Project FA.ST (part 16)

Wooop! It’s finally here! If you’ve missed the build up to this point then check out the previous blogs here…

Take a long hard look at this magnificent piece of British craftsmanship! What you see here ladies and gentlemen, is one reverse-engineered bespoke radiator and intercooler combination, lovingly created by the artisans at Forge Motorsport, from the CAD drawings that our own Pete rendered for the last blog.

When the new Forge parts arrived, Pete and the team were tearing into the Forge boxes like kids on Christmas morning. As one of the biggest names in performance tuning, nobody was expecting anything other than sheer perfection from Forge’s solution, but even our grizzled workshop veterans were impressed enough for a few appreciative ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ as it was all unpacked. It really is all that nice.

Not only did the finished parts looks precisely like the drawings, but as one would expect from two such engineering-led firms, it simply dropped into place, with the factory drilled holes aligning up with the factory sheet metal like Toyota had planned it that way. With four bolts each, both units were in place in minutes.

This design came about because we were adamant that a solution could be found that didn’t have to resort to chopping the car in any way. So the rad is shorter, but deeper in its core, allowing the intercooler pipework to sit neatly underneath without resorting to brutal body surgery.

Not only does the new rad offer much more efficiency than the original unit – essential for a motor that could be around 400 bhp when we’re done – it also looks a lot prettier too! The intercooler in front, has a large, open core, which is enough to significantly chill the charge, but still allows plenty of fresh air through to cool the rad. This said, obviously Pete had always planned to fit a fan as a belts and braces measure, and for this he turned to respected motorsport manufacturers, SPAL. As one of the UK’s foremost manufacturers since 1959, SPAL fans really are made for a project like this, being manufactured up to unparalleled motorsport quality levels. The unit fitted benefits from a waterproof and dustproof motor, as well as featuring a fully balanced fan body. Also, despite being a genuine race part, it also comes with full finger guarding.. Always good on a car that spends much of its time in a ‘normal’ environment. Pete doesn’t want inquisitive members of the public or customers losing their digits when having a nose at the installation at shows…

Forge also made and polished the connecting pipework from the ‘cooler back into the lump, taking the opportunity to fabricate in one of their beautiful vent-to-atmosphere piston dump valves at the same time. This will allow excess charge to escape harmlessly to atmosphere, augmenting the already impressive soundtrack and stopping the turbo from being stalled or slowed at the same time. All good.. Plus, like the radiator and intercooler, this also looks visually stunning as well as performing an essential function.

During this final fit, Pete also took the opportunity to go through the mish-mash of engine hoses that have accumulated during the build and replace them all with one homogenous look. The hose that had best ticked both ‘form’ and ‘function’ boxes during the build was the epically subtle SamcoSport ‘Classic’ induction hose.This smart, factory black number apes a ‘70s OEM appearance, but is pure racecar inside, being able to handle temperatures and pressures that would soon dissolve the originals. We ordered lengths of matching straight hose straight from the Welsh factory and plumbed it all in for a much neater look.

Another small, but important bit of housekeeping was a new air filter. The new turbo installation hasn’t really left a huge amount of room under the bonnet, so it was imperative to get something that would fit the gap that was left, flow the maximum possible air and well, look nice too! A quick call to serial race filteristas Pipercross was soon dispatched and their response was this rather nice custom sized filter that uses their triple layer motorsport-spec foam and butts up nicely to the cold air feed from the inner wing, which will hopefully help to offset some of the heat of the turbo.

After a considered bout of tightening and checking all of the various unions and joints, Pete finally closed the bonnet to reveal the most impressive part of this modification… with the bonnet shut, you wouldn’t even know it was there. No ‘look at me’ shouty shininess to be seen up front, everything is tucked well away, with the slat angle of the Celica’s front grille preventing anything being shown, unless you squint directly through from a hedgehog’s-eye-view, that is. To our mind, that’s been the ethos of this build throughout. OEM tidiness and subtlety, mixed with a sledgehammer kick and exquisite engineering. Just the way we like it here at THOR!

So what’s next.. Well after all this hard fabbing, Pete needs to take a seat.. well a couple of them actually.. Tune in then to find out which perches he chooses!

Project FA.ST (Part 15)

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It’s all in the details this month for Project Celica! With Banzai’s deadline pressing and the new spangly intercooler and rad still being hand-crafted at Forge Motorsport, we were keen to use the time available to pick up on all the little jobs that have been outstanding throughout the build.

When you left us last month, the turbo manifold had been fabricated and the impressive Turbo Technics ‘charger sat atop it. The sharp eyed amongst you will have spotted that as complete as this may have looked, there were in fact no coolant and water feeds to the blower, meaning that it would have lasted about two minutes once in operation.

Plumbing this up was a relatively straightforward task, requiring little more than some precise cutting of appropriate lengths of Earl’s braided oils and coolant hose and then the application of some Aeroquip fittings. These will be routed back to appropriate feeds from the block and cooling system and should hopefully give the turbo a long, if hard-worked life.

On the subject of the rad and intercooler however, don’t just think that we are throwing this together. Following the tried and testing ‘reverse engineering’ path that has been so prevalent throughout this project, boss Pete had used precise digital measurement of the old rad and engine bay on the Celica to create a CAD drawing of the two new components.

As you can see from the renderings, the new alloy rad will sit in the OEM position and in front of a large capacity intercooler that resides behind. The rad will feature a relatively open core to allow a through -flow of air and the whole set-up shouldn’t really take up much more room than the original radiator did. But, most importantly of all, when the bonnet is closed, no-one will ever know it’s there. Just right for the overall vibe of this build.

We felt an essential bit of prep in the mean time would be a thorough lubricant change. You may have noticed the latest range of Synionics lubricants getting some column inches in the Japanese tuning press of late, and it’s easy to see why. Having analysed the lubricant’s composition and achievements for ourselves, we were also keen to put the product through their paces in their own mobile test bed.

So what’s the deal with this ‘surface modifying’ technology anyway?. Put simply, Synionic uses the heat of the combustion process, combined with the lubricant itself, to actually bond to the metal surfaces of the engine at an ionic level. (Hence the name!) Not so much coating the surfaces, but becoming part of it at a molecular level. Allied to this, it also has a much higher film strength than normal synthetic lubricants, meaning that it takes a far greater pressure before it breaks apart. Whether you understand the technology or not, it’s proving to be a popular choice amongst those in the know in the scene, so we will report back with interest on our experience with it, once a few more road and dyno miles have been covered in anger.

As well as the engine oil, which we had specified in 10w 40, we were also keen to try the gearbox and diff additives. These are also available as complete oils if you prefer, or as in this case, can simply be added to the carrier of any decent oil to reduce friction and improve efficiency.

For a group of individuals that does engine conversions for fun, as you can imagine, removing and replacing lubricants didn’t exactly tax the lads, so I won’t waste your time or our blog space with any gushing extrapolations of what happened there. Basically, the old stuff was drained out.. and the Synionic was poured in. Simples!

What was interesting though was the inspection of the rear diff oil. It didn’t look too clever, with what looked pretty plainly to be bits of the factory GT LSD itself floating around in the old oil. Consensus was that lending the car to legendary stunt supremo Terry Grant at last year’s Santa Pod test day probably hadn’t done it the greatest of good.  In its day, the GT diff was probably more than up to the task of a bit of lead-footed hooning with the stock twin cam.. but it probably didn’t bank on being subjected to 200-odd angry horses making it drift for a short Youtube clip. Looks like there’s another part for the shopping list then. Never ending this tuning lark isn’t it? Until next time!

Project FA.ST (Part 14)

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Chaaaaaaarge!

When you look at the basic nuts and bolts of the art of tuning, it’s fairly simple really. Take component X and connect to flange Y. Fabricate this, fettle that and mackle up the other. Analysed in its most basic from, tuning is just a set of mechanical procedures that solves a pre-described problem, right?

Well, up to a point, but there is a stage in the whole process, where it becomes a little bit more than that , and veers away from the simply functional to take into account the aesthetic. It’s at this point where you realise that top level tuning, when done properly, is more of an art form than anything else. And when it’s done properly, the best work deserves its space alongside the greats in the Tate Modern. Thankfully,  the THOR Racing team subscribes to that ‘form and function’ mantra.

Take a squint under the bonnet of our project Celica for instance. Sure there’s an engine ensconced therein which has no holy right to be there, but the ‘art’ has been in making it look like it was factory fitted. On the car’s many show outings, you would be amazed how many people, many of whom should know better, have asked whether it was a factory option…

Little wonder then, that the whole idea of fitting a turbocharger would be tackled with the same aesthetic zeal tempering the engineering. Of course, it needs to feed neatly into the inlet manifold, and be easily integrated into the exhaust system, but hopefully, even hardened readers will be pleasantly surprised by the neatness and homogeneity of this installation. Regular bloggists may remember that the whole installation was pre-planned using the magic of CAD wizardry and a £30,000 Faro measuring arm, and this uber-precise level of double-checking is pretty evident once poking your nose under the bonnet. Although the oil lines have yet to be fitted, the Turbo Technics ‘charger sits perfectly in the space left in the engine bay, like it had always been there.

Last month, we showed the start of the manifold being fabricated. This was actually made from a spare old NA part that we had in the stores, but obviously required a fair degree of reworking to accept the turbocharger, meaning that every single bend was cut, reshaped and re-routed to bring the turbocharger closer to the block. Once the turbo had been successfully fitted and correctly orientated, the downpipe also needed considerable ‘love’ to make it fit. As can be seen, this now comes straight off the exhaust wheel of the turbocharger and fires straight into the rest of the system. Pete hasn’t yet decided whether to leave the first silencer box in, or bypass it completely. When the car was first at Scorpion, the brief had been to create a refined system that muffled the NA BEAMS screamer. Now, with a turbocharger taking a lot of the noise away, only road and dyno miles will reveal whether it’s still needed or not.

So the ‘chargers all done bar the shouting, really. Just a few connections to make before the whole lot is hooked up to the Link ECU and configured to get the whole set-up squirting and firing properly. Our MD and ECU-whizz Peter Betts eats these kinds of challenges for breakfast, so don’t expect that part to be a particularly long or exciting chapter.. 😉

One aspect of the build that will take a little longer is the car’s current cooling capacity. A recon rad may have been more than enough for the BEAMS modest cooling requirements, but with the additional temperatures and pressures created by turbocharging, this is being removed and replaced by something with a much bigger cooling capacity. The solution here will also need to incorporate or work well with some kind of intercooler as well, so it makes an awful lot of sense to design and scratch build something that allows the common air feed from the front grille to satisfy both. Lairy external units are not an option here, as everything needs to be hidden within the OEM confines of the stock bonnet.

After draining the coolant down in the time-honoured tradition, removing the rad was unsurprisingly easy, with everything having only been on for a few months. With the old unit off, it was evident that there is actually quite a decent bit of space for the new rad/cooler set.  Peter thinks he can also improve the routing and flow of the coolant pipework, so expect that to tick the ‘automotive art’ box too.

So it’s back to the fabbing room for more metallurgic magicianship! Join us next time!

Project FA.ST (Part 13)

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We like to keep up with the latest tuning trends and developments here atTHOR, and as you left us here on the blog last time, our MD Peter Betts was using cutting-edge measuring technology to create a series of three-dimensional CAD component models. Having successfully rendered these into workable plans using ‘Solid Works’ software, this month’s activity was doubtless going to be far more pleasing to the tuning traditionalist… Cutting, grinding, bolting and welding.

First, let’s talk about that turbo.  It looks superb doesn’t it? After carefully working out the volumetric efficiency of the engine and calculating a few other slightly baffling engine techy type parameters, Pete specced the rather lovely S175 blower from one of the best known names in the business, Turbo Technics. The Northamptonshire-based firm will be well known to petrolheads of a certain age, having provided the motive force behind many superb and sublime road-car conversions during the ‘80s and ‘90s. These days, Turbo Technics is more tightly focussed on the business of manufacturing and remanufacturing turbo chargers and superchargers. After three decades at the top of their game, it’s fair to say that they’re a pretty knowledgeable bunch!

The S175 is part of TT’s Hybrid Performance range and was originally designed for other members of the Celica and MR2 family. As a twin-entry design, it features a CT26 high-flow turbine assembly, a 360 degree screwed thrust bearing and the ability to run up to 30 PSI of boost. Fitting directly to 3SGTE footprints without any additional work, it’s a great way to give say, an ST185 Celica or MR2 Turbo an aerobic leg-up, without having to run to the expense of changing the manifold or exhaust system.

This relatively small, but perfectly formed ‘charger is good for engines up to 500 BHP, so should be more than a match for the BEAMS engine in the ST. With around 200 BHP from the factory, Pete is looking for the low to mid 300s to make this both and entertaining and reliable daily driver. These units are priced at £765 + VAT, so offer great value and are backed by a comforting 12 month warranty. All good news!

With two gorgeous looking flanges having been cut from stainless steel (One for the head, one for the turbo), all that was left now was the pipework to link the two together.  Again, referring to our CAD model, we created some free flowing mandrel bends (for better gas-flow) and then set about fabricating those onto the new flanges. The bends in question are also T304 aerospace grade stainless. Once this hard work is all done, it will then mean the relatively easy task of fitting an ‘off the shelf’ performance Celica downpipe, which can then be integrated with the rest of the bespoke Scorpion exhaust system. With the ST running a longitudinal engine fitment, and the MR2/Celica obviously running transverse fitments, the bottom of the downpipe is going to be at least 90 degrees out for starters! This said, it shouldn’t be a huge job for our talented fabbing team to neatly chop and re-weld this into a homogenous looking design.

Once it’s all fitted up, thanks to the car already running full Link engine management, Pete can then fire up the lap top once again and reconfigure all of the boost, ignition and fuelling parameters to take into account the new found abilities and appetites of the blower-fed engine. Evidently, it’s not going to have the relatively parsimonious thirst of the 2.0 BEAMS in its standard trim, which has proved capable of easily returning in excess of 30 MPG, even when being enjoyed, but he’s confident that it should still be a sensible way to pedal quickly on a daily basis. Something one has to factor in when Super Unleaded is almost £1.30 a litre on some forecourts!

With the smell of hot metal and welding wire lingering in our nostrils, that’s about it for this month. We promis to have it all fitted up for your next visit, when plans will then be underway for a suitable intercooler. This Celica is turning into one hell of a project! See you then!

Project FA.ST (Part 12)

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Apart from the Peter Pan-like appearance of our MD, Pete, it’s fair to say that the art of tuning and its subsequent coverage in the motoring press has progressed somewhat over the last few decades. Open up a classic mag from ‘back in the day’ like CCC or one of the handful of other publications that serviced the tuning industry back then and you would have spotted an awful lot of ‘eyeball engineering’ going on when trying to fit a component that wasn’t designed for the recipient vehicle. Basically, if it looked ‘right’, it generally was – and after measuring, a few trial fitments and adjustments, the truly talented could just about make any part fit any car. It separated the men from the boys alright..

Fast forward to the present day – and although that ‘can do’ ethos is still very much in evidence here at THOR HQ,  we are the first to admit that whilst we’re huge fans of the traditional methods, we’d much rather rely on present-day technology when trying to engineer a solution to any mechanical problem.

Take this month’s work on the Project Celica for example for example. In the last update, Pete and the lads had already started putting the business end of a spankingly-specced ‘spare’ BEAMS engine together, ready to usurp the standard, but otherwise perfect lump that currently nestles in the Celica’s minty-blue bay. Clearly, we’re not happy with ‘just’ 200-odd bhp testing the mettle of the 32 year-old chassis, and Pete had decided that this month, he would add a turbocharger to the new engine, to send the power figure sky-rocketing towards the magic 400 bhp at the flywheel.

Rather than mackle it all up by hand, wasting valuable time and materials, our solution here is to turn to modern-day production methods to measure and plot the entire block and bay using an ingenious device; a £30,000 Faro Platinum measurement arm. This Star Wars set extra can be moved into any position – somewhat akin to an angle poise lamp, but as it does so, it plots the precise position of desired points within a staggering 16 microns.. or 0.016 mm, if you prefer. This data is then transferred into the Solid Works 2010 CAD programme, which allows for a precisely accurate rendering of all salient components for trial fitting and fettling to your heart’s content. This is F1-level fabrication and part of our Reverse Engineering CAD Service. In 2009, we used this technology to develop the mechanical conversion of a Nissan Navara into a hybrid electric vehicle, but that’s a whole different website on its own!

We will often use the Faro arm to save time and improve first-fit accuracy. For example, when we first designed our Lexus V8 to Supra manual box conversion, we simply plotted the profile of the rear of the block and the bellhousing of the box, factored in the tunnel dimensions and then drew an adapter plate that conformed to all three parameters. It meant that even the very first prototype ‘rough’ was a perfect fit. Manufacturing that type of conversion by the old ‘trial and error’ method could literally take days worth of work to get right.

All things considered, it’s a blissfully simple way of recreating the geography of the engine bay, without having to resort to the more traditional, inaccurate methods of measurement. As well as considerably expediting the whole process, the Faro arm also allows you to describe the shape of a say, a circular flange, even if there is something large passing through the middle of it – something that can’t be achieved with ‘tracing’ or ‘impression’ type methods.

After numerous positional clicks, we had  a pretty spot-on looking manifold flange rendered on screen, and with a few more deft taps around the engine bay, we began the plotting the proposed course of the new turbo manifold. The Celica bay certainly has plenty of room, that’s for sure! But which turbo will we go with? Well, we haven’t fully decided yet!, but bank on it being based around a T28 unit. Ever ones to dot the ‘i’s and cross the ‘t’s, this unit too has been fully graphically rendered for later inclusion on the manifold design. It’s all about the details!

There’s obviously a mountain to climb in between this preparatory work and the actual finished product, but even as I type this, the flange drawings are being e-mailed to our water cutters for the first part to be made. Shouldn’t be long then! Until next time

Project FA.ST (Part 11)

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In the immortal words of Rolf Harris. ‘Do you know what is yet?’ We’re guessing that you probably know ‘what’.. but who’s  wondering ‘why?’

Our Project ST has been a mission from the outset. Full of engineering-led goodness, our accomplished team have been crafting elegant and often bespoke solutions to many of the problems that this unique build has thrown up. What got us scratching our collective heads this time was MD Pete’s proposal of a full engine rebuild on an engine that has only covered around 4,000 miles. If you’ve been following this car from day one, you may remember that the Altezza RS BEAMS engine that now nestles between those rust free inner wings was actually minty fresh when it went in. Having hardly been stressed thus far, it was barely run in, let alone requirous of any remedial attention.

This is actually going to be a spare engine. Although we’re loving cruising round with the standard lump in for now, to be honest, it’s a little underpowered to our minds. Also, although the conversion is a great shop window for our talents, rolling around on an almost stock motor isn’t that good for business. We need to show off a little! We’ve always said.. you can’t sell what you can’t show!

With access to numerous complete and short engine examples of Toyota’s fine four-pot stacked on our HQ shelves, Pete started with a brand new block and as you read this, was just steaming into the conversion project. The spec is suitably impressive and contains many industry stalwarts in the component listing. The pistons are Omega forged 3SGTE pistons, which we will be modifying to accommodate the slightly different valve angle on the BEAMS unit. Bolted to a set of Arrow precision con rods and spinning around a Doug Kiddie crank and ACL tri-metal bearings, this little list should create a bomb-proof 2.2 litre low-compression powerplant. And the details.. Still to add are ARP 2000 rod bolts, Gates belt and a heavy duty Cometic head gasket. The brief is simple, and one we love here at THOR HQ. To create a unit that will deliver reliable power, early in the rev range, and keep delivering all the way up to the redline. This needs to be balanced with decent drivability, and in this age of spiralling fuel costs, a half-decent fuel appetite when not flat out. Quite an ask, that!

As you have probably already guessed, all of this preparatory work is simply laying the foundations for the even more impressive addition of forced induction. A GT28 roller bearing turbo, to be precise. Very similar in spec to a 200SX unit, sitting atop a custom manifold to allow it to marry up to a T3 flange, whilst still sitting nicely with the hand-fabricated Scorpion system. The final package will easily be good for around 400-450 BHP. Although at that point, we’ll really have to start addressing intercooling and drivetrain. There’s no way that the gearbox and diff will happily take that. Going forward, we’ll probably add an Evo 7 front mount ‘cooler and probably uprate to something like an Exedy clutch to transmit it all effectively. The choice of turbo happily ticks all of the boxes for the ‘usability versus ability’ debate and thanks to the car already running a Link Xtreme G4 ECU, this will all be fully tweakable at a later date to really extract the best performance. The car currently runs the dual VVti set up and stock cams, so these will also be changed, using machined cam blanks once the characteristics of the turbo charged engine have revealed where they need to be.

Most outfits would be happy simply to have crafted this conversion to such a high standard in the first place. But we’re already bored after a few months on the road and are already looking for the dial marked ‘11’. We’ll keep you posted!

Project FA.ST (Part 10)

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We don’t want you to get the idea that this project car lark is all unpacking boxes of shiny parts and bolting them on.. or fabbing ingenious trinkets and making them work. Oh no. Ok, that’s a big part of it, but the most important aspect of the whole process is testing. And lots of it! This month, we wanted to draw a line in the sand under the impressive raft of mods that have been fitted so far and flex their collective muscle on tarmac to see just how well they would perform.

Since the new motor, GAZ and Whiteline suspension upgrades and fat, retro rubber have all been fitted, MD Pete has driven a few tentative miles on the road, but as yet, hadn’t given the car the kicking he wanted to, to really see what was what. This was for two main reasons. Firstly, being a law abiding citizen, Pete isn’t a big fan of lairy antics on her majesty’s highway.. well, at least not whilst our photographers are there, anyway. Secondly, for safety’s sake, the whole team felt that the ‘in anger’ box should only be ticked for the very first time in an area where there was plenty of run-off, should any issues arise. Responsible tuning at its best, eh?

The main areas that we were interested in testing were the car’s ability to hook up a decent start, for possible future quarter mile duties, its all-round handling ability and balance on the limit. With so much having been changed under the Celica’s shiny blue skin, we were keen to ensure that all important factors like weight-distribution, steering feel, turn-in and grip were still on the button and able to cope with the three-fold hike in power.

Thanks to being run by lovely, helpful people – and also due to its vast expanses of tarmac play area, Santa Pod was chosen as the venue for the shake down, so Pete took a leisurely trundle over from our Midland’s HQ to the Pod’s sprawling site. The whole venue was a hive of activity with clear-up teams doing the final litter picking after a packed USC event and a whole load of DWYB-ers torturing their tyres over in the drift area.

With kind permission to use the track. we rolled out on the hallowed FIA quarter mile to try a few full-bore starts. If you haven’t been to the Pod before, then you may not be aware that the track marshals actually spray the tarmac surface with adhesive, making the whole top layer feel like walking through a really manky, beer-soaked night club. In fact, on a hot day, it can actually pull your shoes off! The upshot of this is that even an overpowered RWD car like the Celica can hook-up brilliantly and achieve instant traction, allowing Pete to analyse whether or not the new Whiteline kit would help to reduce axle tramp as they had hoped. Put simply, it did. Brilliantly. Time after time, The ST simply dug in – and shot off. The new chassis package keeping the car quite level and making the whole process hugely effective. Looking happy, Pete trundled off to the Live Action Arena to dial in the dampers and ascertain what the car could do in the turns.

After a few low-speed passes, we were soon throwing the car into marked turns at great speed, revealing that the car now had a superbly flat demeanour under heavy lateral load. Better still, a few pokes at the throttle revealed that the ST wanted to go sideways.. although the super chunky rubber seemed more than adequate at keeping it in check. Not wanting to bin our pride and joy, we sensibly kept things realistic – and away from the unforgiving concrete barriers!

However, at that point, fate took a turn. Stunt legend, Terry Grant, who now bases his Stunt Academy at the ‘Pod walked over to say hi and have a look at the car. Once he found out that we were trying to get a few sideways shots, he kindly offered to jump in and do a couple of revolutions for our snapper. Despite having never driven the car before – or even bothering to adjust the seat – he simply got in, shot off and proceeded to perform the most millimetrically-perfect series of drifts and pirouettes within a couple of inches of our team. As he stepped out, looking impressed, he threw Pete the keys and gave us his ‘elevator review’ ‘Superb balance. Nice steering. Really easy to hold on the limit,’ he noted. ‘Just needs a little bit more power, now!’ And with that he was off in a cloud of M3 tyre smoke. Luckily we captured it all on video and it’s already up on our Facebook site for your viewing pleasure…

So with the approval of a seventeen times Guinness World Record holder and a full days testing under its belt, our Project ST is going well. Time to step things up a gear we think! Join us next time to find out how!

Project FA.ST (part 9)

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When choosing a Japanese car to work on as a project, a conundrum often results. Choose a scene favourite like the Subaru Impreza or MR2.. and the world is literally your oyster. A myriad of specialists and parts for these key cars means that when choosing a mod, it’s more a case of ‘which manufacturer?’ rather than ‘Can I get?’. The downside of this approach of course is that it’s hard to build something unique.

The polar opposite of this scenario is to tackle a project like our Celica. Here, the world is quite literally your whelk. We’re not easily phased by a technical challenge, but so far everything that the car has needed has had to be fabricated, adapted or scratch-built as a one-off. Bonus points for style and exclusivity… Zero points for ease of modding!

The addition of the superb GAZ suspension last month had sharpened up both the stance and handling by a tangible amount, but had also highlighted other vital areas for development. Lowering the car had actually caused the rear axle to move laterally in the body, due to the non-adjustable design of the panhard rod pushing it across as the geometry changed, putting the near side tyre very close to the arch.

Naturally this wasn’t a state of affairs that our MD Peter Betts was prepared to live with. Also, at the same time, he wanted to reduce the car’s propensity to roll even further, without stiffening the springs – and also add an element of adjustability to the ST’s chassis. Now at this point, you might think it would be a case of ‘Fire up the welder!’ and cue a series of ‘A-Team’ style fabrications that resulted in an impressive set of chassis upgrades, but you will be amazed to learn, it was much, much easier than that!

Whiteline, the respected Australian chassis fettlers are no strangers to most tuning enthusiasts. For years they’ve been providing the attractive ironmongery to tame many a wayward chassis on all manner of Jap machinery. Although a quick skim of their catalogue reveals a huge list of modern metal, what many enthusiasts don’t realise is that they also stock a huge back catalogue for older J-Tin, meaning that in the case of our TA40, many of the lines are still available off the shelf! Unbelievable!

A quick chat to their uber helpful UK outfit revealed mind boggling array of Celica lines – and for the bits that were missing, an even more impressive array of AE86 parts, which many enthusiasts know, can be made to fit the TA40 with minimal work, thanks to the similar chassis dimensions. Despite the parts coming directly from Oz, the entire order was turned around in less than a week, and once again we found ourselves tearing excitedly into a parcel.

Inside was a full set of top and bottom radius arms, plus an adjustable panhard rod, which would cure the axle location issue. An AE86 front ARB was complemented by a dedicated TA40 number, both with uprated drop links and bushes… and the final touch was a TA40 strut brace. To say that we were all impressed with the quality of both the service and product would be a dramatic understatement!

It was fairly clear early on, that the parts were going to fit very easily, with the sole exception of the strut brace. No fault of Whiteline’s of course, more the fact that the weedy factory lump has now been usurped by the much chunkier BEAMS unit, causing a few clearance issues. Nothing that a little metal massaging couldn’t resolve however. We also decided that now would be the perfect time to fit the new GT back axle, with all of the new parts being built onto it before being bolted up.

Not only have the new Whiteline parts added a huge degree of rigidity to the car, thanks to their superior bushing and greater torsional stiffness, the back end of the Celica in particular is now infinitely adjustable meaning that hours of spanner twirling goodness lie in wait as the many set-up options are explored. Although the road test will have to wait until our next blog, it was clearly evident that this is one mod that has been hugely worth the time and money spent. The fact that Whiteline still keep these older, slower moving lines is testament to their belief in the scene and can only be a good thing. One thing’s for sure. If the chassis drives even half as well as it looks.. we’re in for a treat next month!

Project FA.ST (part 8)

Mint original bodywork.                                       Check.
Hi-po Nu Skool powerplant.                                Check.
Bespoke exhaust system and manifold.          Check.
Rare Rims.                                                                   Check.

What’s missing from this list? Yep, you spotted it. Decent suspension.

If you were kind enough to read our blog last month, we were putting the finishing touches to an uprated GT back axle, complete with factory limited slip differential. This month, we pulled our collective fingers out and now, this component has been flawlessly painted and is ready to go back onto the car.

But, before it was all mounted up, THOR Racing’s M.D.  Pete wanted to address the performance of the factory dampers and springs.. or rather, the lack of it! Although fine and floaty back in the day, and doubtless capable of delivering mile after mile of epic cruising comfort, their soggy demeanour and deeply unfashionable ride height, coupled with a complete inability to control the Celica’s new-found output meant that a more engineering-led solution would need to be applied.

Knowing that TA40 parts are hardly the fastest moving of suspension lines, we decided very early on to work with serial project fettlers GAZ shocks, down in Essex. The Gazzard family and their talented team of fabricators and engineers are no strangers to many discerning enthusiasts – and it doesn’t take a genius to work out why. Their ability to custom-fabricate a fully adjustable coilover unit from or onto any factory suspension component has made them the darling of the retro/competition movement, opening the door of decent handling to a wide range of discerning enthusiasts whose choice of transport was deleted from most suspension fitment lists years ago…

As well as knowing one end of a lathe from the other, Team Gazzard are usually to be found actually testing their products most weekends. Either with their seemingly limitless sponsorship of various club racing series, or behind the wheel of their own BMW race cars – so their quality and performance is a given.

After we all met up at Silverstone on a sunny race weekend, Peter briefed Gaz on the spec and requirements of the new units, before turning over front and rear OEM units to use as a pattern and to establish spring rates and free lengths.

After just a few weeks of impressive toil, the units arrived back at our HQ ready to fit straight on. As you can imagine, everything had pretty much been built from scratch, with a superb level of craftsmanship. The rear units now feature full rebound adjustment for ultra-fine fettling. Believe it or not, these were actually developed from the starting point of Gaz’s much vaunted MK2 Escort kit. The rear springs had to be custom wound, after assessing the rates of the originals. Sitting 40mm less than the factory intended, they should endow the Celica with a lower centre of gravity, coupled with some much needed visual aggression. The front units are from the Gaz Gold range and are fully top adjustable. Using the original Toyota upright, GAZ machined out the struts from the hub.. The threaded body was then welded to the upright in order to carry the coilover platform, which allows a huge range of ride height adjustment. To improve precision at the front end, we have also manage to obtain a set of the roller bearing GT top mounts, which offer a vast improvement over the bushed ST items. All good!

Thanks to the quality of the GAZ units, and their ingenious use of the OEM mountings, naturally, everything bolted up as if the factory had planned it that way. In fact, from start to finish, removing all of the old units and replacing with the new parts took just over an hour. Although there is a great degree of fettling, damper set-up and alignment still to be done, it was great to see the ST dropped onto its haunches in the workshop. From an aesthetic point of view alone, it was time and money well spent – and with ‘tinkering time’ already booked to sort out the various dynamic elements before our next visit, it shouldn’t be too long before the humble ST is tackling corners with the same prowess as it now devours the straights!

Until then!

Project FA.ST (part 7)

Axle F

One standard axle + 3 x factory horsepower = recipe for disaster. Having done the sums, We’ve come up with an elegant – and manufacturer supplied – solution to the equation.

Catch up on the whole story here.

Since you last joined us, we have been racking up some enviable road mileage in the couth coupe. With a brand spanking BEAMS 2.0 litre engine under the bonnet, progress is now rapid, to say the least. Problem is, it’s also way more than the stock diff and tyres can even try to cope with!

With a final drive ratio of 4.1, the original ST back axle is perhaps a little too high for the needs of this project. Also, rather more worryingly, the actual diff itself is a little on the fragile side, being a teeny little 6.7 inch unit that was only ever meant to cope with around 70 bhp coursing through its planetary gears. So far, our big chief, Peter, has been taking it very easy on the road, applying gradual and gentle throttle openings under load and making sure that no heavy demands were being made on the easily overwhelmed back axle. But where’s the fun in that? After all, we’re trying to create a genuine modern day useable classic that can show most hot hatches a clean pair of treads.

Addressing these issues however was relatively easy. Thanks to the superb job recently carried out at Lepsons on the OEM Supra alloys, we had the perfect answer to the rolling stock problem. A set of 215/60 And 235/60/14s were duly sourced and fitted up to endow the Celica with a suitably 70’s lofty rubber stance and literally twice the footprint of tyre on the road surface.. Should help improve traction, which up until now had been practically non-existent.

The rear axle was a similarly simple affair to sort, thanks to Toyota themselves offering a much beefier 7.5”version in the GT version of the same car. Benefitting from a 3.9 final drive, not only are the internal driveshafts considerably thicker and stronger, but also the diff and casing itself is far more substantial and can cope with significantly more power. It’s a genuinely simple bolt out / bolt in upgrade that requires zero head-scratching and importantly on this project, looks just right should anybody choose to have a squint under the rear of the car.

As an added bonus, and impressively for the vintage of the donor car, The GT axle also comes with a factory fitted limited-slip diff and even a teeny little roll bar (albeit one seemingly made from coat hanger wire!) So it has all the ingredients to allow some controlled tail-happy antics in the future and will finally let Pete full exploit the power that he has been so carefully nursing for all these months.

After having the unit carefully shot-blasted, a few coats of red oxide primer and then chassis black to keep the elements at bay will be later be applied, but even lying the unit on the workshop floor under the original, it was clear to see that it’s a far more substantial unit.

Unsurprisingly, the wheels bolted straight on, immediately endowing the Celica with a far more aggressive stance and really filling out the arches for a much more business like appearance. Although the wheels and tyres now look truly spot on, their increased size only serves to highlight the fact that the car is still sitting at a vertigo inducing ride height, with a decidedly unsexy set of arch gaps. Fear not, this is something that will be addressed in the very near future, with the obvious aesthetic and dynamic benefits.

Want more photos ? Check this out

Join us next month when we get the new axle back in and start taking a proper squint at the handling. See you then!