2002 Toyota Mark II Blit
Discussion
Matt Cup said:
Are you from Chadderton/Oldham by any chance? I’m sure I saw this car driving past B&Q on the bypass towards Oldham Royal this evening around 6ish . The car stood out due to the roads being pretty quiet and it being something I have never seen before.
Hi Matt, I live further towards Huddersfield but I would have been visiting Pets At Home (via Tesco petrol station as per) if it was last week! Managed to fill up for a full £20 less than normal which I was completely stunned by... It's gotten real cheap!!A small update, I finally got round to fitting the HSD's I bought around Christmas time. I have to say, they're so much better suited; the stiffer springs have really helped with body control and it actually handles really well now for a big old bus!
Stripped them all down and sprayed the shock body with copper grease (recommended by Driftworks), set the spring pre-load to roughly 10mm. Seems ok!
The Teins featured a bracket to hold the ABS sensor wire which isn't on the HSD's, so had to improvise with a couple of cable ties.
Had to take apart most of the rear to get to the top mounts, which was fun trying to remember where everything went! I could really do with buying some extended preload adjusters, it's not really practical having to take apart the boot to adjust the stiffness!
I then moved onto the engine. I've been working under the assumption that the oil was changed on arrival to the country at around 171k km, and it needs changing every 5k (filter every 10). Having gone over 175k I thought now was as good a time as any to do the oil and filter. I used Fuchs Titan 5W40 and a genuine Denso Toyota filter. FYI it takes exatly 5 litres (the other 10 are for the E36!)
The old filter was covered in Japanese text, so I guess I was probably wrong about the oil being changed when it landed here! Never mind.
I fitted the Apexi intake also, quite a nice piece of kit with a heat shield and two mounting brackets, seems very sturdy. Makes some cool whooshy turbo noises too!
And here's how it sits now. Tried playing around with the heights but it probably still needs adjusting some more. The front tyres are still scrubbing the arch liners occasionally and I'd rather not remove them, but I think I might have to.
You might be able to spot I've fitted a boost gauge to the OEM clock - this shares a generic Toyota clock with a few models so I managed to pick up a spare one to gut. Think it needs a bit of tinting film as it's way too bright!
I'll be honest, I was planning on getting rid of this car for a few reasons; but I'm really not sure I can now! It's brilliant, and I think I need to spend a bit more time with it yet. I still believe it would be so much better with three pedals and a manual gearbox and I'm more inclined to try it now that I know the chassis is a competent one. Fitting the HSD's has improved it massively, although it has highlighted how tired it feels after 175k. To try and sort this I've ordered around 200 quid's worth of oem rubber bushings for the front end. The rear end needs attention too, but I'm not quite sure rubber will cut it for things like the rear subframe or diff mountings, so I may look into polybushes for those. I want to keep it comfortable, but still have it handle well which can be a difficult thing to do... Trying to find a good balance!
Edited by Deadbod on Thursday 30th April 18:51
swampy442 said:
You know how to stop the arch liner scuff? raise it up a bit 
Good to see someone using a genuine filter as well, they'e so cheap there really is no reason not to
Haha of course that would be the easiest way! I'd quite like to keep it at this height if I can, the wheels fill the arches quite nicely. I'm sure if the likes of BMW can get a competition pack M3 to sit the way it does, I can make this work!Good to see someone using a genuine filter as well, they'e so cheap there really is no reason not to
Silly not to use genuine stuff really, you can still get pretty much all of the consumables new from Toyota so theres no excuse!
Interesting that its IS200 based underneath, but the interior looks more modern, almost like a generation one. Its like half way between an Mk1 IS and a Mk2. As much as I loved my IS200, it would have been even better with more power, I was half tempted to change it to a 300 a couple of years after I'd bought it, but I'd just bought my first house, was doing the best part of 15k a year and just couldn't justify it. It is a shame we don't get more of the interesting Japanese estates. I've got a gen8 Accord Tourer Type S now (its a 180 diesel, but dont hold that against me) and that seemed to be the last of the interesting Jap estates we got.
Cracking looking car though! It amazing how a nye on 20 year old car can look that good, I suppose it helps having a life with no road salt!
Cracking looking car though! It amazing how a nye on 20 year old car can look that good, I suppose it helps having a life with no road salt!
Tackled a job I've been wanting to do for a while this weekend. Headlights!
They've been one of the major things letting the car down; all discoloured and hazy. I think it's quite common with Japanese cars, they must get left out in the sun a lot!
Decided to give the Meguiars kit a go, mainly because it has a drill-bit polisher.
Befores:
And about 5 minutes of polishing later...
Probably the easiest thing I've done on a car. Definitely recommend!
They've been one of the major things letting the car down; all discoloured and hazy. I think it's quite common with Japanese cars, they must get left out in the sun a lot!
Decided to give the Meguiars kit a go, mainly because it has a drill-bit polisher.
Befores:
And about 5 minutes of polishing later...
Probably the easiest thing I've done on a car. Definitely recommend!
Edited by Deadbod on Sunday 3rd May 20:58
Thanks! Unfortunately the paint is one thing letting it down cosmetically.
I've done the bushes on one side at the front, forgot to take pictures as it's not the most fun task in the world, but here it is all missing!
Feels much better on that corner, no more thudding around over bumps etc. Will get round to the other side sometime soon. Then the rear needs redoing!
I also had a parcel show up from Jesse Streeter in Japan. For those that don't know, you can't simply buy stuff on eBay in Japan and expect them to ship it. They use Yahoo Auctions over there, and you need a Japanese residence in order to create an account. There are a few English speaking companies based over there who will bid for you and send it for a fee and Jesse Streeter is one of the more well known/reputable ones.
Anyway, I had a bit of a wobbly arm rest and tried taking it apart to investigate and tighten it up.. of course it crumbled into a thousand pieces rendering it well and truely broken! Toyota used plastic for the sliders, so it was never going to last forever!
I decided to use this opportunity to purchase the interior parts needed for the manual gearbox swap.
For anyone who wants to know, you need a handbrake armrest which doesn't slide back and forth (the standard car has a footbrake instead of a handbrake, so the centre console is completely different!) the handbrake itself is the same as an IS200 item, except its on the opposite side of the centre console so the mounts are the wrong way round, it's worth getting a JZX110 specific item for this reason. The handbrake cables are a straight swap with the IS200. You also need to get the trim that surrounds the gearstick. The ECT transmission/throttle button is relocated when changing to a manual transmission and the opening itself is bigger. I also decided to get a brochure, owners manual and a moulded boot liner at the same time. It only took a couple of weeks from buying them to arriving at my front door, so I definitely recommend using Jesse Streeter.
Be warned, buying parts from Yahoo Auctions is a rich mans game that's for sure!!
Still waiting on the IS200 handbrake cables to fit the centre console, but it only looks like a few bolts and clips.
Also waiting on the DVLA who are really dragging their heals on extending my MOT, so I don't really know if I'm allowed to drive it at the moment!
I've done the bushes on one side at the front, forgot to take pictures as it's not the most fun task in the world, but here it is all missing!
Feels much better on that corner, no more thudding around over bumps etc. Will get round to the other side sometime soon. Then the rear needs redoing!
I also had a parcel show up from Jesse Streeter in Japan. For those that don't know, you can't simply buy stuff on eBay in Japan and expect them to ship it. They use Yahoo Auctions over there, and you need a Japanese residence in order to create an account. There are a few English speaking companies based over there who will bid for you and send it for a fee and Jesse Streeter is one of the more well known/reputable ones.
Anyway, I had a bit of a wobbly arm rest and tried taking it apart to investigate and tighten it up.. of course it crumbled into a thousand pieces rendering it well and truely broken! Toyota used plastic for the sliders, so it was never going to last forever!
I decided to use this opportunity to purchase the interior parts needed for the manual gearbox swap.
For anyone who wants to know, you need a handbrake armrest which doesn't slide back and forth (the standard car has a footbrake instead of a handbrake, so the centre console is completely different!) the handbrake itself is the same as an IS200 item, except its on the opposite side of the centre console so the mounts are the wrong way round, it's worth getting a JZX110 specific item for this reason. The handbrake cables are a straight swap with the IS200. You also need to get the trim that surrounds the gearstick. The ECT transmission/throttle button is relocated when changing to a manual transmission and the opening itself is bigger. I also decided to get a brochure, owners manual and a moulded boot liner at the same time. It only took a couple of weeks from buying them to arriving at my front door, so I definitely recommend using Jesse Streeter.
Be warned, buying parts from Yahoo Auctions is a rich mans game that's for sure!!
Still waiting on the IS200 handbrake cables to fit the centre console, but it only looks like a few bolts and clips.
Also waiting on the DVLA who are really dragging their heals on extending my MOT, so I don't really know if I'm allowed to drive it at the moment!
Time for a small update on this, I completed the drivers side re-bushing and took a few more pictures this time. You can see how cracked and aged the rubber looks - not sure if they're original bushes, I wouldn't think they are though after over 100k miles with a 1600kg car... Who knows!
In total, there are 4x bushes in the arms, 2 ball joints plus the ARB drop links. I've not done the ARB bushes yet as I think I'm going to fit bigger anti-roll bars. I also still need to renew the inner and outer tie rods - there's no play in them, but they're old and not that expensive so why not!
I should've painted the arms in hindsight but I can always do it at a later date...
Also managed to break an eBay ball-joint splitter... buy cheap, buy twice I guess!
And more excitingly, the first step of the manual swap process is complete - the handbrake conversion!
You can see below where the footbrake would be in the way of the clutch pedal, it even uses the same mounting holes as the clutch pedal would!
With the arm rest removed, it's possible to see the footbrake cable which travels along the side of the transmission tunnel underneath the carpet - it's held solid against the transmission tunnel in two places, meaning you need to get the carpet from under the dashboard in order to remove it.
There's also a hole which needs to be drilled and tapped for the handbrake to mount properly. I didn't take many pictures of the process as it was raining and quite an annoying job to be honest. But here are the before and after interior pictures!
Before
After
That's all for now. I've been flicking through the brochure that arrived from my previous Japan order and spotted an optional foldable storage box - back onto Yahoo auctions and I've won one for about £20... Plus god knows how much postage! I did also try to grab some newer headlights as I'm still not quite happy with mine - they're a bit discoloured still, but I missed out by about a fiver annoyingly! Never mind.
In total, there are 4x bushes in the arms, 2 ball joints plus the ARB drop links. I've not done the ARB bushes yet as I think I'm going to fit bigger anti-roll bars. I also still need to renew the inner and outer tie rods - there's no play in them, but they're old and not that expensive so why not!
I should've painted the arms in hindsight but I can always do it at a later date...
Also managed to break an eBay ball-joint splitter... buy cheap, buy twice I guess!
And more excitingly, the first step of the manual swap process is complete - the handbrake conversion!
You can see below where the footbrake would be in the way of the clutch pedal, it even uses the same mounting holes as the clutch pedal would!
With the arm rest removed, it's possible to see the footbrake cable which travels along the side of the transmission tunnel underneath the carpet - it's held solid against the transmission tunnel in two places, meaning you need to get the carpet from under the dashboard in order to remove it.
There's also a hole which needs to be drilled and tapped for the handbrake to mount properly. I didn't take many pictures of the process as it was raining and quite an annoying job to be honest. But here are the before and after interior pictures!
Before
After
That's all for now. I've been flicking through the brochure that arrived from my previous Japan order and spotted an optional foldable storage box - back onto Yahoo auctions and I've won one for about £20... Plus god knows how much postage! I did also try to grab some newer headlights as I'm still not quite happy with mine - they're a bit discoloured still, but I missed out by about a fiver annoyingly! Never mind.
giblet said:
Daft question but what do you use to access and bid on Yahoo Japan auctions in English?
If you've got Google Chrome you can add Google translate as an extension and it will just do it for you. Searching can be annoying, you need to basically just search the chassis code ("jzx110" for my car for example) and kind of search through pages for what you want.Bidding is more complicated since you need a Japanese address in order to create an account. This is why you need to use a Japanese agent to bid for you; there's plenty out there but I use Jesse Streeter as he seems like the safest/most reputable and the two orders I've made so far have been really straight forward.
Great update, I grossly underestimated the shipping on some wheels I really want for the Crown so they will have to wait abit however can also recommend Jesse if everything else is as good as the contact I've had with him.
You should never buy anything like the original car brochures, the Crown had so many cool things as an option that I now want for £bazillions - also found out my lip kit was one that never came with it officially but dealers would add it from k-break!!
You should never buy anything like the original car brochures, the Crown had so many cool things as an option that I now want for £bazillions - also found out my lip kit was one that never came with it officially but dealers would add it from k-break!!
Deadbod said:
giblet said:
Daft question but what do you use to access and bid on Yahoo Japan auctions in English?
If you've got Google Chrome you can add Google translate as an extension and it will just do it for you. Searching can be annoying, you need to basically just search the chassis code ("jzx110" for my car for example) and kind of search through pages for what you want.Bidding is more complicated since you need a Japanese address in order to create an account. This is why you need to use a Japanese agent to bid for you; there's plenty out there but I use Jesse Streeter as he seems like the safest/most reputable and the two orders I've made so far have been really straight forward.
h and not factored into any purchase. On the plus side you get access to many cool parts you've never heard of before!
Deadbod said:
...Also waiting on the DVLA who are really dragging their heels on extending my MOT, so I don't really know if I'm allowed to drive it at the moment!
I'll say they are! BC51NWT doesn't (yet) show up on the online registration database or the online MOT database. 
Although BC51NWS and BC51NWU (also imports) do, and with extended MOTs.
The MOT expiry date should be extended automatically just before the original date.
Edited by gareth_r on Monday 6th July 00:41
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