went down to Repco and got them to file through the shelves and managed to find a universal heater tap. I also bought a brass 'T' piece and a BSP brass barb for the thermostat housing. I rigged up something to get water flow to the heater core: Heater tap fitted inline. The only annoying thing about this is that the heater tap works in reverse, so in the car you have to have it on "cool" to get the warm air to flow: Whilst I had the coolant drained, I fitted a thermostat as there wasn't one in there. I didn't know why this was, hoping that there wasn't a bigger issue. The car drove fine tho and the temp gauge actually showed the car was warming up unlike before where it was cold all the time. I guess the car had the original exhaust on it because it was split in several places and both mufflers were rusted out. It was loud and fumes were coming in the cab. I trailered the car to a local exhaust shop and left VERY specific instructions for what I wanted fitted to the car. I'm very happy with the results, nice and simple with a stock looking appearance and sound. I quickly dropped the oil and replaced the filter. I used Nulon 20w50 for older engines and it seems to have worked well. Doesnt smoke as much and the engine is still very quiet for its age. Last of all, I just replaced some of the soft fuel lines in the engine bay, and moved the fuel filter from ontop of the engine to the factory location next to the strut tower. Securing a few loose wires and hoses with some cable ties was about all the time I had before I had to leave for inspection. So I fitted my permit in the window and off I set. This was the first time I had driven the car further than 10kms and faster than 60km/h. WOW what an experience. I drove down the freeway at 85km/h, this was at about 3700rpm. That little 3K was singing. I managed to get to 90 once, but backed off. Everyone was passing me but I didnt care, it was great fun. Car drove perfect all day, both on the freeway and through the city. Had no issues at all. Arrived at the inspection depo and passed with no problems. The guy recommended that I fix a few things before driving anymore, I was already aware of it, and was to excited knowing I had passed to really care what he was saying. Next up, my first Classic car meet on the 27th. It just happens to be one of the biggest in the country.

Excellent work. Which trimmer in Adelaide did you use? Is that a Knox carpet?

Looks like I know where Ill be sending my KE17 next year! Fantastic work.

Once I get rego on the KE17, I'd be keen for a meet up. Lets get winter out of the way!

Light in question is marked with yellow line. I can't quite make out what it says in this picture, and the one on my car has the red lense missing or pushed in. Currently it is on constantly in my car. Thanks. (Note: Picture courtesy of Google images).

Interested, as I need one for my KE17.

Yep, this one came up on gumtree, a mate let me know about it and figured I just needed it! haha. Unfortunetly the guy who I got it off had tried to fit a commodore V6 in it, so the bulkhead and trans tunnel have been totally removed. I don't feel to bad about salvaging it for parts now.

Yep, no way this is getting modified to fit another engine or anything silly like that. I have found that one of the most important things you need when restoring an old car, is another car for parts! Found this one on the weekend. Has disc brake front, aftermarket suspension and swaybar, overrated rear bumper and good chrome trims. I also got 6 of those 13 x 5.5 performance wheels in the deal too! Not bad for $500. Not much else to report, have finally tucked the car away in the shed:

Ok cool. So these are no good? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TOYOTA-COROLLA-KE15-KE16-KE17-DOOR-SEALS-L-H-R-H-/120757044203?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1c1dae43eb

So I gather the seats and dash should be all black without the white inserts? I need to put together a list of things I need.....Finding some of them is going to be interesting. Will be buying heaps of those NOS and reproduction parts on ebay too I think.

I spent the day just tidying a few things up. I hated that radio there, so started to remove it. This led me to the horrible wiring under the dash, next thing I was removing the remains of an immobiliser/alarm and a heap of other random wires that didn't do anything. While I was down there, I removed the centre console to vac the carpets. I found the gearboot had been fitted poorly and wasn't actually fitted over the stick. I cleaned the carpets up and correctly fitted the boot. Refitted the console, then removed the Toyota seat covers that were on there. Seats are vrey dirty and the drivers is cracked. There will be a full retrim in the future, so I can live with that for now. I removed the aircleaner just to see the condition of the filter and have a suss at the carbs. Everything seems good and is quite clean. Lastly check out this grandpa mod sunshade. Pity they drilled into the A pilars to fit it:

Yeah I actually was going to PM you telling the good news! haha I'm a little excited.

Some of you may remember me from my turbo AE86: http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/68849-ae86-4agteall-the-gear-no-idea/page__p__678061#entry678061 I've continued the Sprinter theme and aquired a genuine KE17 SL. I have been on the search for along time for one of these. When this one came up in WA, I had to jump on it. After the deal was done and the car sent over on the train, it landed at my place. I finally came home from work 2 weeks later and have been able to have a good look at it. I'm very happy. It needs work, but what 45 year old car doesn't???

Guess I should update....... Moved house again, back to the big smoke. In a house of our own now, with a overrated shed. Loaded car up, borrowed ute from work and made the 350km journey. Had to prep the workshop before I could move into it: Now that's done, I could move in: Spent some time on the oiling side of things, a turbo feed and drain needed to be made: I'm using a -4 line with Speedflow steel fittings for the feed line. I had to run the line off the block fitting because the oil pressure sender would not fit there. My first attempt at making my own lines, I think it came out pretty well: The GREX adaptor has a 1/8 bspt to -4 fitting in it to run the feed line: I needed a new seal for the GREX housing, I went and bought a Z386 and stole the oring from that: Fitted that up, also had to fit a 1/8 bspt to 1/8 npt fitting in the block for the Autometer electric oil pressure gauge: Got the line fitted up, I made it the perfect length: Next, I started on the drain back. Start with a length of -10 braided hose and some Speedflow fittings: Fitted it up and its just long enough: While under the car i fitted up a modified sump I bought a while ago. I had a -10 Speedflow weld on fitting welded to the sump for the turbo drain. The sump has baffles in it and should almost give me 1 litre extra capacity. Next we need to filter that oil, have a oil filter block and two -10 Speedflow fittings. I have decided to mount it on the chassis rail: Did some other miscellaneous jobs here and there. Removed the cold start from the throttle body, just to neaten things up a little. Installed a new genuine Toyota throttle cable while I was there, along with a JDM accelerator pedal. Got all the steering done, new boots on the rack, using genuine boot clips. The clutch is all done, new master, slave braided hose and all bleed up. Works great. The brakes have been fitted. New wheel bearings were packed, hubs and rotors installed. New pads and rebuilt calipers:

Be aware, that one in SA is a LONG way from anywhere. Its a good 6-7 hour drive from Adelaide.