RA65 Coupé

ill-minded · **Posted:** Tue Apr 09, 2013 1:02 am

I guess now is a good time to finally put up a thread for this. Picked it up from the transport depot today (got it sent from my parents in the other end of the state)

Australian delivered '85 RA65 coupé. Not a whole lot of work done, other than adjustable coilover conversion in the front, some shorter springs in the rear and a set of Volks in 14×8/8.5.

Got it home pretty much just as the water pump decided to die, so I'll be onto that job tomorrow for a speedy recovery.

Togheishop · **Posted:** Tue Apr 09, 2013 3:30 pm

typical 80's design, very nice

ill-minded · **Posted:** Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:59 am

Thanks!

Got the water pump off today and I've got a new one ordered, which should come in tomorrow, so down time should be minimal, thankfully.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:17 am

Fixed the water pump and the thermostat decided to die, so I got the shits and just ordered everything else, so it'll have an almost completely refreshed cooling system. Got the new thermostat/gasket and radiator cap, just waiting on some radiator hoses and a coolant sensor, which I also found to be broken.

yella81celica · **Posted:** Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:12 pm

Makes me want a 3rd gen again. Looks good :tu:

ill-minded · **Posted:** Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:25 am

Thanks.

There's plenty of little things that need attention, but it's pretty good for what it is. Rust is minimal and isolated to the typical areas around the bottom of the rear quarter guards a little spot at the bottom of the rear windscreen and a few little spots under the boot seal.

Once I get all the cooling stuff sorted - hopefully tomorrow - I'll try and get out and get some better pictures that aren't taken in my driveway.

hxckid213 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 14, 2013 11:45 pm

very nice. i have one myself but nothing near this nice. :tu:

ill-minded · **Posted:** Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:35 pm

Thanks. Don't worry too much. There's plenty of things on this car that are old, cracking, fading or just plain worse for wear.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:30 pm

ノサスｗｗｗ

79Supra · **Posted:** Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:30 pm

looks really good, the rims really set it off. always been a fan of 3rd gen coupes

ill-minded · **Posted:** Wed Apr 24, 2013 8:33 am

It never ceases to amaze me how a good set of wheels makes all the difference to a car.

In other news, I got a flat tyre on the rear passenger side (driver's side for you guys) and thanks to my own stupidity, I've lost the lock nut key, so I can't remove the wheel to ascertain why it went flat. I have a feeling that the wheel may have been slipping in the tyre, but I'm not too sure. I'm tracking down a replacement lock nut key for now, but in the worst case scenario, I'll just sacrifice these lock nuts and belt a twist socket over them so I can at least get the wheel off and find out what's going on.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Tue Apr 30, 2013 7:47 am

Had a MacGuyver moment and found a solution to removing the lock nuts. Got the wheel off and pumped it up at the local servo and found where it was leaking, so I took it out to a workshop where a mate of mine works and we popped the tyre off the bead to find a small tear. Smeared some sealant over the tear and pumped it up again and it seems like it's good, so everything went better than expected.

Found some time yesterday to install some RCAs that I've had sitting around for a while but couldn't run previously as the tie rod ends would foul on the inner lips of the old wheels. Next item on the agenda is to get a wheel alignment done and just drive it around.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Fri May 03, 2013 6:23 am

Hmm...

Well, I'd known it wasn't going to look great, but it turns out both guides are pretty cactus. It's still holding tension on the chain though, so it only ever makes a racket when it's starting, before the oil pressure builds.

yella81celica · **Posted:** Sat May 04, 2013 9:57 pm

That's a common problem

OkieRA29 · **Posted:** Sun May 05, 2013 7:20 am

Yup, stupid single row chain. Don't know why toyota ever went to that... egnbldr on ebay sells great kits with steel back guides. Think it was about 150$ and included everything. Shipping might be the issue since you are on the other side of the world. Wherever you end up getting it from, make sure that you get steel backed guides. Otherwise, you will just be re-doing it in another 100k or so. Biggest issue with not doing it is the chain will eat through the timing chain cover and you will mix oil and coolant.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Tue May 07, 2013 9:08 am

Yeah, I've done plenty of reading up on the subject in past, haha. I was well prepared for what I saw when I pulled the cover off. I think I'm going to need a new timing case anyway, since the water neck on the exhaust side is pretty badly corroded. I'll probably end up rebuilding the whole engine anyway, since I prefer the piece of mind knowing that everything is fresh, and it gives me a chance to drop in a cam and do a little bit of head work for a little more poke. Most of the seals should be on their way out at this age as well and having the motor out gives me a good opportunity to delete all the EGR and air re-circulation crap.

ill-minded · **Posted:** Mon May 20, 2013 7:25 am

After having many people point out that the grille was the wrong colour (I was well aware, but just too lazy to fix it), I finally got around to spraying it black again. It's not the best job, but it blends in close enough.

The 22R is still ticking away, but once the exhaust on the Mira is finished and I can drive it again, I'll look into pulling it out and giving it some attention.

RA65 Coupé

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