EightMegs' Terrible Toyotas BREAKDOWN IN PROGRESS

[EightMegs]

Finally got to pull Scarlet the Starlet out of a shed in Galway.

 

Bringing it back to Kilkenny.

Here it is in its new home, ready for the lean-to to be built over it.

[Spurious]

My first car was a 97 D reg Starlet. The thing was unburstable. It did everything I ever asked of it and I should have kept it. 

Sold it for €450 which was one of my more daft decisions. 

Very fond of them, love to see more of this one. It's the little 4e-fe too isn't it? 

[EightMegs]

1 hour ago, Spurious said:

My first car was a 97 D reg Starlet. The thing was unburstable. It did everything I ever asked of it and I should have kept it. 

Sold it for €450 which was one of my more daft decisions. 

Very fond of them, love to see more of this one. It's the little 4e-fe too isn't it? 

Unfortunately this one has a 2E-E. My first car was a '98 with a 4E-FE but it rotted through the A-pillar and I got rid of it.

[Dirk Diggler]

My first car was 87-CW-557, a boxy 4 speed 1 litre

[EightMegs]

 

 

Harris the Yaris almost got through the NCT after attacking the rear chassis leg with a Lidl welder and some 1.5mm plate, so I decided not to take any chances on the retest and adjusted both rear brakes with the handbrake cable slackened off before getting it tested on the local Toyota dealer's brake test lane. The imbalance has thankfully dropped to 10%.

[Cord Fourteener]

Thats some fine Galway shed dust on that Starlet!

Whats the plan? Recommisioning or are you going to literally turn it into a storage shed?

[EightMegs]

7 hours ago, Tim_E said:

Thats some fine Galway shed dust on that Starlet!

Whats the plan? Recommisioning or are you going to literally turn it into a storage shed?

The plan is recommissioning it because they're getting quite rare here nowadays due to a firm not far from me which was exporting them.

[Cord Fourteener]

2 hours ago, EightMegs said:

The plan is recommissioning it because they're getting quite rare here nowadays due to a firm not far from me which was exporting them.

Good plan!

[EightMegs]

[EightMegs]

I decided to try and get the rear hatch on the Starlet to stay open on its own and went about replacing the snapped gas strut on the right hand side, only to discover that my spare rear hatch only had a left and had a gaping rust hole where the right strut should've been. I'm going to try to drill out the rivets on both and swap the brackets around when I get some small nuts and bolts to replace the rivets. I had a look at the cam belt as I didn't know when it had last been changed and I wanted to make sure there wasn't any immediate danger and the writing is still clearly readable on the smooth side and there's no visible cracking.

The distributor cap and rotor looked decidedly less healthy and I'm honestly surprised that the engine was running smoothly at all, the posts in the cap were worn down to pin points and the electrode on the rotor was worn down to the base apart from a small section at the end.

I had another look at the front crash bar and have decided that it's beyond saving as there's very little of it left, so I might be going on a trek to darkest Dublin to get a clean replacement.

 

[EightMegs]

The contact connecting the coil to the distributor cap has decided to biodegrade but the spark is still jumping across to the cap anyway. Anyone got a Denso IIA lying around that they aren't using

I made a right hand boot strut from a broken right and a working left with the help of a man with more precise angle grinder skills, so the plank is no longer needed as a prop. I needed some more revs on the Yaris to jump the Starlet so I had to jam the throttle linkage open with a rag as I had no one to help me. I changed the oil and filter in the Starlet and the oil in the Yaris. I had intended on doing the gearbox oil in both but failed to bring a large enough spanner for the fill plugs.

[tooSavvy]

Great stuff, reading this....

Any doubts about 'correct maintenance & care plan' .... just hit YooToob and search "tuning Toyota"....

You will be reassured to see Coke tins stuffed with alfalfa leaves, as aircleaners, not one rubber pipe/vac (except dizz) and highly technical cane stick splints used for TDC [perfect, I may say!!]

Toyotas DO NOT break

 

[EightMegs]

I removed the thoroughly bollocksed front bumper bar this morning before work along with the rocker cover for later tidying.

The cam lobes have a bit of a lip, but they aren't bad for a 178,000 mile car.

Here's a before picture of the rocker cover.

And here it was after a touch with a flap disc, some matte black, and a reproduction transfer.

[EightMegs]

On the way back from collecting a new front crash bar for the Starlet, Harris' brake pedal went soft and I was met with a nasty burning smell coming from the rear left. I had to back the adjuster off to get the drum loose for a look. I couldn't find anything wrong and the issue resolved itself. Mysteries of chod, I suppose.

The JDM front crash beam fits perfectly, but it won't be getting bolted up until I borrow an M6x1 tap tomorrow.

I replaced the coil, rotor, and distributor cap. The hammer drill in the above photo was employed when the steel screws on the ignition coil decided to become one with the aluminium distributor. It made a decent Philips head impact gun.

I set about replacing the spark plugs, only to discover that a previous owner had put in NGK plugs which were substantially longer than the correct Denso plugs, which only reach to the brown mark on these NGKs.

I wonder if that was taking up enough combustion chamber space to substantially affect the compression ratio.

I also replaced one of the rear light lenses but neglected to take a photograph. Imagine the rear of the car with no tape!

[EightMegs]

I had a minor heart attack after adjusting the tappets when the engine started surging and popping. Then I remembered to reconnect the breather pipes connected to the rocker cover 😣

[EightMegs]

Test fit my grotty '70s roof rack on my grotty 2000 Yaris, it fits perfectly so will be carrying my camping crap to Wales in September. I just need to get some new nuts and bolts to replace the knackered ones on the adjusters.

[EightMegs]

Harris the Yaris started leaking fuel and I'm due to leave for the UK on Sunday, so I've taken a tank off of this Verso which has seen better days.

Jacking proved difficult as it was already on the ground on one side and there wasn't an awful lot left of the jacking point.

Tank liberated.

[EightMegs]

The clip holding the evaporation hose proved difficult to remove, but eventually I got the tank out.

The tank off the knackered verso was in far  better condition than mine, and for extra security, I added some RTV to areas where the seam looked a bit dodgy. Note the rusty mounting point on the exhaust heat shield.

Despite my best efforts with a siphon and a rag, I didn't manage to get all of the water out of the replacement tank, and the car coughed and spluttered for about 20 miles after replacing the tank, and the exhaust heat shield decided to let go after another 10.

I decided to dampen the rattling using a sponge and a piece of rope. Problem postponed until after the UK road trip.

[junkyarddog]

I don't think putting sponge and a nylon rope directly onto the exhaust is a particularly good idea.........

[EightMegs]

8 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

I don't think putting sponge and a nylon rope directly onto the exhaust is a particularly good idea.........

It's at the back box, so I'm hoping it's not going to melt, but all bets are off.

[EightMegs]

My new Carina has landed courtesy of @castros_bro!

In other news, the Starlet is back together again with a new bumper after I was defeated by an overtightened crank pulley bolt when attempting to change the cam belt. And there are now 2,500 miles on the rope holding the Yaris' exhaust heat shield.

[junkyarddog]

You taking the Carina to Ireland?

[EightMegs]

11 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

You taking the Carina to Ireland?

Nope, I'm leaving it in the UK so I have something to use when I'm in Poole for work. Probably the first time an Irishman has bought a Carina in the UK and not immediately put it on a ferry.

[junkyarddog]

6 minutes ago, EightMegs said:

Nope, I'm leaving it in the UK so I have something to use when I'm in Poole for work. Probably the first time an Irishman has bought a Carina in the UK and not immediately put it on a ferry.

😂

Maybe sometime in the future it will cross the Irish sea?

[EightMegs]

 

24 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

😂

Maybe sometime in the future it will cross the Irish sea?

Maybe, I was thinking of swapping it with the Starlet once the Starlet is roadworthy again, but I don't plan on selling it any time soon, they're hard enough to come by.

[EightMegs]

I have recently discovered while replacing wheel cylinders that I am not strong enough to stretch the springs on my friend's LiteAce's rear brakes.

So for the other side, I just wound the self adjuster all the way out and slid the wheel cylinder out from in between the shoes. Only two pipe clips snapped off, which was a better result than I was expecting. I also managed to bend a Halford's 10mm spanner undoing a union...

[TrabbieRonnie]

8 minutes ago, EightMegs said:

I have recently discovered while replacing wheel cylinders that I am not strong enough to stretch the springs on my friend's LiteAce's rear brakes.

So for the other side, I just wound the self adjuster all the way out and slid the wheel cylinder out from in between the shoes. Only two pipe clips snapped off, which was a better result than I was expecting. I also managed to bend a Halford's 10mm spanner undoing a union...

God I miss our Liteace...  At 300,000 miles the oil pump had had enough, and I foolishly scrapped the best all-round vehicle ever built.  

[EightMegs]

"Compatible" my arse.

Fouls on both the spring and  the top mount. Very poor out of Febest.

The original is firmly in "NCT Fail Major" territory.

[EightMegs]

I know what they say about 2CVs, ploughed fields, and eggs; but what about Carinas, Dorset, and one of @LightBulbFun 's lightbulbs?

 

[grogee]

4 minutes ago, EightMegs said:

I know what they say about 2CVs, ploughed fields, and eggs; but what about Carinas, Dorset, and one of @LightBulbFun 's lightbulbs?

 

They've ploughed Dorset now? Must get myself a Carina 2CV edition.