inside - Constructors Car Club

INSIDE:
 Petrol to Electric Part 4
 Hunting the Raptor
 Supercharging an Anglia
Magazine of the Constructors Car Club (Inc)
www.constructorscarclub.org.nz
Index
On the Cover: Instrument fascia of the AMX07 (See pg 5)
Club Officials
President:
ph:
email:
Secretary:
ph:
email:
Club Captain:
ph:
email:
Treasurer:
ph:
email:
Phil Bradshaw
563-7368
philip.bradshaw@nzdf.mil.nz
David Clout
027 224-0933
dave.c@slingshot.co.nz
Vacant
John Cumming
476-2822
john_cumming@vodafone.co.nz
What's in the magazine:
Meeting Minutes ............................... 3
Guest Vehicle: AMX07 ...................... 5
Christmas Party ................................. 8
President's Report ............................. 9
Mr Ed’s Rant. ................................... 11
Tiki: Not Quite a Kiwi Icon ............... 13
Dennis’s European Holiday .............. 18
Supercharged Anglia Update ........... 19
Letters to the Editor ........................ 26
Petro to Electric: Part 4 ................... 27
Club Meetings
Suzuki Cappuccino Build: Part 1 ...... 32
The club has the following monthly meetings:
30th MG Classic Race Meeting ........ 36
Club night: 7:30pm, 2nd Tuesday at Vintage Car
Club Rooms, 3 Halford Place, Petone
Hunting the Raptor .......................... 39
Club Committee meeting: 7:30pm, 3rd Tuesday at
Petone Community House, 6 Britannia St, Petone
Technical Committee meetings: as required
Contact Robert Jakobson
Club Magazine “Spare Parts” is produced monthly from Feb to Dec each year. Contributions
and advertisements are welcome.
Cut-off date for contributions for the club magazine is 6pm on the Friday 11 days prior to
the club meeting. Send contributions to Stewart by email: stewart.collinson@xtra.co.nz or
to Secretary by ordinary mail.
Club Correspondence to:
The Secretary, Constructors Car Club, PO Box 38 573, Wellington Mail Centre, Lower Hutt 5045
Editor: Stewart Collinson, phone 04 976-8594, stewart.collinson@xtra.co.nz
Design and typesetting: Watsfair, Patrick.harlow@clear.net.nz
Club bank account:
Bank: Westpac Lower Hutt | Name: Constructors Car Club | Account: 030531 0536795 00
Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Constructors Car Inc., the
Editor or its officers.
Welcome/Visitors:
Treasurers Report:
Those along tonight apart from guest
speakers –
John Cumming had
prepared . . . . a
balance of
accounts which he
commented on,
the club is
surviving.
Rick Wallace – has an XA Falcon,
enticed along by relatively new member
Gordon.
Gavin Knight – came along at Patrick’s
invite and because he had brought
along tonight’s vehicle, the dressed up
Mazda MX5.
Aaron Picking – back again as guest
since Dave forgot to send him an email
with membership form attached (Note
– this has now been rectified).
Coming Events:
As per magazine.
Any help with suggestions for club night
vehicles would be appreciated.
 Fri/Sat/Sun 13-15 November – The
MG Classic Race Meeting at
Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding.
Celebrating 30 years. Enquiries to
Ron Robertson.
 Mid November – Xmas Function,
The Short Straw Cafe, Cost $30.00
per person including GST. Arrive
7.00pm, 7.30pm dinner served. John
Cumming for more details.
Past Events:
Manfeild Track Day – we had a field of
28 drivers and ran this event at a
$1,400.00 loss this time. The committee
will look at how to turn this around if
we decide to continue running this
event – it’s part of our “Charter” to run
this type of event.
Committee Report:
Usual club business but we are starting
to struggle to think of new and
entertaining vehicles for club nights and
suitable Tech night visits
Technical Committee Report:
Phil is going to replace Mike as our
LVVTA rep as he needs to be in this
position so he can be nominated by our
club for the vacant position on the
LVVTA Management Committee (this
letter has since been drafted and
forwarded to the LVVTA).
Phil also commented, in response to a
question from the floor, on the current
“VANZ” problem that the LVVTA is
working its way thru.
Technical Questions:
Mention was made of an enquiry on
how to attach cycle type guards to a “7”
type vehicle. Various suggestions were
made.
Magazine:
Stewart Collinson . . . . was happy with
the current magazine, good articles,
keep them coming, remember the 3.3.3
– three photos, three sentences and
three . . . I forget . . . but you get the
picture.
build. Patrick added further comments
at the end.
Buy, Sell, Swap:
Raffle:
Members please note – they should fill
in a form before the meeting (available
from kitchen bench) if they want details
recorded in the next magazine minutes.
Wanted : Mk 2 Ford Escort alternator
and brackets. Contact Brendon Priestley
on (04) 567 6829.
Number: 40
Name of winner: Robin Hartley
Previous owed prizes were given to
Aaron and Geoff.
Meeting closed at 09.08pm.
For Sale : Most of a Honda Civic 1992
manual, need to get rid of lots of bits or
whole body. Contact Brian Worboys on
021 328 037 or
BrianWorboys@gmail.com
General Business:
None.
Tool of the month:
Phil Bradshaw had brought in a fusible
links part off a late model Jappa, it had
facility for 4x fuse links?
Steve Strain found cheap but good rod
ends from McGills Motorsport.
Brian Worboys had his new diff for his
next chain drive project – (See Spare
Parts October for further information.)
Above: Phil recommends this fusible
link pulled from a Honda I think. Found
next to the battery terminals.
Stewart had his latest imported cooler
along – (as featured in October issue of
Spare Parts.)
Below: Steve found cheap but good rod
ends from McGills Motorsport
Guest Vehicle:
AMX (MX5 Mazda) Aston Martin Replica
– Patrick Harlow convinced his son’s
father-in-law, Gavin Knight, to bring
along the result of the kit that Patrick
had talked him into fitting to a perfectly
good MX5.
Gavin gave us a history of the projects
rise in
popularity of
Japanese imports
the MX5 now
dominates the roadster market
on New Zealand roads. One could
almost call them common!
In 2006 Australian fitness
instructor Michael Lebedev
decided to do something about
this great but common little car
and produced a kit that
transforms a common or garden variety
MX5 into something that resembles an
Aston Martin Vanquish. Well, it does if
you cross your eyes slightly and look at
it with your head tilted to one side.
Lebedev says that the car was inspired
by the Vanquish driven by James Bond
in the film “Die another Day”. Hence its
name AMX07. AM for Aston Martin, MX
for MX5 and of course 07 for James
Bond.
Gavin had purchased his 1990 as car
for him and his wife to enjoy. A couple
of years ago he had his car repainted
and a new soft top fitted to it. But Gavin
is also a closet Aston Martin fan and
during a weak moment he was
convinced that converting his newly resprayed MX5 into an Aston was the
ideal project he could do with his
granddaughter Gisele.
The kit came with everything
needed including lights and wiring. The
main body tub of the MX5 remained
unaltered with the new fiberglass rear
wings being fitted over the top of the
existing metal ones. At the front of the
car the wings, bonnet and front panels
were all removed and replaced with
those from the kit. Also removed were
A well thought through kit.
Replacement panels and overlay
panels.
Additional second mini boot was
an added bonus
the iconic popup headlights only
to be replaced by ones from a
Smart Car that bore a passing
resemblance to the ones Aston
Martin actually fitted to the
Vanquish. The grill is laser cut
from stainless steel with the side and
bonnet vents being made from stainless
steel mesh.
By the time that Gavin purchased
the kit it had been sitting neglected in
the Hataitai suburb of Wellington for
several years. The most serious damage
being to the headlight covers. Of course
by now the AMX07 was no longer being
produced in Australia but a bit of good
old internet research located another
company who were manufacturing the
kit in England. They were happy to
provide any parts required with the
new light covers arriving within seven
days of being ordered.
As with all projects like this it is the
details that count. Although Gavin will
never claim it is an actual Aston Martin
he wanted to have a bit of fun with its
looks so he purchased some genuine
Aston Martin badges and wheel caps.
These parts added that finishing touch
to the exterior. Once again with the
help of the Internet, Gavin found that
there is a huge range of aftermarket
accessories for the MX5. Most of the
pretty bits such as the wooden gearshift
knob, steering wheel and burr walnut
woodgrain interior came from MX5 city
in Doncaster, England. Also included
was a cream dial fascia kit which gives a
A fine looking beast - Aston
looks Mazda reliability
Flying by instruments.
White fascia gauges
were imported from the
UK
occasionally but by the
time the car was
finished it was just two
blokes and a car in a
shed having a great
time. The entire build
took 15 months with the odd missed
weekend so he could do some urgent
work on his thesis.
Although the look of the car has
been shaken up, mechanically nothing
has been stirred. The roadster drives
and handles exactly the same as it did
before. The only exterior feature not
changed are the doors which partially
gives away its humble MX5 origins.
As it is no longer in production in
either England or Australia the AMX07 is
a very exclusive and rare car which looks
as good in Gavin’s garage as it would in
the garage of another gentleman also
known as
007.
modern look to the formally black
gauges with their white numbers.
Leather seats were not very
common in 1990 MX5s but they were in
Aston Martins so naturally Gavin
wanted to get the door trim and seats
done in leather. The pattern and style
chosen by Gavin for the seats and doors
is very similar to the 2012 Aston Martin
Virage. It looks spectacular in the flesh.
British Racing Green was the first
favoured colour but on closer inspection
Gavin thought it was too dark for his
taste. Instead he went for Jaguar Racing
Green which apparently was the colour
used on the Jaguar XKR that also
featured in the “Die Another Day”
movie.
To say that Gavin is a busy man is a
bit of an understatement. At the time
he took on this project he was five years
into completing his thesis for his PhD,
managing the Aspire Big Band, running
a music school during the evenings and
helping look after three grandchildren
and a dog. Adding into this lot the
rebuilding of a car and he was
Genuine Aston
heading into starting but never
wheel caps
finishing territory. However, from
were inserted
the outset Gavin set aside every
carefully into
second Saturday afternoon to work the new mag
on the AMX07. Gisele helped out
wheels
Cost $30.00 per
person including GST.
Arrive 7.00pm,
Contact John Cumming
for more details.
THE SHORT STRAW CAFÉ
A Harrods toy car with
a price tag of $19,990.
Child not included
50 Johnsons Road,
Whitemans Valley,
Blue Mountains,
Upper Hutt
of months ago I
commented about how I had
bought a set of five used alloy
wheels on TradeMe for $500
or so for the Anglia, to eventually find
that four of them were bent with one
completely unusable, despite them
being advertised as being in great
condition.
The wheels are 14x7” Enkei ‘Compe
8’, which are a minilite type style.
Originally I bought a set of four with
114.3 mm PCD that had been fitted to a
Nissan 260Z. This suited me as I wanted
to run that stud pattern on the Anglia.
The price was very reasonable at $280
but one was slightly damaged, which is
why finding the set of five (even though
their PCD was 4 x 108 mm) initially
appeared to be a great solution.
I had the bent wheels for well over a
year before I finally got the chance to fit
them (or more accurately find out they
were stuffed) and in the interim another
set of five (with 4x114.3 PCD) came up
on TradeMe also for $500 but I didn’t
have the spare cash to buy them – how
I now wish I had!
I was surfing the net a month or so
back and came across a website that
basically acts as a portal to Japanese
online auctions, enabling you to buy
items in Japan. I found a set of four
14x7” Compe 8s in 4x114.3 PCD
and although one was damaged,
the were being sold as ‘junk’ and so
the price was about $150 for the
lot. Unfortunately the various fees
and shipping would pushed the
total price over $900, which simply
was not feasible.
I rang a Japanese Parts Importer
based in Christchurch (that has
supplied a number of engines for
transplants I have wired and been really
good to deal with) to see if they can
help. They sympathised but were
unwilling as they had been burned
previously trying to help someone out,
when the wheels turned out to be in
poor condition and the buyer tried
blaming the importer for the damage
that had been present when the wheels
were delivered to them in Japan.
I could see their point and respected
their position, and began to accept that
it was not meant to be when I took a
punt and rang another
importer, this time in
Auckland. Much to my surprise
they were willing to help me,
and as I write this the wheels
are on their way to NZ.
I don’t know the total cost
yet (I have paid a $300 deposit
for initial costs including
purchase) but am optimistic it
will be under $500 in total. In
hindsight I should have
probably bought a set of new mags and
avoided the hassle, total cost, and yet
to be experienced time and expense of
refurbishing the wheels. That said,
Compe 8 are a classic style, and whilst
less sought after than Watanabes, are
less common, to my mind better looking
than Minilties and Superlites as well,
and I think really look the part on the
Anglia.
Overall I am really grateful that the
parts importer in Auckland was willing
to help me out.
www.fordanglia105eownersclub.co.uk/club-house/
games/
went
from having no
articles to a full
Below: Intercooler in place. Coolant
pipes run back to the water pump and
heat exchanger in front of the left rear
wheel well.
magazine in just
three days. Thank
you to everyone who
responded to the
club email titled ‘Mr
Ed is Desparate’. And
yes Mr Ed can spell
the word
“desperate”. It’s just
that his head and
typing fingers are
disconnected.
Readers might be interested to see
how the made in China intercooler has
been installed.
The Subaru needs to be able to cool
4kw of waste turbo heat - four electric
jugs worth of heat. Mr Ed used to run
the original Subaru air water intercooler
(AWIC), but it sat on top of the engine
like a misplaced aluminium suitcase.
And hoses would regularly blow apart at
anything over 5psi. Something had to be
done.
There is very
little space available
to fit an intercooler
lower in the car.
Too far back and it
fouls the frame, to
Aluminium
saxophone. The
BOV makes a
delightful shriek
far forward and there is no room to
feed the manifold, too high and it hits
the engine cover.
An AWIC is smaller than an air to air
thanks to the thermal conductivity of
water. The Chinese example I bought
has the same matrix size as the original
Subaru intercooler, but in a narrower
rectangular fitting. In fact AWICs come
in all shapes, with intake and outlet
pipes at the centre or end and at 90,
180 and 360 degrees to each other.
The pipe run was challenge. The trick
was to make the complicated bit on the
2inch intake side rather than the 2.5inch
outlet pipe. I couldn’t avoid a pipe run
double back for a total of about
90+90+45+45 +90=360 degrees of twists
and turns. Amazingly the original Subaru
has more than 270 degrees of twists
and turns, it’s just that 180 degrees of
them are hidden inside the intercooler.
Along the way Mr Ed looked for the
source of the Subie’s non starting
naughtiness. Yikes, the car has been
running for three years with the vacuum
pipe to the fuel tank vent canister
removed and open to the atmosphere.
Mr Ed had also recently shoved a
spring up the 20mm idle air intake hose
to stop it collapsing, which made it
whistle such the Mr Ed thought nextdoors was calling his dog. With the
Roger Whittaker impressions stopped
the Subie started well but the idle was
bouncing between 900 and 1500 every
second rrr RRR rrr RRR rrr RRR rrr RRR.
The Subie (like most early 90s EFI
cars) has two perfidious appendages
that replaced the good ‘ol choke: the
Evil IACVs in various states of
arousal
Coolant Temperature Sensor (CTS) and
the Idle Air Control Valve (IACV).
The CTS is like your mum. It tells
Subie that the day a bit nippy and that a
richer mixture, more idle speed and a
woolly hat is needed. If it over reads
temperature the car won’t start, if it
under reads the car revs at 2000rpm
and the fumes make your eyes water,
and if it doesn’t work at all the Subie
doesn’t know its radiator fan has
started and the car goes into limp
mode. Being treacherous, it reads half
way one day, hot on the next, and cold
during full moons.
Its evil accomplice the IACV is a form
of throttle by wire that will not open or
jam open or lag behind the ECU (rrr RRR
rrr RRR), depending on what symptom
is most annoying.
So Mr Ed flushed out a coal scuttle
of black dust from the IACV. The RRR
has gone and now it’s just rrrrrrrrrr. For
the last week whenever Mr Ed enters
the garage he flicks the starter just to
show the CTS and IACV who is the boss.
Below: Original 1962 Tiki Add
to read the
complete story of
the Tiki, as
manufactured by George and
Ashton, can read it in the June
2015 edition of Spare Parts. This
story is about the particular Tiki
that featured in the photographs
and briefly in the sidebar. Wanting
better pictures and a more
complete story I returned to
Rangiora for another chat with
Jerome.
When Jerome Mehrtens
purchased a Ford Special that he
had seen advertised at a vintage
car show in 2006 he had no idea that he
would be purchasing a unique piece of
New Zealand automotive history. It was
not until he went to pick it up and saw
the documentation the seller had with
the car that he started to get the inkling
that it was not just another fibreglass
bodied backyard special. Instead it was
a unique New Zealand kit car that had
been produced in small numbers during
the late 50s and early 60s.
As he worked on the assembly of the
car he continued to hunt for little titbits
that added to the picture but it would
be 9 years before he found
out the full story. Although
the car can trace its history
back to the Ashley 750, an
English kit car, this example
was called the Tiki and was
produced in Dunedin by
George and Ashton who saw
the car as an interesting side
line to their fibre glassing
business. In those days the
Ford 8 or 10 was generally
the car of choice to provide
the donor parts due to its
popularity.
Jerome’s car body was
originally purchased in 1959
by Albert Johnston.
Thankfully he had the
foresight to order it with some luxury
items such as a windscreen and a
hardtop. It was Albert who amassed
most of the key Ford components from
a 1950 Ford Prefect. Albert got as far as
attaching the body to the chassis but
sadly he died before any real assembly
work was done to it. Ted George from
George and Ashton bought the car back
with the intention of finishing it but the
Tiki ended up being stored for many
years. During the late 80s Ted realised
that if the car stayed in his shed it was
never going to get finished so he
donated the car to Kings High School in
Dunedin as a workshop project. During
it’s time at Kings College some further
work was done on the car and by the
time it was put up for tender in 1994 it
was a driveable vehicle.
At this point it was purchased by
Keith Buckley of Rangiora, who wanted
a project to do with his son. Keith got
the car to the point of firing up the
motor but was greeted with a cloud of
blue smoke, at which time he decided
to completely dismantle the car and
start again. Not much more would
happen to it. Eventually Keith’s son
moved to Australia so Keith put it up for
sale at the 2006 Canterbury branch of
the NZ Vintage Car Club swap meet at
Cutler Park, McLeans Island.
Vintage car restorer Jerome
Mehrtens was looking for a new project
car, saw the ad and decided to
investigate further. Most parts required
to finish the car appeared to be still
there including such valuable items as a
front and rear windscreen and wonder
of wonders a fully reconditioned motor
still in its plastic preservative wrapping.
Some parts that were missing such as
door hinges, bonnet catches, door locks
etc. Jerome was able to source from the
Canterbury VCC parts shed. Having a
history of vehicle restorations behind
him, including amongst others two Ford
8’s, Jerome did not see himself having
any major difficulties with this project.
That all ended in 2008 when he tried
to get the car certified as being fit for
New Zealand roads. The first problem
he had was that the car had to have
modern seatbelts. Although the certifier
had certified the car using standards
that were appropriate for its era he was
not happy about the lack of seatbelts.
As it was a safety issue Jerome was
happy to comply with this and
retrofitted the seatbelts. However this
task was made difficult because the car
was never intended to have belts
meaning Jerome had to fabricate a steel
framework that could be attached to
the original Ford chassis thus ensuring a
secure mounting for the seatbelts.
Once the car had passed
certification he assumed that a trip to
the local testing station would be quite
straight forward. Rule No. 1 - never
assume anything. As the car was going
on the road for the first time in 2008 he
was told that it would have to comply
with the 2008 new car rules which
would require another full certification,
this time to 2008 standards. Although
Jerome could prove that the Tiki had
been designed and
built with parts that
met the requirements
of a 1950s classic car,
the New Zealand
bureaucracy in the
form of NZTA was
unbending. Most
readers would
probably think that this
should be no big deal.
However a simple
example of the
difficulties that Jerome
faced can be explained
with the windscreen.
Modern cars have laminated
windscreens which was a level of
technology not readily available in the
50s when cars used toughened safety
glass. A Laminated windscreen is a legal
requirement for a modern car. To get
the car to comply Jerome would have to
remove the front and rear glass without
breakage and somehow get them
remanufactured at horrendous cost.
That is if he could find someone
prepared to do the job and this is only
one example of a whole list of things
that had to be done
Frustrated Jerome parked the Tiki in
his garage, rolled up his sleeves and
prepared to do battle with bureaucracy.
For the next two and a half years many
letters travelled backwards and
forwards between the NZTA and
Jerome. NZTA required documentary
evidence that the car was actually a
1959 car. Ownership papers proving
that the car had been registered for the
road in 1959 would have done it and
whilst the donor car would have been
registered the Tiki had never been on
the road. With all other avenues closed
Jerome decided to contact previous
owners of the car in the hope of finding
some form of documentary
evidence. Amazingly, around
this time, Keith Buckley’s son
returned from Australia for a
holiday and told his dad that
the original ownership
papers were in a filing
cabinet in the garage.
These proved to be
worth their weight in gold.
Thanks to the foresight of
the cars first owner, Albert
Johnstone, the papers
proved that not only had the
car been first registered during August
1950 as a Ford Prefect but that Albert
anticipating trouble down the road had
gone to his local Post Office to get the
papers changed to Tiki on the 21st of
October 1965. This effectively
registered the Tiki as being compliant
for standards that existed for 1965.
With this important piece of paper
clutched firmly in his hand it was back
to NZTA for the next round. This time he
won.
In 2014, fifty-five years after the
body left George and Ashton, the Tiki
was entered in its first rally, the Mt
Cook Rally held over the Labour
weekend and organised by the South
Canterbury branch of the NZ VCC. But
for Jerome the highlight occurred in
June 2015 when he was awarded the
“Veacroft Trophy” for “Best Vintage”
category by the Canterbury branch of
the NZ VCC. The only change he made
to the car as he built it was to install a
12 volt electrical system (although the
original 6 volt starter motor was
retained). Like the seat belts this was
done for safety as 6 volt headlights are
really too dull for modern day driving.
Things are financially ok in the Eastern
Bloc?? Dennis Rowe claims that the
photo he recently took in Budapest of a
1940's? convertible Mercedes was the
only old car other than the Trabant he
saw and photographed .
[Mr Ed is surprised that Dennis didn't
say the SS Jag is much nicer.
The Merc is just
ripe for CCC
attention. Dear
readers if you
were building
your own copy
what chassis
would you use
and what
wheels? What
engine is big
enough and
Teutonic
enough to do
justice to that
impressive Merc bonnet line - maybe a
truck diesel?
If you have a few old garbage bags and
a tired lawn mower then have a go at
making a Trabant. The East Germans
did and they made 3.7 million of them.]
INTRODUCTION
This article expands on the
shorter notes I have been
putting in Spare Parts in recent
months regarding the collection
of bits for my Anglia project,
and provides more detail of the
rationale behind my choice of
componentry.
Motor came from a 1995 AE101
Toyota Levin GTZ
BACKGROUND
The plan for my 105E Anglia
project took a bit of a left turn
when I managed to acquire a
supercharged 1600cc 4AGZE
from a 1995 AE101 Toyota Levin
GTZ for $550 courtesy of TradeMe.
The engine came complete with all
ancillaries and the standard LSD
equipped 5 speed FWD transaxle.
Allegedly it is a good runner with
moderate km on it.
My original plan had been to fit a
1999 vintage 2000cc VVTI ‘BEAMS’ 3SGE
from an Altezza, complete with factory
RWD 6 speed gearbox. I had
progressed to the stage of
having one sitting in the engine
bay with the exhaust manifold
modified to suit the narrow
confines of the Anglia.
The Altezza 3SGE makes
210 PS (154 kW) at 7600 RPM
and 216 Nm (159 lb-f) of
torque at 6400 RPM, in a car
weighing 1340 kg. It was a
good option for an engine, but
needed a significant firewall
recess (over 100 mm) to make
it fit and get the weight
distribution a bit better.
It its factory form the
4AGZE has a top mount air to
air intercooler (fed by a bonnet scoop)
and whilst this enables short intake
plumbing which is good form a
reduction of lag perspective, the
intercooler is less efficient due heat
soak from the engine, and the intake
manifold is pretty much a log style
manifold with some pretty poor flow
characteristics.
The 4AGZE will fit without any
firewall modifications when converted
to RWD using parts from an original
AE86 RWD 4AGE, which on reflection
will be simpler and neater than
persisting with the 3SGE.
There are two main 16 valve variants
of 4AGE, known colloquially as big port
and small port. Early engines had larger
inlet ports but the fitting the Toyota
Variable Intake System (TVIS) placed a
set of butterflies between the inlet
manifold and the head that shut off one
vale intake runner per cylinder ta low
RPM, increasing air speed and
driveability.
Later engines received smaller
intake ports and the deletion of the
TVIS system; my 4AGZE is a later, small
port version. The trouble is, the only
RWD inlet manifold Toyota produced
for the 4AGE was fitted to the mid
1980s AE86 Corollas and AA63 Celicas –
both of which had big port engines.
Toyota
4AGZE
the best in terms of airflow I figure that
given I am running forced induction and
that the factory 4AGZE inlet manifold is
a mess I can’t be any worse off.
The 4AGZE runs a Roots type SC12
supercharger that displaces 1200cc per
revolution. The AE101 4AGZE is rated at
173 PS (127 kW) at 6400 RPM and 206
Nm (152 lb-f) at 4400 RPM; its donor
car weighs in at 1150 kg. It has a redline
of around 7500 RPM.
MORE POWER
The SC12 mounts on the intake side
of the 4AGZE.
Fortunately companies such as
Techno Toy Tuning (T3) who are located
in the USA make a CNC machined
adapter (see right) that in effect
replaced the TVIS plate and enables a
big port RWD inlet manifold to be
bolted to a small port engine. The
plates cost USD $100 (plus shipping)
and although fitting one probably isn’t
I intend to relocate it to the exhaust
side; this will enable the use of RWD
4AGE components that will simplify the
intake and water plumbing, as well as
the mounting of the alternator. And,
since I have to make a custom mount
for the blower regardless it makes
sense to fit the slightly larger SC14
supercharger from a Toyota Previa. This
displaces 1400 cc per revolution, i.e.
16% more boost than the SC12 at the
same RPM.
sacrifice reliability or driveability.
An extra 16% increases the 4AGZE’s
output to 148 kW and 240 Nm of torque
– in other words almost as much power
at the BEAMS 3SGE but importantly
10% more torque at 2000 less RPM. On
the one hand the 16% increase in
blower size won’t translate exactly to a
16% increase in output, but along the
way I should be able to provide better
intercooling plus a less restrictive intake
and exhaust which will only serve to
increase the fun factor.
And to top it off the Anglia
originally weighed just 737 kg;
assuming I can keep weight
growth to 100 kg or less it
should go rather well…
ENGINE SPECIFICATION
I have acquired most of
the parts I need to turn the
4AGZE RWD, with the final
engine spec (currently) shown
in TABLE 1. (See right)
The standard supercharger makes
around 10 PSI of boost, so the modest
increase to about 11.6 PSI will be useful
and yet should be well within the
standard engine and EFI system’s ability
to reliably handle. There is also the
ability to overdrive the blower more to
get further boot, but I do not wish to
4AGZE TRANSMISSIONS
With the engine sorted
(theoretically at least) next
step is the transmission. The
4AGZE had close to a 10 year
production history and
improved its specification
along the way, increasing
output by some 30 PS to its
final form in the AE101. From
Mr Toyota’s factory the AE101
4AGZE runs a transaxle known
as an E58, which replaces the
earlier E51. Their respective ratios
(which are almost identical) are
illustrated in the TABLE 2. (See right)
TYRE SIZES
All of the FWD supercharged cars
were fitted with 195/5x15 tyres, which
equates to an overall diameter of 595
mm. I am fitting Enkei ‘Compe 8’ alloy
TABLE 1
Item
AE101 ‘small port’ 4AGZE long block.
AE86 4AGE RWD ‘big port’ inlet manifold.
Big port to small port adapter plate.
AE86 RWD 4AGE water plumbing, thermostat housing,
water pump, water temp sensor housing, alternator mount.
AE101 20 Valve 4AGE alternator.
Custom engine mounts.
SC14 supercharger (Toyota Previa) with custom mount to
engine.
Custom exhaust manifold.
Standard AE101 4AGZE EFI system and ECU (with wiring
reconfigured to suit RWD).
Throttle body is yet to be determined – unlike a turbo motor
that tends to blow through the throttle body, supercharged
engines suck through. I will do a little more research on
which diameter will be optimum.
I have a couple of aftermarket front mount intercoolers to
choose from, which will be more efficient than the factory
top mount and with little increase in intake plumbing length.
212 mm flywheel as fitted to 2nd generation onwards naturally aspirated 4AGEs (as the 4AGZE flywheel is a different
design and larger diameter that will not fit into RWD bell
housings).
Heavy duty clutch pressure plate and likely a puck type
disc.
Cost
$431 (including shipping less gearbox
and clutch/flywheel
sale)
$75 (these often sell
for $150-200)
Approx $150 plus
shipping from USA
Approx $450 including shipping from NZ
and UK
$50
TBC
$200
TBC
Approx $250 in components (relays, fuse
blocks etc)
TBC
$150 on sale
$50
$400
TABLE 2
Gearbox
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Differential
E51 Transmission
(Early Levin/Trueno AFM
4AGZE)
3.23
2.045
1.333
0.972
0.82
3.933
E58 Transmission
(Later Levin/Trueno
MAP 4AGZE)
3.214
2.045
1.333
0.972
0.82
3.944
wheels, which are similar to a minilite
but to my mind better looking. The
Compe 8s are an early 80s wheel and
were a popular aftermarket fitment
on a number of Japanese cars –
hence they are common in 4x114.3
PCD.
The wheels I have are 14x7”
fitment with a 10mm positive offset,
and due to the tightening of
regulations to prevent people
‘stretching’ tyres on rims (as was a
popular trend) I can not fit my
desired tyre size of 185/60x14
(578mm tall overall) as these are
limited to a 6.5” wide rim. 195/60x14
(590 mm overall) are not an option as I
don’t have the clearance under the
guard radially, so I have bought a set of
195/55x14 tyres, which are OK for
fitting on a 7” rim and reduce the
overall diameter slightly (570 mm)
which will help provide a little more
clearance.
W-SERIES GEARBOXES
I was originally going
to fit a RWD T-50 5
speed gearbox from an
AE86 but it would likely
not last long behind the
4AGZE, which is a shame
as it will fit an Anglia
with minimal tunnel
modifications.
The next size up in
RWD Toyota gearboxes
are the alloy cased W5X
series that were fitted to Supras and the
likes from about 1981 onwards, and are
amply strong enough for the Anglia.
There were five main variants, two of
which were fitted to diesel engines and
hence their ratios are of no interest
here, but the W55, W57 and W58 are –
and their ratios are shown in TABLE 3.
Ordinarily I am a firm believer that
the W58 is the best one, as it has the
most even spread of gears and the
tallest 5th gear. This gearbox is ideal for
cars fitted with the 1UZ Lexus V8, but
1st gear can be a bit ‘tall’ for engines
with less low RPM torque (such as turbo
4 cylinders), for which the W55 is a
better option overall.
As an aside, I stumbled across a
useful little fact recently on the net that
the W55 and W58 gearbox share many
RWD T-50 Gearbox
internal components (such as the
gears), with in effect just the input shaft
‘ratio’ being 9% different to the W55
and hence the others gears vary by this
amount. What this means is you can
(with the exception of 4th gear which is
actually a 1:1 direct drive) achieve much
the same gearing achieved by fitting a
W58 by using a W55 with a ~9% taller
diff.
As for mating the W55
to the 4AGZE I intend
using an AE86 RWD T50
bell housing with an alloy
adapter plate I bought
from SQ engineering in
Melbourne. I could have
used a custom one piece
bell housing from
Niteparts (who sell them
on trademe) but I have a
couple of T50 bell
housings to suit a 4AGE, one of
which has been modified to
mount a starter motor on either
the exhaust (as per factory) side
or inlet side, which will be handy
if I ever decide to convert the
engine to turbo it some future
point. This is because the turbo
and starter will compete for
space (to say nothing of the heat
from the turbo cooking the
starter), so the ability to relocate
the starter to the inlet side has
merit.
AE86 RWD T50 alloy adapter plate
ANGLIA DRIVELINE
TABLE 3
SPECIFICATION
W55
W57
W58
The upshot of all this is, if I Gearbox
1st
3.566
3.285
3.285
fit the Anglia with a W55
gearbox, a 3.7:1 ratio
2nd
2.056
1.894
1.894
differential (which I have
3rd
1.384
1.275
1.275
salted away) and 195/45x14
4th
1
1
1
tyres then the speeds in gears 5th
0.85
0.86
0.783
will be remarkably close to
the factory supercharged
TABLE 4
Levin, as shown in TABLE 4
Km/h in Gears
AE101 4AGZE
Anglia
(corrected for tyre squash
Diff Ratio
3.944
3.7
due vehicle weight):
Tyre
Size
195/55x15
195/45x14
The slightly lower speed
Engine RPM
7500
7500
achievable in first gear will
1st
63
58
be a bonus as far as
2nd
99
100
acceleration off the line
3rd
152
149
goes and whilst top speed
4th
209
206
is academic for the Anglia,
the highway cruising RPM
5th
247
243
will be well matched. I also like how it
will reach 100 km/h in 2nd gear, which
will be great for traffic light grands
prix…
REAR AXLE OPTIONS
I need to decide which rear axle to
use; the ‘easy’ option will be a disc
braked 6.7” diameter crown wheel Tseries Toyota back axle (similar to those
fitted to AE86 etc). As I said earlier, I
have a rare 3.7:1 ratio diff for one of
these, which will get combined with a
Torsen LSD from a GT Four Celica rear
differential. The Torsen LSD spline is a
larger diameter than the T-series axles,
but as I have to narrow the back axle I
figure the new spines will likely get cut
in a thicker part of the axle where there
will be sufficient material. If not I will
get the axle built up.
Trouble is, I am concerned about the
T-series rear axle assembly’s ability to
withstand the torque the engine will
produce, even in a light car, so I am
tempted to fit a larger F-series rear axle.
These are fitted in disc brake form to
some of the first generation live axle
equipped Previa/Emina/Estima people
movers. These are 5x114.3 mm PCD but
there is scope to re-drill them to
4x114.3. Again the axle will need to be
narrowed, but there are a variety of
ratios available and I have a 3.7:1 diff
head for one of these also, that has
already been fitted with a Torsen LSD
from a SXE10 Altezza.
As time goes on I am getting more
inclined to fit the larger rear diff/axle as
the slight increase in weight will be
more offset by the peace of mind it will
give, as these diffs can take upwards of
500 hp.
CONCLUSION
There is an irony here in that back in
1997 I commenced an Anglia project
that ended up with a first generation
4AGZE, and here I am with things going
full circle, although this time the overall
specification is much higher. The 4AGZE
is actually the 3rd engine for the current
Anglia project, as initially I was going to
install a standard RWD AE86 derived
4AGE, then I bought and partially fitted
the BEAMS 3SGE, and now I am fitting a
4AGZE.
I should know better, but yet again I
am paying the price for changing the
specification of the project after
commencement. The good news is from
a fabrication and engineering
standpoint I haven’t really done much
work that will be nugatory, however
from a cost perspective buying multiple
engines etc can get expensive, and you
don’t always get back what you paid for
something.
Having said all that, in hindsight the
4AGZE should have been my choice
from the outset, and I am looking
forward to the arrival of the last few
minor components that will enable me
to start
converting the
engine to RWD.
TO THE TECH COMMITTEE
Dear Mr Ed
Currently I try to put
cycle guards on my
Lynx kit, but now I
don't know where to
legally fit them to. I
looked in the bible
(Hobby car manual)
and found no answer,
looked on the net and
no article is specifically
saying you have to bolt
them here or there...
I wanted to fit the top bracket to the bolt sticking out, with a brace to the 6mm
hole next to it and similar at the bottom of the brake calliper.
I was hoping 30 x5mm flat bar would do the trick. Is this legal? Does that get
through the certification? In one article (oz rodders) I found something that
sounded like it had to be fitted to the steering bracket...
Please help me! As I see it 4 bolts sounds better than only 2.
Thanks in advance.
JP Paalvast, Rotorua
Reply to JP’s technical question from last month (reprinted above). Club
members were unusually noisy on the topic – it must be close to their hearts
a) It is fine to fit the wheel cycle guard mounts to the calliper bolts – it’s an
old trick
b) Nah, you wont be able to run with open wheels. You’d have to be a hot
rod club member and even then there are restrictions
Part 4 of “From Petrol to Electric A Pedestrian's Guide to Implement Electric Drive
Trains into Petrol Vehicles, July 2015, Dr. Stefan Andreas Meyer.” Abridged
Last month we examined the mechanical and electrical plans. There was plenty of
info there for the eclectically minded. This month we get down to building. Readers
wanting the full version of this article and more detail from Stefan and the team
should go to his website http://www.blitz.org.nz/index.php.
ASSEMBLY AND INSTALLATION
Having outlined how to
come up with a detailed plan
for the mechanical and
electrical parts for the
conversion, this chapter will
now focus on the very practical
issue of how to systematically
assemble and test the designed
system.
You are dealing with a high
voltage system - please be
careful. Care is also imperative
for handling the individual, low
voltage cells: their internal
resistance is so low that if
shorted they will easily supply
thousands of amps which not
only makes for great sparks
but actually can burn down
your house.
This section is yet to be
completed but not crucial for
understanding our open
source design. Plenty of
material is available on
www.metricmind.com
THE BATTERY BOXES
For my design I decided to
bundle the 96 batteries into
two boxes each containing
48. Those boxes are made
of 2mm Aluminium which
were computer designed
and precision made for
me by a water cutting
company. I only had to
use a folder to get them
into the shape.
In riveting the pieces
together it is imperative
to use marine grade
sealant to make the boxes
waterproof.
Because of the
temperate climate in
Wellington the boxes
were only lined with a
thin foam that serves
mostly as a grip-mat. The ends guarded
with 2mm thick plastic sheets
In a continental climate like Sweden's
the boxes would have to be fitted with
Styrofoam. A heating mat and active
ventilation controlled by the BMS would
then ensure that the temperature
inside the box stays within an
acceptable range.
After the boxes have been assembled
the batteries have to be grouped and
tied together in rows of 24. To avoid
accidental shortcuts I used masking
tape to cover the poles and arranged
them with alternating pole orientation
as depicted.
For tying them together I used 1mm
stainless steel bands onto which ends I
welded hose clamps. This allowed me
to tighten them and adjust the
pressure. The 4 mm Aluminium end
plates are designed to distribute the
pressure evenly across the batteries on
each end of a pack and also serve as a
mounting plate for the BMS modules.
They are now ready to be connected
in series with the copper bridges
delivered with the batteries. To
minimize Ohmic losses at the contact
point between copper bridge and
battery pole both need to be
lightly sanded off before
they are joined with a screw.
In order to ensure
reproducibility in tightening
these screws using a torque
wrench is recommendable.
Since the BMS has to
supervise the voltage of
each and every battery, all
copper bridges and the open
ends of each battery pack
need to be connected to the
BMS modules. The order in
which these connections are
made is crucial and is
specified in the BMS manual.
Now that each of the four battery
packs is mechanically and electrically
assembled, they need to be arranged in
pairs (two of them), connected in series
and secured with a contactor and high
current fuse before they are ready to
be installed in their aluminium box.
The necessary connections are made
with 16mm2 high ex welding cable.
Those cables not only need to be cut
to the appropriate length but also
equipped with a lug at each
Crimping a lug:
 Step1: removing about 20mm
of insulation at the end of the
cable leaving only a ring that
prevents fraying
 Step2: pushing the lug onto the
cable and removing the
insulation ring;
 Step3: crimping the lug ;
 Step4: insulating the lug with
heat shrink and heat gun
The cables are now easily screwed to
the battery poles, contractors and fuses
to establish the connections specified in
the wiring diagram
Left: Tightening
these screws
using a torque
wrench is
recommended
Right: Once
assembled
the battery
packs need
to be
arranged in
pairs.
Left: The
connections are
made with
16mm2 high ex
welding cable
which is crimped
Right the two battery packs are
connected in series with a welding wire
and the poles separated by a very tough
and durable sheet of plastic
This picture below right shows the
Ethernet cables that will connect the
BMS modules to a central processor
unit. The two red-blue pairs of wires are
diagnostic cables: one pair measures
the total voltage across the 48 cells
before the contactor; the other pair is
connected to the two sides of the highcurrent Busman fuse (below).
[Mr Ed says “wow, there’s more to
battery boxes than I first though.
However, thinking about it, there are a
lot of viscous ergs, watts, and joules
that need to be safely contained”. Next
month more assembly of colorful
electrical bits and shiny aluminium]
In a final step all these cables need to
be connected to (diagnostic) or fitted
through (high voltage and either net)
the 5 waterproof outlets of the battery
box. Particular attention needs to be
paid to the correct connection of the
diagnostic cables: the cables are not
only soldered to the pins of the plug but
also epoxied into the plug for extra
safety. Also as a measure of extra safety
the lugs for connecting and
disconnecting the diagnostic cable to
their outlet are shielded with a heat
shrink cuff.
Above: Arrangement of the 5
waterproof battery box outlets
If you avoid the mistake I made of
forgetting to install the cables for
triggering the contactor, you are now
left with 2 fully operational battery
boxes.
see from the
picture to the above, I
own a ’93 Suzuki
Cappuccino. It was a
pretty fun car, by ‘was pretty fun’ I
mean my best friend Andrew crashed
it into an earthen bank during the
Open Tour of the Australian Tarmac
rally. It got plenty bent:
Yes that is the spare wheel on
backwards, the only way it would fit.
I like this car a lot, it was my first car.
Learnt to drive in it, past my test in it.
Had an overly large driving tester. Had
to ask him to pull in his gut so I could
get the handbrake for a hill start. Low
and behold I did not
pass first time. The
second driving tester
thought the car was
cute and awesome,
and passed fine.
Since that crash I
have moved to
Wellington New
Zealand, and took the
car with me. I now
want to turn it into a
true motorsport toy,
mainly for street
sprints, autocross,
hillclimbs etc that happen around the
region. Examples of street sprints can
be found via this link. https://
www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Z_JOHx8hi2k
Below is my inspiration for
something like I want the car to be:
The car has been
straightened by the great
guys at Rollrich in Petone.
Yeah! Spare wheel is the
correct way round.
Getting replacement
wing, bonnet, bumper is a
fairly straight forwards
repair of browsing Yahoo
Auctions Japan and handing
over your wallet to a broker/
importer to manage it all
and get the parts here.
While that happens I’ve been
scratching my head pondering
about the Cage Problem.
Now the Cappuccino has a
couple of problems. Firstly it’s a kei
car. It is tiny. Trying to run a cage
without encroaching on the already
small cockpit space is a challenge.
Secondly the Cappuccino is pretty
flimsy and lightly built. Turning into
a driveway and having 1 wheel rise
up the curb you could hear all the
roof panels pop as the chassis
twisted.
For space tightness, here are
some pictures to illustrate the
problem:
The seat, and hence your
shoulders are right at the edge of
the car. Secondly the pedal box, it’s
also pretty tight. With the
accelerator pedal against the sill. I
have seen a cage design for the
Cappuccino with the cage post
coming down at the front of the
door against the sill, but
after setting in the car I
can’t see how that is
comfortable. I am
thinking my best choice
is to run the cage posts
through the sills
themselves. This will
also give the car much
needed strength and
stiffness.
This is all up in the
air. I’ll be stripping the
car down more over the
next couple of weeks,
and let the cage problem sit in my mind
as I am working away at it. I have
concepted up a couple of cage designs:
[Who is Caswal
Parker? He’s not a CCC
member yet. Mr Ed put
Caswal’s arm up his
back to find out more
about him. Caswal
says…
“I moved to
Wellington from
Melbourne Aus in April
last year, with my
business partner
Andrew Lamb. We own
and run a video game
company called Camshaft Software,
producing a game called Automation The Car Company Tycoon Game (http://
automationgame.com). I am trying to
become the best modern 'polymath' as I
possibly can. With skills in computer
programming, electronics, CAD, 3D
Printing, welding and general
fabrication. I have far too many projects
on the boil! From concepts like building
a large foam CNC Router for making
panel molds, to being neck deep in a
house renovation.”
First cage design. The rear vertical
posts start at the shelf behind the seats
(not correctly modelled). This would
have sealed doors.
Second design with usable doors. Both
still concepts, just to help me wrap my
head around things. As I continue to
strip down the car, order parts etc.
It looks like Caswal might take Phil’s
record for zillions of projects on the go
at the same time]
The 30th, The Sound MG Classic
Race Meeting
Manfeild - Friday 13th to Sunday 15th November 2015... notice from
Ron Robertson, MG Classic Racing
To all friends, fellow competitors, volunteers and all who are interested.
Yes, it has finally rolled around, the 30th running of the MG Car Club’s race at
Manfeild. Be there for this three day event.
As a large entry is expected, and the grid capacity is limited. intending
competitors are encouraged to submit entries as soon as possible to avoid
possible disappointment. The feature race for Saloons will be the Sybil Lupp
Memorial Invitation race for British sports and saloon cars. The presentation of
the cars running in the T&C Classic time groups only gets better each year, with
more cars coming along with more trim fitted. Really good to see.
This is going to be a huge event with several new groups coming on board. New
and exciting cars from the South Island are coming over the ditch for the first
time.
Applications to enter and the associated Regulations governing the meeting are
available on the MG website http://www.mgcarclub.org.nz/.
Vehicle Eligibility:

Historic Sports Racing & Racing Cars As invited, as per Schedule K period
classifications A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, L, M, N, O and P; Scrutineering
Schedule AA – COD required.

Thoroughbred & Classic Cars As per Appendix 6 Schedule T&C Groups 1,
2, 3 & 4, Scrutineering Schedule AA - COD required; or Schedule A – COD
not required. Modified outside of T & C Groups (on application to the
Organisers); Scrutineering Schedule A

Component Cars, Replicas & NZ Built "Classics" Component Cars, Replica
vehicles and NZ built "Classics" that are within the spirit of the Meeting
(on application to the Organisers); Scrutineering Schedule A
Classic Race Fans.
The work for the 30th
running of the MG Classic
Race Meeting at Manfeild
is well under way now. Again this year
we are sponsored by THE SOUND
Manawatu.
The meeting is THE SOUND MG
CLASSIC MOTOR RACE MEETING. [Tell
all of your friends]
We have had a great response from
all groups and classes, The line up of
cars this year is stunning and all classes
have cars that need to be mentioned
but this is only a news letter and not a
novella .
We have to thank all the Drivers
coming over the ditch from the South
Island, It is a great trek with cars coming
from Invercargill, [Give that man a
Speights.]
The newly formed Historic Touring
Cars have a great display coming to
Manfeild many for the first time. These
are all genuine cars, many with huge
history in Europe and at the Wellington
Street Race. The ZAKSPEED ESCORT of
Gary Wilkinson must be seen. This is a
car we are very lucky to see as it
languished in a barn for many years.
Only by chance to be found while on
holiday in Asia.
Another great car is the CAN AM car
of Warwick Mortimer, The sight and
sound of these old Can Am cars is sheer
Poetry in motion.
The V8 Petrol heads will be in 7th
Heaven, We don’t only have the ENZED
Central Muscle Cars but the crowd
deafening Formula 5000 with the World
famous Kenny Smith out there beating
up all the teen agers [ Its really good to
see young drivers having foot stomping
tanties with their mommies in the pits.]
The Pre65 are an amazing group
from the T Bird to the tiny Mini You
never know is 1000cc going to better
7000cc in the right hands.
The Historic
Field is big this
year with several
new cars coming
out for the first
time. Formula
Juniors’ from the
States and
Europe.
The fast
Radicals and
Junos will be out
to blow away
some of the big
Saloons in the
David and Goliath
groups.
The Classics
are a diverse group of cars, some have
long history like MG ,Triumph and Alfa
to name just a few, Some like the MR2
and MX5 are now only being accepted
by some, It is not long ago when the
Datsun 240Z and Toyota Celica were
not at the top of everybody’s list. We
forget how fast and pretty some of the
little cars were and just how expensive
they are now. The DeJoux Mini and
Ford Bread Vans are
not to everyone’s
taste, But I thank
them all for still
getting out there and
putting on the best
show that they can
at what I think is one
of the best meetings
around.
This is made
possible by all the
Marshalls and
Volunteers. It is the
people on the ground working 12 hours
for a Bread Roll and a can of Fizzy who
make the day.
Many Thanks and hope to see you all
out in November having a great time.
Mt John observatory
car park 1029m
A
long with a passion for
sporting and classic cars I
developed a parallel
interest in 4x4 utilities.
It started when we were looking for
a safe vehicle for our teenage son. The
logic being something that wasn’t fast,
only a single cab, very tough and could
be used for carting or towing household
“stuff”. We purchased an 82 LN4 Hilux
that had been lifted with large off road
wheels and tires. It had a turbo fitted
and later an intercooler to boost the
meagre performance of the little 2.2l
four cylinder diesel.
What a useful vehicle it proved to
be. From father-son expeditions into
the bush, rubbish to the pit, moving
furniture and the family 5.5m Canadian
canoe expeditions, to pulling out
stumps in the garden. I’m sure he used
it for things we didn’t know about but
we only had to recover it by tow truck
once when he hit standing water and
parked it on its side in a ditch. We kept
it running with spares from the wrecker
and then bought it back from him when
he moved on to faster things.
The need for a utility was
established, so when it had done over
300,000km we changed it for a new
2001 3l diesel, extra cab Hilux. I built
bars for it to fend off the paint damage
in the bush, integrating overhead bars
for long lengths and the Canadian.
Biggest load was
probably 18m of
paling fence. Palings
on a tandem trailer,
fence rails overhead
and posts on the deck.
It has moved various
house lots of furniture
for the kids, delivered
anything too large to
fit it their cars and
transported many loads of firewood to
and from the family hydraulic splitter. It
has pulled out its share of stumps, been
a platform for trimming trees, has been
up riverbeds and deep in mud.
The Christchurch earthquakes did
their best to destroy it by dumping the
timber and furniture stored in a rack
above it, onto its roof. Some steel
beside it tipped over and scribed a
series of sine waves deeply into its side
as it oscillated back and forth during the
event and large aftershocks. After
escaping the chaos of our house in the
dark, we threw off the largest of the
debris and simply drove it out from
under the remains of the garage to
check up on parents and neighbours.
We sat in it to listen to the radio civil
emergency broadcasts and it could well
have been our accommodation if the
house hadn’t weathered nature’s tirade
so well. It turned out to be the ideal
vehicle to navigate what remained of
the local roads with its high ground
clearance and robust suspension. One
of our other cars even shed its
suspension bump stops over the same
roads.
When sand was needed for paving
and sand pits we just drove it into the
river bed and found a drift that the river
had graded to the right grit size,
shovelled it into the back and drove
slowly home. This and many trips with
firewood loads that had it nearly sitting
on the bump stops made me wonder if I
should get a bigger truck. I wondered if
I could combine the performance
function of my sporting cars and the
load and deck features of the Hilux into
one vehicle.
The other issue was that I was here
at middle age in an increasingly petrol
conservation world, never having
owned a large displacement V8 petrol
vehicle. If my generation was going to
be blamed for the depletion of the
world’s petroleum reserves by our
Grandkids, then I may as well
contribute, before it’s too late! Another
possibility was a slide on camper to
make remote area camping a bit more
comfortable but the small four wheel
drives here couldn’t fit a very big
camper. Right, we now have a vehicle
definition to look for.
I started with American pick-up
trucks but decided I couldn’t live with a
left hand drive and besides New
Zealand has a strange ruling that means
four wheel drive vehicles have to be
right hand drive. You can import and
drive a 700hp Dodge Challenger Hellcat,
a two door coupe and leave it left hand
drive but not a pick up!
I visited a local Ford dealer to look at
an F150 and noted it had been
converted to right hand drive by a NZ
company. Toyota makes pickups of this
size but I didn’t find any right hand
converted ones and didn’t want to do
the conversion myself. Because of USA
fuel economy legislation, Ford are
moving to smaller capacity turbo
charged engines and even changing to
aluminium bodies on the F150, so
looking for a newish 6.2L V8 now, was
timely.
Now, to find some performance!
Because of the volume of Ford F150s
sold in the USA there are lots of
aftermarket performance kits available
but better still Ford’s SVT division make
their own called a Raptor. To get the
stability and extra suspension travel for
desert racing they widened the stock
aluminium 6.2l V8 F150, added the
necessary bash plates underneath and
improved the entry and exit clearances.
Add bigger wheels with off-road tyres,
beef up the rear locking differential axle
for the extra track and torque from the
low ratio option gearbox, fit multi stage
performance shock absorbers to
improve its road and off road manners
and you have a good starting place.
One of the aftermarket performance
kit manufactures makes a very nicely
engineered screw type supercharger
with water intercooling and with
injector, throttle body and re-mapping,
ups the 440hp to 590hp. Better still the
torque is nearly 800Nm! This is it. I
found a company in Hamilton that
imported these, plus organised the
conversion and bought one sight
unseen before it left the US. They kept
me well informed of the shipping
progress as did the right hand
conversion company on their progress
and eventually it was time to fly up and
take delivery. They picked us up from
the airport in it and I was struck by how
nicely it rode for a truck.
I was expecting it to be a little
slushy, being American but along with
the extreme creature comforts, first
impressions were very good. Yes it’s big
but I was expecting that. At 2.8 tons
with near 800Nm through a six speed
auto this is a sub six second 0-100km/hr
vehicle!
We had combined the delivery trip
with a short pre-booked holiday and
leisurely run back down to Christchurch
so reading the manual became my
Motel relaxation. Only the Americans
with their potential for legal challenges
on everything could write a manual like
this. The off road settings for different
conditions are on a DVD, so I watched
these on the back seat entertainment
system. They included
recommendations for jumping the truck
over obstacles, deep water fording
speeds for different depths and even
the hill decent mode that works in
reverse gear as well! This could be a
handy feature when the laws of physics
overwhelm the vertical progress of a 2.8
ton truck that has more than enough
torque to influence the rotation speed
off the earth!
Parking and manoeuvring in
Supermarket car parks was a bit of a
challenge but OK if you parked next to a
low vehicle that you could open the
door over and electrically folded the
wing mirrors. The cruise control on a
vehicle with this much power was a
revelation as it works downhill as well
as up. Other than hearing the auto
stage down or the random wine of the
supercharger, you simply don’t notice
that you are climbing a pass until you
start rolling down the other side.
You are sitting high and very
comfortably with more than ample
room in a relatively quiet and stress
free environment, so driving long
distances is definitely less tiring. This is
a super crew cab, which means there is
almost as much space in the back as the
Hilux had under the canopy and having
a picnic lunch from the chilly bin
complete with the suitcase for a week
away, was very easy, if the weather
wasn’t good.
The first fill of petrol was
memorable, as I wasn’t sure if it was
fitted with the 90 or 135 L tank. It needs
95 octane or better because of the
supercharger, so when the attendant
had been standing there for a while and
the bowser ticked past 90L I looked
underneath to make sure there wasn’t a
puddle. My wife went in to pay and was
wide eyed when she returned $240
lighter!
Yes, 18L per 100km was the best we
managed but the noise! Lining up the
Kaikoura tunnels I opened both
windows and kicked the auto down mid
tunnel. It was shattering what solid rock
walls returned and probably fortunate
some didn’t come loose!
Since delivery we have had another
short holiday in it and put it to work
shifting our daughter into another
house and carting garden rubbish etc.
As expected towing a tandem trailer is
unnoticeable even with a reasonable
load but the whole rig is quite long to
back into a small drive. The reversing
camera is handy for backing onto a towball though. It has a camera at the front
for cresting hills off road as well,
complete with water washer to keep it
clean!
The Raptor has been hunted and
caught!
Raptor is
longer than
the width of
a Kiwi motel