Ivan's coupe: roof stuccowork

[banpei]

(09-18-2022 10:31 PM)Ivan141 Wrote:  I think he did sell them, but I'm not sure. He just bought some 280ZX rims like mine for his KE50 recently, so I can see why he would need to get rid of some others.

Excellent choice! I think those rims are really beautiful!
So he bought a KE50 Sportswagon?

If I remember correctly one of those semi slick tires already had issues keeping pressurized for more than 2 or 3 weeks. Whenever I visited the shed I had to put air in that tire. I think in the end I just put one of my spare wheels on the Celica...

[Ivan141]

My bad.. he still has a KE30, I got confused. Awesome little red rocket but still hampered by some braking issues.

It's a shame they go to 17 inch with this Love20bee conversion, but these iron crosses must be some of the awesomest wheels ever when converted to 3-piece.

[Ivan141]

With Dennis way too busy to continue bodywork I've had to 'spin my wheels' a bit lately.

Used some of my evenings to get the interior works finished a bit further.
The front seats are done, only things left to do to them are:
-Covering the back shells in fake leather to freshen them up.
-Testing the modified BMW lumbar support bellows (see how they feel, not that there is
much I can do to change the way they are mounted at this point.
-Print and fit the holders for the lumbar support control button (will come in place of the original buttons on the supra seats).
-Permanently mount the pump and valve assy (in the side bolster to be exact).


For those interested: this is the 7-series lumbar support next to the supra one.
It has to be narrowed down (by 'welding' a new seal with a soldering iron) and some fitting ears need to be attached. These were quite cheap off ebay.


Next order of business interior wise is to figure out a way to upholster the side cards and door cards. Will probably have to make a fibreglass shell for the center bit (which is how Toyota did it on kouki models, only with a metal shell).

Have been to the garage to do some odds and ends. Took my second trunk out and shrunk the hell out of any oilcanning I could find with the shrinking disc. Then re-seam sealed, added some anti-flutter, and re-primered the thing.


And I finally finished the 3rd universal joint on my driveshaft (I ruined my new u-joint last time). The Doctor was on site to lend a hand.. came in clutch. It really is difficult to tap the bearing cups in straight on these, so having someone there to help out stopped me rushing things and ruining another new u-joint (came close a couple of times).
Now the driveshaft is in my trunk again and I will see if I can get a specialist to check off on the centering + balancing and perhaps re-staking the joints in (if they have the correct tool for it), else a blob of weld will have to perform that task.
If they still quote a ridiculous number I will find a way to do this myself.

[decryphe]

Very fresh seats!

After some usage since getting mine reupholstered, I'm starting to get a squeky noise when leaning sideways (typical metal-on-metal-squeak). Any hints on getting rid of that?

[Ivan141]

Check the hinges with a pin. Usually 1 side per seat has 2 bolts connecting to the recliner mechanism, the other side has a pin that it fits around (secured with an E-clip), that pin has a plastic bushing that is usually ruined. Might be the culprit, but I'm just guessing from what I've seen wrong with all my seats. I 3d printed my own replacement bushings but you can get originals from Toyota for cheap.

[decryphe]

(10-10-2022 07:38 PM)Ivan141 Wrote:  Check the hinges with a pin. Usually 1 side per seat has 2 bolts connecting to the recliner mechanism, the other side has a pin that it fits around (secured with an E-clip), that pin has a plastic bushing that is usually ruined. Might be the culprit, but I'm just guessing from what I've seen wrong with all my seats. I 3d printed my own replacement bushings but you can get originals from Toyota for cheap.

Does "it squeaks when leaning to the right" fit with the plastic bushing probably being gone/ground to dust? It's on a RHD, so right is on the outer side of the car - on the side with the hinge lever.

[Ivan141]

Had another long hiatus from the project but managed to put an afternoon's worth of work into it last saturday.

One of my doors was missing a window guide rail at the bottom and I did not manage to buy one new even though there seemed to be a chance earlier.

So what do you do, you build your own.



Cant say I was very proud of the way the thing looked by the time it was nearing completion, somehow Eddy Murphy's welfare-burger skit kept going through my mind (we have window guides at home).
But in the end, it actually seemed to mate up to the door quite well and it will hold the rubber as it is supposed to, so I consider it a win.

[Power_uP]

Well done fabricating the door rail, looks like something that could easily go wrong. It doesn't look like an easy part to buy separately either.

[banpei]

That's some nice fabrication!
The part is hidden inside the door and the finished product looks good enough in my opinion.

[Ivan141]

Work is slow this week so I took a day to work in the garage.

Have decided to get some stuff crossed off of the big old todo list, whilst the chassis is waiting for bodywork guy to have some free time on his hands again.

Finally got a helicoil set, bought it to do a single bolt hole that got buggered on the hood. I had tapped it out to M9 earlier, but since I've lost the one M9 bolt I had lined up for the purpose I had second thoughts. Nothing is more annoying than having some off-standard size bolt. No picture because boring.

Then I also managed to procure some material that looked like it might be a good fit for the firewall padding. I havent been able to buy a new one anywhere and I refuse to pay good money for a used one.
The stuff is called Merford Isomat VM, and is 7mm thick and heavy as f@#k.

First I had to create a real-scale template (thanks to Zax for helping out with pic).


Then transfer everything to the material.


A lot of hole-punching and cutting later, I got something that fits well enough for my standards.


I still think this is thinner than the stock stuff.. have a layer of insulation foam I could stick to the back of the mat but I need to be sure everything will fit if I do.
Does anyone happen to have a picture of one of those plastic plugs that hold the insulation in place? Along the middle there are 3 little stubs that they should snap onto, havent dug them up from the parts inventory yet.