eiriksmil's cars

[eiriksmil]

I just got the word my exhaust manifold will be finished this week.. ****ing finally..! I can't wait

Today I soldered the ISO cable into the stock GTti interior wiring harness.. But I can't for the life of me figure out where the constant power wire has gone, surely there should be one here.. Sorry about the blurry pic

 

[eiriksmil]

****ing finally

 

[eiriksmil]

Manifold and turbo test fit

I guess the brake discs on the daily needed replacing

Stock size will do just fine.. Minty fresh for a whole ten minutes

 

[eiriksmil]

Daily passed state inspection.. Borrowed a horn from a Charade..
So I naturally lowered it the following week, modified the front coilovers just a bit.. It's possibly a tad too low for a daily now.. Also got all black bumpers around now, I think it looks good. About 165k miles on it now, it's holding up decent..

 

[eiriksmil]

I bought a used Momo Team a while ago.. Fitted it yesterday, although small steering wheels aren't superb driving, I do love how the dash looks..

 

[eiriksmil]

Super interesting update.. Not.. But when I get the chance to put in some work on the GTti this is the kinda work I do, just sorting out all the niggles one by one, doing things thoroughly.

So finally the GTti has a stereo of sorts.. The head unit will be hidden in the glovebox..

 

[eiriksmil]

Some more wiring.. A real gem of soldering covered in electrical tape, now sorted..

The interior wiring is soon done on the Charade, hopefully I'm able to throw in the dash again and start wrapping up the engine bay..
In other news, one of the woes of lowering your daily too much.. The Funcargo and the speedbump it couldn't conquer on the left

 

[eiriksmil]

Let's see.. Few weeks in pictures

Clean turd

The GReddy air filter on the GTti was zip-tied in place in 2014. I've designed and 3D printed a bracket at work, just something simple to hold it in place. I know I'll have to modify it a little and print a new one, but when I have several desktop printers at work it's just fun really..

Flipped the cold side on the turbo, now I just have to get an oil line made and probably a thousand other stuff and it's getting there.. Lack of space between radiator and exhaust will be interesting.

Went to Cyprus for a week. Someone had smashed the window on the Colt and stolen the radio (I knew this). What I didn't know is someone had also stolen the spark plug wires and the radiator.. At least it served as a parts car. I traded it in for a pair of new pants, which is not bad considering I once got the car for free 8 years ago

No pic of said pants. Also cleaned my 16v and drove it. It needs a few things and my heart wants an USRT shift kit although my head probably wins this round as the shifter bushings are like $10 and the USRT kit is $$$. I do love driving this car, the KR is such a screamer compared to the 8vs I've had which have low-down torque but are absolutely gutless on top.

 

[eiriksmil]

The daily is chugging along, 166k miles and counting. I need to change a wheel bearing and I got fed up of the tiny tires on the Ronals so I threw the E30 wheels back on for the summer.

I will also find an aftermarket temperature gauge as the Funcargo/Yaris only has a stupid F light that glows blue when it is cold and turns into a flashing red F when it's getting hot. Although that tells me nothing, besides that it is 'hotter than regular operating temperature'. Having experienced problems above 90F or so outside temps (it has never overheated), a temp gauge would be cruical. Radiator and water pump replacement is in the cards, but with perhaps one or two weeks a year in Norway with 90F+ weather (if we are unlucky with the weather) it is not a top priority as of right now.

I have gotten some hours into the turbo Daihatsu the past weeks though. It looks half decent. I had to try out rounds on the Golf, it looks a little more like a Golf now. I will never part with the Westmoreland front just so that is said. Low cars are low, more at 11.

The interior is more or less back in as of yesterday evening

On the Charade the US side markers and the European/JDM spec side marker blanks have a little different mounting set-ups. The blanks are fitted from behind the bumper, while the side markers are screwed in from the outside for easy removal of glass/bulb change. I guess the US cars had some kind of tab/fitting. I didn't have that fitting, so I drew up something very simple and 3D printed it.

I will find shorter screws but we are onto something here

 

[eiriksmil]

So yeah, I got started on the wheel bearing cluster**** on the Funcargo. I was looking forward to this!

There are two ways to secure the axle nut, one is a cotter pin solution, the other is an indent nut. Both are kinda ****ty solutions, but the indent nut solution is by far the worst imo. Yey, indent

The axle nuts finally came off. Breaker bar 0 - axle nut 1. Gotten the tie rods off, I am basically ready to pull the axles out of the hubs but the DS axle is stuck. The axles need to come off to get the ball joints off as the ball joint nuts sit just below the axles. And the ball joint is part of the control arm (like on my Charade G10) so I should buy new control arms to store before they are NLA.

After 6 years and 105k miles in my ownership the Funcargo is finally giving me hell..

I was hoping to not pull the axles, but I was going to change the trans oil anyway so it's not the end of the world, if I have to go down that route and deliver the hubs with axles together to a machine shop. How to get the ball joint nuts off without removing the axles will be a chore though..

Dear Toyota; I love your cars. Although the next time you contemplate doing something in this exact way, don't

 

[eiriksmil]

Funcargo was on a winning streak. 2006-2016, thanks for a good ten years breaker bar

I picked up a two jaw puller because that was the last resort short of pulling the axles out of the gearbox and probably having another possible cluster**** coming my way. And eureka, got the axle out and the ball joint was actually much easier than I feared.

Zip tie your calipers and axles to avoid destroying more parts than you want to

The puller that made it possible.. My favorite tool at the moment

On a happy side note one bearing made much more noise than the other, so I guess my diagnosis of wheel bearing was correct. Have to wait and see until installed, the hubs and new bearings are at the machine shop now.

 

[eiriksmil]

Installed the new bearings in last Friday, went on holiday.. Collected the car last night, no more noise.. Drivetrain is making just a little chatter, or I am over cautious.. But I will change transmission oil together with an oil change, air filter etc. I have the 270k km/167k mile (ish) inspection coming up now, preventative maintainence is key..! Driving the Yaris a little less these days (GF prefers her Audi and I don't blame her) but I guess we will see 300k km/186k miles next year if we stay accident free and avoid large repair bills

 

[eiriksmil]

Many boring posts here. After all, preventative maintainance is boring, but avoids posts like 'my wheel bearing fell out because I never changed it and the hub and wheel came off and the car ended up in a ditch'. Which is a good read but more fun for the reader than the owner (i.e me). I think I also avoided a 'my car needs a new transmission and a buddy had to tow me' post last night.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the drivetrain was making some chatter. If you have ever had a gearbox running low on oil, you will know the sound. A tapping noise which is more present at lower revs, but goes away as you build momentum. Almost sounds like something is loose and it follows the gear changes but goes away as you press the clutch or change into neutral. The last time I had this noise on the Funcargo I ended up with needing a new 'box and I was furious I didn't know to just check the oil level. You live an learn.

I also had that sound on my Charade GTti which apparently had a very low MTF level when I bought it. I think my white beater Mk3 Golf suffered the same fate, but I never gave it a thought. So with my previous experiences with transmissions I became overly cautious when I started hearing something. New 75W-90 oil and some very expensive per gallon STP special gearbox treatment (which worked wonders on the GTti) replaced the old oil, did an engine oil change while I was at it..

Drain plugs

I made a bloody mess as always

The good news is the tapping noise is now gone, the transmission is making a little noise but I guess a car approaching 200k miles is allowed to make a few sounds..

 

[eiriksmil]

Let's see.. We had much needed holidays and I did a much needed car cleaning. I try to keep my car clean in the winter to not have it turn into a rust bucket, it's usually dirtier in the summer. But sometime during spring or summer I do a real overkill cleaning bonanza to get all the dirt out of all the places you can't see or clean easily. When I'm yarding and see a Yaris, I try to have a look at where it's rusty. They all rust under the 'side skirt add-ons' in front of the rear wheels. This happens just because people have thought about taking them off and cleaning off the MASSIVE pile of dirt that gets trapped there.

While cleaning a car isn't very noteworthy, this turned into kinda an ordeal lol. It all started by removing the engine cover

I ended up removing more for cleaning than whoever painted the GTti removed before paint. I'm not even kidding..

While I'm always on the lookout for a Champagne hood after last years crash, fight and man hug scene, the black hood would be cool to have or sell. Average cleanliness on most cars is not good

Washed, waxed, everywhere.. Bar the rust behind the rear arch, it could almost look like fresh from paint in these pics lol

Hatch is in decent condition

Bay cleaned up well enough, waxed wherever I could

Had a few beers, cleaned and oiled wiper motors etc that was out of the car

Hood after

All back together

My girlfriend was very close to having me committed at this point.. So I cleaned and waxed her car as well so she was happy

Change your air filters!

And cabin filters!

The trans was getting noiser again, so I drained the trans oil and ran it through once more. Very difficult to see what's going on in this picture, but the dots are metal shavings.

Some shavings are normal from what I've gathered.. Last night I drained it again and there were no new shavings from what I could see.. But I figured the Gulf oil was possibly not the best option for this car, so this time I tried the Redline MT90 having read good stuff about it on this car platform. It seems easier to get it into gear than ever and the transmission seems quite much calmer now.

Let me know if you have problems seeing the pics as I'm having problems myself!

 

[Mike Rotch]

I'm getting red x's too Eirik. Love your work, nevertheless

 

[eiriksmil]

Thanks a lot, man! Appreciate it!

I think the pictures should be up and running now?!

 

[Mike Rotch]

Indeed they are 👍

You must have arms of steel to wash and wax two cars in one day.

 

[eiriksmil]

Let's just say I'm training my arms these days.. Damn Funcargo lol.

The trans was quiter the first days with the MT90 but coming home from the cabin last time was real scary.. I believe the input shaft bearing is what's making the noise and I believe that was the same thing that happened last time around in 2013. For those who haven't heard or pinpointed this kind of noise before it sounds like a can of marbles being thrown around.

So I do as you do, I found a used trans and pulled the old one

New one on the left, old one on the right. Hopefully the new trans treats me well. I will split open the old trans and have a look at the ISB and possibly change it on the old trans to have a top notch trans ready for action if the third trans starts making noise.

I popped off the end covers on the old trans just to have a look, seemed like we haven't done any damage to the gears visible here atleast.

Fun being had right here..

Getting the trans in was more difficult than pulling the old one lol. Not a shocker there. Getting help from a buddy and another jack on Monday, the bay is tight as hell with the subframe still in.

 

[eiriksmil]

Oh look, a transmission..!
Getting the new one was a little ordeal, but once we figured we had to just keep the motor away from the firewall and thereby not having the subframe in the way of the differential it went smoother.

Getting the rear mount in place was not super easy but it's all about not sweating it.. You see the bolt, above the subframe, sitting inside the motor mount holding the transmission? That bolt is not my favorite, forget getting a ratchet or anything else than a spanner inside there.

Status of last Friday evening

The GF helped me bleed the clutch and collect the car on Sunday, drove it to work on Monday.. I've put a few hundred miles on it this week, the reverse gear is a little louder than normal but there is no sound of a failing/failed ISB so I am happy. Daily is back in action:

 

[eiriksmil]

New transmission is behaving nicely, which is good!

A rear tire caught a nail.. As I only have one set of usable wheels (the E30 wheels) and many sets of unusable wheels either being too large or too small with tires, I threw on the smallest combination of all. The car usually moves around 400 miles a week, sometimes 600 miles on a busy week. Not very practical, but it looks so damn good I'm in love with the daily again.

The daily is now 16 years old, I don't really notice it or reflect upon that unless I drive a very new car (which I try to avoid because then you realise your car is getting on). One of the things you do notice from time to time is that it becomes smaller every year. A Citroen Cactus is a very big car indeed The stupid small tires don't help of course..

 

[eiriksmil]

I can't believe it's been three months. Sorry about this..! Lately I have been busy working, but you just have to put in the work to make s*it happen..!

I took a shot right before end of the season on a road trip far into the country side for work. I thought it was a cool shot.

Another shot - I just love the Funcargo in lowered mode with small wheels and tires. It's not practical and on a daily basis it sucks a little, but I never get tired of how it looks..

As the car is getting on, some rust is forming here and there.. No problem as long as you keep it in check but you have to know every nook and cranny of your car.. Something may look like this

But actually it's like this

I don't love undercoating.. It does a good job until rust, moisture, dirt and salt is getting underneath the undercoating, then it just accelerates the process by trapping all the elements that make steel brown.. This is the OEM undercoating - you have additional tar-based undercoating that works very well as long as the process is repeated every four years or so. My car was never protected beyond the OEM coating, so every autumn when I raise the car and install winter wheels I also spray the car with oil.

I do like sand blasting..

There are no super awesome shots of before and after the oil process but here is a picture of the car with Fluidfilm on it, my oil of choice

Then my daily was attacked by an XJ Cherokee. The Jeep won.. The door was already not perfect, the same goes for the rear quarter panel. Doesn't look too bad in the right angles

It's easy to lose motivation for a car when it goes from October through March looking like this

I have decided the car is starting to look and feel a little too much as a beater now and I either have to replace a few panels (including getting a hood in the right color) and do some TLC to it, drive it into the ground or sell it. I am leaning towards the first option Current mileage is 175k miles/282k km.

Made another iteration of the 3D printed air filter bracket for the Charade GTti at work.. The next iteration will be a finished product, most likely in ABS. I'd like to build a heat shield and an air duct from the bumper into the heat sheld but I am unsure if that's where my time and energy should go.. Atleast I think this little thing is pretty awesome.

I noticed the rear frame rails on the GTti were pretty nasty; a good amont of dirt and some surface rust.. I figured I would clean them and sand blast, paint and oil them up..

But how to clean? How to vacuum them when the inside is smaller than a regular vacuum cleaner handle? Also 3D printed.. My co-worker printed this attachment we use when we clean up printers that are in for service.

I printed an extension (the white part) and it worked very well

A 3D printer is really becoming a must have tool for us who likes to tinker with old cars.. I also fabricated a nylon mount for the rear side marker on the Charade.. It's not rocket science but it's interesting as these are things I can design and fabricate pretty easily.

I found a guy selling a Mk2 Golf center console. Not the regular one that extends to the dashboard but the one that only surrounds the gear gaitor, found on base spec Golf Cs and CLs I believe and also diesels in the US. I picked it up and mounted it in the car.. I need to do something with the bracket that the stock center console attaches to and I also have to find out where to hide the ECU. This rests in the center console on fuel injected cars, which the early cars with the simple console wouldn't have. Looks cool though.. The next and last bit inside should be a two spoke Porsche steering wheel..

 

[eiriksmil]

So the bracket is finished, printed in ABS, should hold up well! A few iterations of my designs, the black one in the front being the finished product.

Intercooler is more or less in place, I just love the whole look of a G100

I picked up a slim push pull fan at the local parts store.

Also picked up a door at a yard for the daily, will have a look at it come spring.. The door is not perfect, but better than the one currently on the car..

Snow trooper

 

[eiriksmil]

So I cut a bumper a little - originally there are slats in the lower three ducts in the front bumper. The FMIC was hitting the rears of the slats so I had to remove the slats and trim the edges a little. You can't really see it, you can't see the intercooler and it doesn't look haggered so I'm happy. The bumper is from the Diesel we parted out three years ago (time flies!).

I've also cleaned up the bay a little more - previous owner had replaced all vacuum hoses with blue ones. For those of us that remember the Fast and the Furious age, blue details under the hood made you the ****. Blue and silver was bomb, as was colour coded stuff, blue Samco hoses and decals. Not so cool in this day and age, I've finally replaced all with black

 

[phillgt2002]

I absolutely love your Yaris. I have a small fascination with smaller cars such as that one. It seems that they are quite useful for their size.

 

[blueturbo]

Hello this car was my car in germay, that i had selled to norway. in my gallery are some of my cars. i love Charade GTti´s.

 

[eiriksmil]

Some things have happened here lately, but I will have to do a full update later this week

@phillkillv2, I really appreciate it! The Yaris (or Funcargo as I usually refer to it as) is awesome; I can park more or less everywhere as its about four meters/approx 13 feet long. At the same time I can fit half a car in parts in the back with the seats down.

@blueturbo, I will send you a PM. That we are in contact is very, very cool!

 

[SVX]

Hey man, just noticed a FunCargo is in my local junkyard - if you need any JDM parts, holla at me.

 

[eiriksmil]

So.. The eiriksmil diary continues.

Winter is over, luckily. They stopped salting and started cleaning roads about a month ago. Then I can start having fun and stop being depressed An RWD winter beater is really the only fix I have ever found for enjoying winter and the past years that really hasn't happened.

Anyway, good times ahead! I got hold of a bunch of parts for the GTti, plus a set of fog lights for the Funcargo I picked up at a yard. 460cc injectors, Walbro fuel pump and a wideband so I can finish up the Maserati turbo build.

I also found the trim below the headlight for the daily

And installed the door I found.. During:

And found a hood and changed that up.. During..

I am down to two hours doing a coilover install on this car and that includes finding the coilovers and wheels from the shelf. Car currently sits like this, with about 180k miles/291k km on it.

The rear brakes are showing some wear so I'll do those sometime over the summer I guess. Nothing else that really needs doing at this point, which is good so I can concentrate on the GTti.

 

[eiriksmil]

So the 17s had to go for the set of awesome Atiwes.. I swear I will never get tired of these, although I would love them to be 8J wide.. I think the car just looks right on these..

I lowered the car and put the wheels on for a weekend of shenanigans, the GF convinced me actually However grown up me had a thing to say and adolescent me lost.. For the first year I can recall my daily is not lowered. I know, it's crazy.. I put like 2500 miles on the car in April only, I gotta say at this point it was the right decision. Looks like this now

Adolescent me fired up this one.. It does burnouts on gravel well

Scored a chrome stripe 7 slat early grill for the Mk2.. Gotta paint a set of lower grill trim. Still have the original Westmoreland front but I wanted to have a period/trim correct front end with rounds as well.. My favorite about these cars is how easy they are to change up!

Got the compressor housing on the turbo for the GTti turned the correct way finally and now I'm wrapping up stuff.. Everywhere is crammed, notice the pin bolts for the turbo/manifold nuts.

Getting there, I need to install injectors, bits and pieces and piping and then maybe we are onto something!

 

[eiriksmil]

With weather being nice I just had to take this for a quick spin again.. I need to get this thing road legal. I think it has done a total of 300 miles over the past five years lol..

Daily is still alive.. I got a New Zealander scouting yards for mad JDM Funcargo parts.. It might be @SVX.. I fully love the utilitarian looks the car has come to have.

Time to complete this

Yesterday marked an historical moment.. Picked up a gasket and now the turbo is in for the final time, bolted up to the manifold. I still need a restrictor bolt for the banjo fitting on the oil line (too much oil will kill a ball-bearing turbo quickly!). Need to install my injectors and build the piping.. The new to me-radiator and fan are not bolted up here, but everything is in place.

The red hose from the radiator is going and there are always some details to take care of. I am really looking forward to the first start up now and I am happy with the way stuff is coming along. The bay looks OEM in my opinion (minus the intake), keep in mind with this setup we should be looking at something like twice the original output..