Doogs' Ke20 - Lke020

[KEI069]

Nice work Doogs, was looking the goods at classic Japan for sure!

Wheels looked great, always liked rebels, damn it's hard to find wheels in 4x110.

[Doogs]

Thanks guys,

 

Forgot to mention ! give me " ROLLA CLUB " over Facebook any day Ha-ha and have a good one :thumbsup: . Cheers:- Stuart :wave: Also I think I mentioned in Thomas thread about replacing all welsh plugs when doing rebuilds there not expensive and a lot easer to do with engine out of car but you now have a lesson learnt :2thumbs:and hope that ! that is the only problem you have :yes: . Once again Cheers:- Stuart :wave:

 

I'll be honest, when I was porting the head I thought it was part of the casting with how flat it sat into the head. I changed all the plugs in the block and had I known it was a welch plug I would have changed it too. Thankfully I have hawk eyes on the temp gauge at all times, so caught it as the needle sat one thickness higher than usual.

 

You're right about the wheel choice Justin! I might end up running 114.3 up front and 110 on the rear, we'll see how the diff pans out. Looking into a Mazda option at the moment..

Edited December 8, 2015 by Doogs

[Doogs]

Hey guys,

 

Been a while since the last update! Back at the end of January I had more issues with the welch plug leaking in the back of the head. Fair to say I was pretty fed up with it after the issues I'd had with this and a slipping clutch. I parked up the car and it sat until a few weeks back.

 

In the meantime I bought a turbo S14 as a daily/weekend drifter and have done a few events in that. It's been fun, but no question that it lacks a lot of the KE20 cool factor and emotional attachment!

 

Anyway I fixed the 20 on Sunday and it's been a blast driving since!

Main goal now is to get an LSD and 5kg springs in for November DECA. Pics/vids soon :)

[Doogs]

Hey guys,

 

A little bit has happened since the last update. I have moved cars into a rental factory with a three other mates. The main use of the factory will be the grunt work of the Cressida build, and also a place to hang with mates and do car stuff uninterrupted. There’s still a fair bit of organising to do, and we’d love to kit it up with a hoist and tyre machine in time. Since moving in I’ve gutted the Cressida a bit, motor and slushbox are out in prep for the crossmember mods and rack and pinion. Now that’s been put on the backburner for a bit as I was offered a drive at a private drift day in regional Victoria. This meant one thing; the first motorsport outing in about 8 ½ years of owning the KE20! :D

 

Needless to say there are a number of jobs that require doing to get the car up to scratch. I bought some more period 13” wheels to do up.

 

Cut down the standard struts 30mm and installed a 5kg sleeve kit with helper springs. Also bought a few goodies like RCAs and camber/castor tops.

Obtained another shell from Dave (TE278U) for another little project and some spare diff parts. Rebuilt the rear brakes for a stronger handbrake.

This weekend I’ll get the rear swaybar mounted and a few extra saddle clamps around the leaf springs to hold them together better. Hopefully that’ll reduce the rear end walk a little, long term I’ll probably need a panhard. I'll try and get the car on the ground and rolling when the camber tops arrive this week. Then it’ll only be cosmetic stuff left to go.

Perks of my work, few bits with fresh powder.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Doogs

[TOMMYS Ke 11]

All looking good Doogs and there is nothing like having a shed to work in and hang with good mates . Cheers :- Stuart :wave:

[Doogs]

All looking good Doogs and there is nothing like having a shed to work in and hang with good mates . Cheers :- Stuart :wave:

 

Cheers Stu,

 

Got the swaybar mounted and brackets painted in POR-15 over the weekend.

 

Demo of how it bolts up in car (note I used washers of course);

 

Welded in. Thankfully it runs straight underneath one of the cross-car chassis braces, I was worried it would be mounted to the floor and just flexing the sheetmetal.

 

Collected the new camber tops tonight, so the front end should be back together tomorrow after work.

[Doogs]

I put the front end together last week and I underestimated the front axle weight when I calculated the spring compression/new base height. The car was slammed! Looked cool but totally impractical, the modified sump was looking dangerously close to the ground. I have since raised the car 20mm and test drove with great success. Thankfully I have adjustment, I would've been in real strife if the spring seat was a set height like factory. I have a few cosmetic jobs and a wheel alignment to do this week, in addition to dropping the rear a bit to even out the ride height. We should be able to dial in a little more camber and castor with the KMAC tops. Having said that; front grip is quite good with the longer LCAs and maxed factory castor rods.

 

Sadly 13s won't clear the steering arm/tie rod end with RCAs fitted. TE278U kindly lent me some 14" Volk Mesh to get around this issue. I love the proportion of a KE on 13"s :/

 

Original lowered height.

Bit rude with this much poke! Excuse the paint, I'll give it a good wash/polish/wax this week.

Perfect clearance on the Volk

A more sensible height and out for a test.

[Doogs]

Hey guys,

 

Knocked off the last few jobs for the weekend and so now I’ve only got cleaning left to do.

I made a quick extinguisher bracket to bolt between the passenger seat rails and painted it wrinkle black.

 

I welded up some small lowering blocks to even out the rear ride height (I painted them up as well as the rear leaves and drums, so I don’t have dirty old parts showing from the open design of the Rebels).

 

Took it down for an alignment.

Before

 

After, (note this pic was taken as the jam nuts were being tightened on the tie rod ends so it moved, actual toe setting is even and a touch over 2mm total toe-out). I’m wondering if the machine reading was wrong.. I swear I had more camber/caster on the old setup with just longer LCAs and maxed caster rods. Now the car has been lowered and the KMAC tops in I would’ve thought it’d be a higher reading. He had the base setting on the machine as “AE86” so I know the KPI would be out, not sure how it interprets other values… It feels pretty good to steer, proof will really be at the event rather than numbers on the screen.

 

I’ve had a little spare time to help other friends with prep, including a brake bleed on Oliver’s RB26 S13. Crazy rig that is very well presented and put together! He’s making over 6 times the power that I have, should behave a little differently haha!

Edited September 15, 2016 by Doogs

[Doogs]

Hello sleepy Rollaclub,

 

Had a blast over the weekend, so many good times/dudes/cars. We were lucky enough to have our mate Streetstatik following our every move with a camera, not just the on track antics.

http://www.streetstatik.com/blog-heroes-2016

 

We cruised up to Mulwala just after lunch on Friday with a bunch of pretty serious (track) street cars.

 

Unfortunately due to the heavy rains there was some flooding and a few detours on gravel roads. This wasn't a big issue for my little 20, but some of the big boys had to remove skirts and bars to proceed.

 

 

Quick wash again before heading to the track;

 

The car was certainly quite a handful, but I had a ball over the course of the day. Front grip was a little lacking, needs more camber and caster ideally. Higher speed skando/feint initiation was quite tricky so I was using more second than third during the middle of the day. One of the guys came out and gave me some tips and confidence to carry more speed in third and throw the car in a bit deeper. This had good results, however it was still rather nerve racking.

 

 

The track access was quite muddy and I also had a few little 'offs' as I got a feel for things.

Checking things over;

 

About 3pm my on track luck ran out, I came through the esses to a rattling noise. I immediately pulled over and popped the bonnet thinking I'd done a bottom end. I revved the motor and it revved cleanly without any rattles, so I jumper back in and took off. 1st, 2nd, brrrrzzzzzzzz no third! Wow, blown away that this had the balls to kill third. I started laughing, thankful and surprised that my two previous fears hadn't been realised; another slipping clutch or the diff letting go.

I dropped back to second and nailed the hairpin, 50m later no gears left haha

 

Sitting patiently waiting for a tow

 

All in all a great weekend, so good to get some motorsport done in this beast at long last! It was a good reminder about what I want to do with the car. I had fun drifting but the higher speed stuff really isn't ideal for the car, and I'm not willing to drive balls out enough to risk crashing the car. I love the notion of the ShaDynasty guys getting it done in old cars, but think I prefer the main use for LKE020 is conservative street. I'll do a few events here and there but think I'd prefer to drift the S14 and MX32 at higher speed.

 

 

I'll pop my old 4-speed back in to get the car cruising again, then long term I'll upgrade to a T50 when I do the diff.

[V_NIkula]

Awesome photos and awesome car, nice to see it being driven properly :y:

[Doogs]

Awesome photos and awesome car, nice to see it being driven properly :y:

 

Thanks mate, good fun getting it on track at last!

 

I pulled the gearbox out after work today and had a look inside, bit of a mess haha!

 

Here's another sunset shot on the way up to Wilby

[1969 SPRINTER]

Car is gorgeous, mate. Come a long way!

[TOMMYS Ke 11]

Looks like a lot of fun Doogs ! So you managed to break 3rd gear :wtf: ??? Thomas keeps breaking 2nd :bash: so the new car will have the Celica 5spd box :2thumbs: and still looking into diff upgrades :hmm: with the 4link rear end (" OOPS" just let something out of the bag ) I'd better go before I say to much and look forward to catching up one day soon . Cheers:- Stuart :wave:

[Doogs]

Thanks mate, really appreciate it!

 

Yeah Stu I was pretty impressed haha! I've heard stories from heaps of guys blowing 2nd but not 3rd at all.

4 speed will be fitted in no time and I'll be back driving again. I think a T50 will be my long term plan but still undecided on the diff.

[Doogs]

Turns out the bigger clutch cover fouls on the K40 bellhousing, so I'm still off the road.

Gripshiftslide did a sweet write up of the event and a few good snaps popped up.

 

http://gripshiftslide.com/2016/10/11/blog-heroes-low-key-fun/

 

I bought a K-W bellhousing today and have been offered a spare W-50 box by a mate. Hopefully sorted and driving shortly.