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Besides swapping out my old, lovely carburetor and radiator with shiny new replacements (and back up to 33.5 mpg average  ) I spent an afternoon watching Beatleguese and turning my car's factory repair manual from a lame broken-binding book into this:  Now the pages won't rip out, nor get covered in grease or oil.
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May 25, 2011 15:57
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I messed with plastidip today
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Apr 4, 2014 02:15
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Since Florida doesn't require a front plate yet Japan does I had to get some sort of plate put on to cover up the empty plate-holder thing on the front grill.
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Apr 1, 2016 19:48
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Got the AC recharged in my Acty and it blows ice cold. The real problem is the volume of air that you are asking the tiny thing to cool is way more than it realistically can handle unless you give it at least 10 minutes at speed. I've got great window tinting all around so the windows aren't an issue, but the windshield just lets a ton of heat in if I'm driving into the sun at all. Time to go shopping for some sort of U/V solar blocking film to apply to the windshield, Florida sun is brutal. Also there is a very noticeable dive in power when the system kicks on but I'm still leading off the line at stoplights so I guess it isn't that big of a hit.
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May 12, 2016 03:11
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365 Nog Hogger posted:If your response to AC not working is a recharge instead of an AC delete you have already lost. some texas redneck posted:Or someone that lives in the south and doesn't like to show up to work needing a shower. I'm just happy it was just low, I don't think the A/C was ever actually used when it was in Japan, no leaks just 26 years to seep out.
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May 12, 2016 04:46
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 Stuffed it full of bamboo
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May 27, 2016 02:35
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Earlier in the week we drove to Key Largo (from Sarasota) to camp for a few days with my wife's family and their renovated Avion, then on to Key West for a day, got back last night with many thousands of deaths attributed to the front of the van. 833 miles total with a large portion of that cruising at 68 mph or so which is not bad at all considering. Avoided the interstate, went across 72 with 70, 27 to a short little bit on 997 to highway 1. Didn't burn any oil that showed on my dipstick and had no issues at all. Didn't even have issues with wind although large trucks when we'd pass or they'd pass us would sap all my speed until we weren't next to each other anymore. The whole drive we got a lot of attention of course but especially on the keys where lots of people are driving around golf carts. So many that I wonder what setting up a small dealership there that only sells kei vehicles. Why buy and drive around a golf cart when you can have a little Beat or Cappuccino with doors, roofs and even A/C that you can drive up to Miami if you want? Heck you play it right you can even get old kei vehicles to become a part of the Key West Charm (aka tourist trap aspect) and have vans and trucks driving around as well doing deliveries and commercial work.      Stayed at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park and had a fine time sleeping in the tiny van. A portable room A/C that we set on the passenger seat, set up the drainage with some clear tubing shut in the door and vented out the hot air through a ~custom~ cardboard dyer-vent-tube-holder kept us comfortable. Rolled out a foam pad with the seats down and (while small) room enough for us two and our dog to sleep. Kept food on the driver's seat and the rest of our stuff in bins outside in front. An out-door run plus a canopy over the van completed our camping shelter.
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Nov 28, 2016 01:43
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I replaced the rear drums, springs and wheel cylinders on the tiny van and flushed and replaced the brake fluid. I've still god a fuel filter to do and then it's on to replacing the headunit and maybe wiring some speakers. Been thinking about dyna-matting it a bit too but I'm not even sure there is a point.
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Feb 12, 2017 02:58
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 Sold it to Carvana. Like Carmax but instead of having to go to Carmax, Carvana came to me instead. Last night after deciding to go with them I filled out the little form on the internet, called them, emailed pictures of the title, set up an appointment and the truck showed up today. He did his (very short and not at all comprehensive imho) inspection and wrote out the check and scraped the lip on the way up the back ramp of the truck and drove away. Yeah we could have sold it private party but I didn't want to try to sell something over 20k to some chump on craigslist, and since we aren't buying a new car we couldn't exactly trade it in. Was a very nice and cool experience. Would recommend.
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Mar 7, 2017 22:14
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Michael Scott posted:So you'd recommend selling it to Carvana, but as far as buying... they scraped the lip and did a half-rear end inspection? It's a 2013 that's just out of warranty so naturally it's history is spotless and I'm the original owner. The inspection was him turning it on, checking the A/C, a walk around and checking out the (lack of) warning lights. I don't know what I expected really but it just seemed very easy and very quick. As for buying one from them maybe? It's hella convenient for them to just bring you your car and you do get 7 days no questions ask with it. They do only seem to sell boring generic stuff though so personally I wouldn't buy from them based on that. So yeah basically selling to them is easy as hell, as for buying I don't think that's really something for an AI regular.
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Mar 7, 2017 23:24
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Darchangel posted:landrover Yeah this looks really good, especially those headlight housings. LEDs seem to be better for everything, I'm looking to get LED headlights in my Acty just to reduce the current draw from the halogens that it normally runs, plus swapping out the two bulbs inside with LED ones and the license plat light as well.
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Mar 8, 2017 20:26
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Rear main seal, clutch plate and disc, and throw out bearing all brand new. Valve cover gasket as well. Replaced timing and accessory belt along with the various seals, a new water pump also. New spark plugs too because why not. Next up is all four rotors and pads including hardware, the exhaust and then later all the control arms and ball joints. Probably quite a few junkyard runs for various trim bits as well. Feels good man.
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Mar 14, 2017 21:38
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Changed the fuel filter on my wife's new-to-her Tracker to solve the issue of 'idles roughly until you press the gas then it's fine'. Solved the issue of course, but now I wonder about the condition of the tank. Based on the evidence I don't think this car has ever left Naples, Florida since it was bought new in 1991. Also how do you guys up north deal with stuff? There isn't any rust on the fuel filter hardware that I had to deal with and I still had to soak it in PB blaster just to get the thing loose and I tore the old filter apart anyway. 
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Mar 19, 2017 20:16
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Seminal Flu posted:Lol. For a Geo? That is absolutely rust-free. That car would have had that level of corrosion in Northern Ohio within the first three years, perhaps sooner. Those cars were notorious for being desperate in their search to disintegrate. Geoj posted:Was going to say - based on the rust level that's at best a well-maintained 10 year old car in the rust belt  I truly don't think it left Naples let alone Florida. 36k on the clock. The trick to avoid rust is live somewhere where it doesn't happen  I grew up in Michigan so I know rust it's just at the time I didn't know or care mechanically about cars so I never had to deal with it.
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Mar 19, 2017 22:42
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Parked it.   
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Apr 2, 2017 23:55
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Laserface posted:I dont know if its a regional thing and I dont know the frequency this occurs but holy poo poo I am lucky if I see one car a month parked THAT badly. You'll note that all of the uh, park asses are all from Florida as well so I can't even blame snowbirds for this. Just older whiter up-their-own-asses people to be jerks about it. Especially because snowbird season is still going on so traffic is still bad and places like parking spaces are still at a premium. One of my favorite things is to park real close to their passenger door while still being within my lines as driving a RHD vehicle in the US means I can do that all day and still get out no problem. The Royal Nonesuch posted:Got kinky today with coffee, energy drinks and di.fm followed by beers and more di.fm and gave the 330ci the paint detailing it desperately needed. Wash, claybar, polishing compound and finally two layers of wax and some trim shine. 4.5 hours... I really need to buy an orbital polisher and stop doing this poo poo by hand ffs. Also, a drcolorchip kit and new wheels. Sharp. KakerMix fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Apr 3, 2017 |
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Apr 3, 2017 16:12
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Hell yeah WHEELS Glass bead blasted them then used leftover plastidip to coat them white and the center caps black. Might attempt to remove the white from around the wheel cutouts to give it more dimension and to let the raw pinged aluminum shine through but that's up to my wife. I need to find more things to media blast because it's hella rad. The cardboard is there for a small oil leak from the oil pan which is the next thing to be done. I'm guessing the previous owner torqued down the bolts too much and bent the pan.
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Apr 9, 2017 19:59
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DJ Commie posted:I drove the 2.5 hours each way to Bakersfield (ugh) for a new rear window for the Rocky. Someone had already gotten it, but I did buy all the carpets, front seats, rear seats, and a bunch of little stuff to make it a bit less like a ranch truck and more like something I can drive the kids around on the street. How is owning one of those? When we were looking for a Samurai we found this one on eBay and thought it was pretty excellent but were put off by just how rare the things are.
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Apr 10, 2017 17:20
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Jesus Christ those 'brakes'. And here I thought I might be being a little too proactive with ordering two new calipers and wheel cylinders for the Tracker even thought they seem fine, but they are going on 25+ years old. In other news I just bought this  1983 Daihatsu Hijet with 12000 miles on it. Look at the thing, i just couldn't pass it up.
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Apr 20, 2017 03:14
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Thanks, and yeah like, it isn't about taste so much as it's a 1983 kei van from before Japan was cool. Since I'm working with an import house in Japan ( https://www.japancardirect.com/ if you are curious or maybe want to get something for yourself, tell Scott and Matt that Devin sent you ) it's still actually in Japan. I won't have for another month and a half probably but I should be getting a bunch more pictures soon.
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Apr 20, 2017 04:42
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 Replaced long-neglected aspects of this Tracker. The wheel cylinders were filled with rusty mud, the struts were all collapsed, the calipers were also filled with rust mud while the pins were rust-welded in the bracket while the rubber boots were hard, brittle and filled with now-fossilized silicone. The rotors were very warped to hell and back too. Has the brake fluid ever been changed since 1991?  Discovered that you don't get a bleeder screw on the passenger rear cylinder either, just the driver's side. Next: The oil pan. KakerMix fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 28, 2017 |
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Apr 28, 2017 02:54
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scuz posted:"you're dumb, scuz, just make sure it all works" Just get the drum hardware and check the cylinders and leave it be. If you want to do something neat then maybe install a transmission cooler instead since that seems like something that would really help.
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May 5, 2017 20:52
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Man I want a lift something fierce because I can convince myself that I'll do all sorts of stuff if I only had the tools. Worked for an air compressor and sand blaster why not a lift? Especially since I have to tackle the Tracker's oil pan at some point. As for what I did today a lift wouldn't have been that helpful.   When good solenoids go bad. About 2 weeks ago when I went to pull away from a stop light my van started sputtering. Right away my heart sinks and I starting getting all worried because here I am daily driving a thing that I must repair myself. Turns out that there are two solenoids that control various air fuel mixtures within the carb depending where the engine is at at idle. 60 bucks for both solenoids (even though only one was bad might as well replace them both) and a week for shipping and a bit over two hours and the van runs great again. I'm so loving proud of myself since this van is pushing me to do things I'd never do on my own out of necessity.
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Jun 9, 2017 09:02
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  AC works better now, weird how that works 
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Jun 28, 2017 02:10
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Noticed a noise from the rear of my van that changed after a short trip so I stopped driving it. Put it up in the air, took off the rear right wheel to discover the castle nut that holds the wheel drum on was spinning freely (!) and the drum itself was moving slightly. Luckily Honda saw fit to put a cotter pin through the nut and the spindle itself and I was cool and rad and replaced it with a new one while doing the brakes before. It didn't move much, but it would have spun right off in short order and taking my wheel with it as the studs are mounted to the drum. Near as I can tell I had used a puller that pushed the axle slightly when I had replaced the drums a couple months ago and must have not tightened it back into the wheel plate all the way. So months later it pushes itself back into the plate, pushing the nut with it and slightly popping it off the plate letting it spin freely. All buttoned up now.
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Jul 12, 2017 04:00
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Larrymer posted:A lot of those you have to use a punch to dimple the nut to resist it backing off. Not on an Acty, just a fat nut with a cotter pin through it torqued down to 20kg.m. The other rear wheel was still torqued down just fine but that side didn't have its axle pushed in leading me to blame that for why it backed off some three months after I replaced the drums.
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Jul 12, 2017 22:10
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GnarlyCharlie4u posted:I mean... I feel like if you're gonna go through all the trouble of removing your pads, you might as well just replace them anyway? I pretty much budget for always doing a full brake job and a new set of tires on whatever used car I buy. Like you said it's cheap enough vs the effort expended to get to the parts anyway so why not do it and be sure it's all good?
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Jul 26, 2017 00:13
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Speaking of brakes I found out that my 'new' 83 Hijet has drums all around. I mean I haven't had the wheels off yet since I just got it late last night but it sure does look like a drum peaking from behind the wheel.
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Jul 27, 2017 02:08
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Found out why I have to press so much harder on the brake pedal to get the van to stop
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Jul 29, 2017 03:16
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GnarlyCharlie4u posted:oh it's so tiny and cute too! I wasn't but I was surprised to find the master cylinder essentially strapped to the side of the steering column. The bottom of the master cylinder is connected directly to the brake pedal via that bracket.
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Aug 1, 2017 03:06
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Got the radiator back in the Hijet. Sourcing a replacement radiator was approaching impossible but lucky for me there is an old guy that still repairs radiators in town. Kinda pricey at $345 but now my tiny van has a brand new copper core radiator complete with fancy new paintjob. Runs cool and most importantly doesn't piss out a stream of coolant as it cools off from being driven right onto the block. As soon as this dude closes up his shop though that's the end of actually repairing radiators.
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Aug 23, 2017 00:04
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 Yesterday found my Hijet safe and sound in our guest house. Irma could have been so much worse.
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Sep 12, 2017 15:49
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afen posted:Replaced the A/C Compressor and filled her up. Finally, after six years, I have working AC! Wheels, that fit! Gorgeous. 
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Sep 14, 2017 22:23
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Mental Hospitality posted:I put these floor liners in my car. Real proud of myself. Buy something that requires you to service it yourself. That'll sort you out. Recently changed the valve cover gasket on my wife's Tracker, now I have to change some seals that are around the place where the distributor connects to the engine. Distributor housing seal  Looks to be way easy but I didn't have the parts.
KakerMix fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Sep 26, 2017 |
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Sep 26, 2017 06:42
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Out $173.84 for two trim pieces that I cracked on both doors on my Acty because I am a giant idiot. On the plus side at least the trim parts are available still even if I have to order them from Japan.  Also got the oil pan changed on my wife's Tracker. Tired of keeping the cardboard around to catch oil drips as they ooze out after sitting overnight. The oil pan looked fine but whoever worked on it before tweaked the gently caress out of the bolts, bending the pan in the points between allowing oil to seep. The manual neglected to mention there was another bolt holding the oil screen tube on the underside of the engine and that isn't easy to get to if you aren't using a lift  Oil leaks are stopped now it's decided to hesitate under load again, before it was a clogged fuel filter and I assume this is the same thing. That means the tank is cruddy and boy oh boy do I not want to go down that road, maybe I can just replace fuel filter every 6 months
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Oct 8, 2017 00:58
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Larrymer posted:It has no rust or corrosion on it, dropping the tank can't be that bad can it? Unless there's a subframe in the way or something. Yeah it's clean and no, no subframe in the way. I just don't wanna
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Oct 8, 2017 20:49
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StormDrain posted:I get that feeling, I just halfway installed one of the tanks on my pickup today and gave up because it's late, it's difficult getting the hoses on (especially the 1 3/4" filler hose with wire that is not preformed), and I was getting frustrated. Normally though I'll lock on whatever I'm doing and beat myself up to finish it. If I start something, leave, then try to come back to it I'm usually worse off than if I had just waited to start it. Vehicle work, video games, organizing the shed, whatever. Plus side to something like this Tracker is it is right in the perfect place of simple but well-engineered that everyone loves from the 80s-90s. Tracker stuttering under acceleration again already not 2 days after I replaced the filter. New fuel tank and fuel pump + all the fixins' on the way
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Oct 10, 2017 21:27
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Garage2Roadtrip posted:a lift Today I replaced the fuel tank and fuel pump on my wife's Tracker due to power cutting out then back on again under acceleration. Did this when we first got it, I replaced the fuel filter. 6~ months later it starts doing it again, replace the fuel filter again and make a note that a fuel tank drop is in the future. Two days later it starts the symptoms again.    Makes sense. With the low mileage and it's snowbird-status throughout it's life before we took ownership this is exactly what I expected to be in the tank waiting for me. Multiple years in a row of storing the vehicle away for the summer with a quarter tank of fuel or less probably. This Tracker is by far the most work I've done on any vehicle of ours but my wife loves it so much, I love it because it's super easy to work on and the parts are cheap. A ~glorious~ Nippon-made fuel pump plus brand new tank cost me just under 200 bucks. An afternoon (would have taken a lot less if I had a lift ) and that issue is sorted. Now I can do the really important stuff: OFFICIAL OEM SUZUKI HVAC VENTS. 90s plastic is brittle and stupid so both the center stack and passenger side vents have snapped just from manipulation now that she has A/C again. Since I ordered some stuff for my Acty I checked out if amayama had them and sure enough a full suite of parts for the Suzuki Escudo aka Sidekick aka Tracker. 25 for the smaller one and 30 for the larger one isn't bad at all considering stuff like this is the the hardest stuff to find.
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Oct 18, 2017 02:16
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BlackMK4 posted:I went full autismo and fixed something in my car with a part from a trash can sold in Europe. It worked. I'm curious about this so I went looking for this at least where you could find this part number. http://jp-carparts.com/toyota/partlist.php?maker=toyota&type=242110&cartype=5&fig=8603  Is anything in here what you are after? Like I said earlier I went and ordered some Suzuki Escudo trim parts for my wife's Tracker because why not, but since the Alezza Gita in Japan is the IS300 Sportcross here maybe? I know door cards for our SC300 are interchangeable with Japanese Toyota Soarer door cards. http://jp-carparts.com hasn't let me down yet.
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Oct 18, 2017 22:53
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| # ¿ Jun 2, 2024 05:47 |
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jdm tyte son  
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Oct 20, 2017 20:16
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