rian

Find some AE86 struts to do a coilover conversion on. There is a better range of shocks available so suit AE86 struts, with the option to cut the strut down to fit shorter shocks.

There's a bridge at my house, I can get rid of it for you... :jamie:

WGMG: AE71s and KE70s for sale are plentiful when you don't have the dough to buy one, but when you do have the dough they pull out the active camouflage and you cannot find those mofos anywhere! Or they pop up for sale in Victoria just to tease you :o

I'm fairly sure the squeal is due to vibration of the brake pad. I guess there are lots of things that could cause it to vibrate like a rough surface on the disc or a worn bush in your suspension or something. You could try that stuff from Repco and Supercheap called 'disc brake quiet' that goes on the back of your brake pads to stop the vibration, I've never used it so I don't know how well it works but it may be worth a try. Edit: This is the stuff - http://www.crcind.com.au/disc-brake-quiet

Selling it to me may fix the problem... Otherwise you could try taking it to an auto electrician?

You could bolt the S13 suspension gear to the KE70 cross member with minor mods yes? And avoid the +1000000mm track increase you get when you put a S13 cross member into a KE70? I'm fairly sure Lloyd's car had a stack of other custom mods to make the S13 suspension stuff work properly, it seemed like a huge job. But it also seemed to work amazingly, or maybe he's just an amazing drifter :hmm: Edit: Or is it the S13 LCA that give you the humongous track increase?

^Word. I got stainless ones from a fasteners place and you can hardly tell the difference against the chrome.

The dome-top ones with the square bit on the shank? Any bolt place should have those, they probably won't be chromed but they will still be shiny. Edit: I think they're called carriage bolts

Watanabes are possibly the coolest wheels for a KE70, but they're also worth 3 times as much as the average KE70. I'd be hunting some second hand wheels, just about any wheel in 13,14,15 by about 8" with a low offset will look good, SSR, Work, Volk etc. Or if you want something new you can look into Performance Superlites or Challangers. Also Rota are making some copies of classic wheels in really good sizes for cheap, though a lot of people hate on Rota. I wouldn't care though, I would still own Rota wheels.

I'm fairly sure KE3x strut tops have the bolts equidistant from the centre, like an equilateral triangle. Whereas with KE70 strut top all the bolts are different distances from the centre, like an scalene triangle, where the bearing in the strut top is offset towards the rear of the triangle. AE86 strut top are the same bolt pattern as KE70, but the bearing in the strut top is offset towards the front of the triangle. Thus KE70/AE86 strut tops won't fit and you'll have to use the standard KE3x ones. Also I'm not sure you can put the KE36 brakes on the AE86 struts, I don't think they will fit?

What is the return policy with Force Tools, I know they have a lifetime warranty on most of their stuff, but do they just replace broken tools on the spot or do they have a rep who decides whether or not it gets replace or whatever? I hear this is a problem with a lot of other brands. Although I wouldn't really be all that bothered if I broke any of my Force tools because they're so cheap anyway, $20 ratchets FTW!

Force tools rule! Also I've never had any problems with my ratchets, they're the 72 tooth ones like in the pictures, I can't stand using bulky 24/36/45 tooth ratchets because they're so big and ugly you can't fit them anywhere. But I'm guessing your brother works there so he would see how many 72 tooth ones came back broken.

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/52048-ke70-door-weather-shields/ Here you go, blzbub666 may have a set for you, colours will probably be limited but you can paint them I guess.

What grinds my gears: My street being so crowded with cars that people feel the need to park their cars across my f'ing driveway, I feel like lifting them up on trolley jacks and moving them somewhere that the owners will struggle to find them. I totally agree, waiting for parts sucks. Sometimes you wait so long that you think they've been lost in transit, that seriously blows.

a 4AGE or 4AGZE is what you want

Usual rust spots seem to be: under the fuel door, around the boot seal, around the tail lights, bottom of rear quarter panels, behind the rear bumper bar, spare wheel well, check around the front and rear windscreen too. Rust in structural areas such as pillars and stuff is bad news, also the cabin and boot need to be sealed, so any rust that has rusted through and caused a hole will need to be repaired. Also take one of those flat fridge magnets with you to check for bog, magnets don't stick to bog, best trick ever!

I am very jealous of your 2-door, it's super cool. Also that rust looks to be in a very bad place.

Can't you just adjust them in-car? And set the height that you think is best?

This is true for Queensland, petrol engine powered bikes needs to be registered, but you also need a compliance plate to register anything in QLD. Although I still see a fair few petrol engined push bikes getting around Brisbane. Electric motor powered bikes/scooters are okay up until a certain power output or speed capability or something. NSW allows petrol engine powered bikes up to 49cc without being registered as far as I know, might be the same for other states. But seriously, get a postie bike, they are basically a push bike with an engine and they are too freaking cool. I see the most gansterest posties getting around; lowered, hard-tailed, black ones with the shiniest chrome parts. Even see some with 140cc pitbike engines, so bawsss!.

Thanks for the input, although the only problem with the AE86 insert is that I would have to retain almost standard height. I was after a shorter stroke shock(something like ST185 ~ 330mm inserts, as opposed to AE86 ~400mm inserts) so that the car could be lowered and still have good suspension travel, I'll be converting to adjustable height coilovers anyway so I thought I may as well go for a shorter insert while I'm at it. This is what I wanted to do eventually and that was the reason I though Bilsteins would be a good choice, but it's probably getting a bit expensive and unnecessary at this point considering I haven't actually been on a track yet. Since Dave has made this point, has anyone ever had Bilsteins or any other shock rebuilt/re-valved/tuned? I'm guessing it's an expensive exercise. Also 5kg/mm springs is probably what I'm going to get, unless there is a good reason to use a different spring rate?

I see what you mean now about the gland nuts, I didn't see the bush thing the first time. That seems like a good price too. Thanks very much for the information, this should be a good thread for anyone looking to do this conversion, there's solid info here. Also what are peoples opinions on ~5kg front springs? Good for a grippy track set-up?

So this must mean the stub axles sit out further from the strut tube one an AE86 than they do on a KE70? Another reason to upgrade to AE86 struts? Wider wheels?

parrot: I was planning on doing that, I just realised I forgot to include it in the original post for some reason. I know you are using SW20 AGXs in your struts, what spring rate are you using and what are your thoughts on the combo? I thought the AGXs were super stiff, I could barely compress them by hand on the softest setting, much stiffer than the R31 Skyline inserts I had in there previously. 86coupe: Awesome! That shaft is huge, so you had to bore the hole in the stock gland nut for the shaft to fit through, but the stock gland nut fitted over the Bilstein damper body without modification? (other than having to bore the hole for the shaft) Thanks very much for the info and pictures. Where did you order them from and how much did you pay if you don't mind me asking? Supercheap said they could get them for around $330ea($250ea if you know the right person) but I'm not sure they were the correct ones, they had a different part number but were supposedly for the ST185. Dave: I was going to go for a 5kg spring/coilover sleeve combo from T3, and was going to build up new coilovers while the current ones are still in the car, but I guess I could just buy the sleeve kit and run the 5kg springs on the current coilovers while I build the new ones and then just swap my AGXs into the new ones when they're finished. I am quite interested in trying out the Bilsteins though, I bet they're awesome. Thanks for the replies everyone!

bad earth?

I've seen some without and some without. You might be able to grab one from a wrecker, also KE55 might be the same or may fit?