Hiro Protagonist

From memory both Superlites and Watanabes are based off the original Minilite mag-wheel from the '60s

Fibreglass 'Rods are a bit different, mainly because the copies are used to keep afloat an industry that would otherwise die out as all the old cars disappear. Remember that we're talking about 80-year old cars here, there were only so many made and a hell of a lot would not have survived the years, and things like original body panels would be next to impossible to find, even if you're loaded. Fake wheels on the other hand aren't about availability, rather purely cost. Genuine BBS LMs are "rare" because they are expensive, not because there weren't many made. Rays/Volk are still making TE37s so finding a set isn't like unearthing a treasure-trove of lost parts. I can understand a circuit-racer spending their hard-earned on a genuine set of lightweight Japanese race-wheels (that is for a purpose), but when your $4000 Volks are going on a $500 Celica with stretched tyres that spends more time in a Maccas carpark than pit-lane, the argument of purpose is invalid and it generally just boils down to ego.

Why are you swapping heads?

There is highly unlikely to be a drop-in aftermarket ECU unless you go full standalone like Haltech/Wolf etc. Remember that the TOMS-tuned ECU in these things was esentially a one-off, only 110 of the 112 Sportivos were made and only in Australia so there isn't anywhere near the aftermarket support that you would get from a JDM car like a Skyline.

*slaps forehead Knew there would have been at least one...actually, come to think of it there might have been a 3SGELC as well...both would have been that mid/late-80s changeover time though which might explain it

Jury isn't out, it has and always will stand for "California", there are plenty of carby Toyota motors that didn't have the -C moniker, just most of the ones we got here had the -C. For comparison, -U is the Japanese market emissions package. The confusion probably arises because I don't believe the -C ever appeared on an EFI engine (or if it did, it was extremely uncommon), whereas the -U did in several high-profile engines (ie 18RGEU, 2TGEU etc etc), and pretty much all mention of emissions packages in engine codes disappeared when EFI became virtually standard across the Toyota range in the early 90s

Agreed - peak torque @2800rpm is very handy for exiting corners a gear higher than a 4AGE. If/when I finally build my 7AGE 20V I'd be looking at keeping redline around the 7k mark

JZA80s are all 2 jay zee noshit :P

That wasn't my fastest, didn't know the road and still had to drive 1000k home afterwards :P Come up to NSW and drive the Old Pac, different story

246 Dinos weren't badged as Ferrari but they still look just as good :P

I've stopped going to trivia nights, still got to finish off the last dozen or so bottles of wine we got from the last one.... Trust me, that has been mentioned before.....although if we knew that there would be no questions about pop music then my old man would probably be a better bet.

Hate to break it to you, but those power figures aren't representative of Australian models, and comparing 4AFEs to 4AGE bigports is a little irrelevant since they were never sold together at the same time - the bigport is quite a few years older and was offered alongside the 4AC. If you look at like-to-like years the 4AGE creams the respective economy-series head... ADM 4AC (AE82) = 58kW @ 5600rpm / 125Nm @ 3600rpm (first released 1985) ADM 4AGE (AE82) = 86kW @ 6600rpm / 136Nm @ 5000rpm (first released 1986) ADM 4AFC (AE92) = 66kW @ 6000rpm / 140Nm @ 4400rpm (first released 1989) ADM 4AGE (AE93) = 100kW @ 6800rpm / 147Nm @ 6000rpm (first released 1989) ADM 4AFE (AE92) = 75kW @ 6000rpm /140Nm @ 4400rpm (first released 19991) Soure - Redbook Australia Don't get me wrong, I will defend F-series heads as much as anyone, but at the same time unless you through BIG dollars at them there is next to no power that can be got out of them, unlike 4AGEs which have heaps of aftermarket support and tunability. My 7AFE has been dyno'd at roughly the same numbers as a stock/mild bigport, and the low-down torque is much better, but at the end of the day you're basically having to work the arse off the car to keep up. Don't even think about staying with a smallport or 20V-powered car if the person behind the wheel is anyway decent at driving and the engine isn't a complete dog. I can surprise a few of them coming out of corners at low rpm, but that's about it. Is it just me or does this sound like a school holidays thread?

I was involved in the Formula SAE project at uni - one of our bibles was Milliken & Milliken - Race Car Vehicle Dynamics. Said withered corpse is Bill Milliken.

Not only did he design the car, but he is also one of the world's leading authorities on car suspension design and handling, and has a corner named after him at Watkins Glen (although that was because he crashed there...) And he turned also 100 last year, so he can be forgiven for looking a little ancient :P

Aurion is 2GRFE, completely different beast.

We can thank Ken Block for that...

I've been umm-ing and ahh-ing about an engine conversion for a few years now, keeps cycling between 3SGE and 7AGE 20V (blacktop head of course). I like my extra capacity over the 4A so wouldn't go to a straight 20v as the benefit wouldn't be that much. Headlights I got from eBay, they're copies of the BZ Touring Wagon lights with the side indicators changed back to parkers (as the JDM models don't have the guard repeaters that the Aus models do). Seats are from an AE101 Levin, just find someone who is wrecking one or installing race buckets. Other option is to find an AE102 RV or 102 Sprinter liftback (a lot rarer than the RVs and a bit rarer than the Levins) and use those seats, although they don't sit quite as low as the Levin ones.

The speed limit on the F3 is 130, isn't it?

^THIS Stock size would have been something like 175/65/14 or 185/60/14, to keep the same diameter in a 195 15" you'd need to go to a 195/50/15. Speedo is going to be off ~7% too with those fronts (would be off 10% with 195/65/15), which is illegal (as you are reading way under what you are actually doing) EDIT: unless of course this is a track car, but it doesn't sound like it.

Because when you're on your L's you have to have a fully licensed supervisor sitting next to you at all times, and most of those times it is a nagging parent so no fun stuff. P-platers are dangerous in high performance vehicles because they usually are by themselves with little experience, or in a car full of mates egging them on.

Ahh dogleg boxes....always reminds me of the 190E Cossie Merc, anyone remember the episode of Top Gear where May buys one (as part of the "sports sedans for under 5k that you can take to track days) and keeps hitting reverse at traffic lights...

As far as hatches are concerned, Levin ZR is indeed the top of the range (goes Ascent, Ascent Sport, Conquest, Levin SX, Levin ZR). The sedan variants go Ascent, Ascent Sport, Conquest, Ultima, with the Ultima being slightly more luxurious spec than the Levin ZR (and more expensive) but not as sporty (and auto-only, with a 2.0L engine after Oct '10).

Same goes for me and NFL, the more you watch it the more you understand all the stuff going on behind the scenes. It's not a sport you can just flick over to and watch 5 minutes, though. Same goes for baseball, which is the American version of test cricket

As Rob said, all 4AGE cranks are identical except for the 3-rib bigports ("bluetops) which had a smaller journal diameter. ToyoDIY confirms the part numbers - 13401-16010 for the early 40mm ones (bluetops), 13401-16020 for the rest (42mm, including all 4AGZEs).

They have hardened valve seats and an alloy head, thus are fine to run on unleaded (run 95 to be safe though, and don't use E10) Japan had unleaded fuel long before us....