Damien Nikiforides wrote on Thursday, October 01, 2020 - 08:23 am:
I've somehow managed to have stuck to the plan this time Damien. Getting close to completion in terms of the exterior, which will be nice to have ticked off the list.
Mike Beck wrote on Friday, October 02, 2020 - 01:41 pm:
Definitely Mike, sometimes more satisfying than the more bigger jobs for sure.
Roland Elliott wrote on Friday, October 02, 2020 - 07:11 pm:
Roland, nice upgrade aren't they. Especially on the lighter coloured cars, I've always felt they clean the front end up nicely.
Michael Mockiewicz Goo Roo Victoria [2009-2011] JZZ30 [2012-2016] UZZ31 [2020] UZZ31
Late last month I put through another Toyota order consisting mostly of transmission service parts in prep for the flush as well as some other bits & pieces which is running a little behind at the moment, so while I patiently standby for that to arrive I needed an excuse to do some more work, in which I managed to catch up with the previous owner & picked up a complete spruce air purifier setup which had my name written all over it.
I still need to clean up the re-routed wiring, run some wire conduit & mount the amplifier properly, but otherwise that kept me busy for a day. The holes in the parcel shelf for the anchor points have since been plugged also, it's a shame they weren't slightly more inward as the grills would have covered them nicely - but otherwise all good.
Took her out for a nice drive into town today to get a quote on some exhaust work, which I've booked in for mid-week to have done. At this point & likely as far as I'll go with it, I'm slightly modifying the stock system & will be removing/replacing the resonator & mid-mufflers with 2 or 2.25" pipe, while still retaining the Y-section & rear exit mufflers. Simply only chasing some extra decibels whilst being on a budget with this setup, which I'm sure will keep me satisfied.
Monday, October 12, 2020 - 08:28 pm, by: Mike Beck(Gold_40gt)
Gotta love the air purifier, pretty pointless but probably helps reduce some dust in the back and also creates a soothing white noise in the background.
I did the same mod in mine a few years ago!
Michael Mockiewicz Goo Roo Victoria [2009-2011] JZZ30 [2012-2016] UZZ31 [2020] UZZ31
Thanks for the link Goetz, great find & much cheaper than the Denso filter last time I checked as well.
I never had much of a chance to road test the air purifier in my last '31, so it's good to know that with a working filter it helps work against the myriad of smoky old diesel utes/trucks one blatantly tends to get stuck driving behind!
Couple weeks back the latest Toyota order arrived, far from exciting, but meant I could get the trans flush underway & a couple other bits & pieces replaced. Shortly before that I also had the middle mufflers replaced with 2" pipe from the centre resonator back to the stock rear mufflers, resulting in a nice subtle-ish burble. I'll have the resonator removed next & then leave it.
As seen below with the old vs new trans fluid comparison, it was well overdue. Prior to the flush however the transmission was problem-free, other than the pan sealant no longer doing it's job. I had 16 litres of Type T-IV fluid on hand, but found 12 litres was sufficient. By the time I had flushed it's capacity I found it was more than clean enough, but went ahead & did those few extra litres to be content.
Replacing the trans mount also gave me a good chance to finish off cleaning the mess caused by the cam cover & trans pan leaks, including the cross member that had accumulated most of it. Safe to say that now the undercarriage is finally free of any leaks & I can sleep at night knowing it!
After getting the trans fluid level adjusted, I took the car for a decent road trip & from what I can see everything has sealed well. Not shown in the pics, I used the recommended Toyota Red FIPG for resealing the pan.
I had some very slight seepage from the trans cooler lines also, hence the new clamps, the bottom hose is d/c but original is still in good shape. Top hose is still available as seen.
No noticeable change with the new trans mount in, other than getting ahead of any eventual / unwanted NVH from the original. Despite the old one being quite compressed in comparison, the rubber was still decent no splits & never had any clunks going into reverse or any shifter vibration etc. For the peace of mind anyway - glad it's replaced & done.
On the other hand, for the 2nd time now over the last 2 cars, the noticeable difference in drivabilty after a full flush reminded me of it's benefits. At this point, the car drives & feels better than any of the newer cars I had owned before it - very happy.
Front sway bar bushes were also done as above. I'm making an effort to minimise my time spent at the aft, or more-so underneath of it - so that's about all that will need replacing in this area for a little while.
I also had the original boot struts re-gassed. Not happy with the sloppy fittings on the aftermarket set, it was only a matter of time before going back to OEM. Next time, will be a new set from Toyota.
Few other jobs included refitting the original headlights again & installing some good condition rubber drain pipes/breathers to one of the problematic units, followed by a healthy amount of dielectric grease to the globes rubber o-rings. I removed the JW Speak LED low beams due to their sloppy fitment & put in a new set of Philips Crystal Vision - so far so good last downpour we had. I'm doing everything in my power to avoid pulling that one unit apart, unless completely necessary.
And lastly, new rubber caps for the ABS unit (new vs old) & a pair of essential fuse box replacements.
Next up to-do is an a/c re-gas & hydro fan motor replacement.
Small update to see November out - replaced the hydro fan motor with a great condition replacement, now eliminating all known fluid leaks. Fresh ATF added, system bled & all is good. I'll disassemble/clean the original motor next & try to source a suitable replacement rubber o-ring for it, seeing as the OEM part has an unknown ETA from Toyota JP..
At the same time I also did a P/S flush & replaced the air control valve. Unfortunately I couldn't cure the pump whine after the fluid change / bleed, but managed to do away with the puff of white smoke at startup from a leaking ACV. I have an OEM rebuild kit for the P/S pump just waiting to go in, however will source a spare pump to fix to keep the car on the road. No immediate rush for that just yet.
I then booked the car in to have an A/C regas with Hychill. Unfortunately, that didn't go to plan thanks to a leaking evaporator pressure regulator, so now I'm decided whether to buy a new replacement (few hundred $ for OEM) or attempt to repair the seal (as discussed here: http://soarercentral.com/sc-forum/messages/31680/378376.html). 1 mm thick silicone rubber or something similar is proving difficult to find locally in that size unless buying in bulk amounts for big $. So that's been put on the back burner for the moment.
Also along the way I scored a bunch of plastic (seemingly hard to come by plastic!) to finish the engine bay cosmetics. Can't use the battery cover right now as the current battery is a few CCA too big (720) so when that packs it in, I'll drop down to the factory size.
The good replacement motor. Didn't even need to clean it's spotless housing!
The original, which will soon become a working spare
Mess left from the leak, which would leak down the frame onto the nice, clean engine cover. I'm way over ATF & the mess it leaves..
Replacement motor in & leak-free.
Nothing exciting in a P/S flush, so just a few photos of the replacements:
New Air Control Valve
New hose & clamps
Reservoir after a clean
New ACV fitted (still need to replace the corresponding hoses)
Lucky score of engine bay cosmetics - making it easier to sleep at night now
A sense of completion, in the engine bay at least.
Michael Mockiewicz Goo Roo Victoria [2009-2011] JZZ30 [2012-2016] UZZ31 [2020] UZZ31
With only the belt tensioner & P/S pump left to do mechanically, the exterior has been screaming out to me to pay some attention to. It's looking quite neglected at the moment with the moisture-filled headlights & sun damaged front guard (2nd replacement so far which I had sourced locally from a dishonest seller re it's condition..).
So to my luck, browsing the auctions over the past week, an excellent condition 176 silver S1 JZZ30 was being parted-out (over the years I've rarely seen 176 body panels show up, I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice) from it I managed to win it's lip-less front bar (my personal favourite) with the griffin intact as an added bonus (won entirely for the cost of what people are trying to sell the badge alone for). Also managed to secure the passenger front guard - both in seemingly top condition.
So hopefully I'll be seeing them in the next couple of months. Even though I'm not expecting the guard to match 100%, something that hasn't been exposed to the Oz sun has got to be better than what I've found locally. This is my last effort at keeping the original paint before having the front-end painted in the future.
And whilst I'll be losing the parking sensor on my current bumper when the new replacement goes on, I'll be gaining the parking pole instead (also my preferred option) in which I came across the complete setup from the same seller (won it for cheap, so I can forgive it not being sold with the bumper!).
Also listed from the same car ironically was a set of great condition late model headlights (the most affordable set on there too at the time) so they were won last night as well. Should see both parts arrive sometime this month.
On the subject of well-price parts, earlier last week an incomplete but beautiful condition set of S3 floor mats were up for cheap as chips that had been in long-term storage. Funny enough, I scored those as well, for a mere $35!
My original mats are tired & missing the "Soarer" patches, so these replacements should look terrific in place of them. I will reuse my old front passenger mat to complete the set.
The new mats should leave me somewhat content with the interiors condition once in. Other than needing to replace the drivers seat leather with something of better condition, the cabin has lived a good life. On the other hand, if I can get a good result from the replacement body panels, I think I'll be on my way to being done with the outside of the car. Time will tell.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 - 09:42 am, by: Damien Nikiforides(D_nikiforides)
I've been a bit absent lately, only just seen your latest update. Looking good mate. lots of little things that are adding up to make a very clean car.
Michael Mockiewicz Goo Roo Victoria [2009-2011] JZZ30 [2012-2016] UZZ31 [2020] UZZ31
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lots of little things that are adding up to make a very clean car.
