The journey of one man and his Mule(s)

[Magic Beans]

Even more surprised than that

[synXero]

Electric?

[JD]

Steam?

[Magic Beans]

Nope, not nuclear either. Already had this discussion

Ever thought I might not be modifying it at all..?

[JD]

Are you gonna do a full nut and bolt resto on a mint-ish Rev5?

I was gonna suggest this before you went and picked another back-to-front Celica; http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-Skylin ... 2026692229

Not bad, aaay?

At least I can say I have been in a mule! Pete took me to get beers at JAE

[Ben]

At least I can say I have been in a mule! Pete took me to get beers at JAE

If you're really lucky, one day, you might get to join the ever-growing group of IMOC unfortunates who get to own one of his cast-offs

[Magic Beans]

Are you gonna do a full nut and bolt resto on a mint-ish Rev5?

Correct

I spent some time thinking about the car and what I might do with it. Ultimately I decided the car is far clean and original to modify. It felt wrong even considering it. Combine that with the fact I've already done the opposite end of the scale, that being in the form of Mule II, so why go over old ground again?

In a world where everyone's modding these cars, I've decided to go the other way.

That Skyline though!

If you're really lucky, one day, you might get to join the ever-growing group of IMOC unfortunates who get to own one of his cast-offs

Oh, ummm...

[Draven]

Yay another awesome build. I am always impressed with your workmanship.

[Magic Beans]

Hope I don't disappoint then

I am fully convinced that I'll get a craving to mod something in the near future. So I'm expecting another car to materialise at some point

[pistol pete]

Ill give it till he drives the v6 when he wants to fit one..

[Magic Beans]

Ill give it till he drives the v6 when he wants to fit one..

You know exactly what will happen... I'll be badgering you about the Mk1 again

[pistol pete]

After the wide arch drive at weekend.. i love it more

Weekend will have to get v6 mk2 and celica out for some photos

[Magic Beans]

Agreed. After they've all had a good wash

[JD]

At least I can say I have been in a mule! Pete took me to get beers at JAE

If you're really lucky, one day, you might get to join the ever-growing group of IMOC unfortunates who get to own one of his cast-offs

I look forward to it

I also hope whomever bought that R32 brings it to JAE.

[Magic Beans]

Reserve now to avoid disappointment

[Magic Beans]

*Takes a deep breath*

Ok, words and photos time. As always there will be many of both, so nip to the bathroom or put the kettle on now..

We took a trip down to Chez Mason at the weekend. The home of some awesome roads, others a little more Moon surface like.. It's about as far south as you can go on the east coast of the mainland UK and is where many MANY cars have lived over previous years. One of them is a certain UK Rev 5 NA, which is to be the main character in the next chapter of this story.

*Cue appearance of main protagonist*













As you can see; nature had decided to claim back this little car. So out came the washerising accoutrements and scrubing ensued. A wave of the (foam) wand later and it's all a little cleaner. Far from perfect, but that can (and will) be achieved later





Two generations. So very similar but oh so different.



After banishing the surface dirt, as well as creating a spider displacement crisis (there was so many living in and around it!!), we set about snagging. First up was fitting a new rear OS droplink.



Needs a good surface scrub and Waxoyl!

Shots of the new cancer bars Pete fitted.





Oh.. stickers... problem! What to do?!



Inevitable



Time to head out for a shakedown run. Maybe a few cheeky photos while we're at it...



Yes, I drive naked





All in all it felt good. The new clutch, gearbox, brake service etc have all made a big difference. Outstanding work by Mr M Needs a damn good drive, due to being sat for so long, but a solid and fun little car.

Then it was time to set about putting together an initial snagging list. Daisy kindly allowed her to use her notebook



Best doctor's handwriting





By no means is that an exhaustive list. More an initial download of our observations, walking through the various parts of the car. Some are important, others ideas and nitpicking.

One of the jobs we could tackle there and then was adjusting the angle of the spoiler. It was set at 3, which to my eyes looked wrong. Aesthetics over theoretical performance on this one.



Oh no, dirt! That's not how we do things here





And it's oppo.



To my eyes setting 2 looked better. It may change again...



Cleaned and back together.



The other litle job was deleting the EGR. Fully reversable if required, but I felt it a necessary change. The process was: Undo hose, plug hose with bolt, undo pipe, plug with a bit of can, trim (not shown, but it was neat ).





Time to turn the Eye of Sauron to the Mk2 V6. After taking it out for a drive I'm now fully sold on the wonders of a V6 in these little cars. The power is perfect and the extra torque makes everything effortless. Oh, sounds alright too.

While it's a lovely car, it doesn't get to dodge a snagging. Out with the notepad again



This time I did the walkaround and observations..







Should keep him out (or in, depending how you look at it ) mischief for a while..

A few team photos. Needs Mr Ben to make it complete. But Ben wasn't there, WERE YOU, BEN...









Time to bid farewall to the Mason family and the warm summer's breeze of the south coast. Time to go north...

220 miles of T bar off driving, a Dartford crossing and the death of MANY flying natures later, I was home... On the whole it felt good, with no real dramas as such. Most of it was spent crusing along at 70mph (ish ), enjoying the wonders of T bar driving. It did start to get a bit nippy later into the journey. The solution? Whack on the heaters! Now we're in a world of luxury! Especially as I was driving bare foot, as you do

One thing I did notice was that there was a feeling that the car was reluctant to accelerate hard. Once you hit ACIS range it was good, but up to that point things felt a bit hesitant and stuttery. First thoughts were ignition, so the following day I popped out the plugs and leads to see if there was an obvious cause. There was...









This could simply be the result of time having passed, or the car having sat for ages ec etc. This was the first time the plugs had been out since we'd purchased it, so the obvious approach is to clean them up, check the gaps, refit and test drive. So that's exactly what I did.

The difference was instant and significant, a marked improvement and an engine that was much happier After another chunk of miles I took it home and repeated the process. The two wet plugs were now dry, one of the others was now pretty wet. So I gave it a clean, cleaned the wells etc and went for another drive... Better again! More miles down it was back home, rinse and repeat. This time everything was now clean and dry, which was a positive.





I'll keep an eye on it over the next few weeks. Could simply have been what I mentioned above, or maybe a leaky gasket. I'll report back when I know more.

So, I guess that's probably enough words from me for now, huh? I'm planning on putting together a proper lis, with priorities etc and starting on the jobs this weekend.

But for now.... toodle pip

[thomp1983]

If you decide to go the v6 route ive a crane you can borrow and ove fitted a few.

If you want to know what a v6 in a mk2 feels like I should have my 3vz swap finished for jae

[Ben]

Needs Mr Ben to make it complete. But Ben wasn't there, WERE YOU, BEN...

My invite must have got lost in the post



Nice brain dump, as ever. Really looking forward to seeing you progress with this one

[pistol pete]

Needs Mr Ben to make it complete. But Ben wasn't there, WERE YOU, BEN...

My invite must have got lost in the post



Nice brain dump, as ever. Really looking forward to seeing you progress with this one

Where WERE YOU??!!Do you even need an invite? there was alcohol and breakfast!!!

Great write up Phol... :0

you will enjoy the car

[Magic Beans]

If you decide to go the v6 route ive a crane you can borrow and ove fitted a few.

If you want to know what a v6 in a mk2 feels like I should have my 3vz swap finished for jae

Awesome, thanks

I think JAE is while we're away in California. Rolling the Pacific Highway in a drop-top Mustang