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81' Toyota Starlet RWD!


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I am currently working with a friend of mine on his 81' 4KC starlet. The car has been in his family since it was new and we are taking on the task of bringing her back to life and upgrading :cool:

A few years ago the car was stolen and they rallied the !@#$ out of it :cry: After getting it back, it still ran but the clutch was slipping like a seal and the tranny sounded like a blender! He parked it inside for the next couple years... We got to talking about fixing her up and starting investigating. When we went out to try and start her nothing even with a new battery. I crawled under and did the 'ol short the solenoid with a screw driver trick and blam turned right over! So we pulled the starter out (which so far is my ONLY complaint about the design of these cars, I'm a Datsun guy :P ) Re-built the starter and put it back in. Next thing we discovered is upon cranking: No gas was getting to the carb. Checked the mechanical fuel pump and it was dead so we did a temporary electric fuel pump low on the frame rail in the engine bay. ( I know you want elec pump low and as close to the tank as possible but its only temp) After that she fired right up after not running for 3+ years with the old gas that was in the tank! Took her out for a drive and she moved around quite nicely. Now for some PICS!

 

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EEEK!!! Emissions crap :blink:

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Now we want to get into some major repair, First thing we did was swap the clutch out:

 

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As you can see, The throw out bearing was going bad and wearing on the clutch tines. After we took the bolts out, the clutch still wouldn't come off! (never seen that before, usually the pressure plate pushes its self off the flywheel) so I started tapping it with a hammer and PILES of rust/corrosion/funk starting falling out of the clutch!

 

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Nastiest clutch I have ever seen! Cleaned up the flywheel with some pure alcohol and emery cloth, and started cleaning the tranny.

 

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Put the tranny back in, and started de-emissioning the engine :) Check the distributor cap and look what I found:

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The conductor actually fell off the wire when I pulled the coil wire! cant believe the engine still ran!

 

Then we got into pulling vacuum lines and thanks to Starlet Forums we found some diagrams that make it easy! Looks Like a Datsun A motor eh?

 

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With all the emissions off, new distro cap, plug wires, & plugs she runs like a top! Hoever there is a small vacuum leak somewhere that is causing her to idle a little strange so we picked up a weber 32/36 and are currently searching for the best adapter plate for it. I haven't pulled the carb yet but looking into it I think the the bolt spacing is 80 X 43MM Some Datsun intakes are this size yes/no?

 

If so I was looking at this adapter:

http://www.shopatron.com/products/productdetail/1-3/4%22+Tall%2C+Weber+DGV+to+Datsun%2C+Toyota+Carburetor+Adapter+-Cast+Alum./part_number=2107/1526.0.1.1.54038.56178.18885.0.0?pp=8&

 

Some future plans are:

 

1. Replace transmission (idea's on where to score one?)

2. New Wheels/Tires (Supra MKII)

3. Electronic ignition (MSD) Haven't found a write-up on this yet

4. New rear springs (current ones are shot)

5. LSD (posi) Rear diff (TONS of work I'm sure)

 

We are calling this project the R-aisin because of all the aisin parts on the car and its brown so it looks like a little Raisin ;)

Very stoked with bringing this awesome little RWD beast back to life!

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I like these cars. The newer efi ones are uglier.... NICE!

 

 

I don't know, I liked how my old 1983 Starlet looked...it would have looked even better if the damn thing was dropped.

Loved how perfect the last gen Celica seats fit and looked in there.

I sometimes resent selling it, it was in great condition (look how clean that engine bay was!) and glad it was stock since it pulled in 40mpg. Oh well...it's now running around somewhere in New York, hope it's garaged!

 

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I don't know, I liked how my old 1983 Starlet looked...it would have looked even better if the damn thing was dropped.

Loved how perfect the last gen Celica seats fit and looked in there.

I sometimes resent selling it, it was in great condition (look how clean that engine bay was!) and glad it was stock since it pulled in 40mpg. Oh well...it's now running around somewhere in New York, hope it's garaged!

 

 

AWESOME! No shit I was checking out the Starlet forum members cars and found yours. I'm a unabashed plagiarist sometimes and its what I'm basing the build for my friends starlet off off! Your was the sweetest/classiest I found Pictures of :cool: We don't want to go all riced out with this baby we want to be able to do some dirt road rallying and mountain journeys so the Supra wheels fill the wheel wells but still keep the ride height enough that we can stomp on it off-road :D Seriously love your old starlet! Even more stoked your a Dimer! :thumbup:

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AWESOME! No shit I was checking out the Starlet forum members cars and found yours. I'm a unabashed plagiarist sometimes and its what I'm basing the build for my friends starlet off off! Your was the sweetest/classiest I found Pictures of :cool: We don't want to go all riced out with this baby we want to be able to do some dirt road rallying and mountain journeys so the Supra wheels fill the wheel wells but still keep the ride height enough that we can stomp on it off-road :D Seriously love your old starlet! Even more stoked your a Dimer! :thumbup:

 

Right on, thanks for the compliment bud. Have you thought about slapping on some usually Datsun used wheels, in this case I'm refering to Libre/Libra wheels. Here's the only pic I've seen on the web but from what I can see it looks pretty sweet. Just sayin'

 

 

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I just dislike the new starlet rear tail lights. Can the 83 use the earlier versions???? That is my main question. If so then I like them as well!

 

From my time on the 'darkside' (the KP61 site), I didn't read anything about tail light swapping, so I figure that's a no go.

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Right on, thanks for the compliment bud. Have you thought about slapping on some usually Datsun used wheels, in this case I'm refering to Libre/Libra wheels. Here's the only pic I've seen on the web but from what I can see it looks pretty sweet. Just sayin'

 

I actually bought my dime with those Libre's on but sold them to buy my Rota's. The Supra wheels are a little more available and I really like how they look on The Starlet!

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I actually bought my dime with those Libre's on but sold them to buy my Rota's. The Supra wheels are a little more available and I really like how they look on The Starlet!

 

Man that's too bad, it would have looked sweet with them. Well if you feel like throwing a set on there, I have a staggered set 13 in x 5.5in from the front and 13in x 7in for the rears if you're intersted. :)

 

Oh here's some of the video's I had of the Starlet...man I regret selling it even more after watching them.

WALK AROUND:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ql47bXthEw

 

INTERIOR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw6WmZgY1WQ

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  • 10 months later...

Post is almost a year old but I will give it a try anyways.....if you have not figured out a way to get rid of the old pesky aisin carb the way to do it, if youre going with the 32/36, the datsun L series adapter plate bolts right up to the 4k intake mani. you just have to figure out a way to hook up your throttle witch isn't too bad

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  • 3 years later...

"Then we got into pulling vacuum lines and thanks to Starlet Forums we found some diagrams that make it easy! Looks Like a Datsun A motor eh?"

 

The Starlet Forums link was not working for me. Can you help me find these diagrams. I want to do the same on my starlet. I saw most the lines you pulled from the pictures but I would like to get an education before I just copy your setup ;) Thanks.
 

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