Hardcore indeed, good luck man. I love a good road trip, but I hope this one is boring and uneventful for you.

Madmorrie

Well the trip has come and gone without any issues really presenting themselves.

The main problem I had was that I packed too much weight making my new yokos rub the guards over big bumps.

I got to Perth at midday saturday and met up with Alan (Mearcat) at the engineer's house. After a good chat, vehicle inspection and road test, the engineer was overall pretty pleased with the car.

Alan had his modified R33 skyline there and on the way to my accom for the night we had a bit of a play on the highway, which I was pretty impressed with how the mini went considering the extra weight the mini was carrying.

Drove home this afternoon in the heat of the day (~38 deg C) and the mini went well. She got slightly warm sitting at the lights, but on the highway there was no probs.

All in all it went well, and if my car was a little better sound deadened (too heavy for me) and had a stereo (yep also too heavy) it wouldn't be too bad on the highway!

also for every one's info I got about 7.5 litres/100km cruising at 115-120 most of the way.

I'll post some pics in a few days when I'm not so tired!

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

It was excellent to finally meet James after chatting over email for so many months and to see the car in the flesh. It is a nice clean conversion and to his credit, the engine bay looked rather like a factory layout.

On the highway(s) on the way home (me in air-conditioned comfort, James in not-so-air conditioned comfort?), we had a couple chances to have some spirited runs and up against my 305rwhp Skyline, I must say - I was impressed, especially when James was in front of me at the lights and I had the Skyline full throttle in 1st and near full throttle 2nd to keep up James - watch that rev limiter next time

I had a drive of the Mini too, and it has reaffirmed my decision to the conversion.

-Alan

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Congatulations and good to see it all went well for you

I have done a few big trips in mine but it was not a new conversion I had at least done 1500km before I went.

_________________
4efte powered Clubman
supercharged 998 race car

Thanks for the comments guys.

Here's a couple of pics taken on the grand adventure when I wasn't so stressed out about something breaking/coming loose on the car.

Pit stop at a nice park in Tammin (about 3/4 of the way to Perth):


A dead end street I found in Lesmurdie (near the engineer's house) in the Perth Hills:


And an aptly named servo in Kellerberrin on the way home:

(Stevens is my last name and I have a brother, hence apt! )

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

So I'm now waiting for my modification approval to be sent to my current address. I spoke to the DPI and they sent it to my old address, even though I told them I had moved.

Then I just take it over the pits and rego. I'm hoping this will happen in the next few weeks, as I have spoken to the local testing centre and are happy to book it in on a few days notice, which is very good for Kalgoorlie.

On a completely different subject: I just received my latest toy for the mini!
Its a english translation of the Japanese Toyota workshop manual. Lots of excellent info on the EP82 starlet.


Yep its a bit late for the conversion, but it is going to be pretty useful for tuning and fiddling etc.
I ordered it through http://www.jpnz.co.nz so if anyone is interested they maybe able to help you out.

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

Groovy!

_________________
"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

well done son!

ha ha,,, number plate is "Kick Butt Clubby"

well done man, a true wolf in sheeps clothing

_________________
No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Nice work. inspiring stuff.

And remember, being in WA, you can pick up personalised plates for a once off payment, ie not a per year fee like other states.

Not that I have anything against the great shire of Kalgoorlie Boulder.

_________________
GP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://www.reflectionsindigital.com/RID/Mini/Mini.html

haha I like it!

Thanks for the support guys. I'm pretty certain that it wouldn't have happened without the ausmini forum.

Funnily enough, getting the car roadworthy inspected and registered was quite uneventful compared with everything else to do with the conversion.

The inspector loved the car and it passed without a problem (actually the 30 page eng report and all the paperwork the inspector had to fill in was a problem, but it wasn't my problem. ) and then registration was easy.
I was slightly disappointed that there was no fanfare or dancing girls as I walked out of the DPI with the rego plates, though!

I will have to get down to Perth one weekend to see how it goes in the hills!! Might have to organise a bit of a catch up with some of the Perth based guys too.

Until then though; there are sooo many V8s in Kalgoorlie and so little time!

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

77CV,

Thanks for the post on the engrish version of the workshop manual - just what i need.... can someone tell me if my engine is 80 series or 90 series... I'm pretty sure it's 90 series, but didn't buy the front cut and don't have any prior experience with the engine.

Engine No. 1807620 4E

Cheers,

Amos

_________________
Answer the Question....
BUT always Question the Answer

Pretty sure there are a few clues externally and the ecu and wiring are different, but the best thing to do would be to ask on the AU Starlet forum :http://www.austarletclub.com

They should be able to help you out.

In my experience, most 4efte engines we get in oz come from the EP82, but the EP91(92?) had a Glanza version with the 4efte also. The later model Glanzas are much rarer here.

_________________
-James.

Toyota 4EFTE Powered Minivan.
102 Kw @ The Front Wheels....Oh What a Feeling!

The Starlet were released as models EP82 (GT Turbo), & EP91 (Glanza V). No EP92 was ever made. James is right - most 4EFTE Starlet imports (full cars & front cuts) are EP82 as they are quite easy to source although the two models use the same 4E-FTE engine (but likely different ECU & wiring?)

amos - In regards to the engine/model details, give a Toyota dealership a ring and they may be able to help you out by providing the engine number. They have their Toyota EPC (Electronic Parts Catalogue) available (Toyota's version of Nissan's FAST).

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.