clubby2084

You could try a Mazda K8DE motor. A NA 1.8 liter V6, found in the Mazda Eunos 30X. They love a rev and sound great doing it. But they only have about 100kw.

What a stunning example. Good find, well done.

Never been into naming my cars but, this is Kalvin the Corolla. So named because I'm sure it was designed by the same bloke who designed the Kalvinator refrigerator, I'll bet the Toyota color code is "Appliance White". I've owned Kalvin for 3 years and he's just clocked over 120thousand kilometers. He was a score 3 years ago only having 82thousand on the clock (in 20 years). Apart from replacing the alternator, A/C and now the rack ends, he drives like he could go another 23 years. I bought Kalvin as transport while my Clubsport was being built, I liked the fuel economy so much, I kept him. Dads 96 Hilux. He's owned it since new and currently has about 176thousand on the clock. This thing hasn't even sneezed since the day he brought it home. Nothing more than routine maintenance. It's made countless trips between Darwin and Brisbane and one trip around the country. Each time loaded with my old mans shit and towing a 6x4 trailer (he has this paranoia it will breakdown so he carries every imaginable part and tool to repair it, of course it never has). A Hilux with 4sp auto and carpets. To my dads annoyance I continue to call it the "Corolla ute". This is the reason I drive a Corolla. My 97 VS HSV Clubsport (#2084). I've owned now for 7 years. A daily driver for 4 years before being sent to TBS Performance (The Brock Shop) along with a blank cheque. COME Racing 355, balanced blueprinted, ported & polished heads, roller rockers, COME Racing twin throttle manifold, all the best and most expensive stuff to fill it with. As well as a TBS custom made stainless 2.5inch twin system exhaust. Oh god it's sounds pure porn !. To go with the new motor, a stage 2 TH700 auto and reco diff with standard 3.08 gears. PBR twin piston brake upgrade front and rear. New steering & suspension. Basically it was a bumper to bumper rebuild of the oily bits. Power ?. On a run in tune it made 300HP at the rears. It's been tuned since but I don't have a figure. On the trip from Brisbane to Darwin I averaged 10.2 liters per 100kays (with an average speed of 112km/h). There were periods in QLD while doing the 110km/h limit I was getting 850 to 880 kays from a tank (72L).Top speed. Speedo goes to 250km/h and it sailed straight past that quite easy. At 230km/h the engine ticks over at 4500rpm. Of course I did this 12 months ago err ooops I mean before the NT introduced speed limits 4 years ago. :D At Willowbank in Brisbane it's done a 13.7 with the 3.08 diff gears. Next on the books is a conversion to 5speed manual (the auto is a fuse waiting to blow) and 3.6 diff gears. Then a run at Hidden Valley, stay tuned.

Thank-you 7shades, I've heard the locking tab can be a bit difficult too. I'm looking forward to that... :D

Hi folks, need your support and help. I'm about to replace the rack ends (or inner tie rods whatever you wish to call them) on my AE82 hatch. I've been doing a bit of studying and it seems to be a fairly straight forward procedure. Measuring and counting threads on tie rod ends. I know it's a tight fit where the rack is but, is there anything I should be aware of that a manual doesn't tell you ?. Has anyone else here done these before ?. Are there any traps I should be aware off ?. Any advise would be welcome, Cheers

I had a 78 VB SL/E Commodore with the small 253 V8. When I sold it it had 726000 on the clock, on all original mechanicals. I bought it off a mate who's family purchased the thing new. The engine copped a flogging from me and never missed a beat. Although it didn't blow any oil, it did leak from just about every orifice around the engine. That's why the engine lasted, it was getting fresh oil almost every week. The trimatic didn't have reverse (so I didn't park anywhere nose down, simple), and on occasions 2nd would take the day off too, but it kept going. I neglected it, abused it and I dead set loved it. God I miss that car.

Celica, first of the front drive models. ST162, from the mid 80s

I wouldn't say the 20v has any "problems" as such. They (as far as I know) have an interference type head, this can be a disaster if the timing belt breaks. They also rev their tits off, with a red line set further up the range. So possible more wear and tear. But proper maintenance and serving, and there wont be any problems. The 16v doesn't have these problems. If the timing belt breaks, bummer. replace it and go again. Parts are plentiful & the 4age engines are known for their reliability. The 16v seem to be cheaper too.

They the Holden dealer should be safe. Commodore ute buyers are a one eyed bunch. They wouldn't consider ANYTHING else regardless of weather it's better or (in this case) a lot worse. But you might have a point about the Rodeo. I reckon mainly tradies will buy these things. Run em into the ground, piss em off after the warranty runs out. And best off all it would be tax right off. Watch these things tank on the 2nd hand market...

And no it's not a 4Runner. Made by Great Wall and it's called, Safe (no, really). Hmmm, it's a knock off. I wonder how much they spent on crash testing ?.

Believe it, or don't. Just Google...

Easy answer $$$. Old tools and engine castings are sold off to the highest bidder. Big manufacturers want to make money back on tools they'll never use again, so along comes Great Wall, or Ssang Syong (Mercedes Benz engines and gearboxes), Proton (originally Mitsubishi), Kia (originally Mazda). Hyundai got it's start using Mitsubishi Lancer engines. And look how far they progressed :P (Sorry I couldn't resist that cheap shot)

I been looking into these things and it seems every model is a bit of a mutt. The SA220 ute is a Navara, the V240 is a Isuzu Rodeo. The passenger SUV, the X240 is a Isuzu exterior over a old 4 Runner chassis with Toyota drivetrain. Depending on it being diesel or petrol, 4 or 6, will depend on where the motor comes from. Nissan, Isuzu, Mitsubishi and Toyota all provide engines and gearboxes for various models. As I said, a real bitsa

There a re build of an early model Nissan Navara. Although the hardy Nissan mechanical's are there, there is also the Great Wall electrics and the 2 star crash rating. I agree, great value. But jeeez their ugly...

I'm with chappo12. Give the thing a good service. New oil for a start, and change the spark plugs for new ones. They'd be covered with burnt oil (and possibly the reason for your miss fire). If that doesn't work, take it to a good mechanic and tell him what you did.

This thing is wicked... Totally love it and love ya work. Adding turbo V6 is THE only way to make an Excel attractive. You should look into bringing it to the NT, they'd probably let you rego that up here. :hmm:

Ah the wonders of 4 speed overdrive auto's. 2200rpm at 110km/h.

The 4AC motor runs a carburetor as a means of supplying the fuel and air into the engine, hence the "C" in 4AC. I have a personal dislike of carburetors. I've never had one work properly in 20 odd years. A 4AFE or 4AGE are both Electronic Injection. More reliable and economical, and more power. It's a win win. The down side is the initial cost of installing an EFI engine. It all depends on what you want with from the car. If it's just transport pay a few hundred dollars and have the carby repaired. If you want more power and have plans to do the car up, and maybe keep it for a few years. Go for the 4AGE. Have a good look around this site. You will get some great ideas.

Yep, bloody carbs on the 4AC' will do this to you. Mine sent me right round the twist (and still does). 4AC motors are know for being a bit weak in the vacuum department. So anything vacuum operated (like the carb) will suffer if it's not getting the right amount of vacuum, due to a leak or blockage. A simple fix I recommend, ditch the 4A and install something EFI, 4AFE or 4AGE. I got talked out of this option and regret it. OK, OK, THE most simple fix is a tin of carby/throttle body cleaner. Use the whole tin, inside and outside the carby. Drown the sucker in it... Check all vacuum lines. Any perished, cracked or holed lines will cause no end of vacuum problems. There are also a number of one way valves on these vacuum lines. Check the are doing the one way thing (and the right way round) and not blocked or free flowing. There is a schematic under the bonnet that clearly shows were the vacuum lines go. Follow it and you shouldn't have any problems (get the workshop manual if the schematic is gone). There is also a idle up valve at the back of the carb (vacuum operated, of course). It's job is to stabilize the engine idle under load, such as turning on your Air Conditioner. If it is gunked up the engine idle can be all over the place. One minute OK, next, too high, then too low. This one I let a mechanic fix. That was the problem with mine. It would idle at 1500rpm one minute, stall the next. If I used my Air Conditioner it would drag the idle from 1500rpm to 750rpm (I live in Darwin so I use the A/C almost 24/7). But the erratic idle was causing problems with the A/C. I had the idle valve cleaned out (it was just gunked up but they do perish with age) and problem solved. A/C on or off it now idles perfect at 800rpm. Good luck, start with the lines and valves first, then if that doesn't work pay someone to do it. You might get lucky.

You are correct. In my case it was the opposite. Straping it out was fine. But driving around normal was the problem. So I tried not too as much as possible.

About your Pinging... Had same problem with my AE82. Has the timing belt been replaced lately ?. What about the timing belt tensioner ?. Some folks replace just the timing belt at the regular intervals and neglect the tensioner. The tensioner goes weak allowing some slack in the timing belt. I had the tensioner replaced in my 4A-C and problem solved. No more pinging.

I bought the 4sp from a wrecker by mistake. Thinking I was buying a 3 speed. My mate is a mechanic and he did the swap for me. It is a straight swap, gearbox wise. The 4 sp is a physically larger unit but hooks up to the same mount points, bolt holes etc. I did buy new gearbox mounts for a 4sp while I was at it. To be honest I didn't take any notice if they were different. The only thing I had to source was the thermostat housing and the auto's temp sensor (temp sensors are over $400 genuine, so look around for a good 2nd hand item). I also bought a new torque converter. And the gear lever and computer I've mentioned (got these from the same wreckers) Drive shafts hooked up no problems. The whole job took 3 days (after work). The thing looks and feels factory. The result is brilliant. 2200rpm at 110km/h. The car is now a great cruiser rather than a roudy buzz box.

Also, forgot to mention. The thermostat housing is different as well. There is a temp sensor for the O/Drive mounted on the thermostat housing. Need to have that too.

High spec AE92's came out with a 4 speed O/D auto, CSX, Ultima etc. The 4 speed fits easy enough, but, you'll need the gear selector for inside the car as it has the button for the O/Drive. From what I've have been told with mine, the first 3 speeds are hydrolic but the 4th gear and lock up function on the torque converter is electronic, so the gearbox has a computer to control the 4th gear and the lockup function on the torque converter. You'll need that too. Without it you'll still have a 3 speed.

That's very helpful, thanks Bowler. At least I know it CAN be done. Was a good read too...