Advice for a TA22

[purplehaze]

Hi all,

New to thread so not sure if this is the right place to start,
I have a 74 TA22 with a 2T engine, stock standard drive-line and original interior. I would like some advice on compatibility with a few things.
Once she has been soda blasted & cleaned up there are little things I want to change, I would like to install A/C and run it through the existing vents rather than the big arse system that goes under the dash, and I want to change the steering box to a power steer rack, cause she's a little heavy to steer.
Just to start with anyway...lots more ideas..lol

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Rachael.

[king-szeitszam]

Hi all,

New to thread so not sure if this is the right place to start,
I have a 74 TA22 with a 2T engine, stock standard drive-line and original interior. I would like some advice on compatibility with a few things.
Once she has been soda blasted & cleaned up there are little things I want to change, I would like to install A/C and run it through the existing vents rather than the big arse system that goes under the dash, and I want to change the steering box to a power steer rack, cause she's a little heavy to steer.
Just to start with anyway...lots more ideas..lol

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Rachael.

Welcome to toymods!
I'm not too sure exactly what you're asking, but in reference to the steering- it's to be expected that they're heavy compared to modern cars. Keep in mind these oldies only have recirculating ball steering and can't compare to modern cars at all. It's just something you learn to love.
If you must upgrade the steering then it really depends on how much you want to spend; anything's possible with the right amount of money. The most straight forward upgrade is the AE86 rack and pinion (note: rack and pinion is not to be confused with power steering) which can be made to bolt in with a few fairly hefty mods and some custom fabrication.

Any mods you do to the steering in terms of p/s or r & p will require a lot of time and money- it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.

If you want more information from an expert talk to Sam_Q on here- he knows his stuff and used to make bolt in AE86 rack and pinion kits for TA22's- not sure if he still does or not.
He'll be able to talk to you about the cost vs. gain of this project and give you a better idea of what's involved.
Here's his website SQ Engineering - Index


All that said, these are old cars. They don't have all the features of a modern vehicle and my opinion is that if someone wants all the mod-cons and fancy do-dads then they should spend their money on a nice little Barina instead of a car going on 50 years old.
When I first got my TA22, switching from driving a brand new Skoda, it was a shock. No A/C, no electronics to boast of, I even got a little damp when it rained.
Even after 2 years and every spare cent I had it still steers like a mac-truck, is loud as anything, is hot in summer, cold in winter.. But would I trade it for anything? Not in a million years.


I guess my advise would be sure, go ahead and do as many mods as you want- it's all been done before and the information is there- but keep in mind that for a few creature comforts that would come standard in a new car, you'll pay through your nose in one of these. Although that never stopped any of us

Having no idea where you want to take this car or what you want out of it- upgrades I would do before I looked at steering would be an engine swap 2T for 2TG/2TGEU/Hybrid ($1000+) or 4AGE ($4000+) and then look at the brakes- Rona/Pug/Hilux brake upgrade or just upgrade big brakes with hopper stoppers if you're lazy ($1000). Front coilovers for a bit of handling and bragging rights. Swaybars front and rear, strut brace if you're serious.

All depends on money. Give us an idea of what you want, what your budget is and what your goals are and it'll be easier to suggest what to do.



Cheers,
kingy

[Lambolica]

steering wise. A freshen up of the steering components makes the world of difference to the steering feel. Running close to stock rubber/ wheel offset keeps the steering light as well.

You'd be surprised at how quickly your arms strengthen to the stock steering, otherwise as said above, AE86 / AE70 rack & pinion can be made fit by the right persons and can be had in power steer flavor. I do find times when it is heavy but this is mainly reverse parking in tight spots, turning the wheel without the car moving. Once driving it is fine.

A/C wise, I'm looking at options as well and I'm circling around a vintage air under dash evaporator setup that looks like it will fit under the dash, blow hot/cold air through whatever vents and may well retain the factory slider setup in the dash for originality. It will be in the order of $2000 to get it even close to installed thou.

[king-szeitszam]

Yep bang on what Lambolica said. There's also a screw on the steering box that can be tightened to reduce steering play, most people report much tighter steering afterwards with increased responsiveness. There's a thread on here somewhere with the details

Edit: here it is http://www.toymods.org.au/forums/tec...provement.html

[purplehaze]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, and thank you both for the suggestions.
My intentions are to do a full sympathetic resto to as close to original condition, but with a few mod cons if possible. I hope she will be my daily, so I have no intentions of racing, rallying, or entering the 1/4 mile or burnout comps with it.
20 years ago I had a TA22 2tb, and loved it then, still love them now, & was lucky enough to find one for sale at the same time I had money to pay for it...only took me 5 years to do.
Yes, I am used to driving a new car with the mod cons, but haven't forgotten this girl is as old as me, we have the same problems that come with being nearly 40...lol.
At this stage I'm throwing out ideas to see what can & can't be done & whats involved. I hadn't thought of an engine upgrade, I'd like to keep the original engine in her, but maybe take the single carbi off & put twin side draughts on, maybe play with the cam & the heads, but if something comes along, who knows, will look at it then. but for now the engine can wait till the body & the interior are where I want them.
If I get a ball park on adding A/c etc, I will know how much I can spend on re-trimming & paint work.. I guess I am at the research & ideas stage so I can put a plan & timeline in place and work things around my budget (at this stage only 5k), but, hubby just finished a bare metal resto of an XD, and has the tools & can do all the mechanics, his besty does all our body work & respraying, and I have a close friend who manages an auto parts store so lucky there.

Cheers all, look forward to learning more from you all.

[king-szeitszam]

If it's just going to be a daily I'd say the $1k you'd spend on a rack and pinion upgrade would be better spent elsewhere- the mechanics would be my recommendation. There's not much point in having a car that looks good and steers well if it doesn't go forwards and backwards.
The 2TG engine was available in some of the TA22 variants (it was the GT spec engine) and could be considered another "original" engine to have in there. As this engine was a factory option you do not require a mod-plate for it, at least in QLD you don't. It's a fantastic engine with a lot of potential.

I owned a 2T before my 2TG and had twin carbs on it as you mentioned. For a daily car I wouldn't recommend it as it's not a matter of simply bolting them on. Yes they will physically fit and work if you make an adapter plate for them- but keep in mind the 2T is a single cam pushrod engine and doesn't cope too well with 44 Solex's strapped on the side without further mods. To make it work you will need to have the carbs jetted smaller than they are stock and tuned quite lean, this costs a lot of money. The standard cam does not cope well with the increased fuel flow and air velocity and needs to be upgraded to something more agressive with higher lift and longer duration. Then you start looking at big valves and a port and polish to increase flow rates.
At the end of it all you have spent double the amount of money modding a 2T pushrod as a whole 2TG engine costs.
Thus my advice- buy a 2TG with twin sidey's on it- treat it to a new set of cams and a recondition and you're laughing. It'll be a much more street-friendly car and I daresay more reliable too.

I'm not going to even pretend that a 2TB (twin downdraft 2T) is a sensible thing to suggest to you now as I have only seen one twin down-draft manifold for sale ever in the past few years- and it was $800.

Not to say 2T's aren't great engines- because they are. But if you're thinking of twin carbs then you'd be better off going with the 2TG. Your husband sounds like he knows what he's doing so the engine swap should be easy for him- it is very simple and a bolt-in job. No mods required.


You can expect paint and panel to cost you about $3000. That's what I was quoted 6 months ago by my restorer and that included rust removal, dent removal and full 2pac respray. If you know the guy you get to do it well, then it might even be less.
There isn't very much flexibility to be had though as paint costs have risen quite dramatically and they still need to charge for their time. So that's a big chunk of your 5k already gone.

With the interior I strongly advise you to do it PROPERLY. This means going to an upholsterer and getting a quote on a new carpet and trims for the doors and seats. I am NOT referring to the cheap "readymade" crap you can buy off ebay- it doesn't fit, it comes in two pieces and it looks like rubbish unless you're some sort of carpet magician.
A proper cut-to-fit carpet custom made from an upholsterer will set you back about $700 installed. However I recommend forking out the extra cash and putting sound-deadening underlay underneath the carpet too.
I have just invested $500 in sound proof underlay and I can tell you that it is the best $500 I've spent on this car since the new engine was put in. It's like driving an Audi.
It's a real pain to install underlay yourself as you need to take everything out of the car and go back to the bare chassis- so you might as well save yourself the headache and get the upholsterer to do it for you. I was quoted $1000 for both a new carpet and sound proof underlay.

Expect another $1000 roughly for new interior trims- seats, door, sides, roof etc. A lot of places don't upholster dashes so you'll have to hunt around for one that does. A reupholstered dash will cost you about $350.

Cheers.

[purplehaze]

Awesome info, thanks, got a trimmer coming out today to quote for me, and yes cards, carpet, headlining & seats are all being done, dash will probs go to dash Doctors for re-skinning. Might research 2tg engines and see whats about ;-)

[king-szeitszam]

No worries
I know of someone selling a 2TG if you're interested let me know.

[Lambolica]

Damn... Where do you guys get your paint & trimming done?!? My quotes are a lot more than that.

If it is a daily driver with minimal intent on serious modification I'd be looking at the 2T-C / 2T-B / 2T-G as they are factory option engines and don't need engineering in most states. For a Daily driver the 2T-C isn't bad if it is healthy, I daily drive mine about 30-40,000 km last year and the 2T-C was up to the task, reliable and reasonably fuel economic. If you are planning on minimal modifications to the engine there isn't a huge difference in power from a 2T-C to a 2T-G from factory specs. If modifying start with a 2T-G. For reference my 2T-C turned 45rwkw at the last dyno day and when pushed could keep up with the modified Celicas on the twisties. I have recently put in a 4AGE 20v thou for better fuel economy/power etc.

[Silly Rabbit]

Or for another engine option you could go for a 3TC out of a T18 / TE72 Corolla. I run one in my red '22 and completely standard with a set of 40mm twin Solexes I have turned 74rwkws which is close enough to 100 horsepower at the rear wheels. They are exactly the same as a 2T but have a longer stroke that gives them a 1.8 litre capacity as opposed to the 1.6 of the 2T.

If you are just looking at keeping it standard and just running around in it the 2T will be adequate. But if you have dollars then you have plenty of options and ways to spend it.

[king-szeitszam]

Damn... Where do you guys get your paint & trimming done?!? My quotes are a lot more than that.

K.G's Paint and Panel Restorations. Good guy, always does it the cheapest he can. He charges $150 for bumper resprays and generally $33 an hour for rust repairs. If you want a whole panel stripped and painted it's about $300 depending on size. Pretty easy to do the maths from there, damn cheap.
The trimming price was from JLS Auto Upholsterer- there's some pretty cheap trimmers around Brisbane south side well worth a look if you can be bothered to drive up.

3TC isn't a bad option, there was some el cheapo's on Gumtree recently but they looked like they'd need a bit of lovin' to get close to the figures quoted above. Any fuel economy figures on the 1.8 twin carb Silly Rabbit?

Heaps of options as previously mentioned. I'm just harping on about the 2TG as I've just put one in my car and I'm still in the honeymoon phase.

[Silly Rabbit]

I'd have to say the fuel economy on my 3T is probably about 400k's to a tank so reasonably economical. Another quick and easy upgrade is a 32/36 Weber carburettor on the standard 2T manifold. I ran one on my 3T before the twins and it was a great carb. Economy and power when you put your foot down. More options for the mix.

[king-szeitszam]

Yeah I had a 32/36 Weber on my 2T for quite a while. Was a great little carb. Lots of parts for them to if you're willing to pay.

[Lambolica]

My 2T-C with a 3T-C carby gets (got) 500-550km out of a tank driving to work (8.8L/100km), closer to 600 on the open road for reference

[king-szeitszam]

With the Weber I managed 450-500km on a tank, but I usually fang it around a little bit. With the twin carbs on the 2T it was about 300km to a tank.