Ben-89

Got the airconditioning regassed this week, had a smidgeon of the old R12 ozone depleating gas in the system. Anyway it blew out warm air when the ac was on. So now its fitted with R134a gas fittings and blows colder than gangsters kiss :wink: But the ac specialist noted my rad had seen better days as the top tank was turning brown and brittle :n: So I sourced one through a wrecker and bought some gates hoses from repco for $18.00 under there sale so it was set. First thing first pull out the old radiator and with the compressor blow out the ac condenser from the inside. Definetley the best thing everybody should do as the amount of grit, dust and anything else just blew out till no more :y: I already flushed the replacement unit which had good good tanks so that got slotted in and bolted up with the thermo fan hoses etc. Poured in the correct amount of water and coolant open the heater and let it circulate for 15 mins.. beautifull! Put the cap on pack everything away go a mates place come back a couple of hours later as its 5-10 mins drive each way and in the garage there is a dripping under the car :( So I was thinking hose clamps? The squeeze on types not holding, yes the outlet from the head for the lower hose was leaking so I adjusted that dried everything up and drove it 3 hours later and it was still dripping. I am quite tolerant but this stuff really ticks me off. So I take off the spash tray and its wet where the lower hose meets the bottom tank outlet. Anyway this morning after it sat over night I went under there and removed the same type of clamp and replaced it with the screw on type as I did on the uper outlet. But theres more..... while the plug (drain cock) was screwed in tight there is a little outlet facing down like a dripper. (There is a hole in the splash tray for this too), From my understanding you can control the drainage/flow of water through this dropper outlet by the loosening of the plug? My question is this, is it normal for the dripper to drip if the plug is screw tight all the way in, even when the thread is coated in teflon tape? While not overly impressed, for the dripper I teflon taped a self tap screw and put it up there this morning. Then filled and did everything right and went for a small drive with no leaks followed by a 50 km run around the cbd and back with no dramas and two extra people. I really don't see the point in having that if theres already plug there.. anyone else experienced the same problem, did you do the same trick?

That is very very nice Aaron well done mate! Those mags came up fantastic! Suit the car to a tee for sure. What are your plans? keeping the 55 bumpers or going 30 :) Now is that dash going to get some satin black paint too, and lastly in memory of the blue hardtop put those black and white plates on! This car will only get better :y:

Sam do your self a favour, pop off the door cards and with a paint brush and vacuum clean up any dirt/leaves/dust etc which has accumilated. Simply poking through the holes shifts the rubbish else where... Give yourself a good couple of hours when its warm and do it. Then get some bitumen based body deadener in can form and go to towm on coating inside the doors, you'll notice youve reached the bottom of the drain holes when the body deadener starts coming out. Roughly $12.00 $15.00 a can but money well spent :y: Do yourself a favour and ring this bloke up, explain whats going on or send him some pics of the rust and see what he says. I had a very good experience so I recommend him :y:

Thanks Jake, the old bar was pretty knackered scratched, buckled brakets etc. This one is quite straight and more importantly the paint isnt flaking off rediculously. You have a very good eye as you picked up the overspray on the white beading strip. I'll clean it off :)

Anytime Paul, let me know when you want some help. Which car ae71 or 92? Do you still want to do some detailing on it?

Not done yet theres still more.. When I brought it home in March. All finished!

Had a productive afternoon with this, yesterday went with dad over to Pick a Part to pick up left hand rain channel trim and other bits and pieces. It is much much easier installing with two people as the likelyhood of it buckling is virtually nill. So it was a win! Then today I finally gave it a bath, now foolishly before I took off the wipers I didnt label them. So it was trickly when re installing them. Yes I did have them on the wrong way but after checking out a few other ae92s I realised the longer wiper blade stays on the drivers side and the shorter on the passenger side. So swapped them over and when soaping up the windscreen I gave them a test and they sweeped properly :y: After a few hours passed and the car was dried off I masked up the front bar (the black part) as it had a fine white overspray. It was gloss black which never blended well with the other black plastics, So it was a good oppurtunity for me to give it a few proper coats of satin black which came very close to the original grain and colour of the surrounding black areas :) Then I began the process of laying the pinstripes, its so much easier laying them when you have a pressing in the panels to follow! 40 mins later and the car was done, then it was the graphics turn which involved a little tweaking but made for a fresh appearance none the less. Front guard completed. RH side completed. 1/2 way the LH side.

Ah Le Mans Toyota, must've been bought in Footscray :) Good you have those books then! From my understanding as long as the rust hasnt penetrated through the metal (affecting its integrity) it should be passable. If anything at least try to look like you have attended to it maybe by putting some touch up paint on it. So it looks like an attempted repair. Maybe the bloke who is doing the welding/repairs can do these little imperfections?

Yep spot on, its that brazed cluster of pipes! Your game putting your tongue on the vacuum pipes :o Atleast its warm up where your located so I can understand your logic :y: Glad you love the 92 buddy :)

Good photos, will definetley look nice when its all done. I hope your not going to change the bumpers and lights to the earlier stuff are you? Its such an original and clean base to start with so it will be a winner. You should've asked the old owner if they could have given you the number plate frame from the dealer for that old school touch :wink: I could tell it had one from the outline on the back panel. So have you sorted someone to do the body repairs?

Thanks for the compliments gentlemen. Sam you got it right I am a perfectionist even if I keep things standard especially on an ae92! :blush: But do it once and do it properly will save you a lot time and money in the long run :y: If it gives you the buzz to put 100% into the 55 then it will definetley be a headturner :y:

Good progress on the ae71 Jesse, better to have it driving and handling well before anything else :y: Just a little info for you, on my ae71 and the majority I saw at wreckers I noticed on the carby side of the head there is a bank of vacuum pipes which run paraell to the firewall. One of those pipes is open to the atmosphere but has no effect on the running of the engine. When I brought the car to have the carby tuned (and sticking choke) I pointed it out to him and after picking it up he never mentioned any possible effects caused by that open line..

No other Corolla the same model as this could pull it off like you did. The age is just a number as the condition is absolutely perfect :y: The accessories are fantastic. I am into all the genuine accessories for my cars too but yours got me excited. And air purifier, burger holder :huh: love it, and especially that front bar which looks really good and veleuor interior. This has certainly earned the JDM look and is the great example of this vintage :y: Where there sports model wheels available when this was produced?

This looks really nice Jarrad, love the new paint, flat front, stripes.. everything actually! Be proud mate, Those wheels will come up nice with a coat of paint :y: Actually will you be coming to the dyno day this sunday at Dr Drift in Tottenham?

You could put a 3k head on it preferrably a big port unit with a little shaved off the surface along with a cam, carb(s) extractors and exhaust. EvanG at he moment is warming up his 4k so he may be handy to ask a few questions to :y: . Depending who you go to for the work and how much you can disassemble and reassemble it may cost as much as a standard 5k motor anyway. Then you'll think well maybe I should start off with a 5k as its slightly more powerfull base and warm it from there.... Just take your time with deciding and have fun with the current engine thats in it :)

Thanks Josh, :) actually when I arrived at the panelshop Steve the windscreen fitter was there and we were chatting about your panelvan when he made up that custom rear window seal. Yours was the first he said :) Top guys to deal with :y:

While the auto is nice for now, you'll change your mind. :wink: I had an ae71 traumatic and while the motor had punch it was really handicapped with the auto. Once it was manual different story. Maybe a hot 5k, auto and low diff ratio for improved cruising but enough spice for around town? Thanks for the louvre offer, I'm sure someone on here would snap it up :y: Good to hear your recieving positive comments, its a sign people care about your car and will hopefully keep an eye on it :) :y:

Nice pick up Sam, saw this on ebay which was owned by a mature owner. Didnt the purple ke30 have extractors and an exhaust? Possible manual conversion from the ke30? Like the rear louvre too :y:

Playing with the pinstrips, just duplicating what ive seen on a minority of 92s' getting about. One pic has the thin stripe on the top, and the second (which looks) better has the thicker stripe on the top.

Everything is all done, so its sealed choc a block around the window and its sealed :wink: Very happy with the finish as its much neater, was a little bit of a pain installing rain channel trims particularly on the LHS but its on there even if a little dented in places. I'll replace it when I go to pick a part next :y: Drivers side was a delight to put on. All tailgate trims are back on, there is plenty of paint there so its got good protection. Scuttle panel went in easily along with the window wipers. Next is giving it a bath, possibly tomorrow or wednesday. I have also been playing around with pinstriping also...

Nice pick up Dan, all the hard work is done for you as far as stripping to an extent. The rust looks very mild too. Good ol' Matilda from Melton :)

Looking at your pic with no windscreen trims I couldnt see any rust, particularly at the top. Mine had a bubble however it didnt penetrate the metal. So it was a case of repairing wasnt extreme. Down he a pillars where the old sealer separated and exposed the metal did cause a little scaling but was easily removed with the angle grinder :y: This bloke in Melbourne is quoting 190 to low 2s which is fine as no other local glass guy has these seals. Thanks for the info on the disassembly of the headliner, it looks quite tedious. Edit: just re read the tailgate jamb regarding the wire wheeling. Not enough paint from factory, pretty common. While its easy to access hit it hard :y: From the sounds of it did you have a little surface rust below the back window where that black trim clips along the tailgate? They are notorious for rusting if thats the case, but its good you stripped it anyway. As the tolerances are very tight with that trim, along with the flexing of the tailgate I noticed wear marks between the paint edge and the trim - thus exposing the metal combined with the debris caught behind there already it was a recipe for trouble. So, if you have the access to a bench grinder (as it will be much easier) shave 5mm or a tad less off the whole lenght then put some paint on the grinded section as its metal then and install on the car. You'll notice a reasonable gap which will allow water and dust to escape whether its dry or wet :wink: If you can, shave 5mm or less of that black trim. (Use the groove in the plastic as a marker to go up to. And taper it off as it reaches the bottom of the window rubber) Plastic was not shaved yet.

Wow Daniel that looks great! Glad you updated this thread as my curiousity was beginning to grow about the progress. I got the repairs done on my 92' and whilst removing those rain channel trims which you gave me the top tip on I found the usual 450mm mud tunnel in the a pillar channels :| Gave it good clean out and nothing suspicious underneath. The windscreen had surface rust and thats all. While I didnt need to remove my tailgate for the spray paint, how did you go about removing the vinyl headlining to access the wiring for the wiper etc,etc? I had a look at one at the wreckers and it looked like a real pain to pull it apart compare to my old ae82 which was rather simple. Anyway, nice progress mate, keep it up :y:

More..

Update: Mich the panelbeater phoned my this morning to tell me the car was painted and ready for the window to be installed. So on Monday Wizard Windscreens are coming back to put in the new glass and seal. I went to down to put some new wiper inserts in the arms and had a good look over the car. The finish is perfect and flawless to be honest, the two rust blisters on th tailgate corners are no longer, Mick said he gave it a little extra paint under that tailgate glass (nice and thick) to keep everything clean and sealed. The dent you couldnt even pick it if you tried and the front windscreen area is great. Again, cleaned up, prepped, repaired and given a thick coat of paint before blending it on the a pillars whole roof and tailgate. The car could be washed straight away so maybe a day or two after the screen is put in i'll wash it so the windscreen settles etc. I'll lay the pinstripes and graphics and by the Friday I can give it a good, good wax :wink: Pics..