I want it done and on the road for 2021 haha pray for me no cool finds of any sort I was hoping to have a sard ECU but unfortunately that wasn’t the case I did how ever manage to bag my self another cheap soarer that has a full black interior in it to which will be going into mine. {} I have this car now fully stripped The dash needs a good clean and I’m going to be painting the wood effect trims on it to either Matt or gloss black and I’m also going to be wrapping a few interior trims in some black alcantara. Before this happens though Im at the stage of changing a few bits over from under the dash like the support bar and a few other bits. I also need to attend to the inside of the roof as it’s slightly started to surface rust. Once I’m happy with the inside I will start to put bits back in but won’t complete the inside until paint is done on the outside as I don’t want to risk primer / dust getting on the nice clean black interior. then it’s full steam ahead on the engine bay
Brilliant project, I will be following this one. People have used the R154 or W58 gearboxes for manual conversions in the past, R154 is stronger.
Thats a good goal for 2021..I am thinking the same for my project but then again I have been building it for the last 4/5 years lol
Haha madness, although it’s easily done as life just gets in the way for most. I’m very fortunate that I have my own bodyshop / space / tools to be able to push things through quicker than most.
Managed to grab 5 minutes this eve to remove the dash / steering rack support bar that’s behind the dash to send it off to be powder coated as the one in the soarer I’m fixing is so rusty it’s not even worth sending off to the powder coaters and as you can see this is the one from the donor car and it’s still a bit rusty. {} Now I know you’re think ‘ why ‘ it’s not seen but it’s only going to get more and more rusty so some protection on it will prolong its life. The question is do I be sensible with it and keep it looking OEM or do I go mad just for a larf and have it some mad colour as it’s not seen.
haha yes! I started mine just as I started my engineering degree.. full time study and full time work didn't leave much time. Thankfully now I am near complete with rebuilding a new wiring loom so she is close to being started and running! Hope to do a build thread once I get to that stage and cramp 4/5 years progress overnight lol
total random small update to keep this alive, Progress is being made but still on the inside. As I’m putting a full black interior in this i just had to do away with the ‘ wood ‘ finish trims in the dash and door cards so decided on keeping it super clean and going gloss black. The steering wheel from the black interior had the wrong style horn / air bag Center so I removed the one from mine and painted that black using a leather dye. Still waiting on the dash support bar to be powder coated and I’m collecting some bits next week like another electronic steering tilt / ignition barrel and a few other dash trims that are black. {} {} {}
Got the dashboard / steering column support bar back today. I had this finished in a fine texture black and I know it’s hidden out of the way but wow I’m really impressed with the finish. I will be having some engine parts done in this for sure. I’m collecting more parts Monday so hopefully by next weekend if all goes to plan I will have some of the interior back in and the engine should be coming out in the next couple of weeks. {} {}
when 2 steering wheels become 1. I Wanted a black steeeing wheel using the original horn push Center Out of the soarer I’m restoring but obviously it was grey so I removed the black one from the donor car removed the grey horn push, painted it black using a black leather dye and then conditioned them both together. Here’s the finished wheel. {} {} {} {}
I think the leather should absorb it so it doesn’t look as glossy although I think the finish of the leather has a satin look to it
Thanks mate, weirdly I’m really keen on giving this a cross breed of class and drift. Been really considering a manual conversion and supercharging it so if I wanting to do skid in this I could haha aswell as throwing in a few subtle mods to show that it means business
I Managed to remove the compete heater matrix from the donor car to use for parts on mine as mine is slightly different so I will be making the best out of the two I possibly can. I pulled the plugs from the engine this eve and put some oil down them to soak over night to see if we can turn the engine over by hand first before going any further. The engine will be removed regardless of what happens and depending on the out come I’m hoping best case scenario is I pull it apart to just clean it and have bits painted but that we shall know more of tomorrow. The plugs look good which is already a good sign so I’m hoping for the best and also the cambelt looks in good shape and can still see the original writing on it although this will be getting replaced also. So far so good and looking forward to moving on from the interior. {} {} {} {} {} {} {}
The 1UZ is free and turns over by hand which is a massive relief and makes the whole build that little more easier. I have ordered a cambelt, water pump and tensioner, I will be replacing the head gaskets and removing the sump and resealing that also. I got a few more parts done on the interior, I dyed a part of the centre console black as the actual black leather one was broken unfortunately. I painted more of a OEM looking switch to work the fog lights as it’s an aftermarket mod I believe for imports which looks so nice in place like its meant to be there. {} {} {} {} {}
Performance upgrades LSD Removed from the donor car that’s going into mine {} sard induction kit ordered ( waiting on delivery ) thanks to Jonny at tegiwa for sourcing this. {} I also changed over the handbrake from the donor car as my one was abit warn. {} {} I had to also change over the switch on the handbrake and a few bolts and replace the locking / parking pin in the automatic gear changer as I had to break mine to pull it out of the hedge due to not being able to get it out of park.