Early
fall 2005, my friend Bad Dog posts on the forum a random note saying
something like,"Today, while walking I saw this Starlet KP60, parked."
Few posts later, I found out that the car was parked near by my own
place in Sofia, and it seemed it was parked there for a while. Bad Dog
posted few mobile phone pics of the car, and although of poor quality I
just felt in love with the car right then. Few e-mails later, Heki goes
to the place and finds out who the owners of the car were, and soon
thereafter, he finds out that the owners will be happy to give the car
away to anyone who wants it. It turned out the car was parked for more
than 3 years, and the last thing known to be broken was the fuel pump
which was leaking. The taxes of the car for the past few years were
also due to be payed. So, the deal was struck, Heki gave them the money
for the taxes, they gave him the documents and the keys, and agreed
that when I come to Sofia for Christmas, we'll do the official transfer
of property of the car. Heki, as serious as he always is, got a new
fuel pump, spark plugs, distributr cap and rotor, oil filter, etc.
So, I did arrive with even more goodies from Italy, and we had the car
trailered to the local garage. After an hour the oil was changed, the
filters, sprak plugs, a new battery, quick air blow into the carb, etc.
and the 2K 1L engine strated up and worked just like a swiss clock! :)
After the first few meters of driving I quickly realized that the
shocks were dead, the steering-wheel axle joint needed to be changed,
front and rear suspension bushings... you name it. The car felt like
one of those big American Lincolns, swimming about on the road, and it
was quite hard to control. So, I got new Monroe gas front shocks, which
are quite stiff for what they are, changed the outer tie end rods,
installed used but well working OEM AE86 rear shock units, fixed via
modification the transmission mount, which was cracked, rewelded the
rear muffler, which dropped down on the street in the fist hour of
driving the car. :) Since the body shop was full with Bad Dog's AE86
and Heki's Supra, I drove the car 100kms south of Sofia to another town
and left it with a friend of mine to do the body work and the new paint
job, and I left back to Italy.
Four and a half months later I came back, to find the car in a "just
started" state. Boy, was I disapointed! After 10 days of waiting, I got
in the car and drove it to a small village, where I knew this guy who
did body and paint work. After explaining to him the situation, and
basically dragging him into doing my car, we went to get the needed
materials, and while he was working, I was sitting and observing the
work from the side, just like an old British clolonizer... I just did
not trust anyone anymore. I also did some restoring and shopping for
parts. I got the side blinkers new for Lada, the front daytime/blinker
light units were also for Lada, and were new, and all of those cost
like 10euros, and the side blinkers require no modifications to
install, besides wiring the original wirie plugs of the starlet! On the
third day the car was finished and painted, all parts and lights
installed, and on the forth day in the morning I drove back to Sofia.
After a rainy day, the old rubber bushings kind of regained a bit of
their original regibility, so the car gained a better standing and
contorl on the road. All the bushings will be changed with new, though.
I also put, temporarily my Supra wheels with 185/55/14 Yokohamas, off
the AE86. But I have better set of 15" wheels and will install them
with 195/45/15 tires on the Starlet. So, here under you can see some
pics of the whole process. Enjoy!
UPDATE
So over Christmas, I managed to do few things to the Starlet. I found out that the ignition spark was extremely low, and quickly realized that the wiring of the ignition was way wrong, to what the OEM electric wiring diagrams showed it should be. Once the wiring was fixed, I sourced out a nice OEM voltage regulator, and installed it. The car had some old Bulgarian-made voltage regulator, combined with a Soviet-made antique relay!!! The spark came back really strong. I also changed the distributor, since the original one had to be cleaned up, as it was stuck.Then I dismantled the steering wheel column. There was not a trace of grease left there, so after I cleaned it and greased it up, and the annoying knocking and rattling sounds disappeared, and the steering now is very firm and precise. I also fixed the fuel level gauge, cleaned a lot of dirt under the dash since I had it all dismantled, also installed a set of new speakers in front.
Then I got a set of rear springs for Toyota Carina E 1.6, which I used to replace the old and worn out rear springs of the Starlet. Now the rear end is a bit higher, but much firmer. What is needed next is an anti-roll (aka: stabilizer or sway) bar. The car also has a set of brand new Tokico rear shocks installed.
I have plans to install an A/C on this car off the Mazda Demio, which should get in with few small mods. Later in the future, I might hop in a 4AGE or 4AGTE, will see. I have plans to install an A/C on this car off the Mazda Demio, which should get in with few small mods. Later in the future, I might hop in a 4AGE or 4AGTE, will see.
When I got the car.
Body work.
Painting.
And almost done.
Looks much better now...
...way better! :)
A short video of my Starlet KP60