Headon in express
Crumplezones explode debris
Sad time for those two
Monthly Archive for August, 2011
Page 2 of 2
Working on the rally FX, got the head back all shiny and better than new. Had the machine shop clean the intake too, but everything else I’m doing myself. In one of many wanderings in the web, I came across a posting on a homebrew soda blasting rig. 
Soda is sand/media blasting using baking soda/sodium bicarbonate as the media. It’s the latest rage in the Eastwood catalog, touted for its gentle cleaning and easy cleanup. But instead of shelling out the hundreds of dollars to order one, here is what I tried out. Go to City Mill, buy $3 worth of 1/2″ vinyl hose, goto Safeway and buy about $3 of baking soda. Take hose, cut a slit about 2 inches from end just big enough that tip of airgun will fit in. Insert tip in slit toward the short end of hose, tape. Stick other end of hose in box of baking soda. I got the deluxe kit here and grabbed the cardboard box my Toyota order came in the mail in, and a nice thick plastic bag that happened to be in it too. So here you see it, the soda blaster and blast cabinet, for $6! Too bad I didn’t have any of that Wacky Willy’s freebie hose anymore or it would have been cheaper! Continue reading ‘Soda Works’
Boo, that’ll teach me. I decided to order some factory Toyota parts from a place I found online, pretty decent price for A/C compressor so gave them a try. Unfortunately East coast and UPS Ground is really ground, as opposed to coming to Hawaii where ground magically becomes air. I put the order in last monday, it started its trek Thursday, and it finally made it to CA today, Tuesday. Meanwhile some other parts I ordered at Sand Island Toyota parts on Saturday, came in this afternoon. Factor in my frequent customer discount and shipping and Hawaii wins in this case, no contest.
So the flywheel that went out USPS on wed the 3rd got here on the 6th, the LSD went out USPS on 6th came in today the 9th, ARP headstuds went out UPS on the 3rd got here on 5th, clutch just shipped UPS today expected 11th. I just picked up shiny remachined (& apparently welded) head. The only problem is that first order is the key to almost everything, it has the main gaskets that I can’t proceed with most of the work on the FX until I have them! Damn it!
We had a 1 second brownout this morning, looks like it took out my PC or corrupted the hd.
(1)At intersection stopping to yield right of way waiting to make left turn, total idiot bone head behind me in Jeep Wrangler crosses into incoming lane to go around me on left to turn. He makes it through intersection but has to slam brakes and skid to halt as he almost tbones car entering the cross street from City Mill driveway. AND has the gall to honk his horn. Where’s Tazerman when you need him!
(0)
The rally FX is increasingly reducing to bits. The head is in the shop getting a valve job. Tonight I dropped the transaxle, clutch, and flywheel. Hopefully can get it all back together as planned. With all the parts off now, the seals actually look good, but I’m going to change them anyway. Rebuild one of the spare transaxles with LSD, then convert the starter to MR-2 supercharged starter version on the opposite side of block. I don’t have the correct cover plate, so I’m modifying the existing by cutting a new hole and will weld up the original hole. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve sourced a 20V 4AGE “blacktop” flywheel off the net, it’s the lightest OEM 4AGE flywheel, and also a 20V OEM tubular exhaust header. Hopefully I can get that to fit to the existing collector and flex pipe, it’s a little different, but hopefully close enough to work. Lots of work to do, hopefully I can get it done in time. It’s come to finding and waiting on parts to arrive.