So for the most part all the work is done. The car passed licensing first go no problems with the parting comments "You've clearly put a lot of effort into getting it ready".
All up it ended up receiving:
New Gabriel shocks all around. Fantastic ride, probably a little on the stiff side for a daily but handles beautifully (and due to a stuff up at supercheap for less than $200!)
Replaced front upper mount bearings.
New Prothane bushes all round, except for superpro rear sway bar bushings.
Out of the 5 sets of rear control arms it got the straitest (with the intent of hex bar going on the track cars).
New ball joints all round.
New steering arms, joints and boots.
Steering Rack repacked and new bushes
New rear bearings (front to come shortly)
All suspension and steering components cleaned and/or resprayed
Underbody seam rust patches (very minor) repaired and underbody and wheel wells resprayed.
CV boots inspected, repacked and replace.
Transmission converted to E51 manual with short throw bracket.
Auto loom modified to accept manual without faults, but left in place for the option of returning to built plate original if an auto becomes available.
Rebuilt 4AGZE, new rings, bearings, shims, baffled sump, usual ignition replaced, HKS crank pulley upgrade (neglected to measure it), Camry cam tensioner pulley fitted to increase charger and crank pulley belt contact (about 250degrees on both with no slippage thus far), factory intake and cooler with airbox opened up for better airflow (spare factory box) additional IC fan and water sprayers, ABV plumbed into VSV and positive pressure port to accept additional boost into the ABV without hammering the valve.
New clutch assembly.
Replaced all engine bay radiator hoses and worm clamps.
Retained factory oil cooler.
Retained factory engine bay fan.
New filters etc.
Custom 2.5inch exhaust incorporating a magnaflow high flow 500cpi bullet cat, minimum radius mandrel bends (nothing tighter than 4inch radius), 18inch resonator (hot dog muffler) with 18in 4x8 strait through muffler and factory double tip. Soon to have 4-1 equal length headers.
Resprayed engine bay in new white with clear.
resprayed front chin spoiler.
New front grille.
Removed, repaired and resprayed body and bumper parts with rust inhibiting one coat pressure pack (if matt to satin black is the finish you're after its the best stuff I used amongst all the products I tried throughout the process).
Removed, cleaned and repaired front lights.
Removed and resealed tail lights with neoprene weather seal.
remove front guards to clear debris, clean inner guards and polish around side repeaters.
Reseal targa outer seals with sikaflex (needs a bit more coverage but worked well enough for a 10 minute fix).
Clean and repair roof mouldings and rust repair hidden seams and respray under covers.
Respray frunk and boot (for rust protection)
Install sound deadening around front wheel wells and under frunk covers.
Clean interior carpets, repair dash, centre console and cluster plastic fittings.
Install 4inch speakers all around with Toyota factory head unit from 2013 Hilux, bluetooth audio, phone, reversing camera (yet to be fitted), USB, 6stacker and audio in. (it's the green backlit version too!) This did require trimming plastic from the head unit surround, not ideal but a small sacrifice that can be reverted if need be.
Removed Auto idiot lights and replaced with digital boost gauge (cluster untouched to enable return to stock later).
Polished the **** out of some corolla wheels that came with another car to roll it around (those wheels were painted silver and I sanded through the skin on my fingers on three separate occasions getting the finish back to flat smooth bare metal).
Cut the **** out of it, clay bar treatment and then NXT wax. The paint felt like sandpaper before the clay treatment now its smooth as glass.
All original pin striping and stickers. The "twin cam 16 G" sticker on the tail light is almost faded away completely though.
And the Pièce de résistance, AW11 custom "classic" license plates.
Future plans include rebuilding a spare SC12 and rebuilding the original engine into a 7AGZE; I may or may not do this, and I may or may not use it but its all about the process.
Currently building custom door skins too look like an alternative factory finish, in the same guise as GT86 doors. These will have no impact on the metal door skin or damage anything factory.
Install 6.5in speakers and repair factory amp to drive them.
Repair the drivers skirt (currently damaged)
Find nicer wheels with a bit more of a flush finish.
Replace sound deadening with more strategic placing for better and lighter effect.
Finish water sprayer.
Finish custom headers, equal length, long finish and replace hot dog with a better muffler to shut it up!
Repair crack in the dash near the clock and remove the two dents in the body.
Replace the interior light cover.
Up until recently I had no need for the car so it's been a slow process working on it for the odd hour here and there but it's nice to be on the road and close to perfect, just the few things above and it'll be like new.
It's also worth noting I did everything by waiting for specials, ordering online, using generic replacements, custom making, cleaning or repairing everything. Every part and piece is intact and accounted for or can be reverted back to build plate original. I don't want to say it's the most original or cleanest AW11 in Australia, because there are a lot of cars and a lot of claims, and this has had a lot of improvisation but it's ****ing close.
post edited by worldwalker - 2013/12/02 18:01:06