ShowUsYourTints

Few more little bits and pieces today. Flushed the cooling system yesterday. What looked like a caramal latte poured out of my radiator. Gave the radiator a huge high pressure flush, along with the motor. Filled it up with clean water, ran the car, dumped it again, and then filled up with coolant. Temp stays generally around 1/4 and 1/2 now. Replaced thermostat, wire brushed thermostat housing, new radiator cap, etc. Wired in the front spotlights to find that one of them is blown. Luckily, you can pull it apart and replace the bulb with another, so I'll duck down next week and grab another. Also started to refurbish all the second hand parts I got. They were filthy after almost 30years worth of grease and oil and crud. Gave the struts a clean, a wire brush then a sand, followed by lick of black, and the steering arms a nice silver. Going to paint the brake calipers silver too. Pics: Before: After: Wire wheeled halfway on the right. Also replaced all the bolts with new bolts. Cheers, Shazza

Hey Ben, Next step is sanding back, and repainting all my suspension parts. So basically I have to strip and paint all the LCAs, Steering Arms, Struts, swaybars, etc. Now that I ordered my wheels yesterday, its coming to the tail end of the suspension conversion parts wise. Still trying to think up a color scheme, but at the moment I'm leaning towards a yellow and black undercarriage. Basically a major clean, degrease and paint for all the suspension, then once that's done, aligned, and the wheels are on, I will start on building a motor for it to go in in a few months time. Few bits and pieces to do interior wise as well, namely chucking in my Alpine iPod deck, with some new speakers, wire in an amp for the 4 speakers. Going to head out to JustJap to suss out a hydro handbrake setup, but more then likely won't be doing that until after the conversion is done. Cheers, Shazza

Hi Ben, On the highway, if I'm sitting at 100km/h, it will sit between 3/4 and hot. Driving around town though, it won't go over halfway. With regards to the moulding, I am going to go buy some of that Forever Black this week. I've seen it before, but couldn't remember the name of it, so cheers for that. I'll go over the rubbers on the car first, and if it doesnt come up how I'd like it too, I will remove them. In direct sunlight, it isn't too bad. It is a little bit patchy in areas, which simply wouldn't buff out using the polishing compund I was using, but I think if I attacked it with a harsher cutting compound, it would prob come up okay. It isn't too bad around the edges. The claybar made short work of most of the grime and built up crap stuck to the paint. Cheers, Shazza

Little bit more cleaning and shit this morning. I attacked my AE86 steering arms with a bit of course sandpaper and a fresh coat of VHT Heat Proof Gloss Black. Claybarred the roof bonnet and boot. Then polished it with my orbital buff. Came out okayyyyyy, but I think its going to need a respray down the track. The paint has just seen 30 years of abuse so its almost beyond repair. Initial color thought is a deep vibrant silver, with a satin black bonnet and black fender mirrors. Also razor bladed the wfront and back windscreens, then buffed the glass. Came out schmick. Few chips and stuff in the glass, but overall okay. Still has original glass in the windshield as there is a australian standards date sticker adhered under the glass. Pics: Cheers, Shazza

Hi Ben, I've yet to do the collant. Looking at doing that today. Also got a new thermostat, so fingers crossed that should fix the overheating. As I said, it only really overheats when you're on a highway, but still something that will need attending too. The water in the radiatory is dirty brown, so it is in need of a good flush and replacing of the cooling components. You're correct with the reinforcement. All I did however, was pull the black plastic off the rear reinforcement, leaving the 90 degree bracket you mentioned in place. It almost simply just unclips. Once that was off, it wasn't too difficult to get the shape back. A screwdriver handle is almost the exact angle of what the bar corner should be, so its simply heating it up from the inside to the point where it can be remoulded, and pushing the screwdriver into the corner until the deisred shape is achieved. Yeah the front passenger side does look like its sitting a bit closer then the drivers, so will have a look into that shortly and see if there is an easy fix. With regards to the body moulds, i'm going to pull them off and paint them black, and put them back on. Worst case, if they look rubbish, i will remove them completley. I'm also thinking about giving it a paint job in a dark platinum silver color, but still undeicded yet. I will fit up all the suspension first, convert to 4AGE, then see what happens from there. Cheers, Shazza

So being my cake day today, I decided that i'd rather not work, and go about fixing up the rig a bit instead. It was in desperate need of a service, and was running rough. And looked a bit rough (in my opinion anyway) So, having recieved a $100 Autobarn gift card this morning, it was off to the shop. Came back with - Oil - Oil Filter - Air Filter - Fuel Filter - Sparg Plugs - Coolant - Thermostat - Black Paint - Sandpaper First, I done the service. Stupidly easy to access these motors. 4 spark plugs up the top, and the oil filter right next to it. Once the oil change and spark plugs were done, I quickly swapped the air filter over, and begun dismantling the car. I pulled of the rear bar as it had a ding in it, and was all faded, so i used the heatgun to pop the ding out, and then used a window tinting knife to cut small bits of flaking plastic off. Then took it outside and resprayed it. The front bar I sprayed in place as it didn't need any "panelbeating" so I painted that, as well as the grill, wiper blades. rear plastic on C pillar and the headlight surrounds. Looks so much better now IMO. Also hooked up the speco gauge, and it works a treat. Pics: Cheers, Shazza

Got a bit bored this arvo after I realised I didn't have a wheel bearing to replace my fscked one with. I had a 3.25 inch speco RPM tacho, with an internal shift light that I got years back, so I dismantled the housing on the tacho, took the internals out and put them into the dash where the clock was. I accidentally broke the plastic that goes over the front of the cluster, but it was a shitty green color so I'll just the broken one down to a Perspex place ad get them to bang up a new one. It's basically just flat plastic. The tacho itself is sitting on a bit of an angle, so I'll need to fix that, but it's 10:21pm and I cbf fixing tonight. Cheers, Shazza

Hahahahahaha. Also forgot to add, I came out of work today, and found this under my windshield. Basically just got 10% of the purcgase price back!

Thanks for the kind words fellas. Okayyyy, update time. So tonight I went and purchased some gear for my suspenhsion conversion. Parts include: 2 x AE86 Sprinter Struts 2 x AE86 Koni Shocks 2 x AE86 Calipers 2 x AE86 ventilated rotors. 2 x AE86 power steering arms (For more lock) 2 x AE86 Castor Rods 2 x braided brake lines. In addition to the suspension, I also picked up 1 x AE71 Crossmember 2 x TRD Engine Mounts 1 x T50 5 speed manual crossmember. Basically, suspension wise, I just need to get the front shocks rebuilt, buy some HD front and rear springs or convert AE86 struts to coilovers. Then I need to wait for my Koni Adjustable rear shocks, and AU falcon springs, Also need to find a T18 rear factory swaybar (18mm standard) and then a front swaybar (Probs 22mm). Going to send the Konis away this week for rebuilding, and also going to get a caliper rebuild kit for the brakes, and purchase some new brake pads. Will prob paint the calipers black. Need to strip down the front struts, and sand/paint, and also send the crossmember off to the sandblasters and then for paint. Also, test fitted some 15x8 +0 on the car, that have 205/55/15. Definitely not enought stretch, however with some 185/55/15 or 195/55/15, it will look sweet. Definitely will be needing to roll the guards, possibly even flare them a bit more, and run about 3-4 degrees of neg camber on the front to make them streetable. Pics: Cheers, Shazza

Well, from what I've read so far, it seems like the 15x8 +0 is the way to go, with possibly some 195/45. Maybe even a 50 profile tyre. Also gunna have a look into 15x8 -11 fitment, and see if I can squeeze them on. I'd imagine with the Konis, LCAs, much firmer spring rates and an adj panhard rod, it should fit with minimal scrubbing. Providing I give the guards a slight massage, which isn't hard. I know the factory tacho dash would be easier, but pulling it out and fitting an aftermarket one can't be too hard. Hell, if I can make a STi engine and driveline with a Liberty Wagon, surely a dash mod like that should be do-able. Haha. Cheers, Shazza

Had a look at that. Looks great. Would love to go 15x9 -11 with a 185/50/15 but I think its going to be too much effort. Might have a look into 15x8 -11 with a 195/45/15 stretched onto it, on all four corners. Cheers, Shazza

Hi Guys, Yeah, will be using AE86 struts, with the KE70 top hats. AE86 steering arms, and xt130 LCAs. Cheers for the info. I'm about to order some Rota Shakotans, and am unsure of whether to go 8" wide or 9" wide. Both wheels will be +0 offset. Does anyone have any pics of roughly what it will look like with the config I've mentioned above? Cheers fellas, Shazza

Thought it might have been you mate. Haha. Cheers, Shazza

Haha. Just came out of an EJ20 / VF23 Lib Wagon. Wicked motors. First impressions of the car. It's engine is too small, it's gearbox is missing a gear, it overheats on the highway at anything above 80kmh and also at the slightest hint of a hill on said highway. It's suspension needs replacing, and it needs a wheel bearing. Little bit of rust around the boot lid, however nothing serious. I have this Friday at work, so I'll go about installing my Alpine CD player, and some focal splits. Also need to fit up the mounting where the CD player will go. The other thing I'm going to do is pull the dash out, and measure up and see if I can get this tacho I have to fit. Worse case scenario, the dash will be ruined and I will buy another. Cheers, Shazza

Gents, The gentlemen I bought it off is a shade under 60, and bought the car brand new, off the showroom floor back in 1983. It has been garaged all its life, and driven to and from the shops. It has 200,000kms which works out to be around 6800kms a year! Comes with original log books, and a full service history. It has had a bit of rust in the past, but the gentlemen I am purchasing off actually took it to a shop, got the rust cut out, and new metal welded in. PICS: Current Plans for the car are as follows: - Full wash, claybar, polish and wax - Interior Shampoo + Steam Cleaning - Engine bay degrease + pulling out parts and repainting BLACK. - General Maintenence bits and piece - Full oil change, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter - Inspect Rust (If any) and attend to accordingly - Repaint front and rear bars black (Current faded look doesn't appeal to me at all) - Replace in dash clock, with a speco RPM tacho. (Going to be moulded in from behind for a factory look) Once the above is done, I have some new suspension parts and wheels coming. Parts include the following. - Koni Adjustable Shocks Front and Rear - Lowered H/D Springs with 8kg front, 6kg rear spring rates - AE86 Power Steering Arms - XT130 Lower Control Arms - A set of Rota Shakotans in 15x8 +0 offset config, wrapped with 195/45/15 rubber. - Fender Mirrors - Venetian rear shade - 20mm Front whiteline swaybar, 18mm rear whiteline swaybar. - All steering bushes and suspension bushes to be replaced with Superpro nolathane. Once the suspension is sorted, I will look into engine gearbox conversions. There is absolutley no plans for turbocharging this car. At the moment, i'm looking at building an N/A 4AGE. This car is going to be a daily driver to and from work, and will be smashing corners sideways out at Eastern Creek drift days in no time. Would like to see some pics of some 15x8 fitted to a KE70 with around a 0 offset. Cheers, Shazza

Quick question guys. Didn't wanna start a new thread, so I thought I'd ask here. I'm about to pickup a KE70 83 model. I have a list of suspension parts I've compiled and I was just wanting to run it past some of you more experienced guys before I go ahead and pay for it all. Front: AE86 Koni Adjustable front shocks w/ KE70 top hats XT130 LCAs AE86 Power Steering Arms 50mm Lowered Springs. Rear: KE70 Koni Adjustable rear shocks 50mm Lowered Springs The above setup is basically so I can run some wide wheels. At the moment, its likely that I will be buying a set of Rota Shakotan 15x8 -0 offset, with a 195/45/15. Also open to 15x8 -11 or 15x9 -0. Does the above setup work, and if not, what would you change/add/remove Thanks in advance gents. Shazza