Its been a while: Welcome to 2013

Well its been a while since I’ve updated this blog.
9 months have gone by in a flash! Ive really got used to my new fly-in fly-out job up in the Northern parts of Western Australia. On my time off, i generally don’t use a computer as i have so much to do that involves going outside and not sit on my ass in front of a screen! Hence, the no updates!

Ive got a chance now to post up whats been happening over 9 months of life.

The Cresta going great! … I ended up putting in BC coilovers which i picked up brand new for $1200. They have a load of adjustability which is cool for street daily driving. with 12kg front at 8kg rear the same as the MA61 setup. I just drop the dampener a fair bit for comfort.

I placed in some Pioneer TS-X15II ‘s to the rear shelf of the GX71 Cresta, They are 100W so they sound pretty good (not all old and tinny!) and not only that…

They light up at night !

During July i realized that due to work commitments and my general annoyance towards the way drift is being run in Perth i sold my JZA61 Celica Supra.
It was tough to let the best, most reliable 1JZ-GTE ive ever seen.. go…. However, it was for the best!
Currently a gent “Nathan B” in QLD owns the car and is enjoying the fruits of my and many others labor.

After I sold the JZA61, Holly and I decided to throw a 1GGTE into her MA61. So i picked up a cheap score from a friend!
1GGTE – Gen 3 from a GA70 Supra! came with everything we needed to put it in, and lucky for me i had some spare GZ10 mounts sitting in my shed!
Hollys GA61 runs great now! after installing some bigger AU-Ford Falcon fans, just as i did in the JZA61 to keep the temps down!

I scored some Enkei HR385′s which ive wanted for SUCH a long time. I saw them in 2006 when my friend MattAE86 had a set. We test fitted on my first Cresta just for some pics (SEE NOSTALGIC THREAD)

After spending a day getting some new rear tyres for them, i popped them on the MZ11 !

I then spotted someone “wrecking” a MZ11 Soarer on “Gumtree” which is a local internet site , similar to Craigslist.
I went to check it out and ended up buying the entire interior and a new bootlid !
After a heap of hard work and sweating it out i managed to remove all the Tan brown interior and replace it with black!
Then i got to work on the Bootlid! Which also turned out awesome !

As you can see, not a heap has happened , but enough to warrant a post
I do miss the drift car sometimes. But being debt free and saving for some travel to Thailand and U.S.A this year will be worth it! .

Ill try and update again sooner than 9 months thats for sure!

Cheers!

Back in the game!

Wow what a break!

Sorry about the no updates (i have been getting your emails)
I recently was blessed with a job working up north of Western Australia for a company called Fortescue Metals Group, Who mine iron ore to send away to china!

Ive been doing week on week off swings and due to missing a week of normal life in Perth i have a lot to do and catch up on when im home for my week. This meant the blog had to suffer.

But im starting to find my groove now and i think ill bring this up to speed with whats been happening over the last month or so.

The Cresta sat for about a week after my last update, I found the struts for the bonnet at my local auto store (Odin Auto parts), they fitted perfectly. I then found a spare rack boot i bought back in 2009? for the Z20 soarer, Which fit like a charm. Threw it all together and went to the pits. Easy ………

$140 later and a 1 hour drive with a 3 hour wait. I failed.

The report said :
1. Rack end on drivers side has play
2. Numberplate lights were not functioning
3. Bonnet Latch was not completely latching (easy to pop up the bonnet by hand when fully closed)
4. Middle rear seatbelt required !

So i fixed up all these issues in about 24 hours and went back for round 2

This time i was there for only 1 hours for a re-inspection ,, $60 later …………….

I’d won the game!

Of course , Dim sum in our own VIP room at Dragon Palace in the city, With Holly, Kev, Munners, Ben Parrott, Nicole, Loch (Hollys bro whos moved here from NZ! ) to celebrate!”

Popped some MA61 springs into the rear with the already existing bilstein shocks. and Ryobi’ed 1.5 coils from the front springs.
Threw on my housemates Volk Mesh 15x7j / 7.5j  -/+ Zero. To roll around on until the money starts rolling in from my job!
Coilovers are on the way.

Went on a cruise, with my mates Dan and Josh, GX71 Chaser , JZX71 Cressida. Good times!

 

More updates when i get back to normal life and the coilovers arrive!

GX71 Cresta GT Twin Turbo

 

The Chrome trim is back on! The bonnet is also back on!
Im unable to find any bonnet struts (Gas struts like most toyotas have to lift the bonnet) in my garage that fit the bonnet…. For the record MZ11 and MA61 are completely different and foul on the fender walls. So im going to have to go buy some new ones from my local parts store… Or make up a metal stick bonnet support (nissan style lol) to hold it up, but thats pretty lazy i guess.
1 steering rack boot to go and im ready for registration!

Its like a happy 1GGTE 1980′s family!

Windscreen Winning

A big thankyou to H & L Glass of Perth, for sourcing me a GX71 Windscreen from some unknown place over east.
It was a rare one, there was 2 left in this … *ahem* “DODGY CHINESE FACTORY” … and i scored one of them.

$500 Later, i no longer need to cover the car with a tarpaulin. A few more steps to go until i can go for rego.
Very excited.

Big red

So,
Seeing as im STILL waiting on a windscreen for the X71 Cresta, i thought id clean up the paint on the Soarer, Hollys brother Loch will be coming over from New Zealand to Perth to live for as long as he can stand the heat… and ive decided to let him borrow the MZ11 for as long as he needs it. He’s a Toyota mechanic by trade so hopefully he will take good care of it, and if any problems occur, its an easy fix to take it to his workshop.

Anyway, Holly and i got to sanding the car on Saturday, 80grit , 120grit, 280grit paper with our random orbital sanders, Rust Kill paint is VERY hard to remove and where the “cracks” or “peeling” was on the bonnet and roof sections, even harder!
Saturday peaked at 40 degrees c, around 10/11 am in which we were in direct sunlight in the driveway because the garage was full of “project” cars of my housemates and we couldnt use it.

After heaps of sanding we were done around 4pm . We were tired as hell but had to push on. We taped the car windows and bumpstrips and badges etc. And put paper all over the glass.
Prepped it up for painting which i was going to complete on Sunday morning bright and early.

Sunday morning i got up around 7:30am to get started, after a Rockstar and a few Cigarettes to steady my hands i got to work. One more wipe over with prepsol and it was go time!

SEXY PAINTER GUY LOOK.

Before you comment saying “is that rust on the bootlid?” , YES, yes it is. Reason being is that its a spare bootlid i have put on while im repairing my original. The amount of rust in 99% of Z1 series soarer bootlids is just crazy. Same as the MA61 celica supra’s hatches rusting out. The MZ11 has suffered the same fate.
So while i figure out how to fix my original with my wing, Its the spare for a little while (im already missing my wing )

While I waited for the paint to dry, which being rustkill was going to take ALL-FRIKKIN-DAY. Holly, The usual crew of Munners, Kev, Nicole and Ben Parrott, and I all went to a different Dim Sum place in a suburb called “Warwick”

This pic makes me so hungry. I want to smash 20 pork buns in my face.

After the paint was all dry i took the car for a drive, as id actually missed it all weekend, haha . This is at Hollys house. Holly and I were so pleased with our efforts!!

Clay my housemate thought the paintjob was so good that he blessed my car with a sticker that ive been rocking. Thanks Clay!

Hopefully in the next 24-48 hours i hear from the Windscreen guys, so i can FINALLY get the Cresta driving! .

Updates soon.

Fixing Rust and Dim Sum

The weekend passed WAY to quickly!
Lots of work done repairing the Cresta’s windscreen area and around the “gutters” above the doors.

But before that Holly and I hitup Perth City for morning Dim Sum breakfast with some friends, Kev, Kerry, Munners and Nicole.

Dragon Palace in Francis St , Northbridge is amazing. We go here often, and the food is always perfect and soooooooooooo tasty!!!

Myself, Kev, Kerry Looking at the sticky rice. MMMM!!!>>>

Kev loves pictures.

No Dim Sum morning would be complete with mass amounts of bubble tea! so refreshing considering it was 34 degrees that day! HRR!!!

Lots of rust grinded away and treated with “Rust converter and primer sealer” to coat the surface and prevent or at least slow down the growing of more rust in the areas..

Sunday morning nice and early before the temp gets to 30, Suki and i chilled outside together, she was hunting bugs, i was smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee

When Holly and I woke up we both felt like Dim Sum again!!!! So back down the freeway to Perth city for some more !! SO GOOD!!!!!!!!

Back to the arvo work on the Cresta, I finidhed the bog work, some sections of near the windscreen mounting lip were not perfect, but were going to be covered in glue once the window is installed anyway. Several layers of Etch primer and Primer Putty were used to build up the scars from where i grinded sections of the roof.

Kinda half way there, Needs small touches to be perfect!

Rear pillars needed some love too. Mainly just on the corners between the chrome Surounds at the top.

Pillar complete and smooth ready for paint! Same with the roof sections too!

I was thinking about using my welder on the pillar as the rust had eaten through a large portion of the lower section. But after grinding a LOT of the rust away, it was obvious there was still some good metal there.
I hit it up with a special bog that consisted of stainless steal fragments, fibreglass AND bog all in one tin. Stuff was expensive, but being the A-Pillar, it was kinda important not to just use basic bog.
I hope it holds out.

This arvo: Cleaning the yard front and back and painting the repairs the correct colour.

 

Peace

Iron Oxide

 

Heya,

So yesterday i managed to remove my windscreen from the Cresta.

DEFINITELY not a fun job, i have done it before a few times. The arvo temp was hovering around 34 degrees with clear skys in direct sunlight. So of course i needed some Budweiser refreshments to keep me going.

I managed to remove the majority of the screen using a special tool with a hook and a chain piece handle that i borrowed of a neighbour about 2 years ago and never returned (Sorry EldarO!)

Got it out within 30 mins, with some assistance from Clay to kick out the lower section of the screen as i couldnt reach it with the hook (think pineapple express!! HAHA)

Windscreen out Cupholder in plain sight, inc. refreshments !

As you can see, Lots of lovely rust holes just WAITING to be grinded away and filled with Rust converter + Primer!

This is the A Pillar, very destroyed. I may need to get the welder out for this guy

Grinding begins this arvo 4pm!

-Peace

Crusing along

SHE RUNS!

*video soon*

Still yet to put the bonnet on properly…

Rear late model tail lights are in!

Twin Potato

80s Gearshifter booty! Lookin sweet!

The car runs, Drives, The clutch master needs to be fiddled with a bit more to get it feeling right. But im one happy man.

Next up, Rust repairs (yawwnnn)

-peace

Cresta Clutch and Brake

Heya,

So yesterday, although my hands and arms are broken and busted up from doing the engine conversion, i carried on.
I needed to remove the footpedal handbrake from the Cresta to allow for a clutch pedal to be installed.

As you can see, the footpedal handbrake is (well was before i started removing it) exactly where the clutch pedal would go.
It was quite a difficult task to remove, the pedal cable bolted to the floor under the carpet and along the transmission tunnel seemed to go on forever!

Finally removed. Look at that cable length!

Ra60 clutch pedal installed. Oddly enough, it sits far enough away from the brake pedal to maybe allow me to keep the pedal the size it is!

Now with the footbrake pedal removed, and clutch pedal and master cylinder  installed i moved onto putting in an actual handbrake from a MX73 Australian Cressida. The tunnel had a backing plate underneith the location i needed to install it. This was a very annoying task, drilling out the spot welds and wedging out the plate.

I ended up getting so frustrated with it after 2 hours that i got out the trusty angle grinder and took out the section i needed. Which in-turn, removed the holes i needed to keep for bolting the handbrake in.

Lucky enough i had a load of “flatbar” steel in the garage i could use to re-create a braket area for the handbrake to bolt to. i dare say its a LOT stronger than the original flimsy tunnel area.

After a few adjustments under the car at the cable area the handbrake works a treat!

I went to reinstall my Tailshaft after this, only to find out its too short. I need a front section of tailshaft that is 545mm long from the oil seal to the centre bearing mount point.  So im hoping a friend of mine can find me one today in his yard or else i have a $200 expense and a 4 day wait for my current tailshaft to be modded to fit.

Good times though,
Tonight i might try and start the engine, ill try and video it.

peace

Welcoming 2012

 

Hi All,

After a nice 3 weeks in New Zealand, im back feeling good and refreshed.
The NZ trip was excellent. I went with my girlfriend Holly to see her family for XMAS. We traveled all around the middle of the North Island to Taupo and Rotorua to watch D1NZ and other various activites. The weather was a perfect 25 degrees ‘C and sunny for most of the trip.

I spotted a few sweet cars on the way:

This MX41 Mark II was so clean, I tracked down the owner on Auszoku/Oldscool.co.nz and found out it had a 1UZ motor!

Hugo’s Rotary AE86 at D1NZ in Taupo, Cool guy, had a short chat to him. Car is really wikkid.

Spotted the ZeroFighters KE Wagon in the Parking lot pits, and later got to see it slide on the track. loved your style dude!

The trip was sweet, Loved every minute of being in NZ with Holly’s Family and Friends. Cheap beer and loads of laughs.

I got home to Perth on Dec 29th to find my new project delivered, sitting in my driveway :

A GX71 Toyota Cresta from 1986. AMAZING!

I knew the engine and trans had some major issues, but i was later to find out that there was a blown rear turbo and the ECU was blown aswel. Then i found it still had a stuck valve in the head, which was the issue the original owner thought he had fixed. Oh well. Lucky for me my housemate Clay saved the day with a Gen 3 1GGTE sitting in the garage. It was meant to go in his GX61 Chaser, which sadly, is no longer with us. (Front end crasho with a civic )

So we decided to get to work.

Removing the Gen 1 , 1GGTE motor.


Clay’s new daily, HR31 Skyline coupe… Although a Nissan, its a slight inprovement on power and style from the GX61

GONE!

New 1GGTE GEN 3 , Being inserted into the Cresta, Connected is a GA70 W58 Manual box !

I managed to bolt everything up and setup the cooling system last night, Tonight ill be completing the wiring.

Whats left to do ?:
Install a MX73 handbrake in the centre console instead of “foot” handbrake pedal.
Install Clutch pedal
Install Master Cyl and lines to slave
re-connect tailshaft
re-connect Exhaust
Replace all fluids and test run.

Good times!