We headed to the junkyard yesterday to look for our new engine. It was a great race car even with 50-something horsepower, 4 speeds and weird diff gearing, and nearly stock suspension. Yeah, this thing three-wheeled through Turn 2 and Turn 6 at HPR, and felt amazing doing it. We came away with a Judge's Choice trophy, (I believe) narrowly missing out on Index of Effluency. We also had to do a bit of the old engine-in-out Saturday night because I had reinstalled the stock clutch disc backwards when I went to replace it while prepping the car and ended up not having the right parts. We did fairly well at the car's debut at the 2019 High Plains Drifter, with a couple intermissions to reinstall pushrods and relash the valves because the adjusters wanted to back off. So I ended up with no pictures of stuff like the lexan windshield, coroplast door panels, homebuilt big front brake upgrade, remote mount battery and complete rewire, installation of a Weber 38/38 on the 4K in place of nonfunctional factory EFI, fuel cell fire bulkhead and plumbing, fire suppression system installation, fender rolling to fit 15x8s and overkill 205/50 rubber, installation of a larger/cheaper radiator with electric fans, etc. All a bit of a thrash and the prep for the race in September was a thrash too. Meanwhile, my daughter was born in February and I became a stay-at-home parent, we bought some mountain land in May to build our forever home after getting fed up with the collective attitude of our neighborhood, then ended up deciding in August to sell our house and move into a rental for the duration of construction. We bought the car mid December 2018, and it mostly sat until I started the roll cage in July 2019, with some piddling around on the fuel cell and seat in the interim. I'm glossing over a lot of details here, mostly because I failed to document them at the time. We have a couple ideas, but I won't post until we have an engine in hand and ready to go. We're headed to the junkyard this Sunday in search of a new heart for the Starlet. I'll continue posting pictures of the cage build/race prep to catch you up to present day. I even had to strategically hole saw into the rocker panels from inside and outside in order to reach all of the turd nests to get the car fully clean. The interior was an absolute disaster, completely packed with mouse nests, bird seed shells, and mouse E36 M3. We paid $400, the guy even trailered it to my house for free. The car had lived in a Colorado farm field for something like 20 years. We're starting an engine and trans swap in preparation for the 2020 BFE GP, so I thought I would post some pictures of the beginnings and initial build of the car before I get into the swap. We survived that race with few mechanical issues, but the car was glacially slow. Originally listed on eBay Thursday 16th February, 2023 at 16:36:03.I thought I would post some documentation about our Starlet, which made its Lemons debut last September at the 2019 High Plains Drifter. I can proudly say this car is one of the best built retromods in the UK and has no expense… Continue reading. Everything is detail orientated and no expense spared. Custom exhaust by Mike Edwards and countless hand fabricated parts and brackets by machine shops and my good friend Darren Ball. Every seal, belt and service parts are as new.Brake consumables replaced and mounting points re-machined brackets to true centre, no stone left unturned.The engine installation has been carefully planned for maximum visual impact whilst maintaining ease of maintenance, everything is easily accessible by design.All data can be displayed on the dash and custom pages can be configured via the Plex software.Absolutely no corners were cut, as an example all silicon hoses have been custom designed, not cut and shut from off the shelf parts and every clip, nut and screw has been carefully considered and refurbished.Many of the car’s components are custom one offs from the hand fabricated alloy bumpers, intercooler and radiator package, header, washer, brake & clutch tank’s and under car foam filled fuel tank by Pro alloy. An engine was sourced from a reliable seller and it has not disappointed and performed faultlessly since commissioning.A high end Plex dash, Link ECU, KA sensors, Injector dynamics ID1050 X’s, wheel speed sensors and Raychem loom and drive by wire throttle system have been installed. After 4.5 years of ownership, hundreds of hours of spanner work obsessing over the details, it is time to let go of my Toyota Starlet 1983 Cosworth.I bought the car in 2018 as a rolling shell after the previous owner decided to move on with a new adventure after running a large program of upgrades on the car.Since ownership I have practically stripped everything off the car and replaced, refurbished, upgraded or recommissioned the existing parts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |