Finally more mods taking place on the GTS racecar!

No that it the same dash that was red (burgandyish) before, just decided to paint it black to fit my IMSA GTO Celica theme!



racerb :science2

 

Glad I decided to tear this JDM engine down before istalling it in my car! I bought it several years ago from a former member on here and I knew that it had been in a flood, but didn't quite expect this........


I had flushed this engine several times and placed fresh oil in both the cylinders and the bottom end, was kinda surprised to see this much sludge! Like I said, glad I decided to go through it and hone the cylinders, replace piston rings, mains, rod bearings, thrust washers, guides/shims, and all seals/gaskets. In other words, I'm glad I talked myself into an entire engine re-build....

racerb sad5

 

Not much progress lately, but did figure out my corner light support issue and blanking off the hole behind the left front headlight. Needed to blank this area off so I could run my 3" air duct/intake threw without heated air traveling outward. It might not be needed but it will look cool when finished.... First the corner light supports.....http://smg.photobucket.com/user/rac...licaMods001-1_zpsb4de9cea.jpg.html?sort=3&o=6

 

Not much work on the Celica lately, but did make up some nifty brake bleeder bottles to use on the Celica and very soon on the Yaris STF Auto-X project. Check these out, even used 1/16" cable so I can hang them from a wheel stud, let me know if you guys would like a set? I'm thinking of selling these for $10 a set plus shipping......



racerb

 

Started re-assembling the rear suspension after additional mods, removed brake line supports, modified camber plates for even more negative camber, and painted shock towers! I have decided to paint the entire cabin white with just the dash and maybe roll cage black, but not sure on the cage just yet. I'm considering using the new 3M Paint Defender system after everything is painted inside and out, just to give these new paint finishes a chance to last a little longer!!

http://www.amazon.com/3M-90000-Paint-Defender-Spray/dp/B00BSKYM82

racerb :science

 

A little more work today, replaced rear hub bearings and installed new seals, painted up the hub itself in preparation for the ARP wheel studs.



racerb :science

 

Installed new ARP studs (IS300) into the rear hubs today and then pressed hub assembly into the bearing/carrier units. Like it says I used IS300 wheel studs, they fit perfect and are quite a bit cheaper than the Celica studs, even a little less than the Mitsu EVO studs I almost bought. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the finished product and also start re-assembling the rear of the car again.

racerb :science

 

A few pics of the new hub and wheel stud set up, studs are threaded to the ends, which since we don't do pit stops are just fine......

And a big thank you to 86celicast for the super nice Brembo rear rotors, can't wait to put some heat into those.......



racerb :driving

 

Started breaking down the front '88 hubs today, found one bearing completely smoked and a bearing race totally ground, I'll post pics tomorrow. Will throw them in the parts washer and might even media blast them prior to re-painting and installing longer studs and new bearings and seals.

racerb :eng101

 

Started cleaning the hubs, man are they nasty so it's probably a definite media blast in their future.....


Also compared the destroyed bearing race to a standard race, somebody put the wrong bearing in I do believe.....That's the standard race on the right, not sure where the left one came from, but not right part.....


Now to decide which bearings I want to use on these hubs, I'm leaning toward the SKFs, and save the Timkens for later.....


racerb :eng101

 

Got one of the front hubs all cleaned up and re-painted today, ended up not needing to media blast, a good old wire brush did the trick......
Before: After:

Also decided to through a little color on the brake booster while I had it out.....
Before: After:
Almost the exact color of the GTS valve covers, may paint them to if not as close as I would like.

racerb :idea

 

Tore apart the interior yesterday, and started repainting mostly the firewall in preparation for re-hanging brake and clutch pedal assemblies. The rest of the interior will be repainted when the car goes to the body shop, maybe? Had to get the firewall re-done in order the hang components on both sides and try to finish under hood items. I'll post up some pics of my progress later.
Here's the firewall after painting.....

And here is one of my Shop Dogs, her name is Daisy.....,


racerb

 

Yeah the ARP studs are like 2 3/4" long, factory are just about 1"-1 1/4" long. I did find some slightly longer replacement studs (about 20mm longer) for the front, so might just run them there. Also I'm going to run spacers all around, probably something like 5-10mm up front and 15-20mm at the rear. One of my wheel choices is a NASCAR style wheel that may not require spacers, so I'll just have to test different set ups. http://www.bassettwheel.com/dhole_lightweight.html

racerb :science2

 

Been working on and off this week, lots of side projects going on, but have made a little progress. Got a few more under hood items buttoned up.....

Also made a bit of headway in the firewall/dashboard area with pedal cluster and dash support.....


More to come......

racerb :corsair