What happened here

[jondee86]

Oh, they may have to ship a windshield from a daewoo nexia for the Corolla.

I never had to replace one but I did find out that there were two different "lengths" of front
glass (measured top to bottom on the center line. And two different scuttle plates. If you got
the wrong combination you had a fitting problem. As I recall one guy here in NZ had a batch
made in the longer length that is standard on JDM cars.

Many of the AE's still on the road here have at least a few fiberglass panels to replace rusted
out or crash damaged parts. A full steel body is becoming quite rare and the junkyards no longer
carry any stock of vehicles from the 80's. These are the joys of owning a "vintage" car

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

They haven't gotten into the Corolla yet. Expecting to have to torch off the bumpers to overhaul the passenger side of the car.

Apparently they've got a guy in the shop who's decent with aluminum. Going to try and work the creases and fold out of the targa top. Figure they may as well try knowing theyll need to anneal the top first and heat treat it afterwards. (Assuming it's not punctured and torn already)

Going to have a helluva lot of shrinking to do. I'm expecting the skin to just crack when they try. Stretched really bad as it sits.

Fun to see all the extra silliness add up.

[jondee86]

It is surprising what some people can do with metal. I had a friend who served his time
in a bodyshop and later left to start his own business. He got called back (on contract)
to make a new front fender for an old Bentley two door coupe.



I don't remember what model it was but the fenders had a fair amount of curves... along
the lines of this pic. He was an outstanding craftsman, and the only one around at the
time who had the skills to take on the restoration.

Maybe you will get lucky and the insurance will find someone like that to work on your
cars. Either that or they find a donor vehicle for the parts you need.

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

That's an upcoming hobby for me. Been setting aside things for sheetmetal work for a while now.

Best part is there are guys that can do that with a carved tree stump and a few hammers. (Ferrari, Morgan, etc... A lot of the greats used an old steel strapped stump or shot bag. .) Now we've got power hammers and high end English wheels. ^_^

Corolla is toast. The adjuster used a 1986 LE 4 door, and I'm pretty sure a diesel for comparables.

[jondee86]

Quite a few years ago I saw the original video about these guys building AC Cobra replicas
in an old MIG fighter factory in Poland. The video has been bastardized by Kirkhams who
added the cheesy music and cut a lot of the interesting stuff out, but it still gives you an
idea of what an old school coach building factory would have looked like....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1dqV2qiAdo

Back in the early 1900's it was common for people buying a Rolls Royce to have the bare
chassis and running gear delivered to Mulliner or Park Ward who would then hand build the
coachwork in the style of your choice. I always found it mind boggling that anyone could
learn the skills required to craft the panels that went into making those graceful cars.
Kind of like being a sculptor I guess

Shame about the AE... you going to buy it back and part it out ?

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Kind of like being a sculptor I guess

Shame about the AE... you going to buy it back and part it out ?

Cheers... jondee86

Truth. The theoretical knowledge is all very simple. Shrink, stretch, bend, weld...

Being able to turn a bunch of flat sheetmetal into a compound curved masterpiece is not though. Lot of modernized folks on youtube doing things like AC cobra quarters and replicating 60's Jaguars that make life more fun.

They haven't even figured out what the car is yet - so not sure if the updated vehicle value will preclude totaling it.

Odds are, probably not - assuming they value it properly the buyback price will likely make it more worthwhile to just cut and run.

Though a few guys at the body shop want it, so I still need to ask them. All for seeing if someone wants to keep it out of the crusher. (Or they can part it, lol)

I need to get back to work on figuring out a garage and agreed value insurance.

[jondee86]

That was one thing I always wanted and never got to own... a decent sized garage/workshop
with power and lights and heat so I could spend winter working on my car. It's difficult to get
motivated when your garage is small, dark and cramped. Mine is like a refrigerator in winter
and I have to wait for a fine weekend to get anything done. Then cars have to compete for
attention with yard work and fixing stuff around the house.

Was thinking about this as I was lying under the BM yesterday replacing exhaust gaskets to fix
a leak that stopped me passing the annual mechanical inspection for the car. I could just pay
to get stuff like that fixed by a workshop but then I don't learn anything or get to see other
stuff that might need attention under the car. Genuine BM exhaust gaskets run about US$35
each and it's a dual exhaust. $5 gaskets don't last very long under there and I was interested
in finding out why genuine BM gaskets last for years.

Understanding WHY stuff happens from an engineering point of view has been a life long
interest of mine. I'm one of those guys that when I hear someone say "... don't do that it won't
work without offering any explanation, I have to go and do it to find out why Then if it
really does not work I can understand why, and maybe figure out a better way.

Doing stuff... best way to learn anything

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Doing stuff... best way to learn anything

Cheers... jondee86

True. How I learned quite a bit in construction and plumbing as a teenager. Boss would give me a long list of things to do, swallow a couple oxycontin and a pint of vodka before passing out for the day. I had to figure out how to get the list done before he woke up. Usually knocked the lit out in a few hours then wandered off and did side work for other contractors for cash.

At one point I electrified the plumbing of a building because the copper kept cutting itself out of the wall and running away. Electricians all tossed in as reward and I made a few hundred there once the right mouse tried to take the cheese.

I did similar with bait cars when I lived in Detroit. Hide some leads in the driver seat wires to an ignition coil and a spare car battery. Leave the keys on the dash and sit back to watch.

None of the multimillion dollar townhomes I did the natural gas line work on have exploded of yet, so job well done I guess.


Really looking forward to actual shop space. Trying to do n insulated slab and a mini-split HVAC setup so incan play year round comfortably.

[jondee86]

Is Detroit the new Wild West ?

There was a time in this country when a man could buy a bit of land and build
a house without a lot of complications, but that was before the country got
overrun by lawyers. Nowadays there are rules and regulations for everything to
do with building a house... electrical regs, plumbing regs, drainage regs, safety
regs, town planning regs, site coverage, height planes, building standards etc.
You name it and there is a regulation for it and an inspector and a fee to pay.

So if you live some place where, if you have a bit of land, you can just put up a
garage/workshop without having to do anything more than apply for a permit,
then consider yourself lucky

Just sold my last few boxes of leftover Toyota odds and ends. Amazing what
accumulates when you are changing/modifying/improving a car for 20 years !!!

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Is Detroit the new Wild West ?

Honestly, worse in places. I think the average life expectancy is actually lower. Going to have to look that up, I'm curious now.

There was a time in this country when a man could buy a bit of land and build
a house without a lot of complications, but that was before the country got
overrun by lawyers. Nowadays there are rules and regulations for everything to
do with building a house... electrical regs, plumbing regs, drainage regs, safety
regs, town planning regs, site coverage, height planes, building standards etc.
You name it and there is a regulation for it and an inspector and a fee to pay.

So if you live some place where, if you have a bit of land, you can just put up a
garage/workshop without having to do anything more than apply for a permit,
then consider yourself lucky

Just sold my last few boxes of leftover Toyota odds and ends. Amazing what
accumulates when you are changing/modifying/improving a car for 20 years !!!

Cheers... jondee86

It's not entirely that straight forward everywhere here (California is a great example - probably more restrictive in the right areas than what you're used to.)

Will need surveys, probably an environmental assessment (septic, since we're near a watershed area), and engineered plans for snow load. Nowhere near as bad as you have it. Drive an hour north and it's pretty much $50 permit, maybe, build away. But there's a fair bit of open land.

Hear you on the spares. I've got a full set of wheels, some oem mudflats, and a trunk garnish just sitting around.

[jondee86]

We are in the suburbs, maybe a couple of hundred feet above sea level and a mile from
the coast. We don't get snow, but we get a lot of wind so you have to make sure that the roof
is well nailed down. House is at least 80 years old, timber frame and cedar weatherboards,
iron roof... California bungalow style I think it is called in the US.

I just had new double glazed aluminum windows installed, but the house doesn't have much
in the way of insulation (none underfloor or in the outside walls). Got to look at getting some
because the cost of electric power keeps going up. It's not flash but it is handy to public transport
and there is a shopping mall and a few shops, gas station etc about a mile up the road. Never
really saw the need to own more house than you can use

There were two complete engines, a gearbox, an ITB intake setup, two sets of wheels, interior
trim pieces, an exhaust system, steering wheels, engine crane, engine stand, 3 x CW&P sets,
camshafts and window glasses as well as the boxes of small pieces left when I sold the car. Took
a while to clear it all as most of it was AE86/4AGE specific. But the NZ has a very active AE86
fan base, so there is always someone buying if the price is cheap enough.

Now I've got some space to store my BM parts

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

We are in the suburbs, maybe a couple of hundred feet above sea level and a mile from
the coast. We don't get snow, but we get a lot of wind so you have to make sure that the roof
is well nailed down. House is at least 80 years old, timber frame and cedar weatherboards,
iron roof... California bungalow style I think it is called in the US.

I just had new double glazed aluminum windows installed, but the house doesn't have much
in the way of insulation (none underfloor or in the outside walls). Got to look at getting some
because the cost of electric power keeps going up. It's not flash but it is handy to public transport
and there is a shopping mall and a few shops, gas station etc about a mile up the road. Never
really saw the need to own more house than you can use

That's the truth there. For heavy wind areas the "seal" in terms of air movement through the structure makes a giant difference. Ie - foam filled cavities, house wrap, and gaskets... You can save a ton of money if you can remove your own siding, wrap, add some 1" foam, seal all the gaps, and reside. Great time to add things like versetta stone siding. (Fake stone siding, lightweight but looks good...)
Another thing to check if you have a ridge vent is your eaves. Odds are loose insulation blocks the venting in the soffits. Fix that, add rafter vent guides, blow in another foot of insulation. ^_^

For the foundation, you can actually dig down by hand and use burial grade closed cell foam to insulate the foundations, then extend it horizontally outwards to move the frost plane away from your footings. (The stack of paperwork should be easier where you are. Doing things to help save energy and all. Hopefully some tax credits) Great time to add or improve drainage as well.

Sorry. Fan of efficiency.

There were two complete engines, a gearbox, an ITB intake setup, two sets of wheels, interior
trim pieces, an exhaust system, steering wheels, engine crane, engine stand, 3 x CW&P sets,
camshafts and window glasses as well as the boxes of small pieces left when I sold the car. Took
a while to clear it all as most of it was AE86/4AGE specific. But the NZ has a very active AE86
fan base, so there is always someone buying if the price is cheap enough.

Now I've got some space to store my BM parts

Cheers... jondee86

I think I have 4 sets of wheels and tires hiding in my shed.... Half a Pontiac 400, entire stock supra twin turbo setup (greased up like cosmoline to store...), 3-4 stock exhaust systems, entire stock supra front end, spare parts to rebuild 2-3 4age's, a 5sfe, and a DSM motor.

Never mind the overlap for universal parts. I figured out it made more sense to order a few extra of anything generic. (Fuses/relays/hangers/gaskets/connectors)...

Do the same for house things. I could rebuild my plumbing system with my spares and a few lengths of cpvc/pvc. Have enough loose connectors and fittings to do it.

It's overkill, but I really don't like finding out something broke and I'm in no mood to drive an hour for a $0.50 fitting.

[jondee86]

That's the truth there. For heavy wind areas the "seal" in terms of air movement through
the structure makes a giant difference. Ie - foam filled cavities, house wrap, and gaskets...
You can save a ton of money if you can remove your own siding, wrap, add some 1" foam,
seal all the gaps, and reside. Great time to add things like versetta stone siding. (Fake
stone siding, lightweight but looks good...)
Another thing to check if you have a ridge vent is your eaves. Odds are loose insulation blocks
the venting in the soffits. Fix that, add rafter vent guides, blow in another foot of insulation. ^_^

For the foundation, you can actually dig down by hand and use burial grade closed cell foam
to insulate the foundations, then extend it horizontally outwards to move the frost plane
away from your footings. (The stack of paperwork should be easier where you are. Doing
things to help save energy and all. Hopefully some tax credits) Great time to add or improve
drainage as well.

I was sitting here looking at the frost on the ground outside glistening in the sunshine at the
start of another perfect winter morning and considering all this good stuff For historical
and geographical reasons the type of home built here in NZ in the 1900's evolved rather
differently from some other countries. Our islands have an ocean moderated climate so it
seldom gets colder than one or two degrees below freezing overnight in winter, and warmer
than 25degC during the day in summer.

As a result, the concept of "central heating" with a warm air furnace was pretty much unheard
of before the 1960's and homes only began to install fiberglass "batts" in the ceiling about the
same time. Roof spaces were never ventilated, construction was invariably timber frame with
weatherboards and an iron or clay tile roof. Every home had an open fireplace and I have never
seen a below grade basement. Brick veneer was sometimes used but solid brick houses were
rare due to them being prone to earthquake damage.

Being cold in winter was part of the NZ tradition

However, in the last 30 years as house prices have spiraled out of control, consumer demand
and government regulations have raised building standards to the point where full insulation,
double glazing and heat pumps have become standard for new homes. Open fires are now
banned in most cities because of pollution. Upgrading/renovating is a popular pastime for
those "developers" who make money from those people who prefer to pay others to make the
improvements rather than DIY.

I think that housing evolves to meet the needs of the people in each country. It is interesting
to see how efficient the house building industry is in the US compared to here. I think it is due
to the economy of scale... high production and competition bring about improvements and
should keep prices down. Here our production is low, efficiency is poor and high demand for
homes has pushed prices sky high in the last few years. Bad news for Joe Average with a wife
and kids looking to buy a first home. Good news for the speculators who have the cash to buy
houses just to pocket the tax free capital gains (running at 10-15% PA in recent years).

NZ in a nutshell

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

There's also a cultural expectation for efficiency and quality work we don't have.

Similar happens here. Cheaper houses get bought up by investors to flip, rent, or offset losses. "Affordable" is a pretty big sliding scale when half of the country go paycheck to paycheck waiting for an unexpected expense to sink them.

Folks do seem to love leveraging credit up to their eyeballs though.

[jondee86]

It is a sign of the times that we live in that young couples expect their first home to be
a lovely modern low maintenance home filled with sunshine and modern appliances. It
often comes as a surprise to them when they start looking and find that all they can afford
is an old, cold and damp house down a gully that only sees sunshine for a couple of hours
a day in summer.

Luckily the cost of borrowing has never been lower so put all your money into a new house
and new car and immerse yourself in video games... live for today. Securing a future for
yourself and your kids by going without some of the toys that "everyone" else has can
wait... we want it all NOW !!! That's today's attitude



Cheers... jondee86

[jondee86]

Was thinking that this would make a great camper for a fisherman....



Only problem is I guess you could get shot up pretty bad if you drove it anywhere
in the US near Detroit.... or a McDonalds outlet... or a gay nightclub

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Probably less so than top gear when they drove through the south.

I'd rock it, but only if we can rig up a 12' tall motorized tail fin out back.

For the sake of irony I'd have to learn to surf so I could park it along the beach to screw with sunbathers.

[jondee86]

I am so pissed about having to pay US$35 each plus tax for the 2-bolt flange gaskets
for the BM exhaust, that I am looking into getting a bunch made.



They are a quality gasket, no doubt about that, and probably BM specific, but fcuk
that's a lot of coin for a small gasket.

Using cheap "universal" gaskets does not solve the problem as they don't fit correctly
and don't last for long. Changing them is a bit of a hassle if you don't have a lift so it
make sense to use the proper BM gasket, but not at that price.

This is how the Crusades started

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

At $35/ea, I'd just cut and weld.on some V-bands... (or any standardized quality local flange)

[jondee86]

Yeah... but I am not about to cut up a nice stainless mandrel bent exhaust system
to take the easy way out I need to figure out how these things work and why BM
chose to go with this type of gasket. I know how the perforated foil faced "sandwich"
gaskets work, and why they fail. I know how the thick "cardboard" type gaskets work.
But the BM type use a stainless crush ring and a solid steel shim as a spacer.

This is more like a head gasket. The crush ring (or fire ring) does the sealing and the
shim holds the flange spacing locked solid to stop movement spoiling the seal. This
is why the BM gasket can last for many years if left undisturbed. But if you are the
kind of guy who reuses head gaskets, then you might be disappointed when your
BM gaskets fail shortly after you use the old ones to put your exhaust beck together.
This is when "one time use" and "replace as a pair" actually mean more than....we
want your money.

The correct location of the BM type gasket between the flanges is more important
than with sandwich type gaskets. The factory exhaust uses studs rather than loose
bolts for alignment, and the gasket is located with less than 1mm of side play.
Precision engineering not usually found in an exhaust system

Actually, BM do use V-bands for attaching the downpipes to the turbos, so they could
have done the decent thing and saved me from getting involved in a crusade

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Yea. I've always loved the mini-headgasket exhaust gaskets they came up with. Just utterly silly in terms of compensating for misalignment or potential reuse.

You could potentially make a circle jig with a carbide bit on a dremel and do a copper wire o-ring gasket on the flanges with some high temp rtv or thin copper sheet. They do require some clamping force.

Honestly even those oddball bubble flare style exhausts seal well. This is one of those areas standardized solutions help.

Helping my neighbor. His 97 Ford Ranger grenaded the rear brake hard line the other night. I had to explain the mysterious glory of sectioned redundant brake sytems, and why they've been doing just that for decades. Well, I didnt have to. I'd been on the phone with the insurance adjuster and apparently was feeling a bit snippy.

"But I could still stop!"

So, have his truck in the air up the hill. Ready to cut out a 6 foot section of hard line and replace it with high nickel copper line and some unions. Most likely going to rebuild his rear brakes too. If we have to bleed them, may as well have wheel cylinders, shoes, and drums that are 20 years younger.

He keeps trying to pay me shop rates. I keep telling him to **** off and grab another beer.

Eventually I'll give up somewhere around $10-$20/hr on expected shop hours. I'd do it for free and smile, but I understand folks recognizing value and feeling like sh*t if they don't pay. I feel like sh*t for getting paid. Meet in the middle.

Besides- salvage title truck he uses for work 3x a month. It's only valuable if it works. And I've bought him an extra 5 years so far for about $300 in parts (that would have cost $3000+ at a shop).

Running joke is seeing if I keep his truck alive longer than him. (70+yr old Vietnam Vet)

Really poor timing on my part to loan a buddy my 20v Dewalt 1/2' Impact... Dropping the rusty skid plate by hand is going to have me gimping for a week. (1/16th turn... Remove, reposition, hammer socket back on... lol)

The whole reason I bought it was to almost never need breaker bars again, lol.

[jondee86]

Respect to you for looking after your neighbours. I suggest a reasonable compromise
would be to take a modest amount of cash when it is offered and put it towards a BBQ
or dinner somewhere that you all can enjoy

I think the best thing you can do to an exhaust system is install a flexi if there is not
already one up near the front of the system. I'd suggest having a pair of flanges either
side to make it easy for repair when the time comes. Removing the strain of trying to hold
the full weight of the exhaust when you are chucking it around will make your headers
happy as well as letting your exhaust gaskets seal properly !!!

This "salvage title" you talk of... is that a vehicle that has been written off and then
repaired and put back on the road ? Is that just to let prospective buyers know that it
has been in a crash, or is there some other legal drawback ? When a vehicle gets written
off here the registration gets cancelled and it has to have an engineers report for any
structural repairs and pass an inspection before it can be registered again for road use.

Was set on getting a 1/2" drive battery rattle gun myself to speed up changing wheels
on the AE before and after car club events. I just use my road tires for everything on
the BM so took that off my list. Now I am on the lookout for a set of those swivel head
ratcheting ring spanners

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Respect to you for looking after your neighbours. I suggest a reasonable compromise
would be to take a modest amount of cash when it is offered and put it towards a BBQ
or dinner somewhere that you all can enjoy

I already feed the entire street, and the mailman, and the delivery drivers, and the random folks working on the road... Wife finds it entertaining. Usually have something on the smoker regardless of the season. ^_^

Why I usually end up doing is grabbing tools that I end up using to fix more people's things.

I think the best thing you can do to an exhaust system is install a flexi if there is not
already one up near the front of the system. I'd suggest having a pair of flanges either
side to make it easy for repair when the time comes. Removing the strain of trying to hold
the full weight of the exhaust when you are chucking it around will make your headers
happy as well as letting your exhaust gaskets seal properly !!!

Truth. Last owner just hard connected everything with what I assume was both eyes closed, blind drunk, and a stick welder on the wrong polarity.

This "salvage title" you talk of... is that a vehicle that has been written off and then
repaired and put back on the road ? Is that just to let prospective buyers know that it
has been in a crash, or is there some other legal drawback ? When a vehicle gets written
off here the registration gets cancelled and it has to have an engineers report for any
structural repairs and pass an inspection before it can be registered again for road use.

Pretty much. Just means the car suffered enough damage (usually a percentage depending on state - each has their own standards) to be written off as a total loss. Could be flood, fire, crash, or even just paint damage (if the car isn't worth much at auction), etc. There are rebuilt titles as well here that get inspected by the state police as well. State by state thing.

Was set on getting a 1/2" drive battery rattle gun myself to speed up changing wheels
on the AE before and after car club events. I just use my road tires for everything on
the BM so took that off my list. Now I am on the lookout for a set of those swivel head
ratcheting ring spanners

Cheers... jondee86

The impact has been great so far. Bit like first getting air tools, just no noisy compressor.

I've got a full set of the ratcheting ring scanners, just not flex head. They're game changers as well. No more flipping over a normal box wrench 300x to remove a bolt in a tight spot.

[jondee86]

Gotta love these youtube DIY videos that show you how to install aftermarket
stuff. Decided to install the two cone filter kit I got for the BM to replace the
factory airbox. Not really a fan of cone filters but I used one on the AE and got
one extra psi of boost, so figured it was worth a try with the BM.

First job was to remove the factory airbox. Video I watched showed the guy
just lifting it out with one hand while filming with the other. Reality is that
there is an almost impossible to reach worm drive clamp way in the back that
has to be loosened, three out of sight and hard to reach harness clamps to be
unclipped and the airbox has to be wrestled off two pretty sturdy grommets.

So hardly the easy one handed job shown in the video... all of the hard stuff
had already been done before the guy started filming!!! Took me the best part
of an hour to figure out how to get that airbox out without breaking anything.

The magic of the internet... everything looks easy and requires no training or
practice... if you find the right video

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

For boosted vehicles the filters do usually work out. Bit more particulate gets through them but the performance is nice.

Truck is kicking my ass. Got the brake hard line cut and ready to come out, then realized the soft line connection is thoroughly rust welded to the bracket. Going to have to cut or tear.

[jondee86]

Yeah.... if I had to choose, I'd rather scrape a thick layer of grease off than try
and chip off enough rust to get a socket to fit. Nature's loctite... holds a lot of
old vehicles together.... and machinery in quarries. Once that layer of mud or
dust becomes permanent it holds the moisture and creates the ideal conditions
for rust. Around here we are pretty much in a salt water coastal environment
and anything ferrous gets attacked unless you keep it well protected.

Not as bad as volcanic ash though. I was with a bunch of guys riding dirt bikes
when one of the nearby mountains was blowing out a cloud of ash and it was
raining on and off. We parked the bikes up outside overnight and in the morning
every piece of bare iron or steel on the bikes or trailers had turned orange !!!

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

Indeed. Was trying to avoid getting too deep into stripping the truck apart for a brake line but such is life. Hasn't been touched in years. Worst case I'll cut the bump stop off the bottom of the frame and replace it as well.

Wheel bearings are on the way out, so we'll be doing those eventually as well. Have to track down some info to see if the axles are clipped inside the differential or at the bearing races on the ends.

Just got the Corolla back from the body shop. Have to figure out if that means I'm keeping it or if they just wanted to waste money towing it all over the place.

[Nick94tt]

Appears ill be facing a new question now.

Does the Corolla somehow turn into a transmission swap for the Supra?

Also, will be saving the coupe from the crusher - just a question of who's the next owner for the journey. Going to probably list it up non-op for the moment but go back to working on it. Have everything to get it running (and then some), plus I'd like to see things through and hear it run with my head work. Could easily take it a step further and re-ring/bearing the motor and do the seals. Not like it isn't already easy to pull the motor, whole thing is stripped. Have a spare clutch I could throw on as well, lol. Have access to some oldschool Mitutoyo calipers (1"- 4", gauge blocks, bore gauge, and some dials...)

Lol. Could see if my other neighbor wants to teach his grandkids how to use a lathe or mill. Deck the block, surface the head, and gap the new rings nice and loose for a small turbo. (He has a full pro-level machine shop his dad left him. Sentimental thing for him. He's not a machinist - but loves tools.) Occurs to me I probably should have already done this. I'm not good at asking for help.

Worst case I may still take a crack at sheetmetal work and tubing the front. Not like I've got other engagements.

Believe I'm downsizing to the aformentioned "fast car and a small truck" the missus suggested.

[jondee86]

Sounds complicated, but man that would be cool having access to a mill and a lathe
There have been so many times that I would have loved to just spend a few minutes by
myself making and modifying small items I needed for my modifications. Instead I have
had to spend $$$ and waste time tracking down workshops that would do small jobs.

My ambition is to eventually end up with just one car that can do every thing. Problem
is the BM only has a small trunk and I need something else with fold down seats and a
bit more carry space. Audi do some nice wagons but they are a bit pricey... still...

Changed direction on the gaskets. Looking at MLS with an embossed seal ring like this...



Once they are cranked down there should be no movement between the flanges, and
nothing to break down or blow out. Does mean that the flanges have to have clean/flat
sealing surfaces, unless there is some kind of high temp sealant (maybe Coppercote) out
there that could be used to improve the seal.

Cheers... jondee86

[Nick94tt]

That was more or less.the equation for the supra. Wanted a one time buy in for a car thatd do everything I'd want. Had to be at least as nimble as the mk2 mr2 I'd been driving for years. It was. ^_^

I do still miss my mr2 though.

Adding a small truck to do the rest seems practical. That, or a small trailer and hitch for the supra. Funny, but a lot of folks do it for track day trailers.