Alltrac rescue project #3: 1992 ST185

fhalperformance

New member
Staying true to form I have adopted another alltrac to rescue. Doing my part to keep alltracs from being scrapped. Even though I have two half in project form right now I couldnt help myself with the idea of completing my collection of every model year ST185. Maybe now I can stop collecting them but I may be terminal who knows?

Parts collected so far:
ABS Delete
some body parts in progress
rear ST185 sub frame complete

Progress:
Reassembled tail gate
Installed spare white mirrors
Reinstalled latch for passenger door
Threw out junk parts
Removed axles from hubs
Removed struts from hubs
Layed out suspension parts in order to reinstall


















 

Aaron

Member
Nice. I'm planning on buying an ST185 to rebuild like this too, so I'll be following your progress. Never rebuilt a car before, but how hard can it be? :D
 

underscore

Well-known member
Looks like you're living the dream. You might be content with having all the years of 185 but the 205s are legal in 2019, so you might only be safe for 3 years.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Picked up alltrac hood, fenders, headlights, pieces & parts I was missing as well as alot of hardware to help put the car back together. Hoping to make some progress on here this baby this week and the hybrid transmission for the v6 swap.

People that own 6th gens are not like us I owned one and I never will own another no matter what. ST185 had all the rally cred the 205 never made the mark in my opinion.

Aaron":3ia6zhxx said:
Nice. I'm planning on buying an ST185 to rebuild like this too, so I'll be following your progress. Never rebuilt a car before, but how hard can it be? :D
-If you have space, lots of time, a nice collection of quality tools, compressor, common sense and a small fortune it is definitely doable lol. I rebuilt a 93 before this one from a barely rolling chassis and it was definitely not easy. If you cant finish the project in a year its probably not best to start it youll just loose motivation in my experience.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Quick update got a million things going on:


-installed alltrac hood that fits with the rest of the car: it too needs some work.


-disassembled axles and struts from front spindles. i actually tried to buy these axles before I got the car and the previous owner couldnt get them unbolted from each other.


-abs delete prop valve with lines


-functional power antenna (for now)
 

fhalperformance

New member
Been collecting parts and parts cars so havent made much progress. I am picking up a parts car for this project next weekend cant wait to get started. Trying to generate some cash from my parts cars so I can keep going on this project. Photobucket seems to be giving me some issues Im trying to get that resolved then all the pictures will be back up with some new ones.

Newly aquired parts:
-Brand new in the box clear corners (never installed) picked up off original purchaser
-Brand new in the box fiberglass RC bumper (never installed) picked up off original purchaser
-00 Celica GTS steering wheel
-00 Celica GTS leather front seats (for a project)

Latest progress.
-May put st205 trans back together I was going to use for my v6TT project and throw it in this car. I will pretty much only be using the case from the ST205 and some small pieces for that project best not to waste a good low mile transmission when I have ones in worse shape.
-Swapping RC hood from my 90 trac to this one once I get it rolling to go with the RC bumper I just picked up.
-RHD conversion coming soon!
 

fhalperformance

New member
Updates: Hoping to get it rolling sometime this week. I gota strip the RHD conversion chassis for the parts I need for this project first and foremost. I am working on getting the rest of what I need but I have to get this thing at least rolling in the next couple of weeks. That means assembling front suspension, replacing rotten rear subframe mount, & tac in the replacement rocker parts so it looks like a car again. May build a wide body kit for this thing as I have to do some quarter panel work to make it right anyway. Got a million irons in the fire right now Ill update when I can. I am planning on running my plasma cutter all day to get caught up.

parts acquired:
7th gen steering wheel
7th gen leather seats
RHD conversion
mounts
MAF
50k jdm motor to swap in for now. Was going to V6TT this car instead of my 93 but the harness enters where the turbo charger setup will be and Id rather not have the interference or heat issues.
various other pieces and parts to put it back together








 

mx6er2587

New member
terribly grafted in supra taillights?

If that's the car I'd be very interested what you ended up paying for it. That thing looked like a royal mess from the pictures.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I didn't know it was in craigslist I got a lot into it with 3 tanks of diesel and a night in a hotel. I already sold 250 parts off it that I got which is a chunk of what it cost me. It was worth it to me since it gives me all the rare parts to finish two st185s one rhd for a fraction of elite jdms "quick sale" price he gave me. There's a couple rhd plastic pieces broken or missing but that's just detail stuff nothing major. I can fix what I got easy enough.

Parts I got:
Clear corner set
Mounts
Accessories
Complete st185 alternator duct
Hardware
Rhd conversion
Rust free Rockers
Rust free Floor boards
Crank window conversion (with ugly red door skins unfortunately)
Radiator
Overflow tank
Abs delete for rhd
Rhd engine harness (cut in half oddly)
Mint transmission cooler
Low mile st185 trans 84k km
Inline fuel pump with aftermarket regulator
Aftermarket fuel rail
Random powder coated front mount Intercooler piping


Motor is probably no good there isn't a timing belt on it and it doesn't look like anyone's been in their. Turbo compressor fins gone and it doesn't spin but I got a 100k 3sgte with no issues good turbo so that's no biggie.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Completely stripped rhd parts car down to the firewall yesterday and starting swapping the parts over to the 92 suspension wise. Didnt get much assembled but I got the rear subframe loaded up with other parts so I can fix them.

Going to try to put it together so it will be a roller next weekend may be a little ambitious but here's to hoping. I have to put my new boot kit on the other rear axle including prepping and painting, extract some stuck bolts for the rear spindles so I can install the new superpro bushings I have laying around here somewhere, remove rotten subframe mount and weld in new one. Hopefully it will have wheels on it soon so I can get it inside my shop where the real work can begin.

I have a glass guy coming to pull the window on my RHD donor so I can cut the complete firewall out of the vehicle. Turns out the window in the 92 is cracked so I may as well do the RHD swap the right way which should actually be quicker. The donor car looks to have a brand new windshield so there is another bonus. Idk why the person who built this RHD monstrosity would spend time building a custom exhaust thats way too small when there were no fuel or brake lines running to the rear lol.


-headlights installed


stripped to the firewall RHD GT4


-inside side of the firewall after stripping.


-pulled 84k KM drivetrain in 2 hours which is my record. of course I cut the radiator support out and took some other shortcuts. It was alot easier to pull the motor on a uhaul trailer lol.




-got some used coilovers from another vehicle with the spring rates im looking for with camber plates all the way around. Gonna modify top hats to run on the car that way I can get rid of the sway bars properly like I did on my 93.
 

fhalperformance

New member
Fronts back together enought to roll thats a good sign. I am going to be getting the new subframe mount ready to install and getting the old one cut out this weekend. Cant wait to have this rolling again so I can have my trailer back. Been having to rent uhaul trailers to move things is driving me crazy and eating up build money before I can put it into the car. Window should be out of rhd donor tomorrow so I can get to the real work.







 

fhalperformance

New member
Lots and lots of progress. most of the front end is coming off of the 93 for installation on this car. Decided to run fiberglass bumper on the circuit 93 in case everything happens as well as modified narrow body fenders so I dont have to modify widebody ones for my 275/35R18s. Going to have a clean stock non abs RHD car when its all done (at least at this point). May eventually end up with the st205 swap as it is still setup for installation in a RHD car. I made a plug n play harness for that one which Im happy I did.

Parts ordered:
EGR delete (for USDM motor going into car)
RHD power folding mirrors with harness and switch
RHD wiper transmission (mine is actually broken)
some misc RHD interior parts that are in better shape then the ones I got

This memorial weekend I am hoping to have the RHD firewall and wiper cowl cut out of the donor car so I can start on this one. Once its cleaned up and ready to install I will have the window taken out of the 92 to do it right like. Its got a crack in it so it needs replacement anyway.


-here she is sitting on wheels in rolling shape for the first time in years.




-off the trailer for the first time in a month or so.


-replacement 2nd gen motor ready to be mounted to transmission. Motor in RHD donor had the timing belt cut in half for some reason and I removed the flywheel bolts with a ratchet and the motor never moved lol.


-55k st185 transmission in nice shape.


-former owner shouldve tried some heat and wiggling instead of some sort of pry bar? lol
 

fhalperformance

New member
Rotten mount coming out and replacement mount going in. Hoping to get a starts on patching the holes cut in the body by the former owner. The panels that came with the car already cut are pretty close I should be able to use them. Otherwise Ill cut the rockers off the RHD donor chassis when I get the firewall and window cowl out of the rhd donor.





 

fhalperformance

New member
Got the RHD firewall cut out of the donor car so I can get started on the conversion, got some RHD stuff ordered from europe should be shipping soon, stole the widebody fenders off the 93 as its body is getting modified, also gonna run the genuine RC aluminum bar and bumper cover on this car so it doesnt get damaged at the track which is likely on the 93.









-RHD firewall cut out of donor car

 

fhalperformance

New member
Havent had time to touch this but have made some progress parts wise.

-My RC conversion off my 93 is going on this car so I can do something more racey once I have time. I also will be cutting the mint floors out of my RHD donor car to eventually put in this vehicle.
-I also got a ST205 rear subframe to install in this car complete with LSD/axles and may possibly run one of my two pending ACPT carbon fiber driveshafts in this one.
-Gota figure out the motor solution as the 205 motor that was going in here is going in the 90 st185 instead once the guy pays me for it. Prob will pick up a 205 head, build my 98+ 5sfe or ST215 block and maybe throw one of my BW turbos from my 93 build in this car as Im not building the v6 right now just too many projects.
-Going to get some new rubber for the Volk GT-7s and put them on this car as they are just sitting around. Dont want to go as extreme with the body modifications on this car as I did with the 93.
 

underscore

Well-known member
I thought the RHD car was a JDM front clip welded onto a 2WD USDM coupe? In which case the floors should be different from an Alltrac. I'm likely wrong though, massive props for keeping track of all the stuff you have going on, I know I couldn't.
 

fhalperformance

New member
I don't need the complete floors I just have small pieces I need. Id just be using it for sheet metal not direct replacement. They look similar enough outside of suspension/sub frame mounting but ill see when I actually get to it. The donor chassis is mint no rust anywhere so any part I can reuse I will.
 
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