Honeysuckle 2-door toledo - NBP

[jackharper]

Haven't really done any more on the fuel injection side of things, instead have been focusing on making the car stick to the road a bit more nicely.

Have fitted some bucket seats because the original seats used to slide around because of the reclining mechanism, will probably fix them one day. I also think that this car might be fairly nippy when the EFI stuff is all done so would be nice to feel like I'm bolted in. Probably not going to fit harnesses, the whole point of them really is that they bolt in/out.




I bought some adjustable shocks for the front as I didn't like how the nose of the car was pointing to the moon. I'm not going too low with these (pic of the shocks themselves have been adjusted now), and really they're just being trial fitted now, I plan to pull the subframe, get it sandblasted + powdercoated and redo bushes in the near future. Over christmas I think I'm going to pull the rear end out of the car and do the above as I noticed some of the bushes were a bit worn and the diff is leaky. There is also a bit of rust I want to treat as soon as I can, just underneath the roof gutter (?) I may also fit some coilovers on the back if I can find some cheap/if they go on sale. Will have to hide them from the other half




I also now have some sprint wheels on the car, call me a copycat but I just love the way they look.



I know all of this will make some people wince as the car started out pretty much original, but I can always unbolt all of these things, including the EFI bits once done if I really needed to. Besides I think keeping the car going and on the road is more important than letting it sit in a garage to rot away?

[jackharper]

Going to get the thermo fan control working first as its the easiest bit of the EFI/ECU install! have been testing it on a bench, but found out my temp sender is broken and short circuits, brilliant. Better finding out now than when it's on the car though. another one ordered so fingers crossed that works.
Also been doing hardware testing with the ECU and an engine simulator, tested all analogue sensor inputs, relay control and square wave input to detect pulses from the trigger wheel on the crank. success, it all works! my soldering skills must not be that bad after all



Was going to make the ECU enclosure watertight using a Delphi Sicma 24 pin connector but decided that was too difficult to mount sensibly so have opted for a molex 24 pin dual row microfit connector instead, not as pretty and not waterproof but i'll be mounting the ECU in the car anyway so not too much of an issue.

they were on sale so I bought one of those shiny rocker covers which has jazzed up the bay a bit. Only issue with them is there's no groove for the cork gasket to sit on so it's a bit of a pain in the arse to fit properly even with some grease on both sides.



My engine bay needs a clean...

[Jake]

What a really cool little Tolly. Don't feel bad about fitting Sprint alloys, to be honest only we know what they are from, it's not like these are an every day sight these days! Sprint wheels are popular for a reason, they are the best looking wheels that fit in most peoples eyes.
As far as modifying it goes, it's your car, the only person you are trying to please is yourself. Do what you like! The only caveat is resale price but if it's a keeper then that doesn't matter. I heard a good saying on this the other day: buying a car and not enjoying it so you can sell it easier is like marrying a beautiful girl and not sleeping with her so she is still in good shape for her next husband.
By the way, what were the springs/shocks you went for to get the front lower?
Most lowering kits somehow seem to raise the front on Toledos!

[jackharper]

What a really cool little Tolly. Don't feel bad about fitting Sprint alloys, to be honest only we know what they are from, it's not like these are an every day sight these days! Sprint wheels are popular for a reason, they are the best looking wheels that fit in most peoples eyes.
As far as modifying it goes, it's your car, the only person you are trying to please is yourself. Do what you like! The only caveat is resale price but if it's a keeper then that doesn't matter. I heard a good saying on this the other day: buying a car and not enjoying it so you can sell it easier is like marrying a beautiful girl and not sleeping with her so she is still in good shape for her next husband.
By the way, what were the springs/shocks you went for to get the front lower?
Most lowering kits somehow seem to raise the front on Toledos!

Cheers Jake! I agree, I plan on keeping this car so not too fussed about making it my own.

I went for some Dolomite GAZ shocks for the front along with dolomite sprint road springs (and therefore dolomite top mounts), haven't got round to the rear yet but when I do I'll use GAZ shocks with the original Toledo springs so that the rear isn't too stiff. Will do a write-up on here and try and remember to take lots of pics along the way.

[jackharper]

Thought I'd make an update as I have just pulled some bits off the rear of the car. I hate jacking this thing up and putting wood + axle stands underneath the body as I have an irrational fear that the floor of the car will just bend, or worse the stands will go through the floor completely.... anyway




I decided to take off the trailing arms and radius rods from both sides of the axle as well as the shocks - I have some shocks to go on the back but need to clean up and use the original springs if I can. The bushes are mostly OK, but did notice some cracking. I'm probably going to replace these with rubber bushes again (need to buy some, any recommendations?), don't really think polybushing would be a pleasant experience with the roads round here



I am going to use some top mounts from a pair of dolly struts as the toledo shocks are a slightly more annoying design which mean you can't easily take the shock off with the spring on as a unit and require taking off the top mount as you remove them from the car. The dolomite type have a smaller diameter strut top assembly so I'm going to use some of those going forward.

As for the other bits I'm going to get them sandblasted and powder coated, the springs I'm going to strip with acid and wire brush then paint some POR15 on.

My diff is leaking from the front seal, I've heard this is extremely common and I'm not sure I want to sort it out right away so will just give it a top up for now as it's only leaking a tiny amount. Pretty sure my other dolomite was exactly the same!

While I was in the boot I noticed some very unsightly looking cracking - the seam sealant here seems to have cracked which is making me wonder what underneath looks like... probably time to wire brush and see how bad it is.. The other side looks to be fine, though it's coated in underseal.



Roof gutters still need to be done as they're not looking great, next on the list after this I think. Will carry on with fuel injection stuff when all of this is done - have got everything ready for ignition and thermo fan to be controlled and have tested it on the bench to go in the car so just need to fit a solid state voltage regulator and make a loom for it as well as a pair of brackets for the new smart coil and the hall sensor.

[jackharper]

Went for some superflex bushes in the end, will try and get some pics after the bits have been sandblasted and powder coated!

[yorkshire_spam]

Went for some superflex bushes in the end, will try and get some pics after the bits have been sandblasted and powder coated!

If your experience is anything like mine you won't be disappointed with the superflex. The ones on my spitfire get some hammer and they are still holding up well after years of usage (unlike some other brands the fell apart when you looked at them in a stern way)

[Carledo]

What a really cool little Tolly. Don't feel bad about fitting Sprint alloys, to be honest only we know what they are from, it's not like these are an every day sight these days! Sprint wheels are popular for a reason, they are the best looking wheels that fit in most peoples eyes.
As far as modifying it goes, it's your car, the only person you are trying to please is yourself. Do what you like! The only caveat is resale price but if it's a keeper then that doesn't matter. I heard a good saying on this the other day: buying a car and not enjoying it so you can sell it easier is like marrying a beautiful girl and not sleeping with her so she is still in good shape for her next husband.
By the way, what were the springs/shocks you went for to get the front lower?
Most lowering kits somehow seem to raise the front on Toledos!

Cheers Jake! I agree, I plan on keeping this car so not too fussed about making it my own.

I went for some Dolomite GAZ shocks for the front along with dolomite sprint road springs (and therefore dolomite top mounts), haven't got round to the rear yet but when I do I'll use GAZ shocks with the original Toledo springs so that the rear isn't too stiff. Will do a write-up on here and try and remember to take lots of pics along the way.

This is the exact setup I used on the Carledo and it seems to work well. You definitely need to keep the tail soft, especially on the featherweight 2 door cars.

Steve

[jackharper]

Bushes out, most are pretty shot so glad I'm replacing, trailing arms and tie rods ready for sandblasting tomorrow. Rather than powdercoat I may use some POR15 in case there is any flex in the tie rods.






Going to clean up the springs with a wire brush and get those coated with POR15, thinking I will have some left over so be a shame not to use it on the arms. Powder coating would be cheaper but might crack off if there's any movement, who knows. Going to try and get away with the two washer trick for fitting the new superflex bushes, will see how far I get.

[Bish]

Nice work Jack. I’ll agree with everyone else about the Superflex bushes. They are the and forget option, the best there is. I also like Por 15 too. I’d heard some bad things and out it flaking off etc but I’ve used it a few times now with no issues. Maybe the secret is in the prep?

[jackharper]

Nice work Jack. I’ll agree with everyone else about the Superflex bushes. They are the and forget option, the best there is. I also like Por 15 too. I’d heard some bad things and out it flaking off etc but I’ve used it a few times now with no issues. Maybe the secret is in the prep?

Cheers Bish. I reckon so - I think it's misadvertised a bit as a "paint onto rust" solution from the sounds of it (which is probs what POR stands for?) but im not so sure.


I left my springs to soak in vinegar for a while to get the worst of the rust off them, then degreased and painted some POR15 over:



Probably not the best job in the world but they're only springs. they/re now stored in a dark cupboard as i've heard the stuff is quite vulnerable to UV light, not that we really get any of that in this country anyway...

My trailing arms + tie rods are now currently being powder coated, here is how they looked after sandblasting.



Will post some pics after they're back and before/after I've put the bushes in.

Next trip to the garage hopefully I'll be able to get everything bolted on, going to bring a few assorted spray cans with me as there's some bits I'm going to just go over with a wire brush under the roof guttering and primer then paint over. Feel like I've got some momentum now

[Matt Cotton]

Great progress Jack. I'm sure the new bushes and the work you've done will really transform the car.. all ready for a good summer of motoring!

MC

[jackharper]

Cheers Matt can't wait to bring it along to our next meet up!

Got the bits back today, this was a pic before the threads on the radius/tie rods were cleaned up with a 7/16ths UNF thread tap. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the bushes in ready for putting on the car. It's going to be like a lego set when it goes back on

Quite happy with the finish, some pitting but they're under the car, main thing is going forwards they should be somewhat chip resistant.

[jackharper]

Ok, got the bushes in, really straightforward using a pair of washers (the ones on the radius arms work perfectly) and a bit of threaded rod in between, liberally using the included poly grease so these don't squeak, helps them get in too.



The end result:



Didn't get many pics sadly when working on the car, bit of a difficult one to do as the diff weighs quite a lot so is tricky to manoeuvre. I think the order we did it in was trailing arms, shocks, then radius arms. Had to assemble the shocks first of course.

Here they are all done:







I had a bit of a poke around by the cracking seam sealer and it all looks solid, just a bit dirty and cracked for whatever reason. Going to brush it down properly next time I'm working on the car as I have some other painting jobs to do.
The pictures don't show but I put some underseal over the radius arm brackets as the original(?) underseal came off when trying to undo the bolts.

Here is how the car looks, coils need to settle so finished product may be slightly lower but as it stands there's plenty of ground clearance which is good with the shocking roads round here



Nearly ready for summer now, just got a couple of wiring jobbies to finish off, main one being the electric fan and ECU install. EFI stuff has been on hold, mainly because I need to get someone to make a nice adjustable bracket for the hall sensor and a nice way of grounding the smart coil.

[new to this]

When i put my axle back in the car,did it the same way as you,your cars coming together nicely

Dave