Classic Toyotas

All content belongs to their original owners and are not mine unless stated otherwise.

[0hwhatafeeling]

[hakkalocken]

[thesupragoddess]

Young or old?

[streetlurkers]

Run it to the ground

[master-yota]

(=^ェ^=)

[master-yota]

[master-yota]

DANDY

[stancedcars]

[doritofu]

Long-post warning: don’t read if you don’t like reading!

Since the new water pump for the Nova won’t be here for a couple days, I decided to crack away at Felix for a bit today.  Got fluids drained, radiator removed, damaged bumper subframe removed, and got the damaged area relatively cleared out.  Draining the fluids revealed some startling information.  Coolant initially came out fresh and green, but the last pint or so came out orange, with about an ounce of chocolate milk at the end.  The oil (which I changed less than 100 miles ago) came out dark and thick, so I’m led to believe my headgasket was in the final stages of deterioration, and the overhaul I was planning for this 4A-GE was far more urgently necessary than I had previously thought.  Talk about a silver lining…

Second pic shows the frame wrinkles, which are the brunt of the damage from the incident.  Plan for now is to cut out the damaged frame from the strut tower forward and replace it with welded aluminum tubing mirroring the structure of the undamaged driver side.  Then I’ll cut and tube the driver side to match, and finally I’ll replace the core support with reinforced aluminum tubing fitted for an aftermarket aluminum radiator, oil cooler, and intercooler.  The HIDs and housings survived intact, so I’ll be reinstalling those when the tubing is complete.  Further plans for front end restoration are up in the air still.

Third pic shows the component responsible for rendering the engine unstartable, and chivalrously absorbing a lot of the impact from the incident without forwarding damage to crucial engine components thanks to its rugged cast iron bracket and block.  Rest in pieces, A/C condenser.  You weren’t functional anyway, but your sacrifice shall be honoured.

All this done, it started to get dark, so I tucked my sweet prince in and bid him a good night.  Tomorrow I’ll be prepping the Nova for some final touches before the water pump housing arrives, and hopefully it’ll be back on the road by mid-week.  I’m excited about starting my new job back in the kitchen and I’ve been tipped off about an opportunity at a Hibachi kitchen I may be well-qualified for. :D

TL;DR: things are looking up for me and my corolla family.  What started off as a miserable and tearful week has gradually improved and I’m excited for the future of both of these cars, as well as the personal growth I’ll be getting out of the experience.  Stay tuned!

[doritofu]

FeelsX16

[makeshitgoboom]

I wheeled for my first time today! Didn’t just ride passenger all day this time

[fivespeeds]

Spent the day topless and wet but the hard work paid off! Lmao, had a lot of fun cleaning my car and learned a few tricks along the way.

[aleksbrajicphoto]

[motormavens]

#ST165 #Toyota #Celica #GTFour aka #AllTrac #rallycar. One of our favorite cars from classic #rally videos! #CarlosSainz was incredible in #GroupB and #WRC!! (at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach)

[doritofu]

These things take time and effort

Keep fighting; keep dreaming

[robizzy]

[justcarz]

AE86 Toyota Corolla Levin by celicacity on Flickr.