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84 Daily drive resto/1jz project

88K views 329 replies 54 participants last post by  Whitey482 
#1 · (Edited)
84 Daily drive resto/1uz project

Hey all,
some of you have 'delt with me' in the past, and the rest of you are in for a whole new world of pain.
Im going to be very long winded with this but i think its important to be up front about who i am, what i have done, and what im currently up to.

Index (i know over kill but what ev)
post #1; your reading it!
post #2; back story on me and past projects
post #3; the base for my project *buying from forum member*
post #4; the plan
post #5; the project begins!

Im a big fan of pictures saying way more than i ever could, so 56k might want to take a walk about on this one.

lastly before we get started; Ive been a member of multiple forums before and almost every one has been full of elitist/know it alls... Im sure there is that sub section around here somewhere but i haven’t run into them yet. I am very pleased to say that every one here who has posted on some of my noobish questions have been great! Im not brining an attitude into this but im going to tell you up front right now. I love fabrication, making my own parts, making my cars as unique and as custom fit to my tastes as possible. Your not always going to like it, and your not always going to be able to keep this to your self... I dont mind if you say you dont like something, and give a reason why, but please don’t clutter up the thread with useless stone throwing "your destroying this car, you should be shot" ect.... Please keep in mind, if you say you don’t like something, i will give you a reason back why I like it... im not arguing with you, or provoking you, i simply feel i have a valid reason as to why i do the things i do *most of the time* and want you to see where im coming from.....
Also, Please if you see me about to make a time consuming error, or buy a part that isnt worth it, let me know; but please if you advise me not to do something, give me a good alternative...

I fully understand that what i am doing with this car, and the money im spending on it is all a waste if i dont enjoy it my self and love it for what it is. I know it is not logical to put $10k+ into a car that will only be worth $5k at best, but if we were logical, none of us would be here :zzzzz:

So friends, that, is that...

lets have some fun!
 
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#37 ·
That's an 85 oil pan...don't think the slot in the bottom of the oil pump matters dude...its the gear that meshes with the oil pump drive shaft that makes it work. DON'T use an oil pan gasket on that pan...use Toyota FIPG sealant or equivalent (Honda-Bond for instance, no Permatex crap). The Toyota FIPG is cheaper and works the same.
 
#38 ·
sweet thank you for the info...
he said a fiew times that the intake had round runners insted of D shaped... so that would mean that his bolt ons would be the 82 style... ill have to look closer at the timing belt to see if they are round or square teeth to get a better idea of what the engine is...

im still think/hope that its the low compression engine. i think it is seeing how he said the pan was wrong and you confirmed that its an 85 pan.
 
#39 ·
found some time to my self today... so i got some work done.
i stripped down the intirrior... all except for the head liner, dash, doors, and rear seat belts (bolts are rusted big time.. im going to try some pb blaster from under the car).
Im very pleased to see how clean the floor boards are... only a fiew areas that showed rust damage; trunk well, tops of the wheel wells, around the drivers side strut tower, bottom of the hatch window seal and drivers side rear seat belt area.
some of it i can weld in some patch metal and make due, but i might just have to por-15 and fiberglass the areas with complex compound curves that i cant find replacement metal for..
but all and all, im very pleased. the floor boards look great, and aside from the drivers seat, center consoul around the radio, carpet, and center arm rest all the intirror bits look clean and reusable!!!










 
#41 ·
i knew the spare tire area was going to be rotted, but i had never seen the very tops of the wheel wells rot like that??!!
I think id feel better about banging out some patches rather than fiberglassing it in.... yeah it wont look as good, but i think the fiberglass would just get too beat up!!
spare tire area im not too worried about... i think im just going to weld in a flat pan into the bottom of it (after removing the fuel tank that is) and relocate the battery, fuse box and what ever other electrical stuff i dont want in the engine bay.
 
#42 ·
got some time to work on the car between work and when the wife got home from work... I was able to get the rest of the front end body work stripped (fenders, hood, headlights), took my time putting lables on every thing, and pulled the engine and trans. I think i may run a bypass hose and get rid of the power steering... we will see just how unbareable it is without... I had a civic hatch that wasnt power and it wasnt all bad... i always have the option to put it back on later if i want it...

 
#43 ·
she got taken down abit more yesterday:
took off the rear bumper, doors, rest of the intirror, headliner, dash, exterrior trim, and side rear windows. I was also able to drop the rear suspension and dissassemble most of it.



earlier in the day i went down to a local junk yard and found an 83. I was able to get the cargo cover clips, fuel door pull tab and a patch panel for the drivers side rear panel rot...
all and all good trip...
I also saw something that gave me an idea that you guys are prolly not going to like much...
I was looking at the front end of a 92 grand prix and noticed that the headlight height was just about as tall as the grill opening in the bumper of the supra. If i were to trans plant the two smaller lights from the grand prix and put them into the bumper then shave the headlight doors it will give me better illumination, with more lighting options and a sleak night time look...
basically the turino vs leven idea...
here is a pick i quickly photoshopped up (my photo shop skills suck but you get the idea)
 
#44 ·
I'd never get rid of the pop up headlights...it iconic for the time period and the 6054 lamp in our cars puts out plenty of light. Add an H4 conversion from Hella and you get a LOT of light. Each to his own of course...no headlight retractors will make more room for intercooler piping at least.

You just dived in man...please keep us updated!!

(oh...please no more PS of that particular car...it scared the living shit out of me LOL);)
 
#46 ·
yeah i kinda thought it was a little bit agenst the grain to talk about shaving the pop ups...
i just like the sleaker look, (as pointed out) more room between the bumper and radiator, remove some excessive weight and wireing, and never have to worrie about finding a replacement popup motor.... also i always love the WTF?? factor of it all
i might just forgo the 4 headlight setup, use the lower profile hedlight housings and find a high/low beam bulb to put in there so that way the headlights will just look like the stock aux lights....
im thinking i like that idea better now that i think it over....



yeah, i hated to use that car for a photo shop job, but that car is my ideal for exterrior color combo...
 
#49 ·
well, it was a lazy sunday.
traded my fmic, charge pipes, knock off bov and exhaust manifold for an optima red top battery, kicker 750.1 amp, and 4 channels of rca cables (about 15')
also managed to strip the rest of the engine compartment, drop the front suspension, strip the underbody (gas and brake lines), and drop the fuel tank.
only things left on the car now are the wire harnesses, brake booster, clutch master, steering column, and under dash bits (heater boxes and what not)
with any luck i can start stitch welding every thing this week!
 
#51 · (Edited)
*edit*
was going to start shit over this (becasue all and all its my car, my choice no matter what any one thinks) but one of my good friends pulled out vito rights....
He still has his head stuck in anime mode turino>leven (inital D solidified it in his mind to him flip up makes car faster)

for what ever reasion... he called vito, i must abide... flip ups stay
 
#53 ·
ahhh,
now im really glad i did a quick edit :duh:

well, any how,
plugging away on the car little by little...
finished gutting her, aside from a fiew brackets, and the body molding in the rear she is totally stripped down to bare shell.
it seems that this week will be the last fiew days above 60 for the year... so im hell bent on getting the engine compartment, door jambs and back sides of all the panels stitch welded, smoothed, patched, primmed prepped and painted... that way i can start re-assembily during winter....


oh,
also sorced out a non-ac air box and waaaaay over paied for it, but its on its way...



 
#56 ·
well i spent the morning building a mega furniture dolly for the shell so i can wheel it out of the shop and get some room to clean up...
took a few seconds to drag out the front suspension, and hood and soaked them down as well as the engine compartment with straight simple green...
im going to let it soak in for a bit than hose it off... hopefully it will cut most of the sludge left over from years of use and a bad front main seal...

 
#58 ·
its great except for the cracks... eventually have to get it re-done....

well, i got the garage cleaned and organized, got the rear hatch, and front suspension stripped down. also scrubbed down the shell pretty good...
and i got a good start on knocking the sound deadening material outta the car...
Im still amazed at how rust free the floors are on this car. they look brand new!!!
 
#59 ·
Wow, I can't wait to see the progress! I could never strip down a car to nothing...I would never be abale to keep track of the million and one parts. Good luck with the restoration!
 
#60 ·
Wow man, you're not messing around.. Great progress so far!! You've put alot of thought into this project, and it's going to be really something when you're done. I'm looking forward to more of your posts..

Quick note on the flip up headlights.. "Fatpanda" at one time, on this forum, made a photoshopped picture of of an MKii with clear fliplids, Uh.. projector style, similar to the headlight conversions for the NSX. So the lights don't flip up, but shine straight thru them. But I can't find the picture. Looks like his picture server gave it the boot.

Does anybody else have a copy of that picture? I thought it was a neat idea, and it looked halfway cool.
 
#62 ·
mini update.
went and bought a quart of 8b4 (dark blue metallic) and all the other chemicals and clear coat i need.
got home and started going for it. Cut out all the excess holes in the engine compartment, fabbed up some sheet metal patches, and wire wheeled every thing i want to weld. All the pinch welds in the door jambs, firewall, core support area, and the back of/around those areas. This way i can get all that stuff painted before it gets too cold, then focuses on stitch welding every thing else.
Right now I got cleaned up to take a brake, eat some dinner, see the wife… After that I will get back out there and weld every thing..





 
#64 ·
Dinner brake
Wife persuaded me to stay inside last night so I started welding at the crack of 9 this morning.
Im disappointed with how the welds are turning out, but judging by the back side of the panels im getting good penetration so screw it…
I ran out of welding gas so I figured it would be a good time to catch some rest and get some food…


 
#65 ·
Came in at 2am so I didn’t updated but I was able to finish welding on the engine compartment and all the backing metal for it.. Despite the fact that I upgraded to a welding gas bottle that was twice as big as my old one I still ran out!! What makes matters worse is no gas supply place is open Saturdays and Sundays in my area. So it looks like I will have to finish with flux core. I am starting to love the smoothed out look, all the excessive bolt holes and wire holes gone!!!



 
#66 ·
some last second touch ups with the grinder, i prepped every thing by scrubbing it down with a scotch bright pad, then some 150 grit paper, than a quick wipe down with some acetone and then i slabbed por-15 on all the rust prone areas and all the spots i welded.
im gonna take a quick lunch brake then get the rear end welding done.. after the por-15 has tacked up a bit ill hit every thing with some primer and the some body putty after that dries...
im not happy that its getting colder out there but this thing has to get painted this weekend... (40 degrees is better than 10 i guess)...
 
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