Category: Uncategorized

So I haven’t made any car related ill advised impulse buys recently, and after turning 40 last year I was due for some sillyness. A mate of mine has been hassling me to get my butt into gear and buy a Nugget to run in Nugget Nationals with him, and I kept putting it off by saying I would finally get the MX5 going etc.

During all this period my dad was passing away with terminal cancer (which is another thing in and of itself) and I wanted to make sure that I had enough time to spend doing stuff with the kids. Well, after watching Chasing Midnight with my kids at Christmas it kind of sealed the deal as my eldest and middle wanted to start to play with cars, and the eldest can start to do Junior Motorkhana in a year or so. Plus with the quite restrictive regs for Nugget Nats there shouldn’t be too much scope creep on this thing. Less scope creep == more driving time.The spark was lit.

After that the only questions were what to get, and how to get nopics to sign on. Settling on a car was actually the easy part. Because of the regulations for Nugget Nationals the base price of the car has to be under $3000, basically stock (i.e. no non-factory engines), and maximum 1.5L engine capacity. The engine capacity limit and no non-factory swap meant that a lot of older cars were instantly out of contention, such as Corollas or Civics. Some of the newer cars are rather more spritely (my dad’s 2016 Mazda 2 manual would have been good) but too expensive. The sweet spot was about early 2000s, and being a Toyota guy the option of an Echo Sportivo was a no brainer. The only question was whether to buy an off the shelf Sportivo, or get a base model Echo and swap in the 1.5L 1NZ from the sedan. Getting nopics to sign on was a bit harder, but with dad’s cancer we had become accustomed to having two cars for a lot of the running around, and combined with a summer of multiple kids birthday parties on the same day as well as weekday sports in different locations having a second car was becoming a must. Nopics signoff came with a condition though, it had to be running and kept running 99% of the time… i.e. no engine swaps. Fine, Sportivo it is.

With that it was off to find a car. I had a look at a couple of different ones, as well as the usual Marketplace and Scumtree searches. Quite a few were from dreamers who were wanting $7-8k for a clean but basically stock vehicle, or a few people who were misrepresenting their 1.3L “swap” as a Sportivo (one still had the 1.3L 2NZ in it). In the end I found this nugget, and managed to work out a deal.

Its a 2001 Toyota Echo Sportivo, 220k km on the clock, but with a supposed 110k km engine swapped in late last year. The guy had been running it in Nugget Nationals over the last couple of years, but gave up to go camping instead.

[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2024/02/18/20240218225350-dbd44de3-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Has the prerequisite clearcoat and paint fade on every upper surface that all non-white Toyotas have, along with a bunch of dings and scrapes which the guy hadn’t bothered to do anything about.

This photo with my mate’s PH2 shows a bit more of the paint fade “patina” along with the dents
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2024/02/18/20240218212724-aa73ab0e-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Driver’s side foglight was found in the glovebox…

Engine bay is stock as a rock:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2024/02/18/20240218225331-8506f226-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Currently it has some CSA wheels on it which foul on the guards a bit at full compression, and has a GC8 seat in it, which I’m undecided about keeping or taking out.

First thing to do though is to return it to mostly stock and put it through RWC so it can fulfil its other function as a runabout. Then the (super limited) modding can begin.

So at some point last week the treadplate sheet arrived and i was able to figure out how much i needed:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164736-73a12705-xl.jpg[/img]

After that I was able to put some left over KBS onto the “closed” faces of the tray:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164812-c912c369-xl.jpg[/img]

With that done I jumped at the opportunity of a couple of dry days and got stuck into prepping the cabin for paint.

Before:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164841-088751bb-xl.jpg[/img]

Set up a cheap gazebo as a “spray booth” and prepped and masked:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164924-c6d6b9fa-xl.jpg[/img]

One nice dark maroon (3K4) ready for mixing:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164943-011f67b1-xl.jpg[/img]

First coat of Raptor:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102164949-bc3786f1-xl.jpg[/img]

Then done:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102165854-c7236c3c-xl.jpg[/img]

Would have been better with 6L of Raptor rather than just 4L, but it still looks decent in person. Lighter coats under the flares, but that will all be hidden anyway. Need a new aerial too, as the locking nut sheared in two when i was removing it…

Then back to the tray. I had wondered how i was going to trim the tray, and decided to give it a go with the router and a flush trim bit. Worked a treat:
[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102165434-5f6bf56d-xl.jpg[/img]
Sikaflexed it on with a bunch of rivets after that.

Riveted and sikaflexed on the drawer mounts, so i could then set it all up and drill the mounting holes.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102165827-4a178fc1-xl.jpg[/img]

Cut out some 2mm alu sheet for the light mounts and sikaflexed in place:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102165838-c86816cf-xl.jpg[/img]

Finally I used Bully Liner for the underside of the tray:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/11/02/20211102165911-01b82829-xl.jpg[/img]

I figure that the rubber in the Bully Liner will deaden down the tray a bit especially with stone hits etc. Plus being water based and UV curing it is a lot better for touchup than Raptor.

Its now raining for a few days, so i wont get much of a chance to do anything else. But need to prime and paint the drawers, the tray sides, canopy, and tray bed. Plus bull bar at some point i guess too.

Hopefully be able to work at it in the “spray booth” gazebo later in the week… so long as it doesnt tear itself to bits in the wind.

A couple of weeks on and I have made a bit of progress between work things that needed to be done.

First up was stripping the head from the Hilux to see if I could figure out what was wrong. Out comes the Snap On valve tool:

[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823050007-9ec4d87e-xl.jpg[/IMG]

This thing is a bit of magic and can be used easily for removing and installing valve collets. Just place ontop of the valve retainer (black bit is the installation tool) and hit with hammer:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045959-9f033d04-xl.jpg[/IMG]

A little magnet in the recess pulls out the collets and lets it pop off the valve:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045952-dbd961b3-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Installation is basically the reverse, will show that when the time comes.

Do that a few times—16 to be precise—and you are left with this:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045946-72542190-xl.jpg[/IMG]

And this:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045929-7c1907a6-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Everything looked reasonable at that point, so i took all the valves over to the bench grinder to wire wheel off the carbon deposits, and there i found this:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045906-919ce86c-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Went back to the head and cleaned up that port (Intake 4) and valve seat and presto:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045805-65970d47-xl.jpg[/IMG]

And a backlit comparison with the valve in the other port:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823045732-49b4cac0-xl.jpg[/IMG]

That would be the source of low compression on the second pot. Now in a normal situation i would just get a new valve cut for the head and have it matched in with stem length. But being in lockdown makes that more difficult.

However, I do have an entire spare engine…. so onto that head. Before i pulled the valves on that head though i rebuilt my vacuum tester and checked all the ports on that one to see if there were any significant leaks:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823033949-c272cc8f-xl.jpg[/IMG]

All tested fine at around 24inHg so that should be fine for lapping back and sealing up again.

So here we have it:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2021/08/23/20210823165522-9137d070-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Another head stripped and ready for a quick clean up and reseal.

So after 6 months of working on pretty much everything else (workbenches, mill and lathe stands, welding stand, storage units and the Hilux) and now getting prepared to move house I thought it would be time to at least revisit this a little bit to at the very least prepare it for transport.

I couldn’t really remember where I was up to though, as I had left it thinking i was going to get it back together by Christmas… and well time got away. Instead i just spent half a day pottering around on it and sorting out things as they came up.

First up was tapping and resealing the overflow can:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034519-4860c6d6-xl.jpg[/IMG]
Hopefully that will be the last time i have to modify that ‘bolt in’ component.

While I was over on that side of the engine bay I fitted up the fuel lines, and added some abrasion protection:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034451-78766019-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Might also add some brackets for ziptie or P-clip mounts later on down the track, but will do for now.

I also mounted up the cold side reroute pipe properly:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034425-5292af7f-xl.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034415-61f03b39-xl.jpg[/IMG]

32mm Narva P-clips to little alloy brackets (cue the funk) sorted that out pretty easily.

That side of the engine bay now looks like this:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034347-e0007a16-xl.jpg[/IMG]

At some point between the last update and now I had also tapped a 1/8NPT thread into the intake manifold and ran an 4AN fitting on it for the BOV feed.

On the other side of the engine bay I plumbed up the 4AN hose for the wastegate MAC valve:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034512-976184de-xl.jpg[/IMG]

And sorted out all the catch can fittings:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034504-dd43a749-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Drilled and added a 4mm barbed bulkhead fitting to the firewall to feed the onboard MAP sensor:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034438-5d7271fd-xl.jpg[/IMG]

That side of the engine bay now looks like this:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034220-b6ca0956-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Then mounted the ECU and bundled up the spare loom wires out of the way:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034315-f46287a7-xl.jpg[/IMG]

You can also see the LSU4.9 WB1 sitting there too, which I upgraded to from the old LSU4.2 sensor

This connector needed a date with the depinning tools then:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034303-0ca69900-xl.jpg[/IMG]

So that this grommet could be added:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034230-f8b989be-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Now the WB wiring runs out of the old AC drain bung into the trans tunnel to the exhaust:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034338-87396fbd-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Its a tight fit, but it fits. I had spaced it based on the LSU4.2 sensor, which has a slightly shorter body. Should be fine though as it should move with the engine/gearbox.

While I was under there I filled the gearbox oil and checked on the diff oil.

Overall the engine bay now looks like this though, after fitting the air filter and the turbo coolant hose
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034402-94a5be90-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Few more fiddly bits to go now, need to sort a lower rad hose:
[IMG]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2020/06/28/20200628034207-a7dd3941-xl.jpg[/IMG]

Plus have to get some fuel for it and pressure test the fuel system, which I may get a chance to do this week.

Then it is just a matter of setting up the ECU maps and trying to get it going on base map. Might even do that before we move house!

Had a few hours in the garage today, and so got some more done on the car.

Relieved the NB front arms as they often foul on the coilover sleeve when using the Bauer extended lower ball joints:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045401-0ed92b67-xl.jpg[/img]

Can see the difference here:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045408-5637aa59-xl.jpg[/img]

Then added a double shear tab to the swaybar mount. NBs only came with a single shear mount, compared to the NA double shear. I just dont like single shear.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045346-7ccacb90-xl.jpg[/img]

Dug out a fuel filter from the box of bits, its a little large for where the stock one goes but should be ok with some different 6AN fittings:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045354-cde85d20-xl.jpg[/img]

Started tacking up the IC piping out of a generic pipe and silicone kit i got for $50 minus a couple of bends:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045415-fb5f3215-xl.jpg[/img]

Pretty simple and should work well.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045421-3b35ab88-xl.jpg[/img]

Then ran out of gas… 🙁

Turned my attention to ricing up the car some, and these scratches that have been on the boot since i bought it:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045506-ccce7174-xl.jpg[/img]

While clearly the easiest thing to do would be some cut and polish, i figured a ducktail might be more fun:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045457-97a4aecf-xl.jpg[/img]

Swapped it for some other bits and gave it a clean up before going on

Finally, on the race car i got sick of digging around under the dash to find the USB port on the ECU, and also rigging up a cigarette lighter to the battery for laptop power. So I designed a basic bracket in Fusion, and set it printing for the afternoon. Came out rather well:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/31/20190831045442-9943b637-xl.jpg[/img]

Might just swap it to the left side of the glovebox.

Thats about it for now, need to get fittings for the fuel filter, and pull the hardtop off and cage out so I can fit it and the new fuel pump. Waiting on expandable braid sleeving for the wiring harness and then I can get started on wiring it up. Have a few parcels in the post for engine bay fuel line fittings and some silicone bends, so whenever the various postal and courier services get them to me I can start on the rest of the engine bay stuff.

Had a bit of time this afternoon and a mate came around, so we set about getting the engine in.

First up was getting the flywheel installed:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/i.php?/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002750-92b741ad-xl.jpg[/img]

Then clutch:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002758-22faf37f-xl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002806-e4eda2a3-xl.jpg[/img]

Then realising I had forgotten the dust cover sandwich plate… and having to pull it all off before the Loctite set up, and reinstalling with sandwich plate in place:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002814-150a6366-xl.jpg[/img]

Wrestled the engine back onto the dolly and then slot the subframe underneath and bolted it in place:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002830-e5f8a0ec-xl.jpg[/img]

Slotted the gear bag on, and then popped the new starter motor in… to find out that it must be for a similar but different model:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002844-158f32e2-xl.jpg[/img]

Eh, will deal with later, makes a good dust cover for now.

Slid the engine back in the way the B6 came out:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002851-cac81c2b-xl.jpg[/img]

Suspect the BP is a few mm higher as we had to remove the oil cap to slide it in.

Jack up in place and bingo, one engine installed:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002907-b644610d-xl.jpg[/img]

Finally mocked it up with manifolds and turbo:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/17/20190817002932-68fcf142-xl.jpg[/img]

Now that it is in the bay I can start with getting everything else set up. Wiring is up next, along with sorting out the rest of the intake bits, and then IC piping.

Planning on getting the engine in this weekend, so had a bit of work to do in order to get it ready for installation. First up was to get the sump on with plenty of loctite inside:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814000234-e3ea4c6b-xl.jpg[/img]

Then a new 36-2 timing trigger wheel from Beavis:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044641-754b0c77-xl.jpg[/img]

And crank pulley with fresh timing marks:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044655-0575a1f1-xl.jpg[/img]

Test fit the new injectors for ease of fitment before the engine goes in. Went with Bosch 960cc long nose injectors with adapters for full length, instead of the RX7 injectors i had for it:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814000304-e16bc7d9-xl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044715-05991bc6-xl.jpg[/img]

Installed on a nice bit of bling that will be summarily hidden once the intake goes on, a Radium fuel rail:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044733-d128ecff-xl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044742-76672524-xl.jpg[/img]

I was originally going to use a factory rail, but they were thin on the ground and the few people who had them wanted more for them than the Radium… a bit ridiculous.

Then it was time to add the 1/8 BSPT oil feed fitting which worked perfectly… amazing what 5°of taper difference will do:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044826-f5bfa7f9-xl.jpg[/img]

After that I turned to the engine bay, and finished off fitting up the fully depowered NB8B rack, now that the urethane bushings had arrived:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044813-19b2c18e-xl.jpg[/img]

Afterwards I figured I may as well hack a massive hole in the firewall, freehand using the diegrinder.

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/15/20190815050304-ebe87e89-xl.jpg[/img]

Now enough space for the new wiring loom grommet:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/15/20190815050249-4e4e0a6c-xl.jpg[/img]

Also figured out where the Flex Fuel sensor is going to live:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/15/20190815050257-285665e6-xl.jpg[/img]

And the bling catch can arrived. Big enough for CAMS specs:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814000157-b57507e1-xl.jpg[/img]

Finally, I replaced the input and output seals in the gearbox:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/15/20190815050311-899e6305-xl.jpg[/img]

And cut the expansion joints into the turbo manifold:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814000208-98a7667f-xl.jpg[/img]

All pretty much ready to get bolted into the car on the weekend, just need to mount the engine to the subframe, attach flywheel, clutch and gearbox and then roll into place.

Oh and as a bonus, this is why cheap eBay parts often bite you in the butt. Oil filter relocation adapter, nice AN10 fittings. Right… wrong:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044835-16de66bc-xl.jpg[/img]

They neck down to 3/8″ thread, and internally the wall thickness restricts flow immensely:

[img]http://images.plebeians.net/_data/i/upload/2019/08/14/20190814044851-78673eea-xl.jpg[/img]

In my case I’ll drill and tap them to full AN10, but if you don’t have the gear, or didn’t check it that would be an immense restriction.

For about two decades now I have been tinkering on random things in various ‘garage’ spaces to keep myself sane. Starting out with computers and case modding, and then moving to cars, bikes, microcontrollers, and now 3D printers, it has been a rather long journey.

Lots of this journey has been documented on various forums over the years, but with the forum platform now going the way of the dodo I thought it was high time to migrate a bunch of build threads and other garage threads over to a blog.

Occasionally in these builds there will references to other threads or to people from the forums, and it may not make entire sense. But that is a price I’m willing to pay for not having to rewrite everything from scratch.

Here goes then, an attempt to collate all the random garage stuff I have done in the past 20 years.