altezzaclub

Well, voting time for the peasants... Your time to influence the place for the next few years, your one chance to decide between Tweedledum or Tweedledee, with exactly the same outcome no matter what!... Lets admit it, your vote doesn't mean a thing except to the person getting power in his hands, and once his empty promises have gained your vote he really couldn't give a shit about you! The most amusing irony is when they start talking about FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY and AUSTRALIA..... where they FORCE you to vote! Don't vote, it only encourages them.... Write across the paper that you have no faith in any of the charlatan liars and would rather appoint people to Parliament like a jury service. Anything to keep those who WANT power OUT of power...

yep- not what it used to be...

We pulled both motors in to compression test them in case one was a dud. Tried the big drill on one but it didn't have enough grunt to spin it over on compression stroke quickly enough to get a good reading. The other we fitted the flywheel to and used the starter, but its a reduction gear starter and turned quite slowly too. Anyway, another problem for later... Then we spent the last day sanding the body and making it white. The doors and bonnet have yet to be done. I'm back in Orange and off to NZ next week for my Mum's 90th birthday, back in a fortnight. Steve has decided to go West and seek fame & fortune so rallying will take a back seat for a "while"... It took me over 8years to get back to NZ when I left on my trip to become independent!

Well, it helped to make the car lively in the rear! Anyway, we picked the straight T18 diff to use and 'retired' the RA40 one to the spares shed. We are using the same rear springs we had, off the back some tiny Corolla hatch at the wreckers. They go on upside down as they are tapered and the diff base plate is the larger size of their top. Softer than a stock KE70 we reckon. We carefully flared the guards by using a large muscley man with a 4lb hammer This wan't to fit the tyres, it was to bend the spot-welded edge back around so we could easily plate over the rusty bits that were lacking any strength. I thought the shell was rust free until we were fitting the diff up and saw the inner panel rusted away at the join. Down at the front and we fitted the new AE86 springs, also upside down. The RA40 struts have a small diameter spring base, and the Kings RA40 springs we had used were too wide at the top to go up a KE70 strut tower. In the end the answer was to buy a new set of AE86's as they are KE70-sized at one end and taper in at the other. So that gets the suspension organised. Meanwhile I made a mounting for the Terratrip, but sadly the sun cover I planned on using had already seen too much sun and was brittle. There will be something else lying around...

Meanwhile Steve worked on the rear end. The fuel lines and pump were fitted behind the piece of spare wheel well I'd left there as protection. The fuel line and the brake line are inside and appear through the rear seat-belt bolt-holes we drilled out. The axles we had came from the two RA40s, T18s & his original F-type. We gripped the bearings in the vice and spun the axle against a screwdriver to check, and naturally found all the useful ones were bent! They all vary in length too. We had a selection of diff casings as well. Once stripped we put them on stands and held the flat-edges (our spirit levels..) against the ends and measured across the diff at each end of the spirit level, which was about tyre diameter. Then we turned them 90deg and measured again, one for toe and the other for camber. Turns out the Celica had lots of negative camber and toeout.. which ties in with the bent axles and the tyre wear! Rocks, washouts, yumps, banks, trees, rolls... something to watch in the future! The T18 was selected, cleaned and fitted with the new OS Giken limited slip, the best unmatched axles and the biggest brakes. We tried stock springs and the ones we had in the Celica, and figured the ones we had been using were softer..by measuring how much the car dropped when Steve climbed in the boot with the shocks not fitted! We fitted it today then came home. That was enough because he graduated yesterday with two degrees, one in Agricuture and one in Business, and naturally got well wasted last night... we'll be back in the Woolshed tomorrow!

I got onto the braking system. The Celica master cyl is a 4-bolt system, while the KE70 only uses two in the booster. A bit of 6mm plate was drilled (very accurately!) and the 8mm holes were drilled again halfway down to 12mm diameter. Then I used the grinder to put a taper under the heads of the 8mm bolts and when they fitted nicely into the cones of the plate we welded them in. A quick grind off of the heads sticking up meant I now had 4 studs. This fits neatly onto the booster and should have no problem with the 250kg of push generated when its spread over 4 bolts.... seeing the KE70 only uses two! I stripped the limiter and found it completely gummed up and full of corrosion. It is actually a combination system that has a chamber for the front brakes which delays their coming on for a few milliseconds. This gives the rear shoes time to be pushed out and touch the drums before the front discs start to work. The rear section limits the amount of pressure going on relative to the front, which is the bit I'm interested in... If we don't have rear lockup I will make a few mods to that. We have rear discs and calipers to fit, but they can wait for a major development that includes twin master cylinders & a bias adjuster later on.

So we grabbed a rattle can and made the cage silver. It was a really hot day and it dried in a couple of hours, but when I took the pipes inside I got silver on my hands. The next day I assembled the cage in the car.. and got covered in silver! I must have washed my hands a dozen times and each time I handled the cage they still soon looked like this. Prime candidate for Alzheimers from all this aluminium being absorbed! Anyway, found a couple of stray photos.. how to resize crush tube pipe that is too thick... Providing you have a bolt that fits easily through and lets it spin. The mosquitoes get annoying occasionally, and some of us are very lucky when we don't think hard enough about where we left the burning mosquito coil! We found this cut-off grinder in one of the sheds and it instantly became the favourite toy! We fitted the cage for the last time. (I hope!) It got Locktite on the threads of all the bolts and only needed gentle persuasion at the very front.

Clearing the camera for the rally car update and realised I hadn't finished this- So, kit only of course, about $100, but no warranty unless you have the flywheel skimmed. I reckon there was nothing wrong with the flywheel, as the clutch is hardly worn, so I just fitted the new one. Works perfectly, it's already done a few thousand km running between Walcha and Orange. It shuddered because the broken steel section had jammed behind the adjacent one, so the plate had a bulge in it as it rotated. ...of course the clutch plate that had the broken steel finger in was years out of warranty!

Check the bulb hasn't been jammed in the wrong way around.

Gotta love carbs... you always end up with a jet collection! Literally "at cruise" my SUs are down at 16 or 18, but if its an incline or a headwind they're around 14. I can't feel myself put my foot down sometimes and I see the mixture display richen up. Fun to play with hey!

So, time for tappets again, and this time I tried the factory method! Very quick and simple, and they are quiet. This time you get number 1 cyl on firing and set tappets 1 2 3 and 5. Then turn the motor 360deg to get number 4 firing and set tappets 4 6 7 and 8. So there's three different methods to try!

What are you planning?? If that's a link at the end of your sentence, its not working for me.

Well,it got welded by Tim at Tamworth's Muffler Man, first in the car then we took it out so he could complete the welds. Didn't bother to put it back in. Then we built the cross-braces in the back. What a nightmare! As soon as we tacked a diagonal onto the two side bars nothing would slide in and out of the stubs on the main hooop. So after a week of trying this and that and completely re-designing it, we had something that worked. The fittings on those rear arms unbolt and slide inwards to allow the arms to drop down through holes drilled in the 3mm plate bases. The whole lots comes in and out just fine, and when we took it down to Tim again we had it checked and approved by our local CAMS man. So, finally, a bolt-in cage that works and is acceptable for CAMS registration! Straight into painting the boot and interior! Today we started with wiring and fuel systems, finding out what can be fitted from the Celica and what must be re-made. The adjustable cross-strut brace was one that needed to be altered to fit the KE70 turrets, but the whole fuel tank/pump/line setup drops in OK. Tomorrow we will paint the cage and fit that on Tuesday so we can build around it. Progress at last!

Yep, the Girl's KE70 came without one and that first 30seconds of rattle had marked the bearings badly when we pulled the motor apart. I use a modern small-diameter long filter, its the one item I pay the full Toyota price for. I can't read the number as its underneath, but its covered in Japanese writing.

True- the sonic testers are around at many engine shops, cost around $100 for it to be done here. Then they know which way to move the bore a mm or so to keep the bore wall thickness even. LoL! Also sadly true.... But a cam/carb/exhaust will allow it to keep up with the traffic at 100kph until you get to a steep hill!

So difficult with emission laws there! There can't be enough old motors on the road nowdays to make any real difference, they should just dump the laws for cars over 10years old.

Just stick a few bars in beside the leafs... You'd need the chassis mounts for the bars anyway, but retaining leafs means you don't have to worry about the coil's seating points. I thought you'd have thinner leafs lying around where you shave the sides to reduce the spring rate. I'm sure it would be easy enough to swap one leaf pack for another, even if not as easy as coils. Have one really soft set for smoothish dirt, one with more lift for dirt with yumps, and one stiff low one for tarmac work. Then have lower bars and a panhard rod to stop it winding up and walking around the place.

Yep, done it, but we haven't run it for long enough to see how it stands the tests of time. Richo has got very busy and shelved the 345K before we solved the oil leak. I have reports on a handful of others theat have been done too. Near enough. Its not hard to measure your head volume and calculate how much to mill off. I don't know, but quite a few guys use them. They work, but you may need smaller chokes and jets to make them work well. There are 28/36 versions of that carb around, but not as common. I expect that the shaft will need a different length and a different nose. Then balancing for a couple of hundred bucks. You'd also need new g'box mounts and probably engine mounts too. Then the exhaust will need changing.. Its easier to stick to a K motor.

WTF? I thought that was 'is lunch! How do you get the spigot out with bread?? I 've used grease for years, but you can't eat the leftovers!

Arrrgh! painful! So you're a wreck for a few months... Drain it, pop the axles and undo the diff face most the way, then clean the sealing area with Brakleen & smear sealant ito the gap. If you can move the diff head forward 8 or 10mm while leaving it on the bolts it should all work. Mind you, getting the axles out while a hoist will be a trick!

An arm... and a leg.. and probably your first-born... Anyway, we went up this morning after a big storm last night to find we had a slight problem... no power! Around the corner we found it hadn't done much for the Corona either... and that looked even worse once we had gone back for a chainsaw and started cleaning up! The power guys turned up and had it all organised in an hour or two, but no electricity until an electrician has connected it back to the Woolshed on Tuesday! So the car is on the trailer waiting to be taken to Tamworth at 7.30am tomorow to have the cage welded up. Then its farmwork for a few days...

The biggest savings would be to buy a pair of spring clamps and do the shocks yourself. The coolant flush can't be hard, and I don't understand what the serpentine bolt does... The biggest thing is the replacement car. The money they would give you as a trade-in is built into the price of the car you are buying, so yours is worthless really. If you put up less than $10,000 you will be buying another older, well-used car that will need just as much work on it soon anyway. Its all a big gamble, and fixing cars yourself is the only way to save money.

I thought a spring would work within its elastic limit pretty well indefinately and never sag. I supppose it depends on the steel they used. The spring only sets the ride height, so if you add a 50kg person to the 250kg you have on a strut, it will sink by that much more. The shock has very small bleed valves to control slow movements, (ie cornering and people sitting on the guard) so that will control how fast the strut snks when you sit on it. If you jump up and down on a guard you will use the larger valves that control bounce, and the strut will suddenly stiffen up. The oil in the shocks degrades with use, so if you feel the car bounces around too much get a pair of shocks, or if they are old wet struts strip them and put in fresh oil. If it rolls too much, get an upgraded sway bar, or stiffer springs, but they will affect the ride quality.

..and a button on the steering wheel, not a switch. Are we expecting things to happen very quickly here? That sort of 'instant detonation to destruction' scenario? You'd have to try the EFi fuel pump on the injector head to see what flow rate you get, but it sounds like it would work fine.