Wow what a long break since. Still have the car, still constantly tweaking it. Yes, the antenna still works after all of the hard work.
Since the last post and first few drives in 2018, this happened 3000km's into the first drive:
No one, and I mean no one could tell me otherwise from it being a rod knock. Toyota master techs, Lexus service manager/certified old tech, independents. Everyone told me rod bearings. But the "knock" would go away at certain rpm's so I was doubting it...
Thankfully the flaps decided to stay above the valves. 2 of them fell out immediately on the floor when I removed the intake manifold. Screws nowhere to be found, but no harm done it seems.
Or was it...7 months later the turbo decided to no longer contribute.
So a new recently rebuilt turbo came in 2019:
Not much happening in 2020 so I figured lets get some bodywork done. Front and rear bumpers done, all new brackets/clips/grommets/screws brand new OEM.
Got the car back late 2020. First drive going to a photoshoot in Feb 2021 and I manage to make it 600m before some yoohoo in a Land Rover decided to not check both ways coming out of a driveway.
Thankfully there was a witness. Look how far I swerved to try and avoid it!! Video quality sucks so you kind of have to watch it in full, then try to make out the details prior lol.
Thankfully by then it was insured with Hagerty and I didn't have to worry about write offs. Back to the shop. They had a REALLY good body guy that was able to pull 99% of all of the damage without needing to reskin/filler the area. But I decided to also get this installed. It's the side that had some tinworms creeping on the edges of the quarter so there was no time like now to do it. Once again, all new clips/hardware/grommets all OEM toyota. Pretty much all of the entire side of the car is available, there's 1 clip for the quarter window trim that is not available out of 3 types, but I was able to use the other types to make it snap back in place. No goop-install for my quarter window trims!
Decided to give her a present since she's been so patient:
And now we're just enjoying it!
We've got now:
Euro spec front corners
Rear jdm tail vents
Thule roof racks
ST18x facelift wheels
ST205 rear torsen LSD
Poly 80A rear diff mount
Porterfield front R4S pads
Alu radiator
OEM "restore" stuff:
Entire factory airbox and resonator bits reinstalled
Dash replaced (old one was painted red, then painted over again black??)
Rear brakes restored with new hardware including oem shims
Steering wheel horn pad back to stock instead of shit red painted one
All 4 speakers with correct sizes and resealed boxes
Door glass adjusted to spec - still need to revisit pass side, still some wind noise.
New door lock bezels and lock tabs
Replaced power window switch with intact tab
All OEM orings/seals for everything under the turbo. Even OEM Hoses for the oil cooler cut from landcruiser cooler hoses.
All proper grille clips sourced new or junkyard for upper and lower grille, to replace the shit screws that were used by the previous owner.
Managed to find undertrays and oem hood insulation off a yard car.
MAYBE just maybe I can bring it to our local Run of the Ogopogo alltrac run this year.