I'M SORRY, GRANDMA: 1986 Cressida moneypit (I mean, project...)

[kevvy_dawg]

Ah man, sorry to hear about the woes..

[EuroJDM]

Hi,
Nice car !
I'm totally fan of these brick design, and this is a Toyota. Winning combo !

Now, it's a shame for your drive shaft issue.

If i'm correct, i calculate that @80 mph, with 205 60 15 tires (at the rear wheels) with 4,10 ratio diff, your driveshaft should run at 450 rpm.

Maybe you can ask them the control report to check if they have tested your shaft at least at this speed ?

[kibur]

That is awful how they treated you, wish it could of turned out better. cars can always be fixed, glad you are unharmed

Ah man, sorry to hear about the woes..

that's all that matters at this point. I'm still very glad no one was hurt. sadly with this hobby i've come to expect dealing with people who are hacks and/or scumbags. it's funny how much i've been through with this car in particular because of the actions of others.

Hi,
Nice car !
I'm totally fan of these brick design, and this is a Toyota. Winning combo !

Now, it's a shame for your drive shaft issue.

If i'm correct, i calculate that @80 mph, with 205 60 15 tires (at the rear wheels) with 4,10 ratio diff, your driveshaft should run at 450 rpm.

Maybe you can ask them the control report to check if they have tested your shaft at least at this speed ?

Corporate carpet bomb them. Send a well written email with your concerns and complaints to the owner and CC every high level manager you can find at the business. If that gets you know where, threaten litigation for the parts needed for repairing the car, the driveshaft, and your time(if you couldn't make it to work due to a damaged car).

You can go to small claims court(won't need a lawyer and it won't be dragged out over more than a few days from filing to the appearance). Collect evidence(the driveshaft, damage to the car) and get written statements from professionals about how and why the driveshaft failed.

I've been thinking about trying to get in contact with the owner, but it's kind of hard when the person who answers the phone there is someone who laughed in your face about the fact your driveshaft exploded at 80mph. However, their responses to me show me there is no chance they plan to resolve this conflict.All of their responses have been claiming that since they have been in the business for 40+ years, there is no way they can be wrong. They have used that exact excuse countless times in a manner to devalue my encounter, which is well-documented and backed up by plenty of pictures.

I have posted reviews on a few different outlets, including Facebook, Google and Yelp. An employee of theirs, the curly headed guy that I described in my last post in this thread, has commented on their Google and Facebook pages with 5-star reviews praising how great his company is, and how well they know their stuff.

They pointed the finger at me in a variety of different ways, claiming I wasn't calm or polite during the encounter. Well, lets think about this for a second. The driveshaft that they had manufactured exploded on me while I was going 80mph. Thankfully, myself nor my passengers were injured, but we were stranded on the side of the road all day in a car that hadn't even finished its first tank of gas. When I was asking for a very simple resolution to such a shit situation - make me a new driveshaft on the house and make it the right way, or refund me the cash that I had paid for it - they literally scoffed at me. So yeah, I was going to be a little unhappy with that. They also claimed up and down that the failure was due to an improper install, but if we're being honest here - I've been doing this swap alongside of one of my close friends, who is an ASE certified mechanic, and we've checked over everything on my car more times than I can count, hence why it took forever to finally see "completion" - which is when both of us considered the car strong enough to see the road and be reliable. No one could have foresaw the driveshaft failing in such a violent matter, in such a short time after completion.

They eventually noted that I should have brought the vehicle, which at the time was a disassembled non-running project, to them in order to have achieved the proper measurements for the driveshaft. Their EXACT QUOTE was; "Unfortunately, my crystal ball doesn't work, so without seeing your vehicle, I can't very well diagnose the problem. I feel your pain in the situation and feel bad that you lost the money. "

But they're experts who have been in the business for more than 40 years, right?

The whole encounter can be read here.

[Loaf31]

Damn man, I just read your facebook post and how the company responded and they were downright rude. That guy is right though, they should have asked the necessary questions to get the job done right, not assumed all the specifics of you build and how your application would best be handled. They should have researched more about the application. All this comes down to whether or not they value the customer and I can clearly see that they do not. If I were you, I might go as far as to take them on in a small claims court for any damages done to your car and the tow fees and so on. They should have done their homework and done the job right. You don't go to do a blood transfusion with whatever blood usually works for other people, you need to ask the patient what their blood type is. good luck to you, my friend, I hope everything goes smoothy for you!

oh and nice cressy

[lowlvo]

Did you check the pinion angles after lowering? http://www.wolferacecraft.com/pinionangle.aspx

Bad things can happen really fast with one piece shafts when trans/diff angles are out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmV4qwLfOMY

Hope you get back on the road soon! Love the 80's bricks!

[kibur]

school is seriously killing me with time. I'm too busy to get back home and work on this, I don't even know if the parts have come in yet. however, I have an aisin ar-5 and almost all of the parts, with the exception of the driveshaft, are on their way in. pretty grateful to my father who was able to lend me the money for the time being on the parts to adapt the ar-5. my grandfather/his dad was the original owner of the car, and he has been under the weather lately. one of the main reasons I built this was to take him for a ride, as he used to be a mechanic and had all sorts of cool stuff - triumphs and old 911's to name a few. I'm hoping I can get the car back on the road by the middle of october, and this time, the first thing I will be doing is taking him for a ride, provided his health permits. it's so disappointing that this hack job of a shop has derailed my plans for this car, but I do not want this to become too much of a speed bump in the road.

Damn man, I just read your facebook post and how the company responded and they were downright rude. That guy is right though, they should have asked the necessary questions to get the job done right, not assumed all the specifics of you build and how your application would best be handled. They should have researched more about the application. All this comes down to whether or not they value the customer and I can clearly see that they do not. If I were you, I might go as far as to take them on in a small claims court for any damages done to your car and the tow fees and so on. They should have done their homework and done the job right. You don't go to do a blood transfusion with whatever blood usually works for other people, you need to ask the patient what their blood type is. good luck to you, my friend, I hope everything goes smoothy for you!

oh and nice cressy

thank you! yeah, it was incredibly aggravating to deal with. incredibly, ANOTHER one of their employees has commented recently to continue with the same rhetoric of, "oh you installed this wrong, we don't make bad driveshafts," and his typing was so ridiculously poor that a coherent argument, let alone a sentence, was barely formed.

but hey, the guy has snakebites in 2016, what can you expect from someone like that.

Did you check the pinion angles after lowering? http://www.wolferacecraft.com/pinionangle.aspx

Bad things can happen really fast with one piece shafts when trans/diff angles are out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmV4qwLfOMY

Hope you get back on the road soon! Love the 80's bricks!

thanks for the kind words. there was no crazy angle on the driveshaft whatsoever, not even comparable to the one in the video. I really don't think there was any way to describe this other than poor manufacturing.

[kibur]

last piece to the puzzle has been acquired.


can't wait to assemble everything and install the AR-5. very excited to do so, I don't know if anyone else with an x7 has ever ran this transmission. hopefully it goes without issue, but knowing how this build has went, I'm not expecting that to be the case.

I'd love to get this done before winter hits and the cold weather hits. though this is my last semester of school, it has been incredibly tedious and time consuming from the very beginning of it. definitely wish I was using this to relieve stress, instead of adding onto it by trying to find the time and money to fix it.

[kibur]

Thanksgiving break from school has started, which has allowed me to find some time to work on this.

The R154 JZ bellhousing went on without a problem. The front bearing retainer was also switched over to a Toyota part. The clutch kit used was a ACT stage 3, and I used an r154 flywheel. All of these parts were ordered from driftmotion, and they were extremely helpful in making sure I got what I needed. The shifter, which I went out and purchased, may need to be modified to fit.

I'll either be dropping the transmission in tonight or sometime by the end of the break, also hoping that I will not have to require a lot of work (ie: cutting up the floor) in order to make it happen. There are still more parts to be installed and adapted, and I will provide more information on what I needed to make it all come together. I would love to have the measurements for my new driveshaft by the end of this week, so I can send them out and hopefully have this car back together soon.

though it brings me a lot of anxiety, I'm really excited at the prospect of having this car back on the road! the fact that it has been one of the toughest semesters of my life hasn't made this process any easier, but it certainly is gratifying to feel like it is hopefully coming to a close soon.

[kibur]

Just a heads up to anyone planning on swapping an AR5 instead of an R154, the later AR5's have a different mounting style than the earlier ones. The earlier ones have a style of mount on the bottom of the transmission, much like the w58 or r154 design. This can be seen in this diagram (parts 1-2-3).


Unfortunately, my ever-so-wonderful luck shined through once again. I had the later model transmission, from an '07 Sky. It requires a bracket that somehow wasn't included with the transmission, and is NLA from GM with no part number. It can be seen in the below diagram, and attached are pictures of the mounting style and where the bracket went.

'

So I called up the junkyard I bought the transmission from, explained what happened, and it turned out they had an 06 Solstice transmission with the correct mounting style. I brought back the 07 Sky transmission after returning everything to stock (truthfully it is in slightly better condition than when I purchased it lol), ate the $100 "restocking" fee and now I should be able to throw this in whenever I have time. Regardless of which end the misunderstanding occurred on, the junkyard was incredibly professional and kind about the situation, which was a great breath of relief after dealing with the driveshaft place, who have continued to be a bunch of jerks (to put it nicely). For what its worth, my grandfather has been doing a ton better since my post a few back, which provided the greatest sense of relief possible here. As much as this car matters to me, it is much, much more important to see the health of a loved one improving.


This semester of school has been so incredibly stressful, yet I am feeling motivated as ever to tackle the mountain of schoolwork ahead of me and wrestle this transmission into the old Cressida, maybe with a little less issue this time. I joked with the junkyard when picking up the second transmission about how the second time should be the charm. I can only hope that its true.

[jayjaypea]

Glad to hear some things are starting to go your way, I'm rooting to see this thing back on the road!

[Loaf31]

Hope everything goes well for you, Brother! Glad your grandfather is doing well

[kibur]

The AR-5 has been completely assembled and mounted up to the motor. Still working on making a mount solution (the xcessive mounts will need to be slightly modified but it is not a big deal), as well as doing something with the shifter. I've heard a shifter from a JDM Soarer R154 is the part needed here, but we will see. Really hoping I do not have to cut up the floors at all.


Both of my projects in the same place. Can't wait to fix the E28 up nice once most of the issues with the Cressida have subsided... if they ever decide to.
Funny how I could have had a nice daily if I hadn't poured so much cash into both of these...


And some more E28 content just for the heck of it. Here she is covered in snow in my wonderful city of Philadelphia.
I've tracked down what could be quite a cool "beater" but the woman who owns it has lost the keys for it.
And I've also stumbled upon a mint X7, but I'm eyeballs deep in X7 problems for the moment.

I also graduated school, so I'm looking forward to having more time and money to waste on these automotive ventures.

[Cydro]

Congrats to you on graduating school! Had a great read going through this thread, really hope this thing gets on the road asap

[kibur]

Congrats to you on graduating school! Had a great read going through this thread, really hope this thing gets on the road asap

Hey, thank you! That means a lot.

So here's a little bit of an update. I always end up typing these from the school library, where I'm currently using their laptops/software, because it blows my old laptop out of the water. I've been looking for a job, especially in the media and communications field (graduated with a Journalism degree, but photo/video are also of interest). I've still been daily driving my BMW, but an update has come regarding a daily (realistically, another project, just less of one with a more practical outcome) and I am hoping things work out well in that regard.

Now to the good stuff...as far as the Cressida goes
- The AR-5 is IN THE CAR!!! The transmission tunnel was pulled with heat, and a slide hammer until it fit. we then welded up the holes, coated the welds so they wouldn't rust, and placed the carpet back over it.
- the xcessive manufacturing crossmember required a few thick washers and new hardware. the xcessive r154/w58 transmission mount was also able to work with a slight bit of modification, a new tab was welded on and it works great.
- I am awaiting a crown verossa shifter. This will work with the AR-5, and hopefully should allow the least amount of cutting to the transmission tunnel. If using the solstice shifter, the shifter would have ended up back by the e-brake. X7 problems...
- Motor is all back together and mounted in place, all the wires plugged back in, intercooler and radiator mounted back up, etc.
- I have found a new driveshaft shop to make me a driveshaft, and the car should be headed there next week!

Next update will be more comprehensive and have pictures of the mount, of the floors, and some other stuff, apologies in advance for anyone who was curious. Excited to finally be in the reassembly stage.

[theseeker411]

Glad to hear the project is moving forward man.