Toyota Cressida, a belated project thread

[philibusmo]

I think this will be appreciated here, although it is a bit late and has been on other forums. I will post the progress up to today direct from another forum, so ready yourself for some post spamming as you get upto speed on a months worth of work on a very cronky old shitter.

 

Well, a whole month went by without me buying a car, and with the Maxi going today, the time had come for a new and even more ambitious project.

Meet my new Toyota Cressida:

This is how it looked, sat in the same spot for 21 years (1 year longer than I have been alive) and looking very sorry for itself with rust freckles and a flat tyre. A quick look over the car showed that it was actually very solid.

650 notes later and I was the proud owner, now just to get it home.

The flat tyre took air and it had been left in neutral with the handbrake off, so after a couple of whacks with a hammer and the help of a breaker bar, the front discs were un-seized.

The next weekend I had aranged a transporter and was all ready to push it out and into the range of the tansporters winch. The tyre was flat and I didn't have a pump, so after a frantic scramble I borrowed one and got 20 psi in it. It was all going swimmingly, but then , whilst on gravel and almost within range of the transporter, it suddenly became difficult to push and the steering was fighting.

That's the problem right there.

After some more effort it was on the transporter and on its way to its new home.

First job was cleaning it and it has come up alright:

The paint is filthy so despite spong washing it and the hosing off, it still isn't remotly clean and will need some more going over, but the paint buffs up surprisingly well.

Amazing what a bit of T-cut will do, although I think the rust starins may require a more viscious compound, or run back and spray, or maybe just keep an eye on them, they are patina that the rat look boys can only dream of replicating.

Last job I managed before it got stupidly cold was to get the boot open, the lock had seized. Some WD40 and leaving it 20 minutes and it popped open without issue, to reveal a mint boot floor, although the carpet it filthy.

The interior is dirty but almost mint. A quick hooevr out should see it right.

 

Jobs for tomorrow. Hoover interior, then see if it will turn over and if it does, why not try and get it running? It would be practically MOT worthy then, as I am yet to find any structural rot (or even anything past surface rust) which is pretty amazing.

[philibusmo]

pent almost a full day on it today, and made some good progress.

First I would just like to thank choaky for helping me claen it yesterday (as can be seen in the photo of the guy diligantly polsihing the rear wing) as it was taking me ages.

 

I opened up the garage door bright and early to be met by the sight of its yellow rump:

I think the rear ligths might be my favourite design aspect of this car.

But anyway, I quickly set to work on hoovering out and generally cleaning the interior which is now in a state that someone might reasonably entertain sitting in it. The interior also has some lovely details:

And the milage, which judging by the excellent condition of the interior and exterior is genuine.

With that seen to I then unwound the sparkplugs which were black and ruined and popped some oil down the bores, before setting to work again polishing.

This one shows the difference a bit of t-cut is making. The left has had a quick buff up and the right has only had a wash with zip-wax. The biggest difference I have ever seen first hand on a car.

And this is what the T-Cut has to contend with, the rust acne.

 

From here it was all basic mechanical work, I stuck a socket and ratchet on the crank pulley and with a bit of resistance to get it going the engine then began turning over like with almost no effort, and a quick peek down the oil filler cap confirmed that the cam was moving as it should.

With this I then pulled of the coil lead and nicked the battery from the MR2 for a quick go with the starter motor, which again worked without issue. As I now had electricity, I tried out all the equipment and everything except the passenger side washer jet is working perfectly. I was quite amazed.

I then attached the coil lead and went to fire it up with new spark plugs, but nothing, I checked an had a spark but after quite a bit of cranking the spark plugs weren't even slightly wet. I checked and the fuel pump was working and drawing through fuel (all be it 21 year old fuel) so I think the carb jet is blocked. A job for next weekend as by this point it was getting a little dark and murderously cold.

Still I am pleased, the engine turns over and I have a spark so I am half way there as it is. Just need to clean the carb and see if it needs anything else to get it going, then the obvious tyre issue (I am on the lookout for some 114.3pcd wheels with tyres just to get me through an MOT) and then replace the brakes, if I can get hold of the parts. There must be a good source of bits somewhere?

[philibusmo]

Small update; it starts!

Bit of fuel down the carb and started as soon as the key was turned. The pickup from the petrol tank seems to be blocked though so the tank is in the process of being dropped off, but rain has put that off for another day. Still a very pleasing development.

And I'm glad people like it, I really wasn't sure with this one.

[philibusmo]

Bit more progress. The car now starts on the key. The fuel pickup in the tank was blocked and in addition, all the petrol in the tank had evaporated. With these cleaned up and some petrol lobbed in the tank it starts and runs perfectly. Except it is belching out black smoke as the auto-choke is stuck open. Oh well, a splash of WD40 and it will work like a dream. I am a very optermistic person. But I let it run up to temperature and then changed the oil, and filter. I am not sure what happens to oil after 21 years dormant, but it didn't half smell unusual.

One small issue was that when it was running it was quite incredibly noisy, all due to the back box on the exhaust. I think here I will let the picture explain the issue:

As you can see from the picture, it has been cut from the pipe. As Cressidas are a little on the unusual side, exhausts are not available for them, well atleast not in my budget of 48P. So a little ingenuity was needed. A spare exhaust for a 950/1100 mk1 Fiesta was found in the loft and the angle grinder and welder were put to good use to create this custom rear exhaust section.:

It only took a few hours to make up and fits pretty much perfectly, using all the original hangers and some of the original pipe.

With this done and waiting for the exhaust putty to set, work started on the front brakes, so the caliper was removed and pumped out and in. Despite looking very rusty on the outside, it seems to work just fine. So that is a big plus.

And here is how it currently stands, waiting for work to re-commence tomorrow:

Pretty long 'ey?

[philibusmo]

The Cressida now has a 'fresh' set of boots. By fresh I actually mean £15 worth of second hand low grade tyres, should get me though the MOT atleast, although the lower profile makes the wheels look lost in the arches at the moment, but don't expect it to be this tall on these wheels forever.

It also moves, backwards and forward! Although, I don't yet know if it will get out of first. So this afternoon I wandered outside to sort out its appaling overheating problem and its tendancy to dump entire oil fields of petrol down its throat every time you start it up. I addition I thought I would change the alternator belt, so I set to this first, but my new alternator belt was for a Yugo Sana, or a Triumph Acclaim or a Citroen Dyane, but definatly not a Toyota Cressida, so I scrapped that plan and got on with popping off the thermostat housing to find out if the thermostat is working.

There's the problem right there.

In addition I pulled off the top and bottom hoses, and flushed the radiator, which didn't look too bad. I then jammed the hose in the thermostat hole in the block and nothing came out the bottom, turned out that the pipe going from the water pump to the bottom hose was blocked an inch thick with solid gunk, which was suprisingly difficult to remove.

Happy with my work there, I moved onto the carb. The problem was fairly obvious; the auto choke was seized and was not moving at all, stuck almost fully open.

The carb was seeming to come off easily enough, until it came to the fuel line which had two possible ways of removal. First I tried the bolt direct onto the carb. Would not move at all. So then I tried the union that is connected just below, which had the good grace to sheer off instantly, thus leaving me with a crab that is free to move, but a broken union that needs replacing. Please tell me that these are fairly generic and not Toyota specific parts:

In the space of one afternoon, I have gone from a working Cressida to one with broken fuel line, disconnected cooling system and no alternator belt.

I am hoping to have an MOT before March 25th to take it to the Retro Rides beach meet. Wish me luck.

[philibusmo]

Got a little more done today, although not as much as I would have wanted as I am waiting for some parts, just got a few small things done, like getting the second choke un-seized so now the carb is in full working order and getting the windscreen washers working.

I wanted to do a spot of grinding and welding, but it was so windy today that there was no point even considering it, not that there is that much to do anyway, just a small patch in each fromt arch and check a slightly crusty looking bit on the passenger sill. Everything else I am waiting for parts to do.

Job list before the 25th March:

Fix the fuel line with a new banjo union.

Fit thermostat and housing.

New coolant.

Secure Battery.

Check rust on the sill.

Grind back and weld small patch in each front arch.

Fit new alternator belt.

Fit new Windscreen Wipers.

Clean up drivers side brake caliper.

Clean and service rear brakes and handbrake linkage.

Clean and replace solid brake pipes.

Replace brake fluid.

Change Auto-box oil.

MOT.

Tax.

Insure.

Drive around like a boss.

 

There, you're now up to speed with all things Yellow and Cressida shaped. Well atleast for a few days anyway.

[Wilko220]

What a beaut - and what a fantastic project! Good luck with the parts situation...

[purplebargeken]

Cor! What an absolute peach of a car. Love the details and the colour. I have no idea about the parts but you might get some ideas from here:

 

http://toyotaowners.net/toyota-forum/fo ... ay.php?f=8

 

Take the old belt down to a local old boy motor factors and ask if you can trawl through their big box of alternator belts, you might get lucky. I'd be very surprised if it didn't match with something in stock.

[Shep Shepherd]

Been following the car's progress on RR (where I lurk). I hope that it remains fairly standard, unlike some of the the cars on there...

[trigger]

I think this car rocks a phat one, I thought the hole in my exhaust was bad!

[carlo]

Lovely car, lovely colour; really like yellow cars. Reminds me of my 1978 Datsun Laurel 200C I had in a similar colour a long while ago.

[Skizzer]

Lovely car, great save . I remember these being pretty classy when they where new.

 

Don't you dare lower it!

[STUNO]

MY FATHER HAD OHE OF THOSE etc.....

His First Toyota. And it was Beige all over. I drove it a couple of times and liked it because it was new! It didn't last long though......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that was due to mother unintentionally parking it on the railway lines after going to sleep at the wheel.

Was replaced by the next version of the same. But she survived to wreck more Toyotas.

[ProgRocker]

Excellent work! All the best in getting it road legal and ready for Retro Rides.

 

Big yellow cars, ftw.

[eddyramrod]

I can't see your pics, so have one of mine instead...

 

 

This was mine in 1986, and died to cover a repair bill on another car (I've forgotten which). I remember it being very comfy and pretty powerful given it was only a two-litre four in quite a big body. As others have said, lowering would be wrong, but it's going to be a lovely thing when it's up and running. I look forward to a photo of it that I can actually see...

[dollywobbler]

Great stuff but good grief those tyres look tiny! Good luck with getting it sorted. Good progress.

[philibusmo]

Some more progress today, and I need progress, the MOT is booked for Monday!

For starters the front calipers are both free and seem to be stopping the car without issue, when freeing up the drivers side one a small hole was spotted, which then slowly grew bigger the more it was poked. No big deal, nice flat area with easy access.

Would be prettier if I had more time because it was whilst fixing this that a much larger hole was spotted in a box section running next to the strut top in an almost inaccessable area and housing a massive amount of wiring loom.

This took almost a whole afternoon to rectify and even with the front suspension dismantled was difficult to get to so is also not the prettiest weld in the world.

It was much the same story in the same place on the other side, but thankfully not quite as bad.

 

At which point the local 'caranvan enthusiasts' turned up and asked if we would like the drive paved: no.

tarmaced? No.

Is the Volvo for sale: No.

How much do you want for it if it was for sale: It's not for sale.

Are any of the cars for sale: No

None of them? We are not buying or selling anything.

So as the Cressida is now back on its wheels with functioning brakes and moves backwards and forwards exactly as it should, it is blocked in by 3 cars, 2 moderns with imobilisers and central locking and my Sierra with the coil HT lead missing and the steering lock engaged.

 

The carb was being a bit of a pain when we did start it back up, idling at 3100RPM, which was far from ideal, a quick fiddle at the back of the carb with the various linkages and something went click causing it to run perfectly. I just wish I knew what.

 

Jobs for tomorrow are to weld a small patch in the rear wheel arch and get the reverse lights working, then if I have time, make sure the rear brakes are all working as they should. Then it is MOT time.

[SambaS]

*points at Cressida* HAVE YOU SEEN THAT!! Awesome =)

[vulgalour]

a quick fiddle at the back of the carb with the various linkages and something went click causing it to run perfectly. I just wish I knew what.

 

Don't you just love it when cars don't let you learn something new? Still, at least whatever it was means it works better and good luck with the impending MoT!

[philibusmo]

Well I have finished for today.

I have got the reverse lights working and the rear brakes are working fine, even all the welding is done, it's just the carb which worries me for the mot tomorrow. It seems to be running really rich and is refusing to idle properly without getting under the bonnet, adjusting the weird little lever until it clicks and then mucking about with the idle screw. Something it not right, I just wish I knew what. I'm still going to take it for the mot tomorrow, but if it passes emissions I will be amazed.

Wish me luck.

[SambaS]

Best of luck haha

[philibusmo]

It Passed!

Now I just have to wait to get home from work to see how long the advisory sheet is.

[trigger]

Yay! Well done!

[boobydoo]

Excellent!

It's always nice to see an unloved classic getting top treatment! I always liked the style of these.

[dollywobbler]

Good news indeed. Have a happy.

[vulgalour]

Good news! Hope you can find out what the problem is, sounds like an odd one.

[ProgRocker]

Wow! Brilliant news.

[HillmanImp]

That's great.

 

I reckon you should chop its springs, put some deep dish alloys on it and cover it with stickers, so it looks 'original' like every other old Jap car I see these days.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Excellent work, congratulations on getting it legal! What a brilliant car.

 

How great is this detail - it's the kind of badge you'd find on a wheelie suitcase.

[philibusmo]

Well the Cressida made it to the beach and back again with no hiccups, unfortunatly it wasn't me driving as it turns out that Insurance companies want a million pounds as a massive yellow car that is almost topped out at 60MPH is just far to fast and dangerous for me to be driving. Coincidentally, Honda Prelude 2.2Vtec, Mazda MX5 1.8, Ford Sierra 2.0 DOHC and Ford Granada 2.3 V6 4X4 RS are all perfectly insurable for me. Go figure.

It is now to be found on ebay to make way for a new project once the Fiesta is done:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251032281373? ... 1586.l2649