Saturday, October 16, 2004

Wheel Balance

I've been wondering about wheel balance problems this week. Over 60mph and the steering shakes a little which is not so good.

Just had all 4 wheels re-balanced and the steering is now good again - Cost £24

Ding Ding Ding...

Well,

as my Hachi came from Japan the speedo reads in KPH. Another feature of a Japanese Hachi is that they are fitted with a buzzer/ringer which sounds when the car goes over 100 KPH. This can become really tiring on UK motorways so it had to be disabled.

A quick look in the Toyota workshop manuals and I find how to disable it.

I have to remove the glove box and part of the centre console. The warning buzzer can be found on the opposite side of the centre console to the ciggie lighter. Unclip the connector and hey presto - the buzzer is gone.

Sunday, October 10, 2004

We are taking on water Captain !!!

I've noticed little pools of water appearing in the car where the rear seats used to be. On closer inspection I found all the seat mounting points on the shell are holes through the entire bodywork so you can see daylight through them.

Made a quick visit to Halfords and spent £3 on loads of rubber grommets to plug them all up. Seems to have done the trick.

A clean and wax.

The winter is coming on the UK and the Toyota Corolla is not remembered for its rust free bodywork. Fortunately for me my Hachi's previous owner rebuilt the car from the shell up just under a year ago. There are only 2 really small areas of rust on the entire car.

I decided it would be a good idea to build up a good layer of wax on the paintwork to help protect it (and to make it shine).

I've also given on whats left of the interior a really good clean as it was quite dirty. Also gave the pollished parts of the XXR split rims a really good shine and they are now like mirrors.

The car is now gleaming clean. Very soon another new layer of Waxoil or underseal will be applied to the bottom of the car for further protection.

Saturday, October 09, 2004

No Front Side lights or Side Repeaters

Also noticed the cars side lights and repeaters are not working.

After removing the clusters from the front wings I found they weren't even connected. Somebody had also removed the +ive wire from each of the loom connectors and taped them up. Myself and a friend reconnected the wires into the spays and tested the indicators...and they worked fine. Sidelights also worked fine too.

I can't understand why they would be disconnected - hope its not for a reason. The only thing I can think is the car has an aftermarket fully programmable ECU and a custom loom had to be made. It also has aftermarket central locking.

Oh well. we'll see what happens.

Thursday, October 07, 2004

No Number Plate Lights

For some reason the rear number plate lights haven't been working since I obtained the car. After a quick inspection it seems that both bulbs have seen better days. A quick trip to Halfords and £2.97 later they are working again.

Sunday, October 03, 2004

A slight delay...

There has been a delay of 1 day in aqquiring Hachi Roku. All being well it should be mine this afternoon.

The deal worked out and the Hachi was driven back from the final round of this years UKD1 at Silverstone.

Saturday, October 02, 2004

The Beginning

Its the 2nd of October today. Just an ordinary Saturday, well, all apart from one thing.

This afternoon I will hopefully become an owner of a 1985 Toyota Levin GT. The car is famously known as 'Hachi Roku' in Japan and has a world wide admiration. This car is a Japanese domestic market equivalent of what is known in the UK as a Toyota Corolla GT.

Now...time to sleep.