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One Shite in Bangkok - '89 Corolla.


Guest Conan

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today is another update on the focusing on fixing trivial stuff while ignoring bigger issues the car might have.

 

To introduce you to the issue I'm having you have to imagine some stuff as I'm a muppet who don't have foresight to take a picture.

 

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One day I discovered a stain on the floor. Suspiciously like an oil leak which this engine has plenty of. But none quite so bad to leaving a mark so this is definitely unusual. Inspecting the engine bay revealed that this decent amount of leak came from the spacer which holds the oil filter in place. Circling in the picture. The purpose of which I'm sure an engineer back in Japan would've known full well but is completely lost on me.

 

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I got the spacer off and discovered that the o-ring turned into a plastic hoop with zero elasticity. Not great for sealing surface.

 

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So it just get bodged with some silicone gasket maker which works incredibly well. But it is a bodge, and surely no man can live without the thoughts of failure from bodging.

 

Replace the o-ring then! Only the closest one appears to be in Canada. I could get one made locally I guess but it would mean the car will get incapacitated for a while.

 

There is another option, however. As the spacer serve purposes not known to any man. Many people who run these things just use a union which eliminates it entirely. This would give the engine 2 less points of leaking and also moving the oil filter in away from the exhaust manifold, which keeps it away from the heat. I'm sure that will have a massive effect on so many things.

 

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Wait, this picture from a retailer is a great illustration of the issue. Why haven't I thought of this before.

 

I tried to see if anybody locally stock these union which seems incredibly useful for anyone with a 4A-GE 20V engine. A not entirely uncommon unit swapped in many Corollas locally. I turned up jack fucking shit, no one ever heard of this before.

 

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But thanks to the internet and affordable overseas shipping. I ended up just over(fort)night the part from New Zealand. 27 quid all in.

 

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I'm very sure they have some sort of purpose. But more than 20 years after they were installed, they have no place in an engine anymore. May one day, in the far future, you get recycled into something more useful.

 

Advantages don't seems to worth the effort, but as I said, this is focusing on fixing little stuff while ignoring more important issues. It is merely Mechanical Procrastinating.

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I can't see much point in the adaptor either....

Short casing oilfilter will be well away from the Ex downpipe.

I see now [as you said earlier] your oil filter is an easy access swap, unlike my 4A-F ... up under/blocked by plastic undertray.

;)

* passed MOT yesterday, no advisories.... So safe to tootle for another year.

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Some might say the adapter make more sense if the car has the stock exhaust fannymould with heat shield. I personally don't think it make much of a different. It does give easier access to a part which hardly is difficult to reach. Maybe it is just the Toyota way of making sure every knucklehead can service their car.

 

It still seems weird to me that 4A-F would have different oil filter position. The 1300cc 2E SOHC have it's filter at easy access location.

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  • 2 months later...
8 minutes ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

You lucky sod!

I’d love one myself, but they are so pricey and I can’t find a brown one.

You gonna hate me even more. I won the bloody thing on a local meet's lucky draw. ?

 

It's so crappily designed and made though so not really usable in the real world.

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36 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

I've used decent quality industrial silicon sealant on pumps manufactured for commercial vehicles, which the commercial vehicles manufacturer's complete approval.  I would not be too concerned about using it.  Make sure you don't use too much and it doesn't ooze everywhere.

 

 

I'm pretty sure too that it'd have held and I've since found local o-ring provider. But I like doing stuff unnecessarily.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I recently found something I really want on the classified, so I've put the Corolla up for sale, to exactly one person, the previous owner. I'll probably take 10,000 baht less than I've paid for it. Which due to the way your economy have been is £1,500 which is actually about the same as when I bought it a year and  a half ago and it means technically I will not lose money excluding maintenance and repairs. (I think that's how it works, eat your heart out Mike Brewer, Tyler Hoover etc.etc.). I am not putting this thing on sale properly because fuck having to deal with mouthbreather on the marketplace. It's the same fuckwits all around the world.

 

The previous owner actually wants to buy it back, but don't have the money right now. Which I'm kind of glad because I still feel I'm not finish with it yet.  But at the same time it's kind of a shame too because I've found my perfect next car. Everything I've always wanted and even my parents approved (which is extremely rare, considering what sort of car I always look for). It's slightly faster than the Corolla, more modern, better handling, parts are still quite plentiful, automatic so it's easy to operate in congestion, and the best of all is it's literally the only one of it's kind in the country. It's just not the right moment and I can't buy it without selling the Corolla.

 

So today I ordered some maintenance item and the journey will continues. Also, I've done 20,000km so that's a milestone! This thing have been great all around, can't complain. It's everything I need in a car and I definitely don't have any need to punt it on. But I can dream. Grass is greener. etc.etc.

 

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  • 1 month later...
23 minutes ago, Conan said:

bwaaa

whats the the thing up the exhaust for when it comes to a Dyno run? (tbh im curious just how the whole setup works :)

 

still hoping to or that someone will stick a Model 70 on a Dyno someday, not only just for the LOLs but I am also genuinely curious to see what figures come out :) (assuming one will even fit on the rollers! LOL although the Model 70 has the same rear track width as a Mini/Fiat 500 or thereabouts and I think plenty of those have been Dynoed, I guess it would be be more of a problem with a villiers powered machine as those are narrower (especially something like a Tippen Delta LOL) and are only 1 wheel drive LOL)

 

 

also didn't know @hairnet was making youtube videos...

 

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The exhaust thingamabob is air/fuel ratio sensor. ?

 

There are two types of dyno, rolling road and hub dyno. This one obv is hub, which relies on the pcd being common enough. But yes, an Invacar would work on the rolling road just fine. People have even dyno'ed kid's ride on toy car. ?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyWtoY7hW2k

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2 minutes ago, Conan said:

The exhaust thingamabob is air/fuel ratio sensor. ?

 

There are two types of dyno, rolling road and hub dyno. This one obv is hub, which relies on the pcd being common enough. But yes, an Invacar would work on the rolling road just fine. People have even dyno'ed kid's ride on toy car. ?

ah interesting yeah looking at the video again I see you have 1 of your wheels removed didn't quite noticed that at first!

not sure I have seen one like that before, I think iv mostly "seen" (as in on youtube/the internet) Rolling road Dyno's 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello Mr Conan , lovely car it's looks brand new . I am in Khao Lak on holiday , the car culture over here is fantastic old cars and new cars all modified with great personal touches . The drivers are all courteous and although busy they all smile and the traffic flows easily , lovely country . The open back pick up taxis are the best thing ever , sitting in the back watching the world disappear in the distance , wind in my hair , no air conditioning . I want to take one home so my wife can drive me about in style but the uk police would put a stop to all the fun ! 

 

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2 minutes ago, Jmac said:

Hello Mr Conan , lovely car it's looks brand new . I am in Khao Lak on holiday , the car culture over here is fantastic old cars and new cars all modified with great personal touches . The drivers are all courteous and although busy they all smile and the traffic flows easily , lovely country . The open back pick up taxis are the best thing ever , sitting in the back watching the world disappear in the distance , wind in my hair , no air conditioning . I want to take one home so my wife can drive me about in style but the uk police would put a stop to all the fun ! 

 

 

Thanks! The car doesn't look brand new in metal though. I'm planning on changing that soon.

 

You must be the only person who've come to this country and say the drivers are courteous. ? Joking aside, a lot of the traffic woes come from the jam itself and as soon as you remove that the drivers seem to be much better.  By law you aren't allowed on the back of pick ups but indeed it's really fun and nobody seems to care. My sister used to work in Phang Nga area and from the time I've been there it really is lovely as a holiday destination.

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