Th '73 Celica

[TheNissanMan]

Well although not 100% worthy of the title workshop subm,ission yet this thread should grow into a pretty big one with a lot of info and the rebuild of Scot's '73 Celica after blowing the engine at Castle Combe at Japfest on the 17th May '03.

The story so far

The Celica returned to Clanfield just outside Oxford on the back of a lorry around 5pm on Sunday the 18th ready for some rather drastic work to be carried out. She was unloaded and wheeled to the garage with care where Scot could decide on the best action to take (me having no techinical knowledge was/am purely a second pair of hands).

After figuring out the best way to remove the engine we made a start by taking the Sump of the car to find if there was any oil leftin the bottom of it after draining the fluids and to see what other horrible bits and bob's had found there way in their. The Sump came of with a little gentle persuasion (and the part removal of the anti-roll bar) and we had our first proper chance of seeing exactly what was in the engine. Parts of the broken Oil Pump, crushed Shell bearings and sheared bolts were all in there amongst a large collection of other metallic bits and bob's that looked as if they'ed got lost after bouncing around the engine for a while...

After the sump had been removed it was time to work from the top of the car, the Cylinder Head was coming off, removing all bolts in a steady logical fashion loosening each one by quarter turns until they were all lose and then removing the head, stopping for the ocassional Nicotene top up on the way. The Cylinder Head finally came off at around 10:30pm and brought day 1 of the Celica repair to a halt, for me anyway, I had a thirty minute drive to Oxford Centre after cleaning up andMonday is a school day after all...

Scot continued to strip l;ittle bits from around the engine bay and I was there again last night (Tuesday 20th May) to offer my hands once again, it was time to strip more from the old girl... We started by removing the front bumper and grill, and removing the nuts from the Bell Housing and Engine mounts, the block was going to come out. It took a while to get there but with three people, a piece of scoffolding and a thick rope the engine block was finally removed for closer inspection. An awful lot fo damage was sustained by the engine in the incident and a few new parts will need to be ordered...

At 10:30 it was time to clean up and head back to Oxford once again...

Wonder what were going to do next, I'm having a ball as I'm learning new stuff and it's great to actually get to work on a car, it's not the sort of thing you can do everyday.

I'll keep the posts coming as more work is carried out on the car and hopefully this thread will grow into quite an interesting little history on the rebuild of Scot's machine....

The full story will have it's own website coming shortly :)

[Scot]

Nice one Ryan, u forgot to add all the coffee breaks and Otis Reading music. Great right up, but we have a long way to go.

[TheNissanMan]

Should also have given Rocky a mention for the wagging tail competition and will hope that keyboard is up for the task for the copntinuing work....

See you saturday morning :)

[Scot]

Just for anybody whos interested:

Ive just got my performance clutch/pressure plate today, which means i can have the new engine internals balanced up and back with a bit of luck by the end of next wk. All new bearings, and ARP rod bolts, should be with me by early next wk.... that just means gaskets are pretty much it (i think) oh, and some head work.

I'll try and have some more pics when i get the block back from the machiniest (with the help of Ryan :D :D :D ), so im guessing if all goes to plan, im looking at maybe 3 weeks before she turns over aagin :group-cuddles:

We will be back, with hopefully 160 - 210bhp at the flywheel from a n/a 1600cc taken to 2ltr :cacker:

[TheNissanMan]

You do realise that I expect to be there the first time she gets turned over :)

I do love it when I get a chance to see beauty like that turned for the first time :D :D :D

[Scot]

You do realise that I expect to be there the first time she gets turned over :)

I do love it when I get a chance to see beauty like that turned for the first time :D :D :D

Hmm, u can look, but when it comes to the last, u can touch

We have this special bond Ryan......

[TheNissanMan]

Hmm, u can look, but when it comes to the last, u can touch

We have this special bond Ryan......

I can touch as well.... Superb :D :D

[Scot]

Ahh bu**er, messed that one up, to busy trying to outwit u :D though that shouldnt be a problem............ :P :P

[Scot]

well, ive seen the lightend flywheel, and its got to have at least half its weight shaved off :P im finding myself at home polishing a lot of alloy at the mo, and considering how to cut my engine bay up to install a AE86 servo.... the rods are looking good, theyre having a set of bearings installled on the small end for the racing pistons, because stook they are interferance fit. Also i expect i'll have to have the tunnels honed, but have yet to check. I think, so far im at around £1600, but the cost is still rising. Im trying hard not to think about it

Im going to visit the machinest on Sat morning to check things over, Ryan - do you want to come and look??? Take some photos :D

[TheNissanMan]

well, ive seen the lightend flywheel, and its got to have at least half its weight shaved off :P im finding myself at home polishing a lot of alloy at the mo, and considering how to cut my engine bay up to install a AE86 servo.... the rods are looking good, theyre having a set of bearings installled on the small end for the racing pistons, because stook they are interferance fit. Also i expect i'll have to have the tunnels honed, but have yet to check. I think, so far im at around £1600, but the cost is still rising. Im trying hard not to think about it

Im going to visit the machinest on Sat morning to check things over, Ryan - do you want to come and look??? Take some photos :D

is the pope catholic...

do bears go to the loo in the woods...

Are men still wrong if there aren't any women around...

What time ? Need to sort this exhaust out as well, it's been fun flaming around the place and waking up the neighbours every morning (had the next door neighbour pop over and say how lurvely it sounded today, he seemed very dismayed when I told him it was broken).....

Would it be poss to borrow some space for the exhaust after we do the flywheel bit :)

[Scot]

Of course mate, i plan on going at around 9 to 10ish if ur up for it, dont forget the camera :D

[TheNissanMan]

Of course mate, i plan on going at around 9 to 10ish if ur up for it, dont forget the camera :D

Shouldn't that be don't forget to charge the camera, you know I never leave home without it....

[Scot]

Hi guys ive got some pics now of my pistons/ lightend flywheel/ Shoot peened rods and my bored block. I'll update it again soon.

http://tubby.custard.org/toc/users/scot/ne...ts/DSC02112.JPG

http://tubby.custard.org/toc/users/scot/ne...ts/DSC02113.JPG

[Scot]

Ok, so the block is sitting in my garage, now painted on the sexier side of red to match with a metalic engine bay. I trial fitted the crank last night and checked the bearings with some Plastigage, which is a really quick way of finding out, and i reccomend it. Got mine through burton power. I was hoping to get the rods trial fitted aswell tonight but im still stuck at work. The machinest has given me dummy pins to use on the pistons, the reason for this is if the compression ratio is to high, we wont damage the pistons to get them off the rods. I'd be feeling very sorry for myself if that happend (would mean £500 down the drain so its a wise move)

Once the everything is trail fitted, I then have to do a dummy build, take the engine back to the machinest, and have the compression ratio meassured by pouring parafin into the chamber through the plug holes. ive also got to have the oil pump drive bearings moved to block the oil holes, as the block was originally a push rod in japan and the oil ways are for a in block camshaft (didnt even bring them into this country) otherwise i wont be having much pressure :D

Once that is done and im happy, i'll then fit the engine. Ive still got to tidy up a few things, but at least ive now got the block to work on

Im still reconing on 3wks now, maybe more if i encounter probs. But whos counting

If anybodys got any tips to pass on, im all ears!

[Scot]

Ok, so the block has been dumy built with one piston, whithout any rings on, but a s**t load of grease down the bores. The next step is to rebuild the head which i might have time to do tonight, then time her up, which requires all the chains and dampners to be fitted etc.

The reason for this is to make sure that the squish land is ok (top of the piston - but not the crown) and dosnt hit the head, and to also check that the valves dont come in contact with the cut outs in the piston. This has to be check not only on compression for that piston, but also on the exhaust stroke as well. this is fairly easy to check, ive gone down to my local toy shop and gotten a load of plastacine to fill around the piston crown and cut outs, so when the engine is rotated i can see how much clearance im left with (by how much the plastacine is squashed to). This has to be done with a head gasket on, because this is aprox. 6mm in compressed hight - its best to use an old one for this job.

The other thing i have to work out is the ring gap, which just means sticking a ring in the bore, pushing it down with a piston so it remains square on, and then measuring the gap with a set of feeler gagues. Ive done this with one, but have found that the gap is too small, so ive got to find out if i can widen the gap very carefully with a file.... this remains to be seen yet though.............

I'll c if Ryan will get me some more photos, either by lending me his camera or by comming down......

[gus]

massive tip time matey............

when connecting the engine back to the gearbox remember to remove finger from in between the two......ohter wise you in a whole world of sh%t.....

trust me i know large piece of the side of my first finger is now running around inside my gearbox as of tuesday night ha ha :group-cuddles:

have fun with it mate will hope fully be around beginning of next week with the white mist sounding better than ever...... :group-cuddles:

[Scot]

:D :D :D :D :D

did you have any trouble locating it on the spline? and have you read my post to you mate in classic toyotas?

[gus]

not had a chance to get onto the forums in the last couple of days mate as have been away with work........but catching up slowley now.....will nip over to classic now and hve a look.... :group-cuddles:

[booncindy]

Hi everyone i am new to this site.

I have a 1st generation celica and was wondering if anyone knows any links to find a workshop manual.

When i first bought her she was in real good nik and six months later she started to fall apart the person i bought her from had done a real nice paint job making her look real nice this was over the top of rust andbog i really got done. So i am doing he work on her myself but it is taking some time andkshop would really help. it can get really frustrating when you are not real sure of what you are doing.

[TheNissanMan]

Scot doesnt post here anymore but he worked from scratch, I think he had to hunt high and low for his manual, most of the work he did ad hoc and without help...

Nice to see people looking through old posts, this is a good couple of years old :D

[Scot]

Scot doesnt post here anymore but he worked from scratch, I think he had to hunt high and low for his manual, most of the work he did ad hoc and without help...

Nice to see people looking through old posts, this is a good couple of years old :D

click here

think that should do the trick dont you? lol

[TheNissanMan]

!Removed! hell the old skool legend returns, hows things fella...

now empty that message box, I find select all nd delete works wonders as most of them will be three years old !

[Scot]

!Removed! hell the old skool legend returns, hows things fella...

now empty that message box, I find select all nd delete works wonders as most of them will be three years old !

Ahh they cut me down to 10 messages grrrr. I'll call again soon man. Or u should come on a road trip down the the big smoke mate.

[TheNissanMan]

I'll be about an hour away from the 22nd to the 26th, my folks lvie round the corner remember, you'll have to pull your finger out and get the rex back on the road and mow the lawn thats growing on the celica, you know I loved that car and can't believe your letting her fall by the wayside !!!

[Scot]

I'll be about an hour away from the 22nd to the 26th, my folks lvie round the corner remember, you'll have to pull your finger out and get the rex back on the road and mow the lawn thats growing on the celica, you know I loved that car and can't believe your letting her fall by the wayside !!!

How about err monday 25th or tues 26th sound to you?