Ella's Rt40 Corona

[Ella]

Well like every story starts off, i was looking for a car. We had just sold the pajero and i wanted something to have as a daily driver as my corolla is just receiving far too much police attention with its mods it has.

 

Found a couple cars on carsales.com i wanted to go and look at, so i made some phone calls and organised to go look at them all on a saturday. The first was a MX73 cressida, that was in shocking condition and quite frankly wasnt even worth the 500 bucks being asked. id hoped it was better cause i really wanted one of them as a new daily, but not much i can do there.

 

The second car we went and looked at was one i hadnt told my missus much about just that it was a old corona. as soon as we saw it we were in love. here Ill pause from the story to show a few pictures of the car as it sat there.

 

here is the first view we got of it!

 

and as we looked more we got to see this

 

and then this

 

and then last but not least this

 

So uhh yeah there you have it, we got our selves a 1969 RT40 corona.

The good bits include- 12R engine from a RT80

disc brake front end (again from a RT80)

munroe gas struts and king front springs

Weber carby, jetted and tuned for the motor

2 inch exhaust

Full house respray in the greeny mustardy colour its painted

13 inch mags (the original wheels wouldnt clear the disc brake front)

a fairly complete good condition interior

 

and last but not least i got pretty much an entire second car's worth of spares. some things i even have two or three of.

 

Being that like with every thing that comes into our household my missus and i paid even halves for this car, its equally both of ours, unlike my corolla though Bec took an immediate shine to this one and declared that perhaps we could find something more suitable for daily duties because she wanted this one as her toy. only fair really methinks, bout time she got keen on something other than her lancer ;)

No doubt this one will be a long standing addition to the household, Plans include a set of bigger drums for the rear end (I'm pretty sure i can do the same hiace upgrade as my corolla has), spending some time making it look nice by lowering the rear and probably another respray as it has some rust coming up, i suspect the prep work on this respray was rushed because there is a lot of dodgy stuff in the paint surface up close, and plenty of them naughty brown bubbles.

after that i think a more period correct set of wheels and a tidy up of the interior is in order.

 

first thing on the list to do were replace the broken clutch slave cylinder, which i have done, and fix a small hole in the radiator which i have also mended.

 

now pretty much the only thing stopping us from driving it (it was sold to us with rego) is fixing the linkages in the column shift, or possibly putting the rare factory buckets i received with it and putting a floor shift in. looking at all possibilities at the moment on that front.

 

anyways ill quit rabbiting on and let you guys enjoy her in her glory.

 

 

cheers ladies and kentlemen!

Edited April 19, 2010 by Ella

[PHATKE20S]

I am soooo liking this beast.....

Have drooled..ahem..I mean 'looked' over it in person & am rather envious off it

 

I will certainly be watching this progress

[ca18ae71]

thats mad lol i want one

[Ella]

me too ;)

 

ill take some more photos this arvo of what i've been up to

[Chobis]

LOVE IT!!!!

 

I love these cars and I want one. Always been a fan of the shovel nose Rona, even way before I got my Rolla or my Stout.

 

Will be keeping an eye on this.

[Ella]

Well a little update,

 

Last night i painted the wheels cause the silver was peeling from them and they generally look hideous.

 

they are now black, much nicer against the green paint.

 

got some closer pics of a few other things too!

 

heres a shot showing how much nicer black wheels look.

 

 

even still they are hideous, i have some jellybeans coming that will sort this nicely though.

 

 

heres the horsepower maker, a brand new 32/36 weber!

 

 

heres a shot of the kinda lame brake setup's heart... its a unknown as yet master in a custom unboosted setup. its f@$ken ghey. need to get some sort of boosted setup in there to replace that. I'm personally fine with it but if Becs going to be driving it then the brakes need to be top notch.

 

 

The previous owner was a lady, so this sticker sorta reflects the girlier side of it and my missus thinks it suits too so its staying.

 

 

The rocker cover when we got it look like ass, sent it off to a mate and this is the result

 

 

Becs finally named the car too. Her name is Myrtle. Cute old school name for a cute old school car.

 

thats all for now, probably wont do too much for a bit cause i just got myself a new ride too... but thats another story ;)

[Evan G]

yeaa BOI

[PHATKE20S]

Lovin the name....

 

Black wheels do look much better although still not the best mate........

[Ella]

yeah i know i have something in the works for that...

 

got a set of wheels coming from my secret squirrel hiding spot.

[Beccy]

My Awesomeness that i call Myrtle, if only it could fix itself.

 

PS. Hi everyone i'm Bec, aka Lukes less mechanically minded half, (someone has to pass the tools) and this is our car, but my toy.

Edited April 23, 2010 by Beccy

[Ella]

well on saturday, we got a brass bush made up to fix the gear shift linkages as they were sloppier than getting with a chick whos been through the whole footy team haha.

 

i got it all back together on saturday and we were finally able to drive it... forwards lol.

 

it still wont bloody go into reverse unfortunately and at this stage i can't work out why, and I'm at my wits end as to what to do to fix it...

 

if anyone has experience with these old column shifts and similar issues i would be all ears, its kind of inconvenient having to push it when it needs to go backwards...

 

anyways not to be too deterred we took her out and bec has quickly got the hang of the column shift and the unboosted brakes which is good.

 

Everywhere we go people point and stare at the car, and a lot of people want to know what it is. lots of older people have said nice corona too. Seems everyone likes a classic.

 

Also in driving it around the old loose clutch master cylinder cap has come off :yes: anyone know what models should have the same cap? or am i gonna need a new master .

Edited May 9, 2010 by Ella

[Ella]

Ok so i have managed to make it so reverse engages turs out i had adjusted it in the wrong direction previously... stupid lack of understanding of levers and fulcrums....

 

anyways it now reverses and drives quite nicely... had it out at harrys tonight for the sake of having somewhere to drive it...

 

If anyone is keen i will be out there again tomorrow night.

[Ella]

ok so new discs and pads ordered today, with some luck ill put all that in and have the exhaust leak fixed by sunday for the rolla club cruise.

[Ella]

we took some pics the other night.

 

sorry about the size but damm she be purrty hopefully i can convince chris to come on sunday.

 

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Few pictures I took today. I want one. So much fun to cruise in.