ST205 Total Rebuild, Something a bit different Options

[Nial]

I was certain I started a build thread on here, but for the life of me I can not find it so forgive me if I start again and its old news.

About a year and a half ago my current GT4 failed its yearly inspection (MOT) with rusty sills, they were fixed and it subsequently passed but it set alarm bells ringing in my head that the poor things days were numbered.

I decided that I would buy a shell and swap everything onto it. so I hunted for a reasonable shell to start work on.

While I was looking, I had to extend my garage. I only had a single car garage so not enough space to work or store stuff.

So I decided to extend my garage backwards a bit

Work started.



and after a few weeks, finished ;0





About the same time a shell turned up, well it was sold as a shell, but it was more or less a complete car minus the engine and gearbox.







It was in good condition with no rust, even the interior was in pretty much spot on condition, not that I need much of it





I set to wrok more or less straight away



First job was to strip everything off the car



everything went, all the looms, glass, suspension the works



Next job was to remove the sound deadening material





it then went outside for a thorough jet wash go get rid of all the years of crap





As I was moving the battery to the inside I could remove the battery tray



which I did





Next up I needed to get to the bottom of the car....this was going to require some ingenuity.

[Nial]

I was going to have to make my own rotisserie.

So ack off to the wood yard, a few lengths of 2x4 and I made this



It was about now I realised two things. One I was going to have to learn to weld and two..my plans for this car were changing quite dramatically......a fancied making a cross between a rally car and a GT car...no idea how I was going to achieve this, but the seeds had been set in my mind and for once they stayed there.

So I rushed out and purchased a MIG welder....learning to weld was pretty easy to be honest, by no means as neat as the pros but not bad for a complete novice.

So I made a rotisserie



It fitted like a glove and worked perfectly



A quick look revealed the sills were pretty mangled



so I had to fix them up as best I could



At the same time I started blasting and painting with good old POR15 the subframes and suspension parts



The came out quite nice



did the prop shaft too, started a bit rough



came up well



also cleaned up the steering rack



and the alloy diff end plate....gave it a good polish



Next up I started the worst job I have ever attempted

[Nial]

Tackling the stone guard on the bottom of the car.

I cant count the amount of drill & angle grinder wire brush attachments I have gone through.

it makes alot of dust and takes what seems like forever





slow slow work



this stage took about a month



at last, more or less done





I then painted it with more POR15



More or less at the time I was ready to slit my wrists due to constant wire brushing the roll cage turned up (I still havnt finished under the car....I am going to get the rest sand blasted....i just cant face it any more



A brief test fitting and I was starting to get excited.....I was going to have to break out the welder again

[Nial]

First job was to add some strengthening to the top of the rear suspension tops, so i removed the odd metal bracing off them (i think its used to just hold the rear plastics in place?)



I then made a template



and then a metal top (3mm mild steel)



and one for the other side



Once I had welded these to the car it was time to start getting the roll cage in



I filled the aerial hole whilst I was at it



Anyway, back to the cage, more bits turned up



this was starting to get serious







this ties in the rear sub frame to the cage, helps keep things stiff



nearly there



as you can see my welding isnt great, but as its more or less the seond thing I have ever welded in my life i was mildly pleased with it



Done



i had decided that I didnt want a full cage, at the end of the day it will be just a road car so getting in and out easily is a priority

Next up I decided it was about time to learn how to cast new metal parts, as for what I had in mind the parts do not exist, I was going to have to make them.

[Nial]

I was going to have to make myself a mini blast furnace...and learn how to cast metal

I needed these



I turned the bin into a furnace with the use of some fire cement





fill it with charcol, attach a heat gun, ignite and stand back



I made a vessel from a spare piece of square tube...it gets pretty hot



hot enough to melt alloy



I still needed to learn how to make sand moulds so stopped there for the time being, I will pick that up again later.

[Nial]

Taking a long look at my roll cage, I was not happy with the welds. so i decided to dress them, smooth them out, add a little body filler and make them smooth



started looking much better although I did have to remove the main hoop cross member for access



dont worry its not going to be that colour, thats just filler primer



at the same time I cleaned up the floor and primed that ready for paint



the boot aswell....I also welded the cross member back in





Next up was the seam sealer, so I masked off the areas I was going to apply it to



then applied the U-Pol grey stripe seam sealer (nasty stuff)





and that is about where I am up to today. Just been out into the garage to remove the masking tape. it looks a bit messy, but when its primed over the top you can hardly tell its there. I will add more pictures when I have taken them.

I will update when I get a chance but I work pretty slowly so dont expect much.
hope I havnt bored you to death

more to come

Nial

[Batman722]

Great job.
That's a ton of work, impressive.

[Ted95]

Not your everyday build, excellent job so far man.

[Tigawoods]

super diy!!

[SwissFerdi]

hope I havnt bored you to death

Quite the contrary. Excellent.

[malpaso]

You are unbelievable Nial . You are true faffer

[Nial]

Thanks all, glad you like it

You are unbelievable Nial . You are true faffer

Cheers. means alot from a fellow faffer I hope the end result looks as nice as your car.

This post has been edited by Nial: Dec 17, 2012 - 6:05 AM

[Edser]

Looks great! It'll be like new!
Just one thing I was wondering about. I don't know much about roll cages, but it is my understanding that if you put in racing seats and harnesses you'll need a horizontal shoulder height beam to attach the harnesses to (the reason being, to avoid spinal compression in the event of an accident). Have you considered this?

[Nial]

Looks great! It'll be like new!
Just one thing I was wondering about. I don't know much about roll cages, but it is my understanding that if you put in racing seats and harnesses you'll need a horizontal shoulder height beam to attach the harnesses to (the reason being, to avoid spinal compression in the event of an accident). Have you considered this?

I will be using normal belts, If I want to use a racing harness I will attach it to the rear strut brace as the Rally Cars did. as they lie within the tollernece angles to avoid such injuries.

[richee3]

Great work so far! I can't wait to see where this goes.

[S8S8]

Nice work! Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Nial]

I dont know if you guys like small regular updates, or big updates every yew months?

well here is a little update. I just about finished the seam sealer today but to show you a comparison, one side of the car is finished and the seam sealer has been primed, the other side it has just been applied.



Left side it has just been applied, right side has had two coats of seam sealer and had primer sprayed over the top. I am pleased that you can hardly see anything despite the fact it will all be covered over with sound mat.....just because you cant see it dosent mean it cant be right.

cheeky shot of the cage



This post has been edited by Nial: Dec 18, 2012 - 4:02 PM

[enderswift]

just because you cant see it doesn't mean it cant be right

This is how I know this thread will be good

[Nial]

I have been busy recently, but have found some time to spend on this project.

I stripped down the petrol tank



gave it a good paint



the obligatory walbro fuel pump



all back together with some stainless steel bolts



rejuvenated the fuel tank straps





started rebuilding the rear axels



managed to rescue the rear brake disc backing plates



they came up well



Found a product called Deox C which is great at getting rid of rust, bought the rear hub carriers up a treat



and I got alot of bolts zinc plated





and the door catches chromed



things are starting to go back together now, the rear subframe and suspension parts are all half built, just waiting for the paint on the rear hubs to dry and cure and they can go back together, need some snap rings for the rear axels, then they can go back on. Rear diff can be completed tomorrow if I get time.

[paulgtt]

absolutely epic Nial, top work.
fancy doing my car when your done with this one?

[Nial]

absolutely epic Nial, top work.
fancy doing my car when your done with this one?

Hahaha...errr no thanks, this one has taken long enough.....if you dont mind loosing your car for about 4 years and costing...well this will probably cost me the thick end of £30,000 by the time I am done.

[delusionz]

f**k yeah! I want to reshell into yours!!!

[Legen-dary]

Wow, just wow. I truly admire your attention to detail. I've done some detailed builds over the years but it really falls short of the amount of work you're putting in here. Really looking forward to future updates. I've gotta ask though...what on earth do you want to make that requires you cast your own metal parts??

[Nial]

I've gotta ask though...what on earth do you want to make that requires you cast your own metal parts??

I was going to make an alloy version of the bracket that holds the alternator in place but it prooved too difficult. I kind of knew from the start it would be, I just wanted to make fire and a noise like a jet engine.

The insides have now been completed, all the seam sealing has been done and painted. roll cage is ready for a coat of colour, I think I am going to go for a satin black finish.



This post has been edited by Nial: Feb 26, 2013 - 3:33 AM

[delusionz]

Ahhh is that what that was, I was thinking of just grinding off the humps from the radiator and making a flat L bracket, either that or getting some alloy stumps welded on and using brackets from another car. just some ideas.

of all the chinese copy alloy rads out there I'm guessing some line up the brackets others dont, i had to carve out the rubber bush from mine to fit

[Nial]

Ahhh is that what that was, I was thinking of just grinding off the humps from the radiator and making a flat L bracket, either that or getting some alloy stumps welded on and using brackets from another car. just some ideas.

I will be building my radiator from scratch so will be doing something similar...TTE used this method so it must be effective.

[delusionz]

do you know what the pre-rad thing is on the TTE car, i cant work it out, is it transfering engine heat with oil, or cycling water for the turbo or what




as im sure your well aware of engine bay temps, i think were on the same page when it comes to cooling system design, i tried to follow TTE too

This post has been edited by delusionz: Feb 26, 2013 - 4:51 AM

[Nial]

do you know what the pre-rad thing is on the TTE car, i cant work it out, is it transfering engine heat with oil, or cycling water for the turbo or what




as im sure your well aware of engine bay temps, i think were on the same page when it comes to cooling system design, i tried to follow TTE too

Thats an engine oil cooler (it replaces the one on the front of the block). I have one similar to that sat on the shelve in the garage although you can still buy TTE ones, but they cost about £1500

[Nial]

Well, it's been a while, haven't done much on the car really. I have taken the bonnet catch apart which I am going to get chromed, then I have had to have custom stepped rivets made so I can put it all back together again. I have also been working on the interior, a few ideas which have fallen by the wayside and a few new ideas.

I started rebuilding the interior plastics to work around the roll cage, a bit more complex than I bargained for, but its going to challenge my fibreglassing skills.



Now that I have finally taken the other Faff off the road I can start transferring bits over.

After talking to some rally boffins and TTE experts I have decided on two options for the engine rebuild. Initially I am going to use a 185 block and head as these are stronger than the 205 block, the head isn't as good but is more workable...or some am told. Also there are more bits available for the 185 blocks like moroso sumps etc will re using my Link G3 ECU with a brand new engine loom. Plans are afoot for a TTE charge cooler.

[Dennisthe10]

Love this thread, your car is going to be epic!

[Nial]

Its been a while, but a bit of progress this weekend.

I got hold of an ST202 front bumper, an old knackered GT4 front bumper, both of which I have cut up to make into one. I also managed to get hold of a TOMs front lip which I think suits the car very well.

had to use the parts car to line the bumper up.



still so much to do and it seems like two steps forward one step backwards all the time. i might have retired by the time I finish this rebuild.

This post has been edited by Nial: Sep 8, 2013 - 2:39 PM

[richee3]

Love that bumper.

[JoshuaM]

Oh, so not content with a perfectly rebuilt st205.... have to go and make it an amazingly awesome SS-FOUR whilst you're at it...

This post has been edited by JoshuaM: Sep 8, 2013 - 4:11 PM

[SwissFerdi]

Very funny, I actually had that idea myself (SS-FOUR + TOM's lip) a few months ago. I was wondering if anyone else had done it. Nice job Nial!

[Nial]

Thanks just need to start sanding it all smooth now....anyone want to lend me a spare arm? I think I am going to need it.

[kurt95gt]

Good to see an update on such a sweet build

[Nial]

Oh, so not content with a perfectly rebuilt st205.... have to go and make it an amazingly awesome SS-FOUR whilst you're at it...

Hahaha,I was thinking instead of SS-Four, how about GT4 Evolution? But then I thought everyone would think I was copying the Mitsubishi Evo name.

[Nial]

Hmmmm shiny bits

[cjh4l22]

Wow, most impressive sir. Keep up the good work! And if you ever decide to take the motor mounts out and make copies, I would be happy to buy a set. haha Thanks.

[Nial]

Thanks

i will just be using standard motor mounts!.....i think!

[onnaj]

Really really impressive! Nice work!

[rentaspace]

Just read through this whole build... I am so jealous it is not funny man.

I wish I had the time, money, patients and skill to pull this off...

Make us some of those bumpers?

[KAOS]

Excellent!

[Nial]

Thanks.....have been busy paint stripping and underseal stripping today as I will be repainting the chassis with epoxy paint and redoing all the seam sealer. Will be so glad when its done, stripping it all off with a wire wheel is a nightmare, especially trying to get into all the nooks and crannies. Then I can start rebuilding the bottom of the car. Will be ordering some BC coilovers...then the expensive bit......buying all new suspension arms.......why are the damn things so expensive??

[Nial]

Still removing paint and underseal......sigh. Just the fiddle bits left to do which is no fun at all.

Beginning to wish I had a compressor and sand blaster.



As you can see there isn't a great deal more on the GT4 than the normal celica for the rear sub frame. For those wishing to do a proper GT4 conversion you should be able to get the extra bits to weld to a non GT4 to allow for fitment of the rear subframe. Would need looking into it in a bit more detail just to make sure there isn't any hidden parts, but it shouldn't be a difficult task. It would make it as close as possible to a GT4 without buying one.

I can check part numbers for those wishing to investigate.




As you can see, I don't have much room to work in

This post has been edited by Nial: Sep 30, 2013 - 3:13 PM

[Nial]

I could do the chassis welding route, but for two reasons, one, my welding isn't very good, and two, there is an art to chassis welding to get it right, It's easy to balls it up and ruin a good chassis....but mainly my welding isn't very good :lol:

Managed to put the bonnet catch back together after I dismantled it to get it zinc plated




I also got some of this



So I can make a mould of and replicate the rear high level brake light in clear plastic instead of the standard red, it's only practice as I will be filling in the standard high level brake light and rebuilding the trailing edge of the spoiler out of clear plastic and LEDs for a different type of brake light 8)

I pick up the BC coilovers on saturday, and another gt4 front bumper to use the small slot intake on the hybrid 202/205 bumper.

[malpaso]

...on the hybrid 202/205 bumper.

FYI it is called "ss-four bumper" . Official name for it .

btw.: you are more crazy than expected... unbeliveable

[Nial]

Well, not much being done today, spent a large portion of the day driving around the country picking up bits n pieces.

Did pick up these though

the obligatory suspension in a box shot....some nice BC coilovers



The castings are in the garage currently painted in grey self etching primer.


I picked up yet another GT4 front bumper to finish off the SS4 front bumper.....that will be 3 GT4 front bumpers that have bitten the dust thanks to me ....oh well.

Tomorrow, hopefully I will complete the cleaning off of the bottom of the car so I can do the final derust and clean ready for applying the paint next weekend.

[Nial]

Finally getting round to finishing the SS4 front bumper

[Nial]

Well finally got to apply some paint instead of stripping it off.



still some stripping to do in the engine bay area, but I have to get this painted before the weather gets too cold.....paint dosent like being applied in the cold....paints a wuss :lol: :lol: :lol:

After another coat of epoxy mastic, I will apply some seam sealer in a few areas, then some POR high build tie coat primer as the epoxy mastic has load of brush marks, it will then get a smoothing rub down before I apply some POR15 flex coat for a silky smooth glossy finish

[enderswift]

So much epicness

[bsamps4]

That is ridiculously epic!

[mi645]

I am really impressed with the amount of work just in ur garage or back yard. Seriously impressed, and I really like how ur going over every detail it makes me wish I can do that with my car but unfortunately I can not.
And also Are you gonna be ok putting everything back right?

[Nial]

And also Are you gonna be ok putting everything back right?

Thanks........now there's a question!! the only thing that is going to be a problem (I think) is the dashboard loom which my memory instantly forgot the second I removed it from the car. Luckily I can just use my other GT4 for reference as I transfer the parts from one to the other. Or just muddle through until I get it right. Logic dictates though that I am bound to forget something.

[dudeofchaos]

Will you post how to mod the BC coils?
I plan to get a pair of these (Not sure yet which model to go for, ER RA or RH)

[Nial]

There is no modding of BC coilovers required, simply weld them together which any welder could do easily.
which ones you go for depends on what you are going to use the car for. For road use, just buy the basic ones that I go wthich will also manage track use. The expensive ones are for expert use really and offer more function & adjustability than you would be ever likely to use.

[qatar11]

Will you post how to mod the BC coils?
I plan to get a pair of these (Not sure yet which model to go for, ER RA or RH)

They were ~$1K USD shipped.

[qatar11]

.

This post has been edited by qatar11: Nov 9, 2013 - 7:32 AM

[dudeofchaos]

There is no modding of BC coilovers required, simply weld them together which any welder could do easily.
which ones you go for depends on what you are going to use the car for. For road use, just buy the basic ones that I go wthich will also manage track use. The expensive ones are for expert use really and offer more function & adjustability than you would be ever likely to use.

I'm just not sure I'll be able to explain the welder where it needs to be cut though.
The car will see some track days but mostly be a summer DD and the roads here are absolutely horrible, I can't drive around with the same setup than on track.
Not sure I'll get the ER model though, I guess it'd be too overkill.

Except for the fact that I wanted to get the 9kg front/6kg rear model which is only available for the ER's and I'd rather have pillowball top mounts for the rear which the RA's don't have.
As for now, the RH will be my final choice.

[qatar11]

Except for the fact that I wanted to get the 9kg front/6kg rear model which is only available for the ER's and I'd rather have pillowball top mounts for the rear which the RA's don't have.
As for now, the RH will be my final choice.

This is incorrect... when ordering directly from BC (via phone) you can specify pillowball top mounts for the rear...

[dudeofchaos]

Except for the fact that I wanted to get the 9kg front/6kg rear model which is only available for the ER's and I'd rather have pillowball top mounts for the rear which the RA's don't have.
As for now, the RH will be my final choice.

This is incorrect... when ordering directly from BC (via phone) you can specify pillowball top mounts for the rear...

Really?
On their site it states that RA model does not come with pillowball top mounts.
Well.. thanks for the info then!

[Nial]

Well a bit more progress, some high build primer into the engine bay, the epoxy mastic is so rough its going to take several coats of primer, sand down, more primer etc etc to get an even half flat finish.



Somethings missing.....oh yea, everything



This post has been edited by Nial: Aug 16, 2014 - 2:17 AM

[Nial]

adding some seam sealer now. need more masking tape

[RoyO]

Awesome rebuild, very impressive!

[Nial]

Only about a million hors of sanding left to go

[SwissFerdi]

Yes!

I almost feel bad for Martin that his design is copied so much, but damn if it's not the best-looking use of a facelift bumper.

[delusionz]

I looked back and noticed martin didn't transfer the little mini grill in the middle, I would prefer to keep that too

[Nial]

Not that I have been following all others that have don't this little hybrid bumper build, but I can't recall anyone else keeping the little letterbox vent, it would be nice to claim to be the first but someone somewhere is bound to have done it long before now.

[malpaso]

I almost feel bad for Martin that his design is copied so much, but damn if it's not the best-looking use of a facelift bumper.

No need to mate . For it is prove I had great idea In terms of improvement. In fact I wanted that vent on my bumper as well but unfortunately "teeth" were broken on my donor bumper so decided to not using it in the end... it is bit visible (two in the middle) in picture below:



I am really glad I can see result how it would look like with that vent as well

[6G96GT]

Everything you are doing is effing incredible.

[Nial]

Thanks.

More sanding today, managed to get a nice smooth finish. Sorting out the brake lines and fuel lines this weekend as well as the front sub frame. Still the engine bay to finish cleaning and painting but as the cars in the rotisserie it's difficult tote to.

I think I have managed to find myself a 5sfe engine so it looks like a 5sgte might be in order. 5sfe' see hard to come by here.

Then I can start overhauling and rebuilding the front hubs, brake callipers and remaining suspension arms,
So much to do...will it ever end?

[Nial]

Any 6gc club meets in Florida in April next year? As guess where I will be for a few weeks

[Box]

DISNEY WORLD!!!!

[Nial]

Yep

On my honeymoon.....but if you can't attend the odd car meet or two on your honeymoon then what's the world coming to eh

[Box]

What do I win for getting it right?

[Trodai]

Thanks.

More sanding today, managed to get a nice smooth finish. Sorting out the brake lines and fuel lines this weekend as well as the front sub frame. Still the engine bay to finish cleaning and painting but as the cars in the rotisserie it's difficult tote to.

I think I have managed to find myself a 5sfe engine so it looks like a 5sgte might be in order. 5sfe' see hard to come by here.

Then I can start overhauling and rebuilding the front hubs, brake callipers and remaining suspension arms,
So much to do...will it ever end?

yea i like it.. i was looking into the 5sfe for a conversion in the future.. it seems like the "better" method, will be a overall better performance from the 5sgte less lag and more torque, they are getting rare over here too.. great job on the bumper lad.. im loving this build!

[Nial]

Taking a break from this project while I decide what to do, the latest layer of paint looks terrible, no matter how carefully you apply it, it runs everywhere and looks like a child painted it on. To top it all off it then reacted with the other paint so it all has to come off. Back to square one, options are spend more months wire brushing the paint off, sending it away to get sand blasted, buy a sand blaster and do t myself or give up, right this very second the giving up option is mighty appealing, I can't afford to keep throwing money at this project for it to keep going wrong. Might be time to call it a day!

[Tigawoods]

yup! time to call it a day! Fly it over to me. Itll give me something to do in the afternoons.....chances are you wont get it back though

[enderswift]

Taking a break from this project while I decide what to do, the latest layer of paint looks terrible, no matter how carefully you apply it, it runs everywhere and looks like a child painted it on. To top it all off it then reacted with the other paint so it all has to come off. Back to square one, options are spend more months wire brushing the paint off, sending it away to get sand blasted, buy a sand blaster and do t myself or give up, right this very second the giving up option is mighty appealing, I can't afford to keep throwing money at this project for it to keep going wrong. Might be time to call it a day!

you wouldn't happen to be having trouble with POR paint are you? Because I just went through numerous attempts applying POR chassis coat black only to have it look absolutely horrible no matter what I tried. Foam brushes, bristle brushes, lots of mixing, little mixing, high temperature, low temperature, various humidities, anything and everything. It always came out exactly like you described, as though a child did the painting

This post has been edited by enderswift: Dec 16, 2013 - 4:32 PM

[Nial]

It is a POR paint yes. Sick of it. It runs no matter how thinly you apply it. I know it's under the car and no one will see it, but I would know and it would annoy me constantly. Frustrated.

[enderswift]

It is a POR paint yes. Sick of it. It runs no matter how thinly you apply it. I know it's under the car and no one will see it, but I would know and it would annoy me constantly. Frustrated.

I know the feeling. All that prep work only to have it messed up in the end. I think it suffices to say that POR wont be getting my money again. Stay strong and seriously consider blasting. Once you blast there really is no other alternative haha

[Nial]

It is a POR paint yes. Sick of it. It runs no matter how thinly you apply it. I know it's under the car and no one will see it, but I would know and it would annoy me constantly. Frustrated.

I know the feeling. All that prep work only to have it messed up in the end. I think it suffices to say that POR wont be getting my money again. Stay strong and seriously consider blasting. Once you blast there really is no other alternative haha

POR won't be getting any of my money either, rustbuster is pretty good, but my favourite so far is a paint from the US called eastwood, nice to apply, forgiving, a nice finish, a bit on the pricey side, but considering the amount that POR has cost me!!

Today will be spent pricing up air compressors and finding out just how feasible it is to sand blast in the garage.

[Nial]

Well, a bit of work today, decided to refurbish a set of spare brake Calipers I had, they are in mint condition so didnt need much fettling, I took them to bits, removed all the seals etc, the bolts will be sent away to get zinc plated.

The callipers were painted with Eastwood chassis black extreme, a beautiful paint that goes on very nicely and has a great finish.



and a hint as to what the finished callipers will look like



This post has been edited by Nial: Aug 16, 2014 - 2:19 AM

[Smaay]

keep up the good work!!! This is what I want to do to my Supra

[Nial]

Well after getting over a rather mild winter, i have ventured back into the garage.

I have finally stripped my pride and joy down to a bare shel and it has been shipped off to the great B road in the sky.

After saying goodbye to it I have been trying to find space for all the parts I now have, the garage is full to the brim with car parts, plus I had to buy a small wooden shed to store more stuff in....so the garage is a bit of a mess.

i manged to clear myself a small patch of surface to resume work on.

First off was the clutch master cylinder, i know its only small and probably not of much interest but its a step in the right direction. I could have done with sending the shaft away to get zinc plated as I am not happy with its finish, but i guess as it will never be seen it will have to do.



I have replaced the insides with a brand new piston and seals. Painted the body black and cleaned up the reservoir.

Then i made a start on the brake master cylinder and vacuum cylinder. it was a bit rusty so after a soak in Bilt Hamber Deox C rust remover and a quick wire brushing I have primered it and this is where I could do with your help.......

Baring in mind everything in the car will be either black, silver or the colour of the car, what colour shall i paint the vacuum housing? as i want to paint the cylinder black to match the clutch master cylinder I was thinking about painting it the same colour as the car so that there is a bit of contrast...or should I go with standard black?

Currently primered and waiting for me to make my mind up....excuse the mess.



coming to the US in a couple of weeks for a few weeks, any car meets in florida from the 6th april? Going to Disney for my honeymoon

cheers all

Nial

This post has been edited by Nial: Mar 23, 2014 - 1:29 PM

[JoshuaM]

I would personally go black because it will look the most sophisticated and original and your car is going to be MINT! I am a bit boring like that though, and a bit of colour might spice things up... so I'm no help I guess

[Nial]

So, i went with black, looks ok. Will contrast well against the silver of all the braided hoses.

Another box of bits (mostly bolts) arrived back from the electroplaters.



should be fun trying to remember where all the bolts go...i give myself about an 80% chance of getting it wrong

I also managed a few smaller jobs, put the ignitor assembly back together along with the nice shiny dipstick holed, wiper motor which i finally managed to get the bolts for, and the steering shaft gaiter.



it should look nice on the bulkhead



Nearly got the front driveshafts finished, just need to locate a replacement vibration damper for the right side drive shaft.



The brake stopper polished up well



front hubs also came back from the electroplaters.



A box of parts ready to be sent off to the electroplaters when i get back rom Florida



still nothing of much substance really, just all little jobs that make the big jobs easier.

A few weeks of nothing now while I go on my honeymoon

should be big progress when I get back as i will be putting the suspension back on etc

[Langing]

Nial, reading about your Celica build is like reading a 'pot boiler' or 'page turner'; I had to read the whole thing from beginning to end without stopping! I offer a sincere congratulations on your work, and your wedding.

You have inspired me sir, although I stand on the shore of the lake dipping my toes into the icy cold waters you seem to be thriving in, I am afraid to make the jump. I started working on my 94 ST Coupe (1.8L) over a month ago by saying to myself it was only fair to give her a completely all-new or rebuilt brake system since she was fast approaching her 20th birthday, and that would keep her safe, and then changed out the rear wheel bearings "while I was at it.' Once started, it is hard to stop, because I keep seeing more things that need to be done. I think I'm being bit by the bug in a more 'bottom up' fashion, in comparison with your 'top down' all out attack.

Most of your description makes sense to me, and I feel I kind of understand how much effort you have put into the job, since it is so well written and photo documented. If you don't mind, I would like to ask a silly question, however. You sent a lot of hardware, many nuts, bolts, etc. to the electroplater's to get them zinc plated. I am wondering if that is an expensive proposition? I don't see many shops that do that here in NC and wonder if there are many in the UK.

[Nial]

Well got a bunch of tstuff back from the zinc platers and got a few more things back together.



The brake and clutch pedals refurbished and ready to be refitted



I took the power steering pump apart, there's quite a few bits inside that all decide they want to head in many different directions when you open the thing up.



And the tensioner for the alternator belt



The next task is building a new dolly to help transport the shell around as it doesn't fit on a car transporter with the current dolly, time to break out the welder again.

[Smaay]

such an awesome build...

How much do you think you have spent already?

[Nial]

I dread to think how much I have spent.....probably edging towards £10,000 if you include tools, mistakes and building the little extension. I recon it's going to cost me about another £20,000 to finish it all..but that's everything, tools, consumables, paint, engine fuel etc.

[Smaay]

stick with it man, its going to be worth it when its all done

[Nial]

I hope so, the number of things to do seems endless, every day something new crops up. The next task is making a transport device for the shell that doubles as a rotisserie. That's going to be fun, better dust off the welder, break out the design hat and order some steel.

[Nial]

It's about time I had a new rotisserie, so I have made this one to be very strong, to be able to rotate the car, obviously, but also to enable it to be transported it's wheel width will match that of a car transporter ramps, it's adjustable in both length and height a step up from the wooden supports I was using :lol:





Should finish it tomorrow

[Nial]

Sent the shell away for Media blasting at last, and it's done.



Along with a super tough primer/undercoat....not the final colour, but quite a nice colour, not sure if it would suit a celica or not.....think I will stick with me original colour

This post has been edited by Nial: Jun 20, 2014 - 12:37 PM

[Langing]

Sent the shell away for Media blasting at last, and it's done.



Along with a super tough primer/undercoat....not the final colour, but quite a nice colour, not sure if it would suit a celica or not.....think I will stick with me original colour

That shot was taken at the place that did your blasting?

Nial, I'm interested in getting more information about your designs for your rotisseries, both of them. Basic idea is clear. Could you show close up detail about how it is made and how you bolted the shell to it?

[Nial]

That shot was taken at the place that did your blasting?

Nial, I'm interested in getting more information about your designs for your rotisseries, both of them. Basic idea is clear. Could you show close up detail about how it is made and how you bolted the shell to it?

Yes that picture was taken at the unit John uses to do the blast cleaning, it's just a shed on an old farm.

I get the car back home tomorrow so I will take some pictures of the rotisserie for you. The old wooden rotisserie has been cut up now and utilised for something else but I will see if I can dig out some old pictures.

The rear of the rotisserie I used an old rear bumper crash bar, welded some steel and a pivot to it, the front bit of the rotisserie that holds the car is just 2inch box section welded together.

[Nial]

This s one of the wooden supports kinda three quarters built



You can see the use of the box section to hold the shell at the bumper support points, with the bumper supports removed obviously.



I reused this part on the second metal rotisserie.

[Langing]

To set my reference: The last two photos show the vehicle first looking from the front and second looking from the rear?

The first photo shows the open end of a rectangular cross section frame member where a bumper support has already been removed (lower left, with plastic bottle beneath, with two bolts protruding at the left)), and when you bolted the box section steel cross member of the rotisserie to the vehicle, you bolted it at those two bumper support positions?

I've never taken a bumper off, so I got out my BGB. Exactly two pages of drawings and that's it! For the front I believe I can see the bumper supports. On the back I see three points where an "upper retainer" ties in, and I see a "lower back finish center panel," and after that is a strong steel "reinforcement" bar. I'm guessing that's what you call the "crash bar?"

Beyond that are the energy absorbers which are covered by the "bumper covers"?

I'm looking forward to some more detailed photos. It is interesting to see what you did.
"

[Nial]

The first photo shows the open end of a rectangular cross section frame member where a bumper support has already been removed (lower left, with plastic bottle beneath, with two bolts protruding at the left)), and when you bolted the box section steel cross member of the rotisserie to the vehicle, you bolted it at those two bumper support positions?

That is correct yes

To set my reference: The last two photos show the vehicle first looking from the front and second looking from the rear?

No, both the last photos are the front of the car. The rear is a bit more complicated as the bumper/crash bar is set lower down so it would make the pivot point too low, it will be clear with photos but slightly more fabrication is needed.

Excuse the crappy welding but it was the first thing I ever welded in my life.