Topic: 1990 Celica GT-S - The Hellica [Now with Trip Report!]

[seat safety switch]

I always wanted to try it, and it really did work.

It wasn't too hard, I think I will use it again on weird shaped stuff in the future. This was a good test case.

If you had a really big basin it would be awesome for a steelie.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Can I... Can I use it on my subframe?

[seat safety switch]

Yeah, come on by next weekend if you can find a plastic bin big enough to hold it without touching the sides or bottom.

[jellynuts]

[seat safety switch]

Driver side spring has seen better days.


Last night we dropped it in the magical electro pixie sauce.


Worked.


Here's what the electrolytic bath looked like after that spring:


One side of the anode is perfectly clean, whereas the side that was facing the spring looks like this, proving that electricity does indeed take the shortest path:


A quick scuffing with the 3m cleaned her up.




We painted it, and while waiting for it to dry, finished off the passenger front.



We installed the Ultimate brake pad. Everyone else is just second best.


Tore the driver side axle in half trying to remove it. Oh yeah.

[jellynuts]

Tore the driver side axle in half

Well, I know who I'm hiring when I need the renters tossed.

[seat safety switch]

Well, I know who I'm hiring when I need the renters tossed.

If the renters are mostly made out of rubber boots with a thin heat-treated steel tulip joint holding ball bearings into them we're set.

[seat safety switch]

Our problems with the driver side axle shaft continue.

My codriver installed it and fired up the car, which rewarded him with a glorious shower of very expensive gear oil. Turns out it didn't get past the snap ring.

I show up. Five hours later we admit defeat. We can't get the axle in past the snap ring.

What the uckfay is wrong with us? We clean the axle off and..





You gotta be kidding me. APWI has just joined Cardone on the list of axle manufacturers I hate.

After the RockAuto warranty return shipping we would be left with $12 if we tried to return this axle. I've decided to hold onto it and use it as materials to reboot a known-good Toyota brand axle from another member's collection.

[RedndWhite]

.... The spline is offset?

Is that what I should be seeing?

[seat safety switch]

.... The spline is offset?

Is that what I should be seeing?

Yeah, it's off by almost a full tooth.

[chico_kj_23]

How does that even happen. I would have thought that groove would have been machined after the splines were. It almost takes effort to screw up like that.

[darthekai]

What the friggin heck.

Does it... Thread in??

[RockThePylon]

You just gotta jiggle it a bit.

[Asstuna]

Yeah, it's off by almost a full tooth.

I am disappoint. I can't believe you didn't see this before insertion.

[seat safety switch]

I am disappoint. I can't believe you didn't see this before insertion.

Nobody is more disappointed than me or the other two guys who were looking at the bent shaft while trying to jam it in to a hole it wouldn't fit for five hours with ever-increasing levels of lube.

[Rathburn]

I am disappoint. I can't believe you didn't see this before insertion.

You're not supposed to look directly at it before you shove it in. You should be looking at the front end, in a very dominant way.

[Asstuna]

Always look at the end of the rod before insertion.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

There's something to be said about going in blind.

[Cagare]

Always look at the end of the rod before insertion.

I don't know about you guys I am more concerned about the insertion point than the rod itself.

In almost all cases I know the rod very well.  Having studied it closely.

[seat safety switch]

So over the last few weeks, the following stuff has happened to Les Celicas de la Muerte:

Stabbed a new drivers' side axle in along with new axle seals, life is good.



Drained and refilled the gear oil with Redline MT90, which made a little bit of improvement when grabbing third under hard throttle. Mostly it was just a good idea since we dumped almost the entire pan on the ground pulling axles.

Spot treated some body rust (paint chips, etc) with Corroseal.


Backed it out of the garage, up the highway, did a victory lap and then drove it directly back into the new garage at the rear of the ranch.



The garage isn't quite set up yet so, uh, everything just sort of exploded everywhere as I started dismantling the car to do a t-belt job. And not a moment too soon because the timing belt is 16 years / 130,000 km old.



Ran out of time to complete the t-belt job; only got as far as pulling the undercover and accessory belts, prepping for crank pulley removal.



Now that the car is semi-functional, the next step after the t-belt is to start thinking about aesthetics. Part of the rules of the rally is that we must feature something resembling a race car livery.

[chico_kj_23]

I love this idea for a bachelor party. Kinda wish I had thought of it myself. Should be good for a few interesting stories and experiences. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes and am loving the progress so far!

[seat safety switch]

This 200,000 kilometer timing belt looks fine.



It's fine.

[RedBimmer93]

This 200,000 kilometer timing belt looks fine.



It's fine.

Hopefully our (potentially) 300,000km t-belt looks that fine

[seat safety switch]

We did some things on the car.

WHERE DID THE OIL PUMP GASKET GO?? oh right it heat welded itself to the uckfaying flange.


Bang in a new one.


Hmm this coolant is an interesting colour.



Camshaft seal.  All the shaft seals were rock hard and a total itchbay to extract.


Crank seal out. We tore the new one putting it in and had to make a parts run for another.



Where have I seen this before?


Alright, let's install this water pump!


There goes that bolt. Apparently the torque on this is only 11 ft-lb!


I had the vise grips all ready to go, but thank goodness I could thread it out with just my fingers.  HAIL SATAN, I HAVE BUILT THIS TEMPLE TO HONOUR THEE AND YOU HAVE REWARDED ME WITH THIS BOON


Kit came with a couple spares so I could improvise a bit.  Weird it didn't come with all new bolts though...


New belt in, I copied the marks over from the old belt and made sure the tensioner had all the slack.  Calling that good enough.



Burn this car to the ground and salt the earth where it at last finds rest. About half a dozen times today I thought we had finally turned a corner with the beast that lives inside the machine, and was rewarded for my insolence with a swift backhand.

[RedndWhite]

Wanna help us when we do the t-belt and head gasket

I'm gonna drop the engine and k-frame, screw anything and everything about trying to get the intake plenum off of the engine while it's in the bay.

But it actually didn't look too bad to do...