Garage Takai

Just a quick little update before i go out for an Aus day BBQ. Yesterday i got the brake lines made up, and then set about getting the rear suspension in.
Springs, easy, just drop them in. Rear AGXs on the other hand, sweet pain in the arse getting the hard poly bushes into the hole on the AGX rear which is slightly too small, from the pics on another guide it seems that they have updated the Focus rear shock slightly with the outer bushing tube now being integral with the housing. So i had to grind that off and then i made up a little die to push in the bush with:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29763-1/IMG_1045_s.jpg[/IMG]

After that i bolted up the suspension and then put the rear dogbones and discs on followed by a lot of swearing when i realised that the idiotic machinist who had turned out the center hole on the discs had it off center so that the runout at the edge of the disc was 1.8mm on one disc and 2.9mm on the other disc…. so it was fouling on the inside of the caliper slightly.

After much mucking around i decided to see whether my lathe really oould machine out to 308mm, which it can…. JUST
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29766-1/IMG_1046_s.jpg[/IMG]
In that position the disc is about 2mm off touching the slide, and about 10mm off the ways. The cross slide is as far back as it can go, and the compound as far forward. Either way it worked, with lots of patience i now have discs which have about 0.2mm runout around the entire disc, i cant get them any better than that because of how the tooling sits and chatters slightly.

Either way it bolted up and worked.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29769-1/IMG_1048_s.jpg[/IMG]

That was last night. This morning afte rmy wife left for work at 7:30 i did some quick tidying up, and mirrored the rear setup on the other side, and then after a quick boltcheck, lowered it back onto its wheels:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29772-1/IMG_1049_s.jpg[/IMG]

Looks quite good IMHO. Im yet to set the front suspension properly, as its not sitting on level ground there (its slightly slanted towards a drain which you can see by the rear wheel). Regardless i have to bleed the brakes anyway, as my speed bleeder has borked the valve in it, so that will have to wait until my wife gets home so she can operate the brake pedal.

Finally a couple of gratuitous shots of the new brake package:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29775-1/IMG_1050_s.jpg[/IMG]
This is with the new meshies i bought, they are a 16×7 stock Nissan wheel, no idea what they are off.
Im going to paint the R32 wheels the same charcoal as the rear, and these meshies the same leaving the outer section silver.

And then the rears:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29778-1/IMG_1051_s.jpg[/IMG]

Also, anyone know whether the front arches are actually higher than the rears? From a rough measurement it looks like they are, as the sills are roughly equal height there.

So i had some time today to get some stuff done on the car… and unlike Ed, i actually work on the car 😛

First up was finishing off the suspension struts:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29724-1/IMG_1031_s.jpg[/IMG]

Pretty simple all up, painted the little top hat spacers the other day too.

Chucked them in the car:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29742-1/IMG_1037_s.jpg[/IMG]

Added a healthy dose of RCAs:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29745-1/IMG_1038_s.jpg[/IMG]

Bolted up the big rotors and brakes:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29757-1/IMG_1042_s.jpg[/IMG]

And then realised how much castor im going to have to pull out of the front struts:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29751-1/IMG_1040_s.jpg[/IMG]
Because thats a ridiculous amount of lock.

Need to get new brake lines made up at this point, as the ones i have are perishing and are a touch too short. I have tomorrow off so ill jack up the arse end in the morning and get some brake lines for there too. I have rear springs and shocks ready to go in there tomorrow along with the UZZ30/R33 brakes.

Oh yeah, and i got longer bolts for my mini bosskit:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29730-1/IMG_1033_s.jpg[/IMG]

More updates tomorrow or Wednesday.

Havnt really done much on this since November, as ive been flat chat with airconditioners, work and being away.

However, this arrived from Brad today:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29589-1/IMG_0980_s.jpg[/IMG]
Rear brake caliper adaptors.

Need a bit of a file finish on the upper holes, and the lower holes need tapping. But other than those bits they are pretty much good to go.

Ordered springs again from a different supplier, should be in by Christmas. Hopefully ill get the suspension package in by the end of my Christmas holidays.

Got a bit more progress done on the car on the weekend. Got into the garage on Sunday and turned up another upper hat spacer:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29657-2/IMG_1004_s.jpg[/IMG]
Which was all going fine and dandy until i snapped the parting off blade. No matter, ill pick up another one after work.

Also machined a little recess into the upper hats, to locate the spacers (this one is actually for the one which isnt parted off:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29663-2/IMG_1006_s.jpg[/IMG]

And machined up another set of hub spacer rings for the brake upgrade:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29660-2/IMG_1005_s.jpg[/IMG]

Hoping to put the suspension and brakes in this weekend…

I got a chance to do a little bit more on it this morning, and finished off the other upper hat:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29721-2/IMG_1027_s.jpg[/img]

Got the springs ready to go in:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29718-2/IMG_1026_s.jpg[/img]

And yesterday i picked up another set of wheels for it:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29715-2/IMG_1025_s.jpg[/img]

I truely am turning into a wheel junkie.

Hoping to get the suspension and brakes in this weekend or soon after.

Well i ventured out in the 35deg heat to the garage, with long sleeves and jeans to grind and weld.
Bloody hell that was hot.

Anyway, i built up the second of the coilovers and they are pretty much ready to go. For those who keep asking, here is a little step by step:

Firstly, you have to grind off the old perch:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29496-1/IMG_0952_s.jpg[/IMG]
I use a 1mm cutting disc to get it reasonable, then a 3mm grinding disc to remove the bulk of the material, and then a sandpaper flapper disc to get it smooth.

Next up you slide the sleeve over the strut:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29499-1/IMG_0953_s.jpg[/IMG]
I tend to weld mine on about 10mm down from the top of the strut, i think that one was 12mm. That is mainly so i can get a decent bead on the top, and so i dont thrash out the gland nut thread too much.
I just use my welding ground clamp to hold it in place, as it should be a smooth but not loose fit.

Next up welding:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29502-1/IMG_0954_s.jpg[/IMG]
I weld a full bead around the bottom of the sleeve, in 3 sections. And then 3 shorter stitch welds for a 1/6th of the circumfrence each. Pretty damn simple.

Then its off to be painted. I add a bit of masking tape to ensure that the threads dont get all oversprayed and then carefully paint away from the sleeve to minimise overspray:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29508-1/IMG_0956_s.jpg[/IMG]

And then voila, all done:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29526-1/IMG_0962_s.jpg[/IMG]
I add a touch of paint down the guts of the tube too, just to minimise the chances of rust forming and jamming the inserts in the tube.

While i had the grinder out i lipped the dust shields on the struts too:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29514-1/IMG_0958_s.jpg[/IMG]
That is important for the brake upgrade, so that the discs clear.

While i was waiting for the struts to cool and then the paint to dry i got a few other things done.
Firstly, i refitted my R32 rims to the front, with tyres that have tread on them this time.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29520-1/IMG_0960_s.jpg[/IMG]

I used the Gorilla nuts that i got from the US too:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29523-1/IMG_0961_s.jpg[/IMG]
Its both nice and scary to see how much, or more realistically how little, engagement you have on the stud.

I also popped the other door handle in with my rekeyed lock:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29517-1/IMG_0959_s.jpg[/IMG]

And put the space saver spare that i got yesterday into the boot.

While i was out getting the space saver, i found at the Jap importers a nice strut brace which will suit just fine:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29505-1/IMG_0955_s.jpg[/IMG]
The stud pattern is slightly out, so it will need to be redrilled, but thats no issue whatsoever. I think its from an ST202 Celica.
Big props to [URL=”http://smoothgarage.com/”]Smooth Garage[/URL] for their good prices on the space saver and the strut brace. Other importers wanted up to 15x the price of the space saver 😮

Thats about it for now, ill test assemble the struts tomorrrow, to see whether ill need to put a spacer into the upper hats, and then they should be pretty much ready to go into the car.

Im still waiting on the rear caliper adaptors, so its likely that ill hold off putting the front struts in until both front and rears are ready to rock and roll.

After the struts are done, ill finish off tidying up the interior, and then get started on the 2JZ and sorting out the loom and replacing some stuff while its on an engine stand.

Now that the Supra is all through regency and i dont have to worry so much about having a stock car…
[SIZE=”7″]Let the modifications begin[/SIZE]

However, on the downside, someone tried to break into the car the other day. Jammed a screwdriver into the lock and tried to force their way in. Thankfully they failed, and only because the plastic handle that the lock is incorporated in broke.
You can see here where it happened:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29459-1/IMG_0939_s.jpg[/IMG]
The left lug is where the lock is normally bolted to, and you can see that the twisting force that they applied broke the lug free of the plastic, and when i came back to the car the lock was hanging down inside the door.

Thankfully i have another handle around which i can replace it with.

Onto the modifications. I had a bit of a chance the other day to grind off the spring seat on one of my MX83 struts, and weld on the coilover sleeve:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29463-1/IMG_0941_s.jpg[/IMG]
Quite a simple process. Lots of grinding, lots of sparks, and then smoothing with a sandpaper disc.
I welded it all around the bottom, but only stitched it on at the top. I was initially worried about blowing holes in the tube, but once i realised that it was 2.5mm thick my worries went away.
Instead i used a fairly high amperage, and ended up getting some good penetration:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29466-1/IMG_0942_s.jpg[/IMG]
Not overly good on the photo, as the camera has decided to focus on the bottom of the strut, but you can see it there.

Also, i got around to fitting my steering wheel:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29475-1/IMG_0945_s.jpg[/IMG]
Which is all nice and stuff, but soddingly far away from the indicator stalk. Its a 70mm dish wheel, and i have a 80mm bosskit on there too. Pushes it a bit far away.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29484-1/IMG_0948_s.jpg[/IMG]
Ill have to see if i can get a 40 or 50mm kit instead.

In addition to all of that, a gratuitous shot of the oil cooler i picked up for the car:
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29493-1/IMG_0951_s.jpg[/IMG]
Fairly standard alloy 13 row cooler, with built in -8 fittings. Hopefully 12mm will be enough to do full flow.

This weekend holds more grinding and welding, as i want to get my coilovers pretty much done, and probably some work in the garden.

A whole bundle of goodies arrived today from the grand old US of A, at a VERY damn cheap price courtesy of our rocking $.

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29441-1/IMG_0933.JPG[/IMG]

In that picture you can see the oil filter relocation parts, the 3 gauges ill be running and the wheel nuts. Bit of a closer view of hte nuts here:

[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29444-1/IMG_0936.JPG[/IMG]
They are a splined drive nut, where each nut is essentially a locknut anyway, which i think is a pretty good idea. Now i just hope that i dont lose the locknut tool 🙂 I think ill order away for a spare too.

Lastly the gratuitious shot of the oil filter bits.
[IMG]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29447-1/IMG_0937.JPG[/IMG]
The two relocation parts were quite simply dirt cheap, at $10 and $12 for the spin-on and mount respectively. The adaptor and AN fitting certainly didnt break the bank either, rocking in at $4 and $6 each.
Certainly a whole lot cheaper than the local speed shop who wanted $49, $69, $9 and $16 respectively.
I also have a thermostat for the oil cooler which isnt pictured, and i picked up a 13 row cooler the other day as well.

Other than that ive been busy and away recently, and so i ahvnt done anything much. Did get to work grinding away at the struts tonight though, for about 20mins before i was called away to other things.
Wont get much time to work on it until this weekend, where some things need tidying up on the car… like the door lock which some prick decided to try and jimmy with a screwdriver.

Thankfully ive already rekeyed the guts of the broken lock into a new lock and we should be right to go.

Right, today was a pretty momentous occasion. 3 months ago (calendar, not days) i rolled the car into the garage, and today it left. But rather than pushing it out i drove it out under its own power.

First of all i had to put the rad in, and get it all wired up, which was pretty much a walk in the park.

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29380-1/IMG_0911_s.jpg[/img]

The rad only just clears the engine, and im hoping that the 2JZ doesnt encroach any more on the rad, as its already quite close:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29386-1/IMG_0913_s.jpg[/img]

After doing that and bleeding the clutch, and putting the wheels on it was a nice walk in the park to drive it out of the garage.

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29389-1/IMG_0914_s.jpg[/img]

After that i gave it a quick drive down the road, and turned it around to pop it onto the lawn and give it as wash and i was quite surprised that it was in a lot better condition than i had first feared:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29413-2/IMG_0917_s.jpg[/img]

But there are still some niggling little problems. Firstly im running slightly too much castor:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29401-1/IMG_0918_s.jpg[/img]

Clears the front guard there by only a handful of millimeters there, so ill have to wind it out a bit again.
Secondly the interior needed a handful of refitting, which i spent an hour or so doing tonight.

Thats about it for now. Its now time to start getting ready to take it over the pits at regency, tidying up little things so i can make it presentable for that.

Really really happy that its out of the garage again in only 3 months.

Since that last post i havnt really had much time to get anything done, did a bit of interior refitment the other day, but other than that not much until tonight. What i have been doing though is trying to sort out this fuel filter leak, and tonight i just cracked it entirely and pulled all of it out and rejigged it.

At the back of the car i pulled the fuel filter and remade a basic straight hose between the two flare fittings, and to do that i scavenged fittings off the old engine bay rail and the existing one that i had the banjo attached to.
After some jigging around that was done and dusted, and no leaks, and it was onto the front of the car.

With the fuel filter removed from the back i had to find a place to put it up front, and i figured i may as well connect it to the existing inverted flare fitting on the end of the fuel hard line (which normally connects to a soft line on our ADM cars).
What i found was that there were a couple of captive nuts, in EXACTLY the right spot for a fuel filter, and exactly far enough apart for my AE92 (and others) fuel filter to be attached to:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29365-1/IMG_0906_s.jpg[/img]

And for an idea of where it sits in the engine bay:

[img]http://gallery2.plebeians.net/d/29371-1/IMG_0908_s.jpg[/img]

Just needed the line to be bent slightly, maybe 10-15 deg, and it sat beautifully.
A really good solution in the end, as it fits perfectly. With that in place i crossed my fingers and fired up the car. After a bit of revving, settling down, and fiddling with the idle screw it idled nicely at 1000rpm. Which is about 1300rpm on the analog dash, due to the 4cyl tacho installed.

With that done there really isnt much left to do, as i picked up some wheel nuts the other day too.

Off the top of my head i need to reinstall the radiator, brake bleed, finish refitting the interior, an exhaust secondaries gasket, a good wash, and a wheel alignment, and she should be all chipper 🙂