EK Wagon

[6000SUX]

noice!

Great to see so much progress so quickly!

PS. This has to be the most active build thread on PF no?

I think there's more activity in the Swedish Meatballs thread, but that seems to be mostly about whether Dave should do a skid in it or not.

I was trying to get it finished by Sept 7, as Brent the fabricator that helps me is getting married then and was keen to use the EK as a wedding car. I don't reckon I'll get it done by then, and it would annoy me if I rushed it now. The list of jobs to finish it is getting smaller though. Pretty much I need to do the following:

• finalise diff angle
• make bump stop platforms for the diff
• weld the new tunnel in
• plumb/make hoses for the radiator
• sort out a demister (hopefully using an underdash AC unit)
• wire the fuel pump, fans, water pump for the IC, and 2 speed wipers
• fabricate a reinforcement plate for the bonnet catch
• pull the engine and tidy up the engine bay (weld the brake booster mount to the firewall and give it a lick of matt black paint)
• paint the steering column
• new rear springs and maybe different front springs
• hand brake cable

It sucks that it's not at home where I could tinker on it, but at least when I go down to the workshop on Fridays I get a lot done and they have all of the fabrication equipment and skills that I don't have!

[6000SUX]

I reckon they look alright.

[9triton]

yep - moons are good

but need rest of car to confirm ...

[6000SUX]

yep - moons are good

but need rest of car to confirm ...

I'm off to Coffs Harbour on Sunday for the WRC, so I won't get a chance to do anything for a few weeks. I'll hopefully have it on it's wheels next time as I still need to sort the diff angle. I'll take a photo then.

[6000SUX]

First time on the ground in 9 months!!



It needs to come down in ride height by about 50mm. This shouldn't be a drama as it has 250mm of clearance underneath the crossmember at the moment. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new rack and pinion steering was much lighter than the old steering box too.

I've completely underestimated how long it takes to do all of the little fiddly little jobs. I spent yesterday making a bracket for the ECU, and battery tray and mount, and being a general dog's body helping Brent start to rebuild the tunnel where it was cut to fit the new gearbox. The car is quite close to being finished but I get to the end of the day and I've it seems I still have lots to go..... oh well.

[Justengt4]

I hear you on the fiddly shit.....you think you are 80% done on the major stuff, but the last 20% takes just as long

Engine work is looking great. Any plans to tackle that oxidised alloy?

[6000SUX]

I hear you on the fiddly shit.....you think you are 80% done on the major stuff, but the last 20% takes just as long

Engine work is looking great. Any plans to tackle that oxidised alloy?

The engine has to come out once I have all the fiddly shit done so I can tidy up the engine bay and paint (or maybe powder coat) the gearbox crossmember, engine mounts and radiator support panel. I've got some aluminium cleaning solution that is supposed to remove oxidisation, so I'm going to give that a go when the engine is out again.

[richzx]

This looks great I love the llok of it and it should drive nicely with the 1JZ in it. The 1JZ will just about rip the poor old girl apart they're such a torquey little engine. What's a ballpark on the cost of this little project?

[big_pete]

No white walls? :D

[BigMuz]

50mm... Make it 150 and we'll call it square :D

[6000SUX]

This looks great I love the llok of it and it should drive nicely with the 1JZ in it. The 1JZ will just about rip the poor old girl apart they're such a torquey little engine. What's a ballpark on the cost of this little project?

I reckon I'm in for $10k so far. I try not to keep track.... I think it's better that way!

No white walls? :D

It had white walls when I got it but I wasn't a massive fan. I might get a stainless trim ring for the wheels though but I'll wait until I've lived with it for a while with the new wheels.

50mm... Make it 150 and we'll call it square :D

Haha. I was thinking of getting the the top of tyre just level with the guard. .

[6000SUX]

Airbox looks super shit but I guess it's hidden

The air box looks slightly less shit because I've hid it more! The ducting will be painted black to make it blend in.







The tunnel mods are all finished too.



That's pretty much all of the major fab work done. I'll pull the engine and gearbox next week so I can finish off the engine bay and then reassemble. Getting closer bit by bit.

[BigMuz]

Really good mate. Airbox is much better!

[Dogsballs]

nice. good in roads!

[6000SUX]

Another productive day...

Engine and gearbox out again...





Finished welding in the mounting plate for the new booster and pedal box...



And managed to give the engine bay a few coats of satin black. It's far from perfect but it looks infinitely better than before.



I've also painted the radiator support, engine mounts and gearbox cross member. The dump pipe is getting HPC coated next week.

I think I've turned the corner now as it's mostly putting everything back together.... well until the AC unit comes anyway... LOL.