My 94 VR sedan, build..maintain....love

[LeaThaL]

Hey all,

im new here as im usually hanging around toymods and z20soarer.org but ive come back to the dark side (according to most toyota lovers ) and got myself another VR,

i use to have a VR wagon that i bought years ago, sold it when the fuel pump shit itself and then 2 years later it got BHG so the bro in law (he bought it from me) gave it back for free thinking it was stuffed, i did the heads and drove her for another year before selling her to some dudes that used her to drive to perth....and its still running

but thats not why im here, this is my new sedan,

this is the lineup from when i first got her, was 2k on boostlosing from some young fella, seemed pretty good, 2 months rego but it was dark then and thats where the fun came around

once at home i was sitting looking at this...







she was really REALLY dirty and in need of looooooads of love

the goods:
smooth enought 3.8 and ok auto,
same trim as my VR wagon,
the wheels are nice, i think their fakes but eh,
a SCA brand head deck and matching speakers
2.5 cat back exhaust

The Bads:
needed oil change in motor, filter must of been a 30000kms old atleast
needed auto serviced and fluid change as she was really burnt up and holding out gears
all the white dash
NO SWAYBAR ON THE FRONT!! both pins snapped at the middle
front suspension buggered,
the belt was really really worn and cracked
rad water was brown as anything, really really yuck, rear tires legal but low

i started the day with all this....



and set to work!

will add more pics tomorrow as my phone/camera has gone walkies and thats where the rest of the pics are lol


cheers all
the motor shakes on idle, seems to be a gearbox mount

[Mr_Clubsport]

drop a 2J in and it might slightly shut them up

[LeaThaL]

or get me killed! if i ever got my hands on a 2jz it would be replacing the 1jz in my mz21 soarer, but then i do have a spare 1jz

but i dont think i could cause i love these v6's too much

well this is how she sits ATM, its dirty again as ive been working on it when i get free time....


^^^^^^^^I know this basicly looks the same, but it has been cleaned up and most shit removed

and this nice surprise was lying under the carpent above the fuel tank


and shes now got a sway bar again with new nolethane rubbers




just asking too, ive noticed that the cars cooling system isnt getting any pressure, as in i can drive it for about 20 mins. stop and take off the radaitor cap...... :S can this be the cap or is it a problem with my system?

also im lossing a decent amount of water somewhere, i dont know where as seeing the pressure isnt building up and making it obvious, but i did see some water once just sitting in behind the alternator on the inlet manifold so im thinking its comming from the hose under the alternator running to the water pump so ill replace it soon along with that little bung that runs into the inlet also


cheers

[Mr_Clubsport]

hahaha put your V6 in the soarer hahah

[LeaThaL]

whats really funny is i had one sitting in the bay before i got the 1j, and supprising it sat quite well

im just going to make a 4runner again with another 3.8.....or a LS1, depending on budget ive already had one with the VR motors in it and damn it was sweet! but at 240k's to a 70L tank, it wasnt worth keeping it

EDIT- MYTH CONFIRMED! ive got a leak from the bending hose from the pump to the inlet! F*@^!! ah well i can fix it next week now

[LeaThaL]

hey all

as above ive been losing a fair amount of water from a leak so im now happy to say its fixed, ill only put up a few pics but if anyone wants me to put up the whole step by step tut im more than happy to do so



the parts needed, note the brass bung, over the plastic factory one



half way thru and uber dirty



a quick clean to keep things nice



all fixed and no leaks!

[Leathal11]

looking good mate glad you got all the leaks sorted

[LeaThaL]

cheers dude,

ive also noticed that for some dumb reason the last owner found the thremo fan plug, chopped off the ends, shoved one on the switched power side of the "blower" replay and then wrapped up the earth again leaving it exposed :S

[ethann]

AHh don't you hate when you get a car thats been played with. That's why its always best to get ones off old people.

[LeaThaL]

yeah i know! i should of kept my VR wagon, apart from a small knock in the motor it was perfect!

this sedan altho i love it, has a shitty immobliser that when you unlock the car, it will lock itself after a minute, when you start the car, put in gear and lower the hand brake it locks the doors, and then when you turn the motor off it unlocks them, and someone has blown a fuse in the heater spot and and shoved the wrong size fuse in as its melted to ****! and the douche has fitted heaps of replacement fuse lines so their just hanging everywhere :S

[CommodoreMan]

that tut might come i handy for some ppl, but yeah looks like a dumb motorist has played with ur vr lol but its kinda fun to fix them up.

[LeaThaL]

yeah that is half the fun

ive just done a tut for it in the "how to" section so yeah

[LeaThaL]

well just a update, since ive replaced the leaking bypass hose and bled the system properly, ive now found that my fuel consumpsion has improved a fair amount, ive already done 50kms and my fuel tank hasnt gone down at all so far, before now i would say it would of used around a 1/4 of a tank so yeah!

as for my tacho ive noticed that its sticks sometimes, today was the first time it just didnt go up and i had to tap the dashboard, but it use to do it around 100, just stop on 100 or around there and a tap would fix it, now it does it randomly around at 50-60 so yeah, would just removing it and giving some things a spray with WD40 help or might it be the cogs in the cluster?


cheers

[LeaThaL]

Time to wake this beast from the depths

just a update, ive since found i had a leaking valley gasket so i replaced it and am no longer losing water which im very happy about!


ive had to return her to my daily while im out of work again so im looking to do some more fuel assisting replacents so this is the log thus far

Leads are fine, no cracks or dents, all seperated so to give the usual clean signal
Run a tank of octane booster on a 98 ron tank of gas and that cleaned the spark plugs right up so their fine
no water leaks so my coolant temp sensor is fine in reading well
02 sensors tested and working fine

and im still geting around 310kms to a full tank so whats left? ive got a new fuel filter in the car im going to fit tomorrow just so i know thats not a problem but there isnt really anything else i can think of :S

any suggestions?

also do i need to do anything special with the filter or is it just remove and refit new one and start motor?


cheers

[boonga]

sounds like your gettin there with it any more plans?

[LeaThaL]

for now its fix the few little body issues,

• replace all rubbers i can with nothane replacements
• replace all discs with DBA's and new pads
• lower it just a tad
• give the motor a detail

she handles like a boat after my supra so i really wanna get her just a tad more stable so today when i do the fuel filter im putting the whole thing on stands and im gunna run thru with a fine toothed comb to see what ican find wrong

[Kurtp]

Looks good, can kinda tell someone has had a fiddle with it just by looking at the first picture! Should come up great, love the buicks.

[LeaThaL]

thanks mate, i love them too their good motors and sound the part too,

shes a good beast but needs some love but still gets the 225's going with some encoragment