Diary of the build up of SW11

[Driftin_AW]

Day 12
Wednesday, 20th April

First thing I did today was to remove all the last bits from the SW20, just little stuff like the coil + igniter, map sensor, heat shields etc. I then started trying to see if I could fit them to the AW11. With a little bit of cutting it fits pretty well, not sure what?s going to be the easiest way to fit it yet, probably use some long thin bolts.
Then I started to have a play with the SW20 strut brace. After a couple of hours I it was pretty much all sorted. Just need to get some ?U? channel steel for brackets on the firewall and paint the sucker. All I had to do was to slightly bend the end tabs where the brace mounts to the firewall, and extend one of the other ends slightly. Did this by welding a piece of 3mm thick steel to it, cutting the end on an angle and drilling a hole in it. Worked out very well. First few welds were a bit average but I?m getting used to the new welder and settings as well as welding thick steel to thin without burning holes in it!
After looking at what the end I had just made, I wasn?t too happy with the bend on the end of the tab, looks as though it would be a weak point, so I braced it with another piece of 3mm steel. I then cleaned up all the welds and corners and such with a grinder, and I think it looks pretty good! Once it?s filled and painted it should be beautiful.

I then got stuck into the driver?s side engine mount again. Much happier with it now, didn?t add any extra bracing yet, still undecided as to whether it?s needed. Hopefully Simon will be coming around to weld it in properly in the next couple of days.

After that I got back to pulling apart and preparing the engine. Decided to ditch the T-VIS and T-VSV, so I removed the T-VIS plates (left the bar in there so I don?t have to block up the holes), pulled out the VSV?s behind the intake manifold, then cleaned up all the oily parts in some petrol/parts cleaner. I also pulled the gearbox off, clutch is reasonably new, I thought I might try to sell it on trademe. I also pulled off the turbo & catalytic converter. Very oily inside and outside the turbo, put it in the corner with the other CT26. I swapped the alternator over into the Celica mounting position. Turns out the SW20 alternator doesn?t fit the bracket (holy bejesus that is one big alternator! Might use it to make a homemade TIG welder), so I have used the one from the GT-Four for now. The engine is looking much tidier now that I?ve removed some of the clutter. I?m torn between redoing the wiring harness slightly to position as much of the auxiliary parts like map sensor, coil, igniter etc, or just not doing it so I can get the bloody thing running sooner. I would also like to clean up the engine by painting some parts and polishing some others. I would really like to do a few parts white, you don?t see it often in engine bays and I think it looks wicked, but I really don?t want this swap to take longer than it needs to.

I finally bit the bullet and got out the grinder again, then took to the rear firewall. Cut one hell of a big hole in it, feels weird to be hacking a perfectly good AW11 up like this! I also took out the part that the engine lid latch mounts on, don?t need it anymore and it?s in the way of the intake manifold.

All round I?m pretty happy with the progress I made today, unfortunately I probably wont be able to touch it again for a few days, have work tomorrow and then me and Heather are going away for a couple of days in Rotorua. Should be a nice break but I?m sure I?ll be eager to get back and finish it off.

I also think I have come across what should be a very good option for the turbo. Currently watching an auction for a TD05 16g off a Mitsi Evo III. This should be an excellent turbo and shouldn?t take a huge amount of work to fit, so hopefully this one will go according to plan and I will have it in my possession in a week or so.

[Driftin_AW]

no update for today, all I did was had a quick look at the wiring but didn't really touch anything.
Quick financial update though:

Bought SW20 KYB Gymkhana 4 way adjustable rear shocks - $80
Total cost to date: $630

I have also won an auction for some 550cc/min injectors which will probably just be put aside until I decide how I'm going to control the extra fuel. Also, the guy I bought the shocks off was building up an sw20 but ended up buying a very awesome 600hp one (T78, custom everything, TRD widebody kit, HUGE wheels, very fast and very beautiful!), and he has a t04b that he's trying to sell. He reckons it should come on boost around 3,500-4000rpm, which doesn't sound too bad, but possibly a bit laggier than I'd hoped for, we'll see what happens there, it could be a very wicked turbo set up and could make SW11 and absolute monster, so we'll see. And just out of complete coincidence, this guy lives just a few houses down the road from me! Small world I guess, but anyway, if the evo turbo falls through or gets too expensive (guy wants $750ish for the t04b) then maybe I'll go the t04b + external route.....mmm...wicked

[Driftin_AW]

Day 13
Monday, 25th April

Ok, after my short holiday break I got back to work on SW11 today. Simon came around and welded up my side engine mount, so I finally have something solid to hang the engine from!
After a lot of contemplation I finally decided to put a hybrid ST165/SW20 CT26 on. I had a good ST165 turbo, and onto this I put the twin entry exhaust housing from the SW20. It fits right on and the wheels are exactly the same size. Interestingly the compressor wheels and housings are both the same size too. I also swapped all the parts that attach to the turbo, that is the wastegate actuator (sh*t, just remembered I didn?t put the circlip on!), the oil lines and the water lines. Removing the exhaust housings from the turbo?s was quite an effort, they were very well and truly seized on, and took a fair bit of persuasion to come apart.
I also pulled the flywheel off the engine, tomorrow I will take this and the clutch pressure plate in to be stone ground. I?m going to use the kevlar clutch disk that was on my GT-Four. This is a very good clutch, with an upgraded pressure plate it handled a LOT of abuse, many big clutch dumps with lots of 4wd traction, and the clutch never slipped (although the transfer case blew!). The disk is still in good nick, and I think in a 2wd with less power than the GT-Four had, and a standard pressure plate, it should be an excellent clutch.
So, tomorrow I will get the grinding done, get a new cambelt and valve cover gasket (and some bolts to replace the standard screws), put all of that on the engine with a gutted cat and reinstall the engine. Then it?s just wiring and piping before I can fire it up. Also have to do some work on the torque mounts and make a driveshaft.

At the moment I have decided to get the car running with the crappy CT26, take it in for certification, then after a bit of driving I will make up my mind as to what direction I want to take with the turbo. Once my mind is made up the engine will come out again and I will tidy the engine up a bit, paint the engine bay and accessories, then either install my choice of turbo, or if I decide to stick with the CT26 I will make a decent downpipe for it.

I?ve also decided I?d like to make a one piece engine/boot lid. Possibly a fibreglass one, although aluminium would also be a good option. I?m thinking of making a wide, short rearward facing vent for the engine lid, that runs through a ?tunnel? to the back edge of the boot lid. I think this will be very cool and effective, and I will start looking at exactly how I?d like to do it shortly.

So the goal for tomorrow will be to get the parts I need, get the engine ready and put it in. I?m still yet to decide what?s going to happen with the suspension, but hopefully I?ll have the cash available to do the height adjustable struts. Also I think the completion of the strut brace might have to wait until after it?s certified. This is because I don?t have the steel to make the brackets for it yet, and when I do have it the engine will be in the way and I wont be able to weld them in. This is not a major problem, I don?t think it will need to be listen on the cert plate so can wait.

I also need to swap the GT-Four brakes on at some point. I?m pretty sure these will fit with the stock rotors, as they?re the same size as the GT-Four ones (well, within 3mm I think).

It?s getting closer now, I can feel it! Really hoping to be able to start it by the end of the week, maybe test drive on the weekend!

Financial Update (was $630):
Paid for engine mount to be welded in - $50
Sold E51 gearbox (old 4AGZE one) - $260
Sold Racepro blowoff valve (from 3SGTE) - $70
Sold SW20 turbo engine lid - $200
Cost to date: $150 (mmm I?m still hoping to see this cost end up as a negative value!)

[Driftin_AW]

Day 14
Tuesday, 26th April

So, first thing I did today was to go around some parts stores trying to organise some stuff. Took my flywheel and pressure plate in to be stone ground, went to get a valve cover gasket, cambelt, and some replacement bolts for the valve cover. Ended up doing a hell of a lot of stuffing around, making a couple of different trips, having to count the teeth on my cambelt, and I still don?t have the flywheel and pressure plate back yet!

However, I did make some progress. I took the turbo off again and put the circlip on the actuator, gutted the cat, and put the whole lot back on. Replaced the cambelt, the valve cover gasket and bolts and oil filter. The engine is ready to go in, just need the clutch parts back, and need to put the engine and tranny back together.

I also made myself a 32mm tube socket. The cheapest I could find was $40, which is too much for something I?ll use probably 5 times in my life, so I bought a normal 32mm socket, cut it in half, and welded 3 pieces of 3mm steel in the middle to make it longer! Excellent! And my welds didn?t break when I went to use it, which is a good sign. So I finally got the driveshafts out of the SW20. Tomorrow I will take one of these in with the long SC shaft and get the outer CV?s swapped. I had to put half the rear suspension/subframe back together on the SW20 so that the hub would be held securely enough for me to unbolt the driveshafts. This was a bit of a pain, but at least now there?s a few less pieces of SW20 lying around.

I also cut down the engine mount bracket on the cambelt end of the motor. It has a big ?arm? that extends from the bracket up to the SW20 engine hook bracket, but since I?ve gone to a Celica alternator bracket it was just getting in the way. I think I did a good job and you can?t tell that it?s been cut down. Shouldn?t cause any problems with strength, as this is how it is on a GT-Four.

I?m also trying to design a new engine lid. I?ve got an idea that I really like, it?s quite unique, reasonably subtle, should be very effective, lightweight, and should look wicked too. I?m trying to decide whether it would be best made from sheet metal/alloy or fibreglass. It?s going to be a one piece engine lid/boot lid so I will need to incorporate a surface to seal against the boot rubber, which could be a little tricky if I don?t use the original boot lid. I want it to be lightweight though, so I guess I?ll just see what I come up with.

Tomorrow I really hope to get the engine in, and get cracking on the wiring! Wiring should be a piece of cake, although since I?m re-routing some of it, it may take longer than I?m expecting.

Financial update

Bought stainless steel bolts to replace stock valve cover bolts - $14
Bought valve cover gasket and cambelt - $110

Cost to date = $264

[Driftin_AW]

Day 15
Wednesday, 27th April

So, another day, and more progress. Got up this morning reasonably early (10am, most other days it?s been more like noon), hoping to get all the parts sorted early so I would have all day to work on the car. Well, I picked up the flywheel, which was all nicely machined (freebie!), but they couldn?t do the pressure plate so they sent me somewhere else. Got there and it was going to be at least $120, which is quite a bit to reuse a stock pressure plate, so I decided to use the one from the GT-Four, I will get this one upgraded later on when the GT-Four needs it. Then I took the supercharged long driveshaft and one sw20 driveshaft in to have the CV?s swapped. Or so I thought. I had picked up the bloody short SC shaft instead of the SW20 one, so I had to go back home to get it, and it?s about a 50 minute round trip to ADL who were doing it. So, I finally got the right shafts out there and then after about 5 minutes of stuffing about the guy claimed the CV couldn?t be hit off, and so he I was going to have to buy a new SC outer and they would gas the SW20 outer off. So, I went to see the manager at the front desk to get a price on the CV ($100), I agreed to it and explained to him what I was doing and why I needed the hybrid shaft made. I then told him that I know they can definitely be hit off, so he had a go, and succeeded. Yay. So he swapped them over and it cost me the grand sum of $20, but by the time I got home it was 1:30pm, and I still had much to do!
So I got home and did the final assembly of the engine, flywheel and clutch on, gearbox on, then I got into the engine bay and installed the SW20 heatshield and a few other bits I had taken out.
Finally I raised the car, slid the engine under and squatted the AW down on top of it. I have found a better way of raising the engine. Instead of using the crane on the two engine hooks, which lifts the engine slanted left to right and tilted forward, I lift by the cambelt end engine hook, then use a large trolley jack under the end of the tranny. Works very well, especially on SW11 as there is very little room around the engine as it goes in, and it has to be raised at the angle which it sits when installed.
So, got the engine in, supported by both end mounts and the rear tranny mount. It?s a great thing to see. I then tried fitting the intake manifold. Didn?t quite fit so I had to cut the hole a bit higher. It?s very snug, but it fits, and doesn?t look like it will hit under engine torque twisting. I then had a quick look at all the coolant, fuel etc connections that need to be made. All looks like it should be very simple, and I?ll start on them once the wiring is done.

So, with the engine settled into it?s new home, I started to tackle the wiring. I started at the alternator and worked my way back to the ECU, removing unneeded wiring, moving all the stuff I wanted to move, and generally trying to get my head around what I needed to wire up to what. After a couple of hours, and a few trips back inside to check the wiring diagrams on the computer, I finally had it all figured out. The wiring in the engine bay is now all completed (just have to do the couple of connections to m2), and all the wiring in the boot is labelled where it needs to be connected. I?ve moved the check connector, map sensor, coil, ignitor, injector resistor, that funny thing that connects between the black/red wire and earth (noise suppresser?) all into the boot. I will probably try and get an alloy plate to mount all the pieces to, maybe even try to make it flush with the cover for the intake manifold, so it looks like one tidy bulkhead.

The only minor things I haven?t solved yet is where to connect the reverse light sensor, and exactly where the power should come for the fuel pump. I was also thrown off by the fact that the SW20 circuit opening relay is in the fusebox, so I initially had it confused with the starter relay, but I have that sorted now. I also need to find a plug for the COR. Also I haven?t worked out what I need to connect to get the fan working, although I think I might just have it running full time, as I don?t see any real downside to this.

I have work tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday, not to mention I?m back to uni on Monday and I have several assignments I haven?t even touched, that need to be completed in the first couple of weeks back. I feel that I?m so close to having this baby running, and I really don?t want to go to work tomorrow, but apparently they?re very busy and need my help, and I can?t just dessert them to finish this. Hopefully I will have enough time after work tomorrow to finish the wiring and start on all the necessary piping and such.
I still need to make the front torque mount too, which I will probably do once the wiring is done.
So, it?s a big pain to have so many interruptions in this project, but I will continue on at it whenever I have time and hopefully will be able to fire it up within the next week!

Financial update

Driveshaft CV swapping - $20

Cost to date $284

[Driftin_AW]

Day 16
Thursday, 28th April

Well not a lot to report, I spent a couple of hours after work doing some more wiring. I made some brackets for the ECU, coil and ignitor, I sorted out where all the wiring needs to go, and just about finished the wiring. Just need to get a plug for the circuit opening relay (will go to pick-a-part tomorrow after work and hopefully will get one), and then it?s all done! Just tidying up of the harness and then onto the last bits of engine related piping, installing the driveshafts, making the front torque mount, and a few other bits and pieces. Still haven?t decided about the suspension

here's a picture from yesterday

[Driftin_AW]

Day 17
Saturday, 30th April

So, I was hoping I?d get to start the car today, but didn?t get everything completed. Didn?t get the COR plug, but I?ll do that tomorrow. I did manage to get all the coolant piping done, connected up the fuel lines, shifter cables, throttle cable, speedometer cable etc.
The coolant piping was relatively simple, but a bit more time consuming than I would have liked. I cut some hard pipes off the SW20 donor which were useful. Also tried my hand at brazing for the first time ever. I have never done it before, have no idea how it?s done, all I know is that it?s kind of like soldering. So I heated up my big bad 80W soldering iron, got a big thick reel of solder, and it was bloody easy! I just put the 2 copper pipes in a vice, brazed together about 1cm, turned it over and did about 1cm on the other side, then went round and finished it off. I then made up a wicked little series of hoses to downsize to one that was small enough to fit tightly over my air gun, put the joint under water and blew some compressed air into it, and no leaks! Yay! Then I realised I had joined them on the wrong angle and had to redo it, but oh well, brazed parts come apart a hell of a lot easier than welded ones.

Also the throttle cable was more work than I expected. When I attached it, there wasn?t enough cable extending out the end to allow the throttle to close, even with the adjustment nut right at the end of the thread. So, I had to cut 20mm out of the bracket that holds the cable, to give it enough slack to properly close. I connected the clutch line too, but it?s quite tight so I will get a longer one made next week.

I also put the Legacy water to air intercooler in, for the first time since the 3S was installed. Still fits fine, but I think the inlet will need to be cut off and moved toward the front of the car to allow the piping to fit around everything. As it is right now the inlet and outlet pipes will need to cross over each other, and there?s just not the 5 inches of space above the engine that would be needed to fit them without rubbing/banging each other and the engine. I might use my st165 intercooler in the mean time, as it will fit on top of the engine without any hassles. Ideally I?d love to get a GT-Four RC or ST205 intercooler on there, as they?re bigger than the Subaru one I have, and designed to fit right on top of a 3SGTE, whereas the legacy one is positioned in the back corner of the engine bay above the tranny. I?ve also won an auction for a cheap pod filter and afm adapter, which will be positioned down in front of the tranny, where some people put their intercoolers.

In the last couple of days I have been fixated with trying to get it started. Once this is accomplished I will move onto making it driveable. I will also need to move the SW20 out of the way so that I can get this out of the garage once it?s ready.
At some point I also need to turn my attention to the interior, which is a bit dismantled as I started doing some more work on the stereo over Christmas when I was working on the 4AGTE conversion and had some spare time.

Today I also went to Repco and spoke to my good friend Andrew there. He showed me a catalogue of non-shiny/bling mufflers, in sizes up to 4?! I?m tossing up between a couple of different straight through 3? designs, a 3? in and 2x2.5? out, and a 3? in and 2x2.25? out. I really think twin tips out the side will look absolutely excellent, but the twin tip designs are more expensive (albeit still cheap, between $150 and $200, although straight through 3? ones are as cheap as $60).

So, much to consider still, I have a few different ideas for brakes going through my mind, and am anxiously watching the auction for parts to build coilovers, hoping to get them for less than $500

Financial update:
Sold 4AGZE fuel pump - $50
Bought hose clamps, distribution blocks and terminals ~$20

Cost to date $254

[Driftin_AW]

Day 18
Sunday, 1st May

I was hoping to get the car started today, but that didn?t happen. I found myself rushing through things and not doing them properly, so I ended up deciding to just call it quits at about 6pm to reassess the situation. I have decided that I?m not starting it until the engine is pretty much in it?s ready to drive state.
It is just about ready to start now, but a lot of the piping has just been thrown on in an attempt to make it run, which is really not what I want to be doing, so I?ll be pulling it all off and making everything properly, and doing it once. This means waiting for the air filter and adapter to arrive, possibly waiting until the legacy intercooler has been modified, getting the clutch line made up, and probably securing some of the pipes I?ve made up to prevent them rubbing on nearby parts. Generally wasn?t in a good mood today, not really sure why but I certainly wasn?t feeling positive about the impending start up.

I filled the coolant system, and discovered about 4 water leaks! Damn! All of these were fixed just by putting new hose clamps on, rather than using the Toyota ones I had used.

I finally got a COR plug too! And while I was at the wreckers I stumbled upon a S-W bellhousing (this will be most useful when it comes to putting a 3SGTE into Heather?s TA22!). And it was a bargain at $15! No gearbox attached unfortunately, my mate got that the day before for his AE85.

I also had a quick look at the rear brakes, to see if the SW20 ones could be easily swapped. Apparently the calipers will swap, the disks will need a spacer ring to go between the spigot on the hub and the disk center hole, as they?re about 6mm larger. The problem, however, is that the disks on the SW20 have 2 sets of holes drilled in them already, they are both 5x114.3, and I really have no idea why they?re there. But it means I can?t drill them for 4x100 without coming into strength problems. So, I don?t know if it?s going to be worth it, as the only difference appears to be that the disks are thicker and vented, I think they?re both the same diameter, will check piston sizes when I remove the current calipers.

I?m also looking some Mitsi GTO brakes on trademe. They?re 4 pots front and rear, with the rear being only slightly smaller than the front. I think I might use one pair on SW11 and the larger pair on the GT-Four. Only if the price is right though.

So, back to uni tomorrow, there?s a good chance I wont have time to work on the car again until the weekend, but we?ll see. Quite a few assignments due in the next couple of weeks that I really should have done over my holidays, but oh well! Fingers crossed that completion wont drag out due to lack of time.

Financial update
Bought miscellaneous bits and pieces, vacuum lines, oil etc, $60
$314

[Driftin_AW]

Day 19
Monday, 2nd May

Well, did I say I was going to take a bit of a break? I must have been high or something! I realised today that I?ve done most of the work for my assignment that?s due on Wednesday (so I can attempt to cram the rest in tomorrow night sometime), so I spend a bit of time out in the garage. Last night I started to feel the onset of the flu, and today I felt (and still do) like absolute shite. My head feels like it has had compressed air blown into it, and all my airways plugged up. Except apparently my nose hasn?t been blocked up as plenty of snot is managing to make it?s way out! Yum!

Anyway, so today I began cleaning up some bits and pieces, went to get a new clutch line but apparently shops have to be certified to make brake and clutch lines. So I have to take the hose somewhere across town, which will have to wait until Thursday when I go to work, except I have other things to do and don?t know if I?ll have time, so we?ll see, maybe I will be able to find a workable one at a wreckers?

I finished the very last of the wiring too, although I have left it untaped so that if something doesn?t work I can check it without pulling it all apart. I also did all the vacuum piping, connected up the boost gauge, gave the 165 intercooler a thorough wash out , filled the gearbox (except I forgot to put the supported shaft in! Didn?t leak too much though). I had a small leak on my brazed joint (tiny little pinhole) so I removed that and redid it, I still haven?t secured the coolant pipes, undecided as to whether it?s needed. Will be pretty tricky if it does need to be done, as there?s nothing nearby to attach them to.

I also had a better look at the sw20 turbo (1989) rear brakes vs the current ones, and here?s my findings:
Disks are identical in diameter, the sw20 ones are 16mm and vented whereas the aw11 ones are 9mm and solid. Centre hole on sw20 disks is about 8mm large in diameter.
Pistons are the same bore, calipers look identical except that the sw20 ones have a larger gap to fit the wider disk.
Caliper brackets are identical, except that the sw20 ones have a larger gap to fit the wider disk.
Pads are identical

So, I *may* see if there are disks available the same dimensions as the aw11 rears, but vented. Maybe the fronts? If I can find some then I will fit them along with the sw20 calipers and brackets. Otherwise, it?s not worth getting sw20 disks and drilling them, then getting spigot spacer/adapters just for the sake of having vented rather than solid rears. This is also something that can be done after certification as it will not be apparent that they have been changed.

So, waiting for the air filter and adapter to show up, don?t know if there?s much I can do on it tomorrow really, besides I will be busy with my assignment (maybe). I might at some point check to see if I can fit the front rotors on the back. Maybe it?s time I started putting things back together? Maybe I should try the SW20 seats to see if I can make them fit? Hmm I?m sure that if I go out there I will have no trouble finding something to do.

I should start looking at what I?m going to do on the exhaust front as well. I think I might just got for a straight through 3 inch exiting out the side, as previously planned. It might not look as wicked as twin pipes, but it will give much better performance.

I?m pretty sure that I?m going to get those coilovers on trademe too, fingers tightly crossed :)

Financial update
Bought rubber hoses, lug terminals, 8gauge cable for earths ~ $20
Cost to date: $334 (hmm, time to sell more stuff!)

[Driftin_AW]

Day 20
Friday, 6th May

Finally did some more work. I have actually done a tiny bit of work in the last couple of days, but it?s been like less than an hour, and haven?t achieved much, so didn?t bother writing them up.

So today I worked on mounting the battery. I actually pretty much stole the method entirely from Paul Woods. Basically it mounts in the frunk, on the passenger side of the spare tyre. I can fit a space saver tyre in there no problems, may even be able to get a factory mag into it.

The exact location is where the aircon pipes normally come through, there?s a flat part there, which supports one corner of the battery, then I made a bracket to support the rest with 3 pieces of angle iron. It actually worked out quite well, and was reasonably easy. I did manage to burn a couple of holes in the 1mm steel that I was welding to. I clearly need more practice, maybe even smaller welding rods with lower current to reduce the heat. I fixed the holes though, and it?s very well secured in there, can actually move the whole car buy tugging on it. I then sprayed some body sealer on to all the exposed steel, although I forgot to do the underside, will do this tomorrow. I also need to get a bracket to go over the top of the battery, will go into pick-a-part tomorrow for this and to look for the clutch line. With this done the battery should be solid as hell.

There is one small problem that I just realised. I made the bracket to suit the sealed battery out of the GT-Four. When it is ready, the GT-Four will need this back and I will have to get another one for SW11, which means I will have to look around to be sure I find one that?s the same shape! Doh! Oh well, not a major problem, if I have to I can get a smaller one and fit it, but I wont be able to go bigger. I could just get another sealed one, but they are NOT cheap, around 5 times the price of a large lead acid battery, although it?s very grunty (750CCA, or about 980CA), and is much better in general.

I have also come to an almost final decision on the suspension! I bought the necessary parts to convert the struts to coilovers, I have KYB adjustable shocks for the SW20 rear struts I?m going to use, and just need to make a decision on what front shocks to use. I know I can get some Tokico Illumina?s for a reasonable price, so I might go for those. I also need to get some new springs for the front, as the ones that come with the kit I?m getting have a spring rate about twice what I need.

I also sold the ST165 intercooler to a guy who just put a 3sgte into his ST191 Corona. Coincidentally, I sold a 3sgte to some guy wanting to do this about a year ago, he got nearly finished and then gave up and sold his car to the guy who bought my intercooler, who then took the engine out of the older Corona it was in and put it into his. Small world huh? This means I have to get off my ass and get the Subaru intercooler modified. I still haven?t heard from the guy I bought the air filter off, not since he gave me his bank account details and I paid him. Will be very pissed off if he rips me off. Will email him again tomorrow if he doesn?t contact me.

Speaking of being stuffed around, some guy won my auction for the wheels from the SW20, and he has arranged to pick them up an then been a no show 3 times now. He better have a good excuse for not coming tonight otherwise I?m relisting. I hate it when people stuff you around when they?re meant to be buying something off you. It seems to happen a lot with the more expensive stuff, like wheels, engines etc, I imagine it?s normally a case of them not having the money to buy what they?ve committed to. Very frustrating, especially when they just keep saying ?I?ll come on Saturday? and then you don?t hear from them until Monday when they say ?oh sorry I was really busy and wont be able to come until this Saturday?. And it continues. GGRRR!

Well, this weekend I will try and get the intercooler modified and plumbed in. I also need to make or find an overflow bottle, move the coolant filler neck somewhere a bit better, maybe start on the exhaust, and many more things, so I should be pretty busy over the weekend, provided I don?t get into the ?I can?t do any of the stuff I need to so I wont do anything? attitude, or the ?my future is more important than this car and so I should do some homework? mood.

So, finger?s crossed for a productive weekend!