Huw's Ke17 Sl Sprinter

[slide86]

you are on a definite roll at the moment

 

Yep, this one came up on gumtree, a mate let me know about it and figured I just needed it! haha.

 

Unfortunetly the guy who I got it off had tried to fit a commodore V6 in it, so the bulkhead and trans tunnel have been totally removed. I don't feel to bad about salvaging it for parts now.

[parrot]

As you do. I'd kill for that garage.....

[slide86]

Well I have been preparing the car for ID inspection so I can get some SA rego on it. I was worried about a few little things that might get a closer look at the inspection station. The car had no working heater, some things in the engine bay were loose, it still had half the aftermarket A/C fitted poorly.

 

I removed the condensor......look at where it was fitted:

 

 

While under the back of the car I removed the towbar as well. Lets be honest, this is never going to tow anything again:

 

 

Probably my biggest worry is that the car had no working heater setup, the pipes had been cut at the firewall and the heater tap removed. I was worried that if they checked the demister, there would be no hot air and would result in a defect. I had to make the heater setup from scratch as there was nothing apart from the heater core.

 

Inspecting the heater I discovered why the plumbing had been removed. The pipes on the core were both cracked. A frantic trip to the local radiator shop, old mate was able to weld and pressure test the core. He did a great job.

 

 

 

I went down to Repco and got them to file through the shelves and managed to find a universal heater tap. I also bought a brass 'T' piece and a BSP brass barb for the thermostat housing. I rigged up something to get water flow to the heater core:

 

 

Heater tap fitted inline. The only annoying thing about this is that the heater tap works in reverse, so in the car you have to have it on "cool" to get the warm air to flow:

 

 

Whilst I had the coolant drained, I fitted a thermostat as there wasn't one in there. I didn't know why this was, hoping that there wasn't a bigger issue. The car drove fine tho and the temp gauge actually showed the car was warming up unlike before where it was cold all the time.

 

I guess the car had the original exhaust on it because it was split in several places and both mufflers were rusted out. It was loud and fumes were coming in the cab. I trailered the car to a local exhaust shop and left VERY specific instructions for what I wanted fitted to the car. I'm very happy with the results, nice and simple with a stock looking appearance and sound.

 

 

 

I quickly dropped the oil and replaced the filter. I used Nulon 20w50 for older engines and it seems to have worked well. Doesnt smoke as much and the engine is still very quiet for its age.

 

Last of all, I just replaced some of the soft fuel lines in the engine bay, and moved the fuel filter from ontop of the engine to the factory location next to the strut tower. Securing a few loose wires and hoses with some cable ties was about all the time I had before I had to leave for inspection.

 

 

So I fitted my permit in the window and off I set. This was the first time I had driven the car further than 10kms and faster than 60km/h. WOW what an experience. I drove down the freeway at 85km/h, this was at about 3700rpm. That little 3K was singing. I managed to get to 90 once, but backed off. Everyone was passing me but I didnt care, it was great fun.

 

 

Car drove perfect all day, both on the freeway and through the city. Had no issues at all. Arrived at the inspection depo and passed with no problems. The guy recommended that I fix a few things before driving anymore, I was already aware of it, and was to excited knowing I had passed to really care what he was saying.

 

Next up, my first Classic car meet on the 27th. It just happens to be one of the biggest in the country.

[Feral4K]

The oldies are such fun to drive, the first time i drove clevos corona on the freeway i pulled out to overtake a b double and had to call it off at the a trailer lol..

[parrot]

Sounds like you should be right for the drive over to Classic Japan!