Project Overtime

Yeah a couple of them have flat spots, probably pothole strikes. There are places around that fix them, and new inner and outer rims are still available. I'll probably sell the inners and outers that I have and buy new ones to get the offsets that I want.

 

Some shiny new toys arrived this week:

Fidanza flywheel



and...





I went for Manley rods over Eagles because I like that they have the final machine work done in the US before shipping. And they were on special at Twos R Us

The only issue I have so far is they're supposed to be weight-matched to +/- 1.5g, three of them are within 0.4g of one another, but one weighs 2.2g less than the next lightest...



I'll email them, might have to send that one back and have it replaced..

 

Busy day today, have been to two wrecking yards already . Picked up a set of ST185 front brake calipers from the first (OK, they came off a 1993 ST184, but according to ToyoDIY they're the same part :hehe ), and a master cylinder from a 97 Camry. For ~$120 pretty cheap upgrade IMO. Of course they'll need to be taken apart, cleaned, painted and rebuilt with new seals etc before they get anywhere near the car. Wrecker# 2 had a left side internal door handle because the one I got from the KFC parts car was busted, also pulled from it the central locking mechanisms and wiring looms from both doors and another cupholder centre console, which I was going to sell but apon getting it home discovered a couple of busted bits. The one I already had also had a couple of busted bits, but luckily they were different busted bits so I was able to frankenstein together one complete and perfect centre console . Oh and I also grabbed the taillight vents, so if anyone wants them check the For Sale section of the forum.

 

Picked up the next piece of the puzzle today (good god there are a lot more pieces than I originally anticipated :eek5 )

Found a GT4 gearbox for sale on Gumtree with the transfer case already removed for FWD action and a Cusco 1.5-way LSD installed. The guy had it in an ST184 with GTE conversion.

Here 'tis:





The LSD was the bit that I was really interested in, but without pulling the box apart (which I've never done before and I can't imagine anyone selling one letting a stranger potentially ruin their part) to verify it, all I had to go on was what I read in one of Stig's threads that you can tell if the box has an LSD if you can see through it. It certainly seems to have passed the test..



Going by the various discussion threads on E-series gearboxes, and a little bit of guesswork, I'm about 99% confident that what I've got is an E151F - it's the box that we got in the ST185 which there are plenty of getting about and heaps of parts available for in jap wreckers, whereas the ST165 was never officially imported here, just a handful of greys, so spares for them are hens teeth, and it's definitely not the E154F that came in the ST205 because it doesn't have the rubber vent thing near the shift fork. I'll do a little more detective work once I clean it up and get a good look at it in daylight.

Also included in the sale were these beefy driveshafts that the seller says he had custom-made for his car. Not sure I'll be able to use them, but hey for only $50 extra it's worth finding out.

 

Thanks Kev, I've got to get it to a gearbox shop to open it up and check out how the synchro's and LSD pinions look, (I know precisely zero about gearboxes so I'm a bit hesitant to open it up myself) so I'm not sure yet whether I got a REALLY good deal, or a REALLY expensive paperweight, lol...

There is a number next to the clutch fork hole, it's too long for a model number, looks like a serial number. I'll post it up next time I get a chance to have a look at it, see if someone can identify it.

NFI on the driveshafts, all I know is that he had them custom made for his ST184.

 

Will do. I'll have another look at that serial number/build date/whatever on Saturday and post it up.

Thanks man, you should put up a ride thread about your car :thumbsup:

 

I do, they're still in the car, I haven't swapped them over yet. I can get a shipping quote but I fear you're right, it'll be like a phone number :lachtot

 

Maybe they just came from the factory pre-rusted, lol....

I picked up a NOS hatch seal on eBay for $60 recently, pretty happy with that.

Verdict on the gearbox came back today - New bearings, 3rd and 4th gear need replacing, synchro's on 2nd and one other i can't remember, and the diff needs new side gears. So not a complete basket case, but certainly not as cheap as I was hoping. Oh well, do it once do it right and all that...

 

On further investigation, it appears that the diff that came with my gearbox is actually a KAAZ unit not a Cusco, which is good because there is only two possible models of KAAZ that it could be (and only one of those would be likely), whereas there are about 6 different Cusco models that would fit that box, so parts are going to be easier to get for a KAAZ.

Pics for those interested:

The complete diff unit (the gearset out of the box is on the right)



The other side. Not very exciting.



Here you can see how the input splines on the side gear have been munched (circled in blue), probably due to the axles being installed by an idiot. My gearbox guy is going to try to straighten the splines up, if he can then I won't have to replace the side gears. Win.



And here's why I think it's a KAAZ not a Cusco - in the red circle above you can see the grooves in the clutch plate inside the diff. KAAZ LSD's have straight grooves in the plates:



Cusco LSD's have curved grooves in their clutch plates:

 

Ta

I've got a guy who works at a Toyota dealer looking after it, he's going to get the parts for me at his staff price :hurray

I have no idea, transmissions are voodoo to me. But Craig, my mechanic, said that only 3rd and 4th needed replacing and the rest were fine. He's worked at Toyota for 10 years so I trust him implicitly, I just told him to do whatever he would do if it belonged to him.

You tell me and we'll both know. Are they stamped into the gears?

Once again, voodoo

Nup, sorry, it wasn't a shop that had a hoard of them, it was just some guy who had one kicking around still in it's original packaging that he didn't need any more. The same guy, as it turned out when I went to pick it up, who I bought the rear spoiler for my car from! Small world.