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

[kibur]

Quick update.



Had a friend of mine press in the new stub axle, and some buddies came down from CT for a weekend to hang out. We got to drive the car around, things felt mostly good. Enjoyed a few more weeks of fun, but of course, some new (but not unforeseen) problems have arisen.


Air/fuel ratio gauge is showing this. I think the sensor went bad, but it was running slightly lean prior to this. I think I should probably get it tuned, but it's also on stock ECU. I hear Greddy's eManage works well as a piggyback type solution? I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to turbos or tuning

Also, I believe I am running into issues stemming from the driveshaft adapter. Here is the product in question.

I've had vibrations at highway cruising speed (though around town driving felt fine) ever since I got a driveshaft made to work with this adapter. I spoke to someone who had an AR5 (with adapter) in their X7, and after they experienced issues similar to mine, they went back to r154 with much better results. I've also recently had issues where the adapter is hitting the shifter housing after tightening the housing down a bit, and it sounds absolutely horrible. does anyone else run this transmission, and if so, do you use the flange adapter? Not trying to blame the part, but some more feedback would be appreciated.

I plan to remove the driveshaft and give the driveline a thorough go-over, because I am in no position to have a new driveshaft made, and barely have the time/money to allocate for fixing this. First thing I plan to do is check the AR5 output flange, and make sure the driveshaft adapter is nice and snug. Last time I was in there, the hardware into the adapter was loose. I'm not sure if it backed out, or if the shop who installed the driveshaft made a rather egregious error, but I still want to check with everything out. I have a 4.11 welded rear, and I have heard from others that a switch to higher gearing helps. I also want to check the differential to see if there was damage from the driveshaft explosion that could still be causing issues, but luckily I have a back up at home, and another friend parting an X7 at the moment, so it's not a huge deal if it ends up being an issue.

[kibur]

Glad you were able to store and get this running! I haven't been to the Carlisle events before. If you do come out this way don't hesitate to shoot me a PM, I'd be down.

It's looking a little bit unlikely now. Would have been fun, but I've decided against running any events in this car for the foreseeable future.

[TheSavoy]

No worries! Things are going pretty solid at the moment. My friend Jim lent me storage for the winter, and pressed in the new stub axle for me. I should be driving this again shortly, and I'm very excited! Also, I'm not sure if you go to Carlisle events, but I might try to bring this out during the summer.

Glad you were able to store and get this running! I haven't been to the Carlisle events before. If you do come out this way don't hesitate to shoot me a PM, I'd be down.

[19birel]

Wow what a roller coaster! Hang in there though man, it'll feel that much sweeter once you get her all sorted out!

[kibur]

I just read your thread as well. Man this is tough, I hope you get it all worked out.

I know nothing about these cars but if you need some space to work on this, I could clear out one of my bays for you to do some work. Only issue is I'm out in central Pa near Harrisburg.

No worries! Things are going pretty solid at the moment. My friend Jim lent me storage for the winter, and pressed in the new stub axle for me. I should be driving this again shortly, and I'm very excited! Also, I'm not sure if you go to Carlisle events, but I might try to bring this out during the summer.

[TheSavoy]

I just read your thread as well. Man this is tough, I hope you get it all worked out.

I know nothing about these cars but if you need some space to work on this, I could clear out one of my bays for you to do some work. Only issue is I'm out in central Pa near Harrisburg.

[kibur]

So. I just read all of this thread. Ho-lee-sh*t.

I commend you for your patience with this project, and ability to adapt. If you decide to part ways with the car, it's understandable, but I almost feel that it should end with you.
As someone who is graduating in 3 short months, and has project cars, I know the struggle. And I am slowly realizing that graduating most likely will not mean freedom and time for cars haha.
I gave you a follow on IG and hope to see some more progress in whatever car you decide to pick up next(or this one!).

Thanks! I really don't want to let it go, but we'll see what happens over time. There are ways to budget and make time for the hobby as a fresh grad, but it isn't easy to prioritize it as much as I have in the past (which is well documented by this thread).

Anyone got suggestions for a rear end on this? Found out the CV axles are NLA, as are the axle stubs. I've heard of people converting to a Ford IRS 8.8" rear with a modified subframe and components, or a Nissan S-chassis subframe and components. I've also heard how the entire IS200 Altezza differential can be swapped in place of the X7 diff, and apparently its internal components swap over into the X7 pumpkin as well.

[Darkyoshi154]

So. I just read all of this thread. Ho-lee-sh*t.

I commend you for your patience with this project, and ability to adapt. If you decide to part ways with the car, it's understandable, but I almost feel that it should end with you.
As someone who is graduating in 3 short months, and has project cars, I know the struggle. And I am slowly realizing that graduating most likely will not mean freedom and time for cars haha.
I gave you a follow on IG and hope to see some more progress in whatever car you decide to pick up next(or this one!).

[kibur]

Damn dude that sucks all of this has happened. I wish I had more space to help you out and knew a little more about these cars.

it sucks, but it's how it goes when you don't have space and learn as you go. this was a terrible car to learn on, and I think it's definitely time to take a break from it.

shit, I'm almost half tempted to throw a 5m back in it.

[hinrichs]

Damn dude that sucks all of this has happened. I wish I had more space to help you out and knew a little more about these cars.

[kibur]

I'm so sorry about those guys.. sound like real scum bags.

If you care and if it helps, the cv axle part number for both sides is 60-5142 from Cardone. I know some places online still sell them

thanks for the heads up on the part number. I've been thinking about sending my old axles back to cardone as cores for some re-manufactured units, but unfortunately its seeming like most places online are either out of stock or absurdly expensive.

[nishy]

I'm so sorry about those guys.. sound like real scum bags.

If you care and if it helps, the cv axle part number for both sides is 60-5142 from Cardone. I know some places online still sell them

[kibur]

Shortly before making my last post, the engine on my daily driver Honda failed. Disappointing timing, considering I bought the thing almost exclusively to be a winter beater, and it died in the middle of the winter. As stated before, the stub axle for the Toyota was discontinued, and finding another one was proving to be hard. I located another Cressida in a junkyard local to me and set my sights on the stub axle from it.


First trip, I end up removing most of the rear end components, snag the CV axles, rear calipers and a few other parts. Second trip, I try to remove the stub using a hammer and punch, since there is an indent for a punch. No luck. Come back a third time with a slide hammer to pull the stub, in ten degree weather. Still nothing, and my arms were mashed potatoes from the slide hammer.

On the fourth and final try, in 8 degree weather with snow on the ground, my friend Johnny and I ended up pulling the whole trailing arm, just to get the stub.
JUST SO YOU KNOW - I'M RATHER POSITIVE THE ONLY WAY TO GET THE STUB AXLE OUT OF THE X7 CRESSIDA IS TO PRESS IT OUT. YOU'LL NEED TO REMOVE THE WHOLE TRAILING ARM, AND IT IS UNAVOIDABLE. DID I MENTION THAT THIS CHASSIS BLOWS AND YOU SHOULD AVOID IT? IT'S FUN LEARNING THESE LESSONS IN THE MIDDLE OF A FRIGID NORTHEAST WINTER.


Oh, and while all this is happening - a friend offered me space and help with fixing the Civic and Cressida at a shop he shares with his family. He helped me pull the stub axle out over thanksgiving weekend, and told me we'd get a rear end situation sorted on the car to figure out my axle issues. He insisted on me bringing my car down. And then when the Civic's engine went, the weekend before christmas - "tow it down, it should be an easy swap." After both times, communication faded out, but I had no reason to see why things would go south, since he had been helpful and knowledgeable before.

On JANUARY FUCKING SECOND, he hits me up and tells me the gist of "I'm too busy with working to help you on your cars. I can help with the Cressida because its one part and should be easy, but can't help with the Honda. you've got a week to get the cars out, or you've got to begin paying storage on them." Frustrating, but whatever. It's not my space and I was grateful for his willingness to help in the first place.

Also, my friend employed another local guy who I knew. Local guy was friends with the character that stole my money and screwed me on the valve seal job that ruined my 5MGE - in fact, he'd indirectly recommended me to the kid who screwed me on my engine. When the ordeal happened with the engine, the scumbag mechanic tried to lowball me for the Cressida after you know, he took my money, lied to me, and blew my fucking engine up. Needless to say, I stopped associating myself with this dude, and I wasn't super stoked that my friend had decided to employ him.

So what does this dude do, when I'm trying to sell my cars, out of absolute frustration and being at my wits end? He hits me with an offer that I pay him $600 to fix the civic, and give him the Cressida for free. He also talks about how the car is worthless, and mentions various issues its having... on the for sale post. He lowballed me when I had the car apart, just like his scumbag buddy did. I couldn't help but feel that once again, I was being sabotaged.

And not to mention - someone messaged me on Instagram describing issues his 1JZ MX73 with an AR-5 swap was having, and they went away by switching to R154. of course, these were issues similar to the ones I had been experiencing. I'm in no position to go out and buy another R154, re-swap everything over (bellhousing, flywheel, master/slave cylinders, etc.), have another driveshaft made... and that's before I even address the weak ass rear end, because finding these parts has been near impossible. And did I mention, I may have damaged the stub axle trying to hit it with the hammer and punch, because I didn't know any better. Really lovely trying to learn new things on a car out of necessity, only to end up fucking yourself over.

$220 and two tows later, both of my vehicles are removed from that shop. Yet, I can't help but feel like this was the final straw in the camel's back. I've been taken advantage of countless times and I don't know where to turn anymore. I think I've got no choice but to put this project on hold for the foreseeable future, and I would potentially be open to offers to sell it.

[kibur]

You live SCARY close to me, haha. I've been following this thread forever and somehow I never realized this. I've also somehow never seen your car around anywhere. I used to see that weird looking black and yellow supra parked on the side of 191 every day when I was in high school though. Good times.

Anywho, this thing is awesome. Your dedication to this thing after the whole driveshaft fiasco and the myriad of other issues really impresses me. I get frustrated and want to give up on my projects when dumb crap breaks, but you're all in on this, and I envy that.

assuming you're in the Lehigh Valley area? I actually live further south in PA, but I get around the state a lot. I have friends all over, but a handful of close ones live in the LV, such as my friend Justin who was very instrumental in getting the turbo fixed up. fun fact about that supra: apparently it has a supercharged Tundra V6 engine in it.

a big part of the reason you've probably never seen this is because it never works, lol. I definitely feel like I've went a little bit too hard on it, part of me wants to keep going but if things aren't solid after the rear end upgrades and some other upgrades, I think it may be time to cut my losses and move on. I'll never get back the money or time I have into this thing, but the ratio of enjoyment to repairs is way skewed towards the latter, and that sucks. at least its been an interesting learning experience.

man your dedication to this is awesome. I would have given up long ago. on topic of the diff, i recommend that LSD asap so many people are welded advocates because they've never had a good lsd. you wont regret it in terms of drivability, parking, reliability, its better in every way except for cost.

thanks for the kind words. I'm actually looking forward to building something else that isn't miserable in every single way, but unfortunately it's looking like real life is going to make me stick to the cressida for now. I don't know when in the near future I'll be able to build anything else, so I may as well continue to stick it out with this.

I've driven cars with both welded and lsd's, and I have to say I enjoy both. However, it's a bit different with the X7. I've spoken to multiple owners and they've said they feel a welded in the x7 makes the car incredibly choppy (like moreso than another chassis with a welded in it) and I completely agree. I'm trying to get this thing to be as driveable as possible, and I think the rebuilt rear will be helpful in that regard. At this point I've been so fucked on money with this car that I don't mind coughing up for the 2-way.

[meech]

man your dedication to this is awesome. I would have given up long ago. on topic of the diff, i recommend that LSD asap so many people are welded advocates because they've never had a good lsd. you wont regret it in terms of drivability, parking, reliability, its better in every way except for cost.