Meanwhile, i am expecting this to arrive soon. I finally did it, bought another steering wheel before The Dog's finished. Hopefully i won't sell it before i get to use it this time. Please welcome Nardi Classic with Silver Spokes. CASH OUT..
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Four Wheels Out, One Wheel In
Preparing myself to bid farewell to my beloved Globelines. The down payment for them has been made and the final payment is due this Monday. CASH IN!
Meanwhile, i am expecting this to arrive soon. I finally did it, bought another steering wheel before The Dog's finished. Hopefully i won't sell it before i get to use it this time. Please welcome Nardi Classic with Silver Spokes. CASH OUT..
Meanwhile, i am expecting this to arrive soon. I finally did it, bought another steering wheel before The Dog's finished. Hopefully i won't sell it before i get to use it this time. Please welcome Nardi Classic with Silver Spokes. CASH OUT..
Sunday, February 21, 2010
LSD on Charmants.. My Way
There are a number of ways to get Charmants running on Limited Slips. The methods that i know, have been mentioned on previous post. Here they are.
1. Get an AE86 rear axle that comes stock with LSD
2. Get a rare S-series TRD LSD that would fit Charmants diff housing perfectly
3. Get any T-series live axle and install aftermarket LSD from Kaaz or Cusco
Number three is my preferred method and to conserve energy, i won't discuss number one and two. What you basically do with this method is get a T-series open diff axle, swap it with the stock S-series and get an aftermarket LSD from Kaaz or Cusco. This is like method number one only you don't have to find T-series axle that comes with LSD because you're going to swap the open diff with aftermarket one. Since you can get drum brake T-series rear axle, you don't have to worry about working out the hydraulic e-brake system.
Why a T-series diff? There are three reasons that i can think of. First, because it has vast aftermarket LSD support since the AE86 comes stock with one. Kaaz and Cusco makes very good LSD for it. Second reason is that it bolts in easily to an S-series axle. You don't have to modify the lateral bar mounts on your Charmant because they line up perfectly. Third reason is the power handling. It can handle more power compared to our S-series. A seemingly never-ending debate on the actual max horsepower handling is on going but i believe it'll handle a 160 hp blacktop 4A-GE quite nicely.
Before i get into the swapping method, here's some terms we need to know.
The rear axle is connected to the gearbox via propeller shaft or driveshaft. There're many types of Toyota propshaft. Quoted from here:
There are at least 6 different variations in the driveshaft... either single piece, two piece, rubber shock dampener or straight tube, 20 spline(k40/K50/T50), 21spline(W51, W56) or 22spline (T50) front yoke, small universals with press in caps, small uni with circlip on outside, big uni with circlip on inside, small pinion flange locating ring, big p/f location ring.... yada yada. The shaft lengths do vary depending on what diff and gearbox was originally fitted with it. A smaller diff will have a longer driveshaft...
T-series diff has larger diameter compared to S-series diff on Charmant. Hence, the propshaft connected to T-series diff is shorter than our Charmant. This is why you can't just use your stock propshaft on a T-series diff. You need to shorten the propshaft by about 20 mm. How do you get around this problem? First you need to know if your propshaft is one-piece or two piece. Mine is one-piece as you can see here.
Yours can be the two-piece type. Here's how a two-piece propshaft looks like.
Basically if your propshaft is one piece, try to get also the whole one-piece propshaft from the T-series diff. Then, if your new propshaft front yoke matches with your gearbox output shaft, it should be an easy bolt in work. In my case, since my T50 gearbox has 22 output splines, i'll do my best to find a replacement T-series propshaft with the same number of spline. That would be difficult since in Indonesia, the local Toyota never made a car equipped with 22 spline T50 gearbox that comes with T-series diff (except imported ones, of course).
If your propshaft is two-piece, then you have to find a T-series diff that comes with two-piece propshaft and get the rear part of it. You only need the rear part as this is the part that Toyota chose to shorten. With the rear end of the propshaft, you'll just have to replace your stock one with the shorter one and you're good.
I have no idea if you're crossing from one-piece to two-piece or the other way around. I'd say two-piece to one-piece is easier compared to one-to-two. With one-to-two you'll have to find a way to mount the mid bearing on the middle joint to the chassis or your propshaft will be dangling.
If getting the propshaft is difficult, you can always take your old one to a machine shop to get it shortened. I prefer to avoid this since it may mess with the balance of the shaft if done improperly.
Okay so now you're at the junkyard looking for T-series rear axle assy. How do you identify one? If the axle is still attached to the car, check the ID plate on the firewall. You should be able to find the axle ID written there. What you want is something like T292 or T312. Basically it has to start with T, hence T-series diff. That's easy. What if the axle is already taken out from the car? First ask the junkyard owner the car model the axle came from. Google it. LOL. Seriously though, swapping T-series diff has been discussed millions of time on the net and there's a good chance that your donor car has been mentioned also. However, with the slight chance that the axle itself has been replaced earlier, you need to know how a T-series diff looks like. The most distinctive part between different rear axles is the diff housing. Here's how a T-series diff housing looks like.
In my case, my target is to get a complete rear axle and propshaft from Corona RT132. Just today, there's one parked on road-side car paint workshop and with permission from the owner, here's some pictures that i took.
Let's see what we have here. First pic shows you that this T-series comes with no sway bar. That can be either good or bad news. The good news is that Charmants also don't have sway bars so i don't have to figure out a way to mount a sway bar to the chassis. The bad news is of course on ride feel because sway bars help to increase stability. I wouldn't worry too much about that though. Toyota must have their own reason not fitting sway bars on this particular model.
The second pic confirms that it's indeed a T-series diff from how the diff housing looks. There are 10 stud bolts in total and it looks similar to the sample i showed earlier.
The third pic is even good news. It has one-piece propshaft! Same type as my Charmant. Now since RT132 comes with W50 gearbox which i believe has 21 splines on the output shaft, i can't directly use this propshaft. I need to replace the front yoke with my old one having 22 splines, allowing it to match with my T50 gearbox.
Silly me, i forgot to take the car's front look. No worries, here's a pic of RT132 i found on wikipedia.
Now that you have a live axle T-series open diff on your Charmant, all you need to do is get that aftermarket AE86 LSD of your preference. Careful though, AE86 LSD comes in two version, based on production year. Zenki or "early" AE86 has smaller half shafts compared to the Kouki or "late" ones. Here's some explanation pictures.
Let's say 2-way Kaaz is your LSD of choice. Here's a capture taken from Kaaz website.
In my case, RT132 has the same half-shaft diameter as Zenki AE86. What i need to get then is DAT1630 which is meant for also Zenki AE86.
Final note: installing LSD is not something a garage mechanic should do. Yes you can take out that diff, yes you can install that LSD on the diff housing but the main problem is adjusting so that the pinion gear drive matches perfectly with the ring gear. Here's what i am talking about. So do yourself a favor and let a pro do it for you.
1. Get an AE86 rear axle that comes stock with LSD
2. Get a rare S-series TRD LSD that would fit Charmants diff housing perfectly
3. Get any T-series live axle and install aftermarket LSD from Kaaz or Cusco
Number three is my preferred method and to conserve energy, i won't discuss number one and two. What you basically do with this method is get a T-series open diff axle, swap it with the stock S-series and get an aftermarket LSD from Kaaz or Cusco. This is like method number one only you don't have to find T-series axle that comes with LSD because you're going to swap the open diff with aftermarket one. Since you can get drum brake T-series rear axle, you don't have to worry about working out the hydraulic e-brake system.
Why a T-series diff? There are three reasons that i can think of. First, because it has vast aftermarket LSD support since the AE86 comes stock with one. Kaaz and Cusco makes very good LSD for it. Second reason is that it bolts in easily to an S-series axle. You don't have to modify the lateral bar mounts on your Charmant because they line up perfectly. Third reason is the power handling. It can handle more power compared to our S-series. A seemingly never-ending debate on the actual max horsepower handling is on going but i believe it'll handle a 160 hp blacktop 4A-GE quite nicely.
Before i get into the swapping method, here's some terms we need to know.
The rear axle is connected to the gearbox via propeller shaft or driveshaft. There're many types of Toyota propshaft. Quoted from here:
There are at least 6 different variations in the driveshaft... either single piece, two piece, rubber shock dampener or straight tube, 20 spline(k40/K50/T50), 21spline(W51, W56) or 22spline (T50) front yoke, small universals with press in caps, small uni with circlip on outside, big uni with circlip on inside, small pinion flange locating ring, big p/f location ring.... yada yada. The shaft lengths do vary depending on what diff and gearbox was originally fitted with it. A smaller diff will have a longer driveshaft...
T-series diff has larger diameter compared to S-series diff on Charmant. Hence, the propshaft connected to T-series diff is shorter than our Charmant. This is why you can't just use your stock propshaft on a T-series diff. You need to shorten the propshaft by about 20 mm. How do you get around this problem? First you need to know if your propshaft is one-piece or two piece. Mine is one-piece as you can see here.
Yours can be the two-piece type. Here's how a two-piece propshaft looks like.
Basically if your propshaft is one piece, try to get also the whole one-piece propshaft from the T-series diff. Then, if your new propshaft front yoke matches with your gearbox output shaft, it should be an easy bolt in work. In my case, since my T50 gearbox has 22 output splines, i'll do my best to find a replacement T-series propshaft with the same number of spline. That would be difficult since in Indonesia, the local Toyota never made a car equipped with 22 spline T50 gearbox that comes with T-series diff (except imported ones, of course).
If your propshaft is two-piece, then you have to find a T-series diff that comes with two-piece propshaft and get the rear part of it. You only need the rear part as this is the part that Toyota chose to shorten. With the rear end of the propshaft, you'll just have to replace your stock one with the shorter one and you're good.
I have no idea if you're crossing from one-piece to two-piece or the other way around. I'd say two-piece to one-piece is easier compared to one-to-two. With one-to-two you'll have to find a way to mount the mid bearing on the middle joint to the chassis or your propshaft will be dangling.
If getting the propshaft is difficult, you can always take your old one to a machine shop to get it shortened. I prefer to avoid this since it may mess with the balance of the shaft if done improperly.
Okay so now you're at the junkyard looking for T-series rear axle assy. How do you identify one? If the axle is still attached to the car, check the ID plate on the firewall. You should be able to find the axle ID written there. What you want is something like T292 or T312. Basically it has to start with T, hence T-series diff. That's easy. What if the axle is already taken out from the car? First ask the junkyard owner the car model the axle came from. Google it. LOL. Seriously though, swapping T-series diff has been discussed millions of time on the net and there's a good chance that your donor car has been mentioned also. However, with the slight chance that the axle itself has been replaced earlier, you need to know how a T-series diff looks like. The most distinctive part between different rear axles is the diff housing. Here's how a T-series diff housing looks like.
In my case, my target is to get a complete rear axle and propshaft from Corona RT132. Just today, there's one parked on road-side car paint workshop and with permission from the owner, here's some pictures that i took.
Let's see what we have here. First pic shows you that this T-series comes with no sway bar. That can be either good or bad news. The good news is that Charmants also don't have sway bars so i don't have to figure out a way to mount a sway bar to the chassis. The bad news is of course on ride feel because sway bars help to increase stability. I wouldn't worry too much about that though. Toyota must have their own reason not fitting sway bars on this particular model.
The second pic confirms that it's indeed a T-series diff from how the diff housing looks. There are 10 stud bolts in total and it looks similar to the sample i showed earlier.
The third pic is even good news. It has one-piece propshaft! Same type as my Charmant. Now since RT132 comes with W50 gearbox which i believe has 21 splines on the output shaft, i can't directly use this propshaft. I need to replace the front yoke with my old one having 22 splines, allowing it to match with my T50 gearbox.
Silly me, i forgot to take the car's front look. No worries, here's a pic of RT132 i found on wikipedia.
Now that you have a live axle T-series open diff on your Charmant, all you need to do is get that aftermarket AE86 LSD of your preference. Careful though, AE86 LSD comes in two version, based on production year. Zenki or "early" AE86 has smaller half shafts compared to the Kouki or "late" ones. Here's some explanation pictures.
Let's say 2-way Kaaz is your LSD of choice. Here's a capture taken from Kaaz website.
In my case, RT132 has the same half-shaft diameter as Zenki AE86. What i need to get then is DAT1630 which is meant for also Zenki AE86.
Final note: installing LSD is not something a garage mechanic should do. Yes you can take out that diff, yes you can install that LSD on the diff housing but the main problem is adjusting so that the pinion gear drive matches perfectly with the ring gear. Here's what i am talking about. So do yourself a favor and let a pro do it for you.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
More on Smallport Manifold Cut-n-Shut
Most of the pics below belong to my dear friend Dereck. He's done doing cut-n-shut on his 4A-GE smallport intake and you can see the result on the pics below. Smallport intake manifold faces the wrong side when the engine is put longitudinally in RWD. On Charmant (and many more example from other model, i am sure) the throttle body will hit the clutch master cylinder and unless you want to go Fred Flintstone on your car, you need that throttle body.
Here's the problem i mentioned.
Here's what cut-n-shut basically is, taken from my older post.
Here are shots of Dereck's finished manifold taken from his blog. First is the back side..
and here's the front side..
I sent Dereck's pics to my workshop mechanic thru MMS and immediately i got this reply pic.
Looks like they are almost finish with my manifold also! Only i see that they are doing it the slightly harder way. You can see that they kept the bolt threads on the back side just so that they can simply bolt in an aluminum plate to cover the old TB hole. That's easier than cutting and shutting the back side for sure. But as for the front side, it's a lot harder this way. You can see that they put an aluminum block there so that they can redrill the TB bolt threads. Ah well, that's how they prefer to do it.. It's not really my concern as long as it functions properly.
Dereck warned me that i need to make sure the cable gas bracket is also moved to the correct side. That's one thing to pay attention to on doing this work. Anything else you care to share with us, Dereck?
***update 18-Feb-10***
Here's the problem i mentioned.
Here's what cut-n-shut basically is, taken from my older post.
Here are shots of Dereck's finished manifold taken from his blog. First is the back side..
and here's the front side..
I sent Dereck's pics to my workshop mechanic thru MMS and immediately i got this reply pic.
Looks like they are almost finish with my manifold also! Only i see that they are doing it the slightly harder way. You can see that they kept the bolt threads on the back side just so that they can simply bolt in an aluminum plate to cover the old TB hole. That's easier than cutting and shutting the back side for sure. But as for the front side, it's a lot harder this way. You can see that they put an aluminum block there so that they can redrill the TB bolt threads. Ah well, that's how they prefer to do it.. It's not really my concern as long as it functions properly.
Dereck warned me that i need to make sure the cable gas bracket is also moved to the correct side. That's one thing to pay attention to on doing this work. Anything else you care to share with us, Dereck?
***update 18-Feb-10***
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Bye Bye Sparco Steering Wheel..
Here's a word of advice, if you're restoring a car and expect that it'll take more than a year before it's done, refrain from buying accessories just yet. I failed to do that and look what i've just done..
I bought this Sparco steering wheel on Mar 31st last year (the advantage of blogging: you can pinpoint dates exactly!).
... and just today i sold it and had it sent to the buyer. I've never even used it on my Charmant!
I get bored easily and even if i didn't sell it few days ago, i'll sure do it sometime in the future. The only difference is if i bought the wheel AFTER The Dog finished the swap, i'd get the chance to use it first. The same thing happened to my Globeline wheels. With the Work Equip replicas on my hands, now i can't wait to sell my Globelines, all without ever using them even once. LOL i can't even say if i'm gonna keep the Work Equips with me for a long time.
Anyway, what will i get to replace my Sparco? It'll be one of these Nardi classics..
I am inclined towards the brushed aluminum handles (plus, it's cheaper than the black one :P). Regardless of what i just said, i'll do the same mistake and get one of those ASAP before i finish my car. Hopefully now i'll get the chance to use it before swapping it again for something else.
Another update, i am racing against time now. I'll be busy with work in a month as new project is underway. I will have less time for The Dog so i'll have to finish the EFI wiring soon. It's about 90% finish and all that's left to do is put a fuse box into the equation. Once that done, i'll be flying to Jakarta to install the cables. Man it sure is difficult working on EFI cables without having your car near you. I have to guess the required length for each cables!
I bought this Sparco steering wheel on Mar 31st last year (the advantage of blogging: you can pinpoint dates exactly!).
... and just today i sold it and had it sent to the buyer. I've never even used it on my Charmant!I get bored easily and even if i didn't sell it few days ago, i'll sure do it sometime in the future. The only difference is if i bought the wheel AFTER The Dog finished the swap, i'd get the chance to use it first. The same thing happened to my Globeline wheels. With the Work Equip replicas on my hands, now i can't wait to sell my Globelines, all without ever using them even once. LOL i can't even say if i'm gonna keep the Work Equips with me for a long time.
Anyway, what will i get to replace my Sparco? It'll be one of these Nardi classics..
I am inclined towards the brushed aluminum handles (plus, it's cheaper than the black one :P). Regardless of what i just said, i'll do the same mistake and get one of those ASAP before i finish my car. Hopefully now i'll get the chance to use it before swapping it again for something else.
Another update, i am racing against time now. I'll be busy with work in a month as new project is underway. I will have less time for The Dog so i'll have to finish the EFI wiring soon. It's about 90% finish and all that's left to do is put a fuse box into the equation. Once that done, i'll be flying to Jakarta to install the cables. Man it sure is difficult working on EFI cables without having your car near you. I have to guess the required length for each cables!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
charmant4agte?
Sorry for the lack of update. The EFI wiring thing really got me quite busy but i certainly learned a great deal from it. A lot to share with you guys when i am done. Stay tuned.
Anyway, really tempted to buy this..
Used turbocharget set for 700 bucks. It was from a Honda Jazz (Honda Fit?). That's a damn good deal considering the stuff included in the set. Let's see.. there's CT12 turbo, huge intercooler, extra injector housing and the injectors included, complete exhaust system, oil supply line adapter, hoses, pipes.. Sure some parts won't fit on my Charmant but most of the important stuff are still applicable.
I still need to get the aux injector controller module but i can built one myself without hurting my wallet. So what do you think? 700 bucks is just about the borderline price for me. Any cheaper then i would buy this kit straight away.. LOL.
Even if i buy this, i won't be fitting them right away. I want to familiarize myself with the extra power coming from the smallport first before i go adding more horsepower (and problem) to the gas pedal.
I am not really a fan of forced induction but also not one of N/A either. I am all about learning new things by doing stuff like this. So it doesn't matter for me if i keep The Dog N/A or decided to keep a snail under the hood, as long as i am learning something from it, that's fine with me and i am sure you'd agree that successfully turbocharging your engine would boost experience points significantly.
Anyway, really tempted to buy this..
Used turbocharget set for 700 bucks. It was from a Honda Jazz (Honda Fit?). That's a damn good deal considering the stuff included in the set. Let's see.. there's CT12 turbo, huge intercooler, extra injector housing and the injectors included, complete exhaust system, oil supply line adapter, hoses, pipes.. Sure some parts won't fit on my Charmant but most of the important stuff are still applicable.
I still need to get the aux injector controller module but i can built one myself without hurting my wallet. So what do you think? 700 bucks is just about the borderline price for me. Any cheaper then i would buy this kit straight away.. LOL.
Even if i buy this, i won't be fitting them right away. I want to familiarize myself with the extra power coming from the smallport first before i go adding more horsepower (and problem) to the gas pedal.
I am not really a fan of forced induction but also not one of N/A either. I am all about learning new things by doing stuff like this. So it doesn't matter for me if i keep The Dog N/A or decided to keep a snail under the hood, as long as i am learning something from it, that's fine with me and i am sure you'd agree that successfully turbocharging your engine would boost experience points significantly.
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