Mechanical Sympathy

Quite a collection. 2TG for the win! And maybe a can of wrinkle-black. Green is nice.

Definite COTY contender there. Looking forward to seeing some action shots. I don't expect it'll ever see a quarter mile but I'm certainly curious how it'd go.

You could also conceivably use one off a 4K engine from a KE55 or KE70, or one from 5K LiteAce van though these would come with various emissions bits that you'll probably just want to bung off. Or you could get a new or second hand Weber 32/36 downdraft with a matching adaptor plate. Look up Ebay or Google for these.

You can however buy new twin side draft Weber manifolds.

I don't think you've told us yet whether the number on the 4AC matches the number on your renewal paper.

I've been looking sideways at the dash in my sedan and thinking for shits and giggles - and in lieu of a good dash or $600 - that I might try filling the few cracks with bog, sanding it off and giving it all a quick coat of black vinyl paint. Food for thought anyway. Wheels from R13" to R15" x 6" to 8" wide in offsets from +25 to -15 (give or take and notwithstanding the "X" factor) all look good and fit without too much bother. Though it's harder to get rubber for the wider 13" rims these days hence the over stretched look/fad/necessity. Wider rims than that can be done with the typical body mods.

May be a silly question - but have you checked whether the instrument dimmer knob is turned down? Once I "fixed" a girlfriend's Gemini by checking that...

But now when it rains and you open the door, or wind down the window... nevermind! It'll be happy days when you get it registered.

It's worth one dollar more than the second highest bidder is prepared to pay on the day - so many variables.

Aha as a parts basket I considered it takes up less space as a bolted unit, but you're right - curiosity will take over before long.

Put the motor up on the stand to blow the cobwebs out and dropped the sump to clean the gunk - there really wasn't much. Lower walls of the block were a bit tarnished so I sprayed them with WD and wiped them out. Rebuilt it with a can of wrinkle black and a couple of cans of enamel then dummied it up with the inlet manifold. Painted up the new 2TG mounts and T50 crossmember from KE Conversions. Next will be to kit and clean the carbies, source some stainless dome nuts, sump gasket, rear main seal, spigot bearing, throwout bearing, gearbox front seal, inlet and exhaust manifold gaskets. And so much more - clutch master and slave and line, KE30 brake master, throttle cable, convert radiator outlets. The little bits add up!

I remember that HQ. I'll be following for a refresher.

Wow nice one! That's puts the old acrylic vs 2 pack argument to rest.

Thanks for the input guys. Yeah I tend to agree - spraypainters are like miners. They like to perpetuate the myth that it's hard to do for the money. I'm in Brisbane, northside. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out Johns Paint Shed. I saw a warmed over Datsun 200B pull up beside me the other week. It was a mid-colour grey - not primer shade, not dark. And it looked like secks. But I take your point. Maybe I'll do some more thinking. Silver could be alright - I'll certainly lay more clear next time. The RX7 only had 2 or 3 clear coats. It probably wasn't too bad in hindsight. This is the day I sold it. Phuck it was a hose beast.

I have a silver KE55 XX coupe that I'm preparing to upgrade with a 2TG and it needs some rust repairs and a backyard snick'n'respray. It was resprayed by the previous owner and it wasn't a bad job but by his admission the Super Cheap clear coat he used was crap and soon deteriorated so that now all the top surfaces have either coarsened or flaked off. I've painted an RX7 in silver acrylic before and I wasn't happy with the result. It looked fine - like a maintained example of a 30 year old car. But not a freshly painted one. A friend bought the RX7 off me and painted it again in silver acrylic and got the same result. Actually I reckon my job was better. Spray painters I've spoken to have suggested that silver is the hardest colour to get right - and that my other problem was painting in acrylic. I lol'd out loud. Unfortunately my budget won't allow a professional 2 pak job. Looking at the result of other touch up jobs I've done I think I'd be much happier painting a solid colour in acrylic, with a clear coat over to buff it up. Even though it's not a safety conscious colour, I'm interested in grey/gray but can't think of many cars that some in grey to copy the paint code. Fiat 500 Campovolo Grey seems too light, like primer. Hyundai Veloster Sprint Grey is getting closer. But I think I want something darker. I think I saw a new grey Mazda BT50 the other day but wasn't sure. My question is - short of mixing a custom colour - is selecting a grey paint as simple as choosing a modern gun metal grey colour, say off a Mazda 3 or CX5, and not adding the aluminium powder (or whatever it is that makes metallic paints metallic)? I'd like the result to be repeatable, though I suppose I only want to do it once anyway...

Looks like Vial, made in France. But no markings suggest a knock-off. Edit: Or BBS so it seems. Either way, a copy.

IMO it would certainly be easier and cheaper to find a 5K or 7K than do all that to a 4K.

File them down.

Once I had to grind the ribs on the callipers slightly to get the wheels back on when I fitted new pads to my old KE35. I just showed it the grinder really.

Rear drum brakes are more than adequate to stop a 900kg car. You don't want your rear brakes to be stronger than the front. Your parents might rest assured if all the brakes were just freshened up. I just did the rears on a KE55. $27 for shoes and $21 for slave cylinders. Stops good. You might get change from a few hundred when you replace front discs, pads, bearings and reco the calipers on the front. Then you can confidently cane the 4K daily until your project goes further.

Toyota Echo

Hmm, starter motor, coil, alternator, anti-dieselling solenoid, oil pressure warning light, water temp sender, earth leads, gearbox reverse lights connections should all be fairly similar. Give or take. Some might be too short to reach and need some extra wire added or a different connector soldered. Easily adaptable.

That is indeed the shit. Did you cut with Autosol? I hadn't considered that as I just got the Josco compounds. Autosol certainly appears to be effective.

Put a $50 kit through your carby. Not that hard and fun to learn. Check all around your carby and manifold for loose hoses, screws and especially the manifold bolts and tighten and replace as necessary. If symptoms persist consider replacing manifold gasket. I reckon don't worry about fitting a Weber unless you're going to fit extractors and a reground cam too.

Oh for sure - a sisal wheel would take all that off in a jiffy.