Charlotte's GT Advance- Massive overdue update.

[funny onion]

Yeah I'm tempted to rebuild the glanza engine with a new set of bearings and rings but with gt rods. Just never fancy buying a bearing set for and engine that's just sat there, always things I'm after for mine haha. Tbf a full bearing set is only like £120ish and I would've done all te bearings on mine but I just don't have the time to ale the gearbox off and crank out. Although it would be an excuse to fit the LSD box

250 miles now and all is fine bottom end wise! Oil change at 500, so we will see how much metal comes out with it haha. Tempted to take the sump off at 500 again and clean the sump out again and the oil pick up. We will see

[maddox710]

Awesome work on picking it up before it got to late, i dread to think what my sump looks like inside. What did you use to seal the sump to the block?

[turbo Grant]

That's what you call lucky! Sounds like your going to be busy fitting LSD box and rarb

[funny onion]

Yeah in still not taking for granted that its not going to start knocking again though. But just reached 400 miles and sounds well and oil looks good.

Sam brought some sump sealant from work. Thick black stuff that stinks but does te job well. Never had a sump leak with this suff yet.

Yeah I would love to get the LSD box on soon, just one of those pain in the arse jobs which will end up in me throwing stuff haha. Soon though hopefully. And maybe rarb and a new set of clocks this weekend (speedo stopped working on mine)

[funny onion]

It’s been forever since I last updated this thread :S There’s a lot that’s happened, good and bad. Some of you will already know the stories haha.

Where to start…

The bottom end knocking was the start of a whole load of engine disasters. About 2-3 months after having it mapped at TD Sam was driving it and raced a jaguar XK8 along a dual carriageway on the way to Bridlington. Starlet was right on the jag’s arse and pulling well. Then when he let off for a roundabout there was a definite misfire. Pulled straight into a lay-by off the roundabout and it was running like a sack of shit. Popped the bonnet and had a look. Vaccum in the rocker breather but no smoke from anywhere at that moment in time. Pulled each lead off and number 4 was the most obvious culprit. Gave it a rev and plumes of smoke out the exhaust. So I thought it could be cracked piston or ring. Fair enough, bit pissed off but it happens with these cars. So called a friend with a flat bed and within a few hours it was sat in the lock up looking sorry for itself. Compression test revealed a whopping 0 on number 4.

So we put sam’s engine in it as I had my uni exams and needed the car and sam has the vitara to run around in and his starlet was off the road at the time anyway. Once the swap was complete I took apart the knackered engine to see what had failed. Turned out it had melted all 4 pistons and well and truly melted number 4 (I keep it in the car as a souvenir if anyone wants a look haha). Needless to say I was pissed off. I’m not having a bash at anyone but after just forking out over £600 for emange and remap I think anyone would be pissed off to say the least.

Sam’s engine was in and running within 24 hours of the incident, and while everything was out we put my LSD box in too. Then the rebuild began… We both have spare blocks/heads etc so they wern’t an issue, but it cost a bloody arm and a leg to buy a full acl bearing kit, full Toyota gasket set, timing kit, water pump, oil pump, have the crank/block machined etc etc. If I added on the cost of the emange and remap onto the rebuild costs I could EASILY have a forged engine by now. And to top it off I had to exchange the big end shells for oversize after machining and they were “lost” on the way back to TD so I had to fork out for another set.

Some pics of one of the pistons and bores;

The block and all pistons were scrap, and I scrapped the rods too because they had clearly been hot etc- they had melted piston material all down them. The only thing worth keeping was the head and the crank.

The spec of the rebuilt engine is;

-Completely stripped head/block and acid washed before/after machining.

-Crank regrind and polish (0.25 oversize)

-Bores crosshatch honed

-Head checked for warp (was straight so no need to skim)

-Full ACL bottom end bearings

-Replaced both crank seals with original Toyota seals

-Full genuine toyota engine gasket set (including head gasket)

-Genuine Toyota oil pump/water pump

-New timing kit

-Head completely stripped and washed

-Replaced valve stem oil seals

-Valves lapped back in and reshimmed

-Pistons/rods from a spare engine (all checked for roundness etc)

-Hastings piston rings

Meanwhile, I still wanted to know why the old engine failed as bad as it did. So I decided to move away from forum traders so to speak and get the opinion of a friend we’ve known for a few years now- Will Hinchcliffe, the genius behind Rob H’s car. Got it booked in and took the short journey over to see him and he was brilliant- checked every single component you would want checking before he even got the dyno packs out. Checked the fuel pump, ingnition system, compression test, bore scope down each cylinder, inspected the spark plugs, checked the wiring to the emange and injector loom etc. Pressure tested the coolant system etc etc. His findings were as follows;

-Base fuel pressure was set far too high

-Fuel pump was cavitating under load (due to the above)

-Injectors were maxed out drastically after around 5000rpm

-Base timing wasn’t set right

Any/all of the above could have caused the pistons to melt at full boost. So although I was understandably fuming, at least we had identified the issues and could now set about sorting them out. Lowered the base fuel pressure, timed it up properly.

Got it sat on the dyno packs but whie it was warming up etc we wanted to see the map that was on the emange from TD. Surprise surprise they had locked the ecu so we weren’t able to see what was on there. Oh well not to worry- wiped it and began to map it. Took a little while but the great thing was I was able to stand next to will the whole time he mapped it and watch what he was doing on the screen. He explained exactly what he was doing and showed me the difference in power curves etc by changing the timing. Was really interesting and beneficial to be able to see the whole process. But as I couldn’t sort the issue of the injectors being too small he had to do the best he can to make it safe and told me not to drive it past 5000rpm. Ive since got some 460cc injectors and I’m in the process of getting it booking back in for the map tweaked to suit.

It made 157 at the wheels which isn’t a lot I know but I think the figures that appear from other dynos these days are getting to be a bit of a joke so I don’t care about what it is on paper as long as I enjoy driving it- and I do J although I’m looking forward to getting the injectors fitted and mapped. I’ll get a photo of the dyno print out at some point.

So engine wise that’s how it stands currently (and the LSD box is finally on yay ).

In other news, the following has also been fitted/done;

-cusco 4 point roll cage (with back seats still in)

-D2 coilovers (and 4 wheel alignment)

-Whiteline adjustable rear anti roll bar

-Cusco C-pillar bar

-Cades eros 15inch wheels

-New handbrake cables

-Rear callipers stripped and rebuilt with new seal kit

-Rear brake pads

-All brake pipes under the car replaced for copper pipe

-New track rod ends

-New bottom ball joints

when the kit was finally complete;

cades fitted;

cage;

For anyone wanting a starlet that handles like a boss I’d recommend a cage. The BEST handling mod on it by far! It really does handle like a babe now.

Plans for the future are polybush some stuff, get a nice set of gauges and fit my triple pillar pod. Top mounted turbo kit. Forged engine at some point in the future…

Cleethropes meet;

and a cheeky rolling shot of adam (pick1) in his mint gt on the way back from MFN;

[pick1]

Wow I had forgotten u had took that lol n all the kit is now on mine dint take to long lol , and my god u have been busy and must admit a little jealous of the cage lol and still love those wheels mate they look boss on your motor can I borrow em lol

[ro55ifumi]

Good to see you got it sorted and all's well

John

[Starbuck]

Nice update. Glad u stuck with it.

[funny onion]

Wow I had forgotten u had took that lol n all the kit is now on mine dint take to long lol , and my god u have been busy and must admit a little jealous of the cage lol and still love those wheels mate they look boss on your motor can I borrow em lol

Lol I may have another 4 point cage up for grabs soon but it has a harness bar so you wouldn't get people in the back seats with it in.

Cheers guys shame it won't have the spoiler on for jae because its in the process of being sprayed oh well

[AlancEP82]

cracking starlet

[Rob H@RCH Engineering]

you've put up with a lot Chal im glad you stuck with it and battled on!! its one nice GT you have!! Im sure I know that bloke in the pick of it on the dyno!!!

[Socks]

Remember when you first got this

Come a long way and she looks well for it!

Respect for sticking with it

[Aamir]

I love this car but the new wheels absolutely ruin it! Get a set of Sparco Ns2's and it would finish the car of perfectly. Top work though!

[funny onion]

Yeah I need to do a then and now to compare spec and how much if a shed it was with the standard ride height and rusty front wing and stuff.

I'd love some nice jdm wheels and I do like ns2's but 99% of jdm wheels are absolutely gash in my opinion. But I'm always on the look for a better set. Got 4 sets now haha.

[Nanglebadger]

my word this is a thing of beauty. looks utterly superb!

fair do's for sticking with it through the head aches!

Phil.

[A L 3 X]

Yeah I need to do a then and now to compare spec and how much if a shed it was with the standard ride height and rusty front wing and stuff.

I'd love some nice jdm wheels and I do like ns2's but 99% of jdm wheels are absolutely gash in my opinion. But I'm always on the look for a better set. Got 4 sets now haha.

Looks great now tbh, really clean looking

I know some wheels that would suit it ;)

[funny onion]

Thanks phil

And Alex I would love those wheels haha we'll see how much money I have left after jae

[maddox710]

Thats wicked where is this guy that you used for the mapping?? He sounds a good bloke, in all honesty (don't want this to start any arguments but I don't rate to anymore) from What I've seen/heard

[Rob H@RCH Engineering]

Same lad that mapped mine, Will at RDT.tv (that's his web site) mapped it he's in Harworth Doncaster 5min from the A1

[PaulStarletSR]

lookin good now charl, wheels suit it perfectly, maybe an inch or 2 bigger but its gorjus!

[shorty]

Looks sweet as. And i ran those wheels on my ae101 levin but with gloss black centres and matt black lips. Made em look proper fookin sexy!

[funny onion]

Wow... can't believe how long it's been since i've updated this! i'll get an update on here soon!

[Calum122]

Also post that picture of your car next to the bad ass military vehicles.

Love that photo!