few random ta22 q's

[solja]

hi again everyone, bit of an update our first rally date is fast approaching either late feb early march and I have a few questions.

1. our car was bought with no original keys and therefore we can't open our boot! anyone got suggestion on how to do this or any keys that might fit it? seems random keys fit the ignition barrel but still wont fit the boot...
2.cracked dashes, i've read a lot watched some youtube.... our dash is severely cracked... it's a rally car but would still like it to look the part it sounds reasonably easy to cut away, level the vinyl, then bog it and paint over it... is it as simple as it sounds? or should i get a dash mat!? lol

before i wrote this i could think of like 5 things to ask.... now after writting it i'm mentally blocked... I know there was more I wanted to ask... might think of them soon! thanks in advance

[mynameisrodney]

Take the back seat out. Remove the masonite sheet seperating the boot from the passenger compartment, and you should be able to reach in with something pointy to open the boot. There's probably an easier way, but thats the first thing that came to me. Plus you might be taking the back seat out for rallying anyway?

What do you mean "cut" the dash away?

Cheers,
Chris

[solja]

by cutting i just mean removing the cracked or lifted vinyl. so i have a flush edge n end result is smooth. yeh back seat was our thought will tackle it tomorrow i think. still cant think of my other questions lol they will come. oh C... lol are there any standard wheels you can get that fit that are 15" just looking for our tyres 13" rally tyres will b harder and more expensive to maintain 15 is common tyre size and on cars just any standard toyota rim do? like st204 celica etc?

[solja]

hmmm well ours is a 74 model and has the fuel tank in the boot. this makes reaching the boot latch inside rather difficult... i tried but not luck.
sry keyboard missed the 4... lol 74 model

[mynameisrodney]

Haha, whoops my bad. So used to looking at my flat-light I forgot about your fuel tank.

ST204 wheels wont fit. They are 5x100 and you need 4x114.3. Also the offset would be way off. Would 14" be ok or do you need 15"? Heaps of 80's RWD Toyotas would have 14" wheels that would fit.

Cheers,
Chris

[solja]

14s would stil be easier to buy id say just thought 15's are so common they are the cheapest rubber to buy

[Screamn_Sleeka]

Tip with the dash, don't take the dash out when you are cutting, bogging and sanding. Do that all first, then take it out and recover it with vinyl. Otherwise it wont keep it's shape and ill look wrong when you put it back in. Use regular vinyl, contact glue and a hammer and small nails/pins to hold it in shape.

For the lock/key situation. I took the ignition barrel, door locks and boot lock out of an 80's corona for cheap and fitted them to my 70's MKII couple. I had to MAKE it fit, but it all works off the one key now.

[solja]

Tip with the dash, don't take the dash out when you are cutting, bogging and sanding. Do that all first, then take it out and recover it with vinyl. Otherwise it wont keep it's shape and ill look wrong when you put it back in. Use regular vinyl, contact glue and a hammer and small nails/pins to hold it in shape.

For the lock/key situation. I took the ignition barrel, door locks and boot lock out of an 80's corona for cheap and fitted them to my 70's MKII couple. I had to MAKE it fit, but it all works off the one key now.

great suggestions screamer!! will take all of that on board when I'm setting up for the dash. I wasn't going to recover it tho, was just going to spray paint it with vinyal paint, do you rate that at all? I'm not after show quality just something that doesnt look hideous when someone looks through the window of the car it's a rally car after all it's interior is minimalistic to say the least lol.

As for the boot.... we tried to lever the latch up with a custom made peice of wood lol but it was too tight. SOooooooooooooooooooooooo we smash it with a screw driver!! lol seemed the logical next step now we have no lock and a perfectly formed hole to fit out finger in to unlatch the boot. lol we also scored about $150 worth of parts in our pirate booty! genuine new plug leads genuine dizzy bits (all of them), all the genuine badges dragons etc that had been removed and some water hoses that they obviously were the wrong ones lol along with a bunch of nasty cardboard and an entire forest full of leaves. the other positive was the boot is solid as a rock no rust. but has 1 small rectangular hole on the right side were the jack goes... look like somone jammed a flatblade through it lol

I have a 3rd question. If we buy SAAS, MONZA etc race buckets anyone know if they just bolt straight to the rails or have any clearance issues in a ta22?? Obviously being rally we are headed down the path of rollcage and harness

[mynameisrodney]

I use the VHT vinyl dye all the time and it works great. I actually use it on all my interior plastics as well as it seems to stick better than a lot of other spray paints. Take your time with it and do thin coats if you want a good finish.

I had a few small holes in my dash where somebody had screwed something to it. To fix these I filled the holes with silastic, waited for it to partially set, then quickly press on and remove a scrap piece of vinyl upside down into the top. If you get the timing right, this leaves an imprint of the vinyl pattern in the top of the silastic so it's harder to notice until you get really close. I cut a small section off the corner of the dash where it's covered by the corner pieces to use to do the imprint. I don't know how bad your cracks are, but this might work. (obviously do this before painting it)

Cheers,
Chris

[Silly Rabbit]

SAAS / Monza race buckets won't fit your standard rails and they will sit miles too high...those seats are not exactly the narrowest for fitting in a Celica also......if you have those seats you will probably need to fab up some mounts and if you want them to sit really low (for roll cage clearance etc) you would probably be best to cut the cross brace that the original seat mounts too.......then weld in new bracing.

...as for your key situation.....which you now have sorta solved......i just pull old keys out of Toyotas when I go to the wreckers........they are all usually worn and fit across all different models......i have about 10 Toyota keys that probably 5-6 fit my doors / boot / ignition.

[solja]

lol yes key situation is fixed haha for now... thanks for all the dash tips everyone there are some long cracks and a few wider ones so sure the finish wont be 100% but it will look much better i'm sure regardless whatever i do. so if those types of seats dont fit are there any standard race buckets types/styles people throw in? reason I brought this question up was someone locally was selling 2 brand new monza buckets with harnesses for $200 we were ready to jump on them but were sure they would be too big lol

[solja]

Umar to post a new thread go to forum home then find the category that suits ( tech and conversion) once there near the top left of the screen there will be a red button to +post new thread. There will b people here to help for sure but that sounds like a major modification u got planned!!

[umar66]

solja thanks allot really appreciate your help, i have been told the gt4 running gear wont fit so may have to use a gtr running. yhh it will be a big job but this is my dream car so has to be done thanks

[solja]

There is a thread that has a celica running skyline setup irs and all try and find it I can't remember the name videos and everything of the car running was some major work but if it's your dream hey shoot for the Stars!

[king-szeitszam]

Caam on here has just converted his sweet Ta23 to Nissaids- Umar you might want to have a chat with him if you have any specific questions since it'll all be fresh in his mind.
If not like solja said it's been done plenty of times before.