Shite Down Under - Elderly Motors For Elderly People - Let There Be Light

[Noel Tidybeard]

4 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

A package has arrived from that there China containing some electrical goodies.

I sense some bodgery in my future.

how can it be classed as bodgery with proper white plastic ends- that's factory that is ?

[mat_the_cat]

13 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

A package has arrived from that there China containing some electrical goodies.

I sense some bodgery in my future.

What are they for?

[MorrisItalSLX]

Electrical bodgery has now taken place.

Note the burn marks due to cack-handed soldering.

Can you guess what it is yet? Answers on a postcard.

[LightBulbFun]

7 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Can you guess what it is yet? Answers on a postcard.

some sort of radio loom adapter thing?  

[MorrisItalSLX]

It’s time to spill the beans, it is a radio loom adapter, but it is for connecting rear speakers to a front speaker only head unit. I have been searching high and low for a Toyota single din cassette stereo that doesn’t require a security code and is compatible with rear speakers, but they are very scarce, so this is the solution I have gone with.

To begin, my favourite* automotive job, dashboard dismantling.

The adapter cable worked a treat and I was able to track down some trim rattles to silence.

The other job was to install some new rear speakers, I’ll spare you the details as it involved some less than ideal methods of fitment utilising a hammer and an engineer’s chisel but the outcome looks smart.

To cut a long story short, they work and they work well (and I hate taking interiors apart).

Also, on the way home it hit 172,000Km, that’s 12,000 in my ownership.

Update: I have killed the backlight on the stereo, oh well.

[MorrisItalSLX]

I decided to go for a drive in the bushfire ravaged national park, these photos where taken 10 kilometres from my house.

[Asimo]

Be very interested to see the same views in a year or three, to see what grows back and when.

[Lankytim]

Are those trees now all dead or will they recover? 

[MorrisItalSLX]

2 hours ago, Lankytim said:

Are those trees now all dead or will they recover? 

Most will recover, new growth will sprout from the living core of the trunk and the burnt outer layer will peel away. It’s been about 2 weeks since the fire went through that area and the new sprouts are beginning to appear, it helped that it has rained since as this promotes the new growth in the trees and scrub.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Here are some more pictures from my trip down to Tallowa Dam, Kangaroo Valley.

These pictures are looking down to the Kangaroo River (Lake Yarrunga).

More burnt bushland, the fire was not as intense here so there is still evidence of leaves and shrubbery.

The fire didn’t jump the road in spots, so we can see the before and after.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Looks like Barry has been to town.

[MorrisItalSLX]

My job takes me to some interesting places.

I decided to proceed on foot from here. In other news, 15,000 kilometres have been covered in my year of ownership.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Regular viewers will recall my hunt for the ideal stereo for the Corolla, it resulted in a radio/cassette that needed an adapter lead for the rear speakers.

But, there has been a new development.

Cast your eyes to the top of the right stack, there we have a late 90s radio/cassette with rear speaker capability and the rare optional external CD player.

The only issue is that I now have to find a home for the CD player.

Ideally the radio/cassette would go in the same place and the CD player would go in the double din pocket along with a single din pocket, but the cable is not long enough. Plan B is to put both units in the double din area and a pocket in the old radio position, but this means the controls and display would be difficult to see, including the clock.

I think the best route would be to lengthen the cables, but the lazy option would be far easier. Decisions, decisions. Either way, the remaining din hole will receive one of these cup holder units to add some much needed drinks storage.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Had a flat tyre yesterday, tyre shop found a pinhole in the sidewall so put a new one on. Quite convenient as the tyre shop in question is opposite my work so and they  did it in my lunch break.

[MorrisItalSLX]

This post is predominantly for my personal records, Mileage as of today:

But, you can look forward to me attempting to remove a dent with a crowbar in a future post, proving once again that I am by no means a panel beater.

Have a bonus highly suggestive flyer about Subscriber Trunk Dialing, Because why not.

[MorrisItalSLX]

As per my previous post, I’ve been attempting to remove a dent in the passenger door.

After the rubber bump strip fell off (That’s 3 out of 4 doors to have this happen) the existing dent became very obvious. So firstly, the window winder needed to come off, which is quite the fiddle and necessitated the fabrication of a specialty tool.

The winder is held in place with a (very strong) wire clip behind the trim ring that need to be extracted. With this done the armrest and door handle could be removed and the door card unclipped.

This is when the crowbar was introduced. By placing it between the door skin and the big safety girder, that I was pleasantly surprised to find, the dent could be teased out. As you have probably guessed, this was not the neatest solution, but the “imperfections” would be hidden by the bump strip so I continued.

Whilst in the door, I found this little piece of history.

It appears that someone has knocked in the lock and illegally gained access to relive the previous owner of their belongings. The replacement lock is keyed alike so it has been repaired properly.

Back on topic, with the dent improved the door card was put back and the bump strip stuck on, obscuring the worst of my repair. The end result was deemed a success.

(Pardon my appalling photography, it was late in the evening.)

It should be noted that after I mastered the art of removing the window winders I repositioned the rest so they all are at 2 o’clock when the window is full up. Yes, that’s how sad I am.

[Conan]

I find that if the window winders are held by OE clip it's really easy to remove. I've done it with metal ruler. But if it's an item that came with aftermarket window winders it's damn near impossible, I once had to drilled the winder out. This is because original equipment have little prong that sticks out of the door card while the aftermarket item doesn't.

[MorrisItalSLX]

This is the clip in question, the handles are not aftermarket (to the best of my knowledge).

(Stock image from the internet, my handles are brown and made of unobtanium, muck like the rest of the interior trim.)

The tricky bit was getting to the clip as there was no gap between the handle and door card, only a couple millimetres to play with.

[MorrisItalSLX]

Another year, another pass with flying colours.

I was a little concerned that the oil leak from the camshaft seal would be an issue, but it is apparently only a slight weep, so no problems to worry about.

I also renegotiated my insurance and saved $300 for the year which was a nice little bonus.

Now that it is fit for another year on the road I’m thinking about replacing the tired shock absorbers, so watch this space.

[MorrisItalSLX]

An unusual weekend brimming with motivation has resulted in me washing the car.

Paint has been polished and waxed, the interior has been hoovered and the exterior plastics have been coated in pale boiled linseed oil, something I have been meaning to experiment with and the results are excellent.

[MorrisItalSLX]

SHIT AND PISS.

Driving home this afternoon the Corolla decided first gear was surplus to requirements and started slipping under any load. I managed to get home by holding it in second, where I parked up for the night. This morning I went to investigate the issue and found that it is now stuck in park and cannot be moved at all.

BOLLOCKS.

Fluid level was showing on the dipstick when I checked it hot last night, but there is evidence of fluid around what appears to be a breather on top of the gearbox. My friendly mechanic has been consulted on the phone and deemed the gearbox “cactus”, further diagnosis will follow during the week.

ARSE.

[MorrisItalSLX]

The verdict is in:

[Parky]

Massive pisser.  Must be decent secondhand replacement boxes around though?

[MorrisItalSLX]

So, where do I go from here?

The Corolla will live on, plain and simple. I’ve tracked down a second hand gearbox from a breaker which is being prepared as we speak. This will be then installed in the Corolla along with a service kit to get it back on the road.

In the short term, presuming the replacement gearbox is good, It’ll keep it going until further notice. Long term, the old gearbox will be stashed away earmarked for a rebuild when funds allow. But I’m also looking into converting from the 3 speed to a 4 speed overdrive unit with torque converter lock up. It’s a bit of a pipe dream, but not completely daft considering this model was fitted new with the 4 speed and it would be a big improvement in many regards.

But, for now, just getting it going will be a vast improvement.

[MorrisItalSLX]

5 minutes ago, Parky said:

Massive pisser.  Must be decent secondhand replacement boxes around though?

Second hand boxes are available, but are getting thin on the ground, three speed boxes especially. This is one of the reasons I want to go four speed, along with improvements in performance, economy and robustness.

Im especially pissed off as I just spent the weekend prior cleaning and polishing the ungrateful bastard!

[Rod/b]

Will a V6 and box out of a Camry fit?

[dollywobbler]

Ugh. Bad times. Glad you're going with the box swap.

[Parky]

The 7th gen after yours shared some (all?) engines and they had four speeders so hopefully one will fit as and when you get to it.

Am kiwi bound in a few weeks and one of these is on my radar as a runaround.  Had one when I lived there before, I should have locked it in a barn before I left

[SmokinWaffle]

16 minutes ago, Rod/b said:

Will a V6 and box out of a Camry fit?

Asking the real questions

[MorrisItalSLX]

39 minutes ago, Rod/b said:

Will a V6 and box out of a Camry fit?

Don’t you be giving me ideas. That being said, I’m borrowing my Mum’s car at the moment and I wonder if she wound notice if her engine went missing?

They did do a TRD supercharged version, ideal donor car.

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/2007-trd-aurion-3500sl-auto/SSE-AD-6793039

Also, I’ve just realised that the totally fucking fucked chap looks just like a clean shaven me. It’s an omen.