|
Might want to check if anyone makes replacement panels, there was a guy that made aluminum panels for Miatas, I imagine these days it wouldn't be too hard to fab up a door panel with a water jet or something.
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 17:12
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 09:13 |
|
|
Alternatively, stick to your hardboard plan and just stack layers / cut openings to recreate the depressions. Hardboard IS dirt cheap after all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 18:25
|
|
|
Commodore_64 posted:Alternatively, stick to your hardboard plan and just stack layers / cut openings to recreate the depressions. Hardboard IS dirt cheap after all. Carbon fiber would be neat (and it’s not terribly difficult if it’s not structural, basically work it like fiberglass with a little more attention to detail and orientation), and T3 makes aluminum panels, but I think I’ll go for the layered hardboard approach, since the upholstery is still decent.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 22:51
|
|
|
Just got back from my daughter’s birthday party. I think I’ll tackle the water shields, and reassemble the lower dash. Maybe take a look at the door panels. Ignition parts won’t be here until after Thanksgiving.
|
|
#
?
Nov 19, 2017 22:54
|
|
|
Got a few things done. Replaced the water shields on both doors. The drivers door shield was in several pieces. I tried to limp the passenger side along:  But in the end, it was so brittle that it kept tearing just from pressing the tape to it. That tape is a lovely concoction designed for taping plastic sheeting together. Thin and sticky, but comes off with no residue. I had some heavy plastic that my last mattress came in, and, conveniently, it was a bag and therefore two layers.  I used the mostly intact passenger side as a template, snapped a fresh edge on my utility knife, and went to town.    I left the window crank hole until a trial fit, since the one in the original was so ragged. Trial fit:  Not bad! Tape it all up, since I didn't seem to have any butyl tape handy:  Then repeat for the driver's side:  No pictures, but I also put the dash back together. Immediately after I did so, the temp cable decided to start binding. I swear it worked fine when I bolted the controls back in. Guess I'll have to pull the Bowden cable and see if I can get it moving freely. Not sure if it's the cable itself, or the bit that it actuates. It's nice having the front of the interior intact, at least. I had a look in the shed, and I do actually have a half-sheet or better of 1/8" masonite. Might be able to work on that over the holidays.
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2017 17:14
|
|
|
Updated list: Mount front bumper, attach parking lights. Fix cracked widebody fender. Or remove and fix a lot of rivet holes. Radio antenna. Radio. Have Cruise Control panel - no idea where it goes in the car! 11/6/17: CC panel I have is early style, through early 85. Supposed to have a stalk, right side of column. Lots of oil and grease in the engine compartment. Degreased, mostly 10/29/17 It's cold-natured - maybe a choke on the carb? 11/2/17: carb has electric choke. Must need tuning. Once it starts again... Change trans oil. Change rear diff oil. strip paint from Celica wheels - 2 done, 10/29/17 AC condenser and drier cooling fan shroud I noticed that it has a bracket for the power steering pump on the engine. Need to check the rack and see if it's supposed to have power steering. Passenger mirror - no glass Drivers mirror - no knob/loose and floppy Rear deck panel board is trashed. Carpet is iffy. Steering wheel adapter with horn provision and horn button. water in drivers rear under-seat area. Sunroof drains? driver's door panel hardboard is trashed. Vinyl and fabric OK. Passenger door panel not near as bad, but still needs some love. Missing grates/grilles over cowl vents Temp Control is binding Trunk light (have socket, but not mounting/lens)
|
|
#
?
Nov 20, 2017 17:22
|
|
|
Got my order in from Rock Auto. Just a bit of difference in that center contact.  New hotness versus old and busted:  After installing the cap, rotor, and plug wires, et viola: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N6i7m2yCwo FWIW, the only difference I can see between the earlier and later distributor rotors is the shape of the counterweight. Overall height, and the length and location of the contact are the same. I used the "correct" one, but I don't think there should be any issue using the other one. I didn't even change the plugs, because I discovered that it has platinum plugs in it now, and they looked OK after cleaning them up (they were a bit fouled from all the unsuccessful starting attempts.) I took it for a cruise around the block, very carefully since the brakes were still horribly squishy, and the engine ran great. Transmission was fine. It's got a short shifter on it, so it's very "clicky". Rear end was grumbling (the car, not me.) I finally got the rear shoes adjusted and the brakes successfully bled (there was just a *lot* more air in the right rear than I expected,) and subsequently adjusted the parking brake so that it worked as well. I changed the diff oil, and was not particularly happy with what came out:   Magnetic drain plug:     Yes, those are chunks. Looks like the diff is not fabulous. Fortunately I have a spare 4.10:1 third member that looks good, that was included with the car. I guess that will need to go in. Of course, as has become Situation Normal with this car, I noticed several new broken and /or missing things. Low beam headlights don't work. high beams do. It has retrofit H4 housings with LED accent lights, and HIDs. The high beams appear to be halogen, which means either the ballasts or the HID bulbs are dead, or wired incorrectly. I'll check the wiring, then probably just put in halogen H4 bulbs. Stock wiring is still intact for the headlights. Along with that, the front side marker light leads were cut to power the LEDs in the headlights. Why they didn't just splice in I have no idea, and on top of that, they cut both sides, yet still ran a piece of speaker wire from one to the other. WTF. The other day I realized that the coat hooks are missing, but they're still available from Toyota, as are caps for the screws in the armrests. I noticed that mine are pretty crispy when I pulled the door panels off. The battery hold-down is missing. I'll have to find a used one, or fabricate. It's NLA, even from Japan. On the test drive I noted that the turn signals aren't canceling. They probably hosed that up putting on the steering wheel adapter. STR noticed that the CHARGE light isn't coming on with the car on but not running. Likely a burnt out bulb. Wish I'd noticed that when I had the dash bits out. So: check off: Change diff oil Add: front side marker light wiring cut low-beam HID headlights not working coat hooks missing battery hold down missing turn signals not self-canceling CHARGE light not working rear differential grinding/noisy More to come tomorrow. I plan to at least strip the paint off of the other two Supra wheels.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 11:35
|
|
|
Almost forgot to mention this! A little background: the year that the PDF manual that is all over the web came from does not included *anything* about the engine, fuel system, or ignition. That was all in a separate "engine" manual that I have yet to locate. I needed info in order to test the coil and ignitor. I noted while searching that, apparently, the later FF manual *did* cover the engine, at least according to the table of contents, so I was willing to buy a FWD manual just for the 4AC engine and subsystems info, since it would be exactly the same. Hence, trolling eBay for *any* '87 Corolla FSM or engine manual. So, while cruising eBay for manuals and such, I ran across a listing for an '87 Corolla FF factory service manual. However, the pictures in the auction clearly showed a FR manual, with the correct vehicle image on the cover. https://www.ebay.com/itm/332439838052   Compare to the FF manual cover from another auction:  (If you're looking at this close to the time I posted this reply, you might note several auctions for '84 FR FSMs in the related auctions, starting at $40-50. Up until last week, it was mor like $80 and up for any AE86 FSM. And there weren't any '87 manuals on eBay. I could pay $100+ from Faxon auto lit, if I really felt like being raped.) For $27, I took that gamble, since the FR manual suffers from the same drift tax as everything else for the car. If it was an FF manual, I could still use the engine info on mine. Well, it came in today, and I'm happy to say that the pictures were correct:   Compare to the Table of Contents of the PDF copy common on the web:  It's also missing some of the introduction, and the Maintenance section. I'm happy to have found the correct manual for a good price. I'd really like to scan it, but to do it properly, I'd have to take it apart. I have a double sided sheet fed scanner at work that should do a good job, but I'm not sure I want to tear it up yet. It's in fantastic shape, darn it!
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 12:19
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:Of course, as has become Situation Normal with this car, I noticed several new broken and /or missing things. This is what always kills me with old cars. Glad you've got a good attitude about it and can keep going. Nice score on the FSM.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 13:28
|
|
|
I always just assume that any PO-installed HID kit is broken. At the price those kits are, it's cheaper to just throw that garbage in the trash after cutting it for spare wire and connectors and reinstalling the OEM halogen setup. If the lighting is really bad I build an H4 relay harness. Same goes for PO-installed grounding kits. There's a "Cusco" battery hold-down kit you can buy from eBay/Aliexpress that works OK for most cars. I'm sure Cusco is really mad about their branding being used on it, but for like five bucks it looks OK. Are those dizzy rotors the same weight? Seat Safety Switch fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Nov 25, 2017 |
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 20:01
|
|
|
What is that square-framed bike and hubbe wheel in the background?
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2017 20:06
|
|
|
Larrymer posted:This is what always kills me with old cars. Glad you've got a good attitude about it and can keep going. Yup, they are never done. When you've worked on it long enough, eventually the things you notice while you're fixing something else will be something you fixed once a decade ago and need to do again.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2017 04:35
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:There is a HUGE drift tax on AE86s. The irony being they are not even that good for drifting imo unless you have a decent amount of experience with it. However I expect others will say I am an idiot since I destroyed a fair number of 90's Nissans including cheap GTST Skylines which are too long and front heavy to be good for drifting as well  . Probably decent for Autocross tho. Pretty much anything 90's and Japanese is going through the roof right now so if you make it a nice tidy example it can only become more valuable.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2017 14:20
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:I always just assume that any PO-installed HID kit is broken. At the price those kits are, it's cheaper to just throw that garbage in the trash after cutting it for spare wire and connectors and reinstalling the OEM halogen setup. If the lighting is really bad I build an H4 relay harness. Turned out that the prebuild harness is set up for normal cars, where there is a common ground, and the headlight/dimmer switch switches +12V to the high or low terminal. The Toyota uses a common +12V that the headlight switch provides through a relay, then switches ground to select high or low. So the halogen high beam would work because they don't care about polarity. The ballast on the other hand, does. A little re-arranging of the pins on the adapter, and swapping a power and ground wire (on each plug) and it all works. Took me longer than that, because of course one of the wires in the factory plug broke off when I was testing it, and I had to extract the terminal and reattach it. HIDs work, and aren't a stupid color, like purple. Easy enough to put H4 halogens in if I decide I hate them. I also reconnected the side markers, and tapped in the LED wires. The right one doesn't work, so I've got a break in the +12V to that one. All the markers use the same fuse and wire colors, and that's the only one that doesn't work, unless the park light on that side also doesn't work. I held off on testing that as it was dark and I was tired. Might get to it today, but doing some garage cleaning/rearrangement and to-do list stuff right now (breaking for eats at the moment.) quote:There's a "Cusco" battery hold-down kit you can buy from eBay/Aliexpress that works OK for most cars. I'm sure Cusco is really mad about their branding being used on it, but for like five bucks it looks OK. Thanks, I'll check that out. quote:Are those dizzy rotors the same weight? As far as I can tell. I didn't weigh them, but they feel about the same. The counterweight is narrower, but thicker on the later style. kimbo305 posted:What is that square-framed bike and hubbe wheel in the background? That is my wife's Terratrike. Nice tadpole recumbent she got off of Craigslist for a steal - $600. Less than half price. BigPaddy posted:The irony being they are not even that good for drifting imo unless you have a decent amount of experience with it. However I expect others will say I am an idiot since I destroyed a fair number of 90's Nissans including cheap GTST Skylines which are too long and front heavy to be good for drifting as well That's kind of the plan. Mild resto-mod, basically, in muscle/classic car terms.
|
|
#
?
Nov 26, 2017 22:51
|
|
|
Spent all day on the garage, Christmas lights, and fixing house poo poo. On Saturday, though, I did manage, in addition to the headlights, to strip the crappy paint of of the remaining two wheels. So much better:    I'd have stuck one of the on the rear of one side if I'd have had time, just to see how good it looks. I'm probably going to have to get some replacement springs. What's on there are cut down originals, which don't sit on the perches properly. Feels a bit squirrelly while driving, but that could actually be the rear tires, now that I think about it. I didn't check pressure on them. Shock and struts probably wouldn't hurt. Would love coilovers just for adjustability, and spring rate availability of standard springs.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2017 15:00
|
|
|
Are there good sources for original springs or are you going to have to get some custom-made?
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2017 20:16
|
|
|
Rockauto has rears, but not fronts.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2017 20:19
|
|
|
But but but they have all the parts you will ever need?
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2017 20:33
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:Are there good sources for original springs or are you going to have to get some custom-made? Well, first off, if you've ever seen the OEM ride height on these things... They sit like a 4x4. I don't need it on the ground, but I don't fancy a nosebleed, either. The height that it's at now seems to be fine. I haven't really got a feel for the ride of the cut springs yet (doesn't seem too harsh on the short trips I've had it out) but I *really* don't like the way they barely sit on the rear perches. They cut off the mostly flattened coil on the bottom, so it doesn't seat properly, at least unloaded. The bottom perch barely has a centering bump. When it was delivered, one of the springs had sort of screwed itself down the perch.
|
|
#
?
Nov 27, 2017 23:13
|
|
|
Those rims look soooooooo gooooooooooooooooood 
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2017 16:26
|
|
|
Olympic Mathlete posted:Those rims look soooooooo gooooooooooooooooood Oh, I know. I wish I could get them in 15", not because I think that they would look any better, but it's getting tough to find 14" tires, especially anything resembling a performance tire or wider stuff.
|
|
#
?
Nov 28, 2017 17:24
|
|
|
Speaking of those rims, I stopped by Discount Tire and got me some tread for the two that had bald and/or corded tires from excessive dori. Stepped up to the stock GT-S size (195/60-14). The 175/65-14s that the previous owners had on these 7" wheels are too small. I'd love to go a tad wider, but selection on 14" is bad, especially on lower profiles. I don't want taller. 205/55-14 would be ideal, but all DT has in that size are autocross semi-slicks. 205/50-15 is a good size, so may have to move up to a 15x7 or 15x8 wheel at some point. Right now, these $50 Ohtsus will do. It was either that or GT Radials, and my store had the Ohtsus.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2017 17:05
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:Speaking of those rims, I stopped by Discount Tire and got me some tread for the two that had bald and/or corded tires from excessive dori. They make the RT615k in that size at least.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2017 20:19
|
|
|
Larrymer posted:They make the RT615k in that size at least. Oh, there's a fair number of tires *available*, but only a few *in stock*. I didn't want to wait, and I'm not racing it (yet). I might order something better next time. I like Kumho for cheap-but-good tires. Also those Falken Azenis are $100+ each. Right now, this is a cheap, cheap car. The front tires it came with are Dorals, FFS. My '79 RX-7 will get better stuff, being a sports car and all, plus I've got 205/50-16 tires on it. Lots easier to find performance rubber at that size.
|
|
#
?
Nov 29, 2017 22:50
|
|
|
Tire rack. In stock, $91 each. But yeah, I get it.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 03:36
|
|
|
Wheels are ON:   SO much better! Left rear scrapes a bit on hard bumps. Need to fix those springs. The fenders are rolled, but you can only go so far because the bumper wraps around. I't making GBS threads the flange where the bumper attaches. I investigated the non-functional side marker (and, since it's tapped in there, the LEDs in the right headlight.) Got power to the park light, so it's getting as far as that side of the car, possibly. I pulled the coolant and washer tank for access, and lucked out right where I shucked the harness:   Looks like someone rand a drill or screw into the harness. Several wires were skinned, and the one wire I was interested in was split. Not sure how there was no arcing, as the white/black there is the park light ground, and the green/yellows are both park/running light positives. Amazing. The yellow there had a little cut too. Taped up the damaged wires, and soldered the broken one back together, and everything worked as it should. I have one license plate bulb to replace, and I should be safety legal. Maybe some new wipers. My wife is working on the insurance. Bastards tried to charge is $500 a year *more* when we swapped out coverage for the traded RX-7 for this car. Are you fuckers serious? Is this just an insurance "oh, we see you're making a change, we will therefore charge you extra for no reason at all" thing? We've not made any claims at all with these jerks. We are pure profit to them already, particularly since they hold out home insurance as well. Inspection and registration (must have the one for the other in TX) soon. Despite that, I took it for a drive in the local industrial park. The main thing to note here is the diff howling. There's no rear seat in it at the moment, so all the noises assault you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAUAK4hLRvU Yes, I know the windshield is dirty. There's no hoses from the washer tank at the moment. I'll wash it soon.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 16:49
|
|
|
Those wheels loving own and that car now looks approximately 100 times better than it did. Nice.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 18:09
|
|
|
Feel like that's your insurance company telling you to find another insurance company for this fine hoopty. Maybe get a second opinion from a broker? Sounds good in the video. Bummer about the harness.
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 18:20
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:Feel like that's your insurance company telling you to find another insurance company for this fine hoopty. Maybe get a second opinion from a broker? I wonder if you could get insurance from Hagerty: https://www.hagerty.com/insurance/classic-car-insurance/does-my-vehicle-qualify/newer-vehicles
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 19:08
|
|
|
Seat Safety Switch posted:Feel like that's your insurance company telling you to find another insurance company for this fine hoopty. Maybe get a second opinion from a broker? Oh, absolutely. They just made a mistake that will deprive them of all my money. Only minor damage to the harness. Me fix. kimbo305 posted:I wonder if you could get insurance from Hagerty: https://www.hagerty.com/insurance/classic-car-insurance/does-my-vehicle-qualify/newer-vehicles Dunno. May take a look at them if we don't find something else, but the quotes we've gotten are already better. Boaz MacPhereson posted:Those wheels loving own and that car now looks approximately 100 times better than it did. Nice. Thanks. I certainly think so, but you know how we thrive off of the approval of anonymous guys on the internet in a dead gay forum.  (Seriously, it's nice to not be shouting into a void.)
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 21:49
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:Thanks. I certainly think so, but you know how we thrive off of the approval of anonymous guys on the internet in a dead gay forum. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 30, 2017 21:58
|
|
|
Didn't do too much over the weekend, was taking care of some house stuff, a big-rear end fallen oak limb among that, and helping the guy who bought my Jeep put in fresh front control arms/bushings. He just will not accept that straight axle Jeeps are going to shimmy a bit no matter what you do... Of course, he's bent some poo poo getting run off the road, so maybe he actually has a problem. All I know is he beat up my Jeep. ANYWAY. Since I don't have a front bumper, I needed to come up with a way to mount the park/turn signal lights. I decided a little bent sheet metal attached to the frame horn where the bumper went would do the trick. Out came the CAD:  (Cardboard Aided Design. What were you thinking?)  Design is symmetrical, so transfer to steel, flipping the location of the big mounting hole (which actually doesn't matter... until we start bending.)  That's steel from the tops of car stereo chassis, if you were wondering. I kept a bunch from scrapped stereos when I worked at the car audio shop. The old stuff is decent metal. It also bends very nicely in my bench vise:   Et viola!   This picture makes it obvious how bent the front end is:  Once I have insurance, I should be able to get this pile inspected, then registered. Despite having none of that, I decided to live dangerously, and take it out to the local RX-7 meet:  The red FC S5 in the foreground was immaculate, and oh so stock. The white 20th Anniversary Edition a few cars down is also immaculate, and tastefully modified. The red FB has a Camden supercharger, just because. He knows turbos work better on rotaries, but he got the supercharger kit cheap. edit: Removed mailing address from packaging. Thanks for pointing that out STR. Darchangel fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Dec 5, 2017 |
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2017 23:31
|
|
|
A few more pictures from the RX-7 meet, just because: The FB with the supercharger:    Dude (not the dude in the pic) just bought this for $500. Running, driving Turbo II.  And this showed up as well:  Cleanest Z31 I have ever seen. One owner (now two) garage kept, always maintained. 100% stock. Kid saved his pennies and bought it himself. Needed an underhood detail, but the exterior and interior were excellent.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2017 23:37
|
|
|
You uh, might wanna edit those CAD files there. Unless you want random goons showing up at your house.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 15:29
|
|
|
Thanks. I'm not trying to hide, and plenty of the pictures have license plates, but I guess I shouldn't make it easy.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2017 15:39
|
|
|
I bet with some time and cutting compound you could spruce that paint up nicely!
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 15:14
|
|
|
MC Hawking posted:I bet with some time and cutting compound you could spruce that paint up nicely! No, you can't. It was literally never smooth to start with. It's spray paint. I would sand through it attempting to get it smooth, and it's probably not hard enough to polish. If I could figure out how to get it off without destroying the factory paint, I would.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 15:46
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:No, you can't. It was literally never smooth to start with. It's spray paint. I would sand through it attempting to get it smooth, and it's probably not hard enough to polish. If I could figure out how to get it off without destroying the factory paint, I would. Take it down to metal and clearcoat it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 16:17
|
|
|
Darchangel posted:No, you can't. It was literally never smooth to start with. It's spray paint. I would sand through it attempting to get it smooth, and it's probably not hard enough to polish. If I could figure out how to get it off without destroying the factory paint, I would. And that's when you start wishing you had a time machine to go back to the PO before he put on those dumbass fender flares and lifted a spray can to it, NOOOOOOO im gonna own this car eventually you moron That sucks though, if he would have just left it alone the car would be ten times better.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 16:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 09:13 |
|
|
That paint is beyond saving and would need to be rubbed back to the original paint/primer and getting a respray. Youth is a hell of a drug.
|
|
#
?
Dec 6, 2017 17:40
|
|