Thought I'd introduce myself.

My new ride, in Bronze metallic. (Known already to my friends as sh*t brown)



Just bought her yesterday as a renovation project with the intention of a daily driver after some work. The interior is in great shape, not the nicest colour but a real retro vibe going on in here! Carpets as hairy as an early 80s man!









The engine pulls like a train.



The water pump is leaking but just looks like a poor fitment, it's moving water so I'm hoping this will be an easy fix.



Someone has bodged a bit of plumbing on the washer bottle, this has leaked down and completely rusted away the mount underneath but nothing too serious. bottle is not held at all, will weld on a captive nut I think



There is an oil leak between the transmission and the diff, a loud clunk from the rear on bumps and a terrible bearing noise coming from the transmission.

the car has a full dealer service history up until 2009, (it's an 83) one of the most comprehensive I have seen but then it gets sketchy, it comes with the original manuals, brochures and colour charts and also a very handy pocket mechanics book. (very comprehensive workshop manual)

I'm handy with the spanners but completely inexperienced with bodywork and while inspecting the car I missed two significant patches of rust. This has me a bit disheartened but i will soldier on. One is a hole the size of a golf ball at the very top of the rear wheel arch, goes through 2 skins, yet to investigate further, the other is on the sill, next to the rear spring mount.

planning to stiffen up the suspension with polyurethane bushings all round as I live in the country and it wallows WAY too much for my drive to work, perhaps lowering if that isn't enough to bring her to heel. Already found classic swede and will be contacting Dai as soon as I can get her into the garage and get a proper look.

Looking forward to being a member here and hoping to get 10 years out of this car for now. She has 70000 miles on her and the paperwork to back it.

Thanks for looking, all advice gratefully received.

Cheers.

Hi there and welcome.Nice clean example there.Give that engine a flush out,under the exhaust manifold to the rear of the engine there is a brass fitting.Remove it and clean it.Then push a screwdriver into the engine to unblock where the fitting was.

Refit the brass thing and attach your garden hose to it and give it a good old flush.After that run it with water and half a cup of laundry powder,this will get rid of all organic matter (half hour or 20 mile drive) then flush again.

Make sure that a good coolant is put in after,that will stop the block and head eating each other.Toyota's own coolant is the best imo.

Hope that Im not teaching you to suck eggs

I really want some of those fitted mats.

Also check where the water bottles bolt to the inner wing always hidden rot under there.

Cliché Guevara wrote:I really want some of those fitted mats.

They arn't uncommon, put up a wanted ad. If you are in the UK I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a set within 50 miles.

Chris_C wrote:

Cliché Guevara wrote:I really want some of those fitted mats.

They arn't uncommon, put up a wanted ad. If you are in the UK I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a set within 50 miles.

LOL...I did that and came up with air (nothing). I am also looking for a nice set.

John

Hi mate and welcome.
Car looks a real cracker. Did you nip over to Belfast and nick my seats
Realy like the colour. Not many of us left with door mounted mirrors
Cheers Mark.


John.
I did take my spare set of floor mats to the post office for you
but the price of postage to the USA was very high

Chris_C wrote:

Cliché Guevara wrote:I really want some of those fitted mats.

They arn't uncommon, put up a wanted ad. If you are in the UK I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a set within 50 miles.

+1. They must exist in about the ratio of 3 mats to 1 car!

thebear54 wrote:LOL...I did that and came up with air (nothing).

John, you did come up with something. You can come up with lots of things that are supposedly "air" if you dig into you damn pockets and pay the shipping!
(I agree the shipping is sky high. Best you make another trip and fill the case )

Wow, your car looks terrific, an 83 model year. Welcome to the forum.

very nice car!!

welcome!!

Chris_C wrote:

Cliché Guevara wrote:I really want some of those fitted mats.

They arn't uncommon, put up a wanted ad. If you are in the UK I'd be surprised if you couldn't get a set within 50 miles.

I'm in NZ

Maybe Logan has a spare set

She looks great but I would be worried about sill rot before any upgrades. Sills are quite complicated with 3 layers and angle piece and more if you consider the jacking point re-enforcements. If you are lucky it will be localised, if not it will need sills replaced and the inners patched.

The front wings are not so hard, but inners difficult to shape if its more than a hole.

Thanks for the welcome guys, I'll be starting a journal of my work when I get my garage ready for her. She'll only fit with the bumpers removed so it's going to be a squeeze but I have space down each side.

Lot's of pics to come, lots of advice required. I'm looking forward to it anyway.

@Mchudd
We're on the same Island fella! I'm south of the border on the west coast. Co. Galway.

Ride_on wrote:She looks great but I would be worried about sill rot before any upgrades. Sills are quite complicated with 3 layers and angle piece and more if you consider the jacking point re-enforcements. If you are lucky it will be localised, if not it will need sills replaced and the inners patched.

The front wings are not so hard, but inners difficult to shape if its more than a hole.

This is my primary worry at the moment, I'm a bodywork novice but I have a good indi that lets me work with him, will let him assess the damage, it looks localised and the jacking points look good but I'm not counting any chickens. The hole in the rear wheel arch is pretty bad and seems to go through 2 layers.

I like the mechanical bits, will see how much I can learn about the body while doing what's needed. Either way I win, I'll either have a good car or an expensive education!

Nice car and perfect colour!

Hello and welcome.

Good to see that A820 OBP has turned up again.

I take it you'll be registering her after her 30th birthday on the 2nd August.

macplaxton wrote:Hello and welcome.

Good to see that A820 OBP has turned up again.

I take it you'll be registering her after her 30th birthday on the 2nd August.

I will indeed, I have 1 week after purchase and (ahem, cough) import.