Frankenstein's Monster- '81 Scorpion

[75wagon]

These rims look very similar to Rota Grids.
Although they do have a deeper outer lip.



What's the price of these like by comparison?
The Rota grids seem to sell between $800 to $1400 a set (depending on size and seller).
But Rota Grid Offroads start at 16x8 inches wide and go up from there.

Dave...

[webby]

They probably cost twice that new, second hand would be about the same though.

The Rota's are knockoffs of the TE37, probably why they look similar
I've seen too much of this:

on the interwebs for me to be able to trust Rota's entirely. Otherwise they'd be a good option

[75wagon]

Ouch, that's nasty.
Here's hoping it doesn't happen to mine

Dave...

[A112H]

Have you searched for pics of other brands Webby?

Factory Aston Martin wheel


Factory Lotus wheel


Enkei


Caddy


Not ROTA


Old skool


Even old Simmons can break

[LEE]

all of those pics have impact damage , Rota spokes crack just from poor roads , ive broken 3 in the past by hitting ripple strips on a race track , the rims are forged style light , but cast made , very very brittle- Id honestly look at getting the car running properly before blowing your next cheque

[webby]

Fair enough, but the Rota's are the only wheel I've seen crack/break without a pretty serious hit from the side. Granted, 99% of what I have seen has been from the internet but still

'tis running properly, just need to retorque the hg (on Dad's orders, to be done after 1k km. At 800-odd already lol) and fix the rattling air cleaner lid clip thingy and Bob's your uncle
Also, I'm getting the rust holes fixed by a mate of mine for a carton of VB, so I'm pretty happy with that

[pistorf]

They probably cost twice that new, second hand would be about the same though.

The Rota's are knockoffs of the TE37, probably why they look similar
I've seen too much of this:

on the interwebs for me to be able to trust Rota's entirely. Otherwise they'd be a good option

Hit a kerb hard enough with anything and the will break.
Superlights crack between the lug holes ,yet people still swear by them.

[webby]

Yep, that's probably true. But I've absolutely hammered genuine wheels into gutters before and they never shattered, just needed a fairlty sizeable dent knocking out of the barrels/new outer barrels. One of the hits bent the rear control arm and tore one of it's mounts out of the subframe (R30 Skyline), so they weren't lovetaps
For reference, a cast Work XD9 from a JZX90 that hit a gutter, shattering the brake disc and forcing one of the fragments into the wheel:


If the brake disc hadn't shattered it would have been fine, maybe a bit of gutter rash. None of the spokes were damaged, the lip wasn't bent etc. Hit a gutter with a Rota copy however, and you get the above result. Unless you're very lucky.

Yes, I USED to indulge in fuckwit behaviour on public roads, but only at 2am when there wasn't any one else around. That doesn't make it legal, but still. I'm over that stage now, I have to drive further to get my skid on (Wakefield is the closest track I know of) but it's worth it for the lack of fines and loss of licence that I'm now enjoying

Anyway, now that we've decided that I don't like Rota's very much, one of my brand new chain guides appears to have broken because it sounds like my brand new timing chain is slapping like a bitch. either that or the tackety lifter it developed after the car went back together had suddenly decided to rattle and carry on from 2.5-4k
I'll have a look when I retorque the HG and see what I can see

[webby]

Turns out there isn't a single rubber bush left in the car. They're all polyurethane.
There's also been a clunking from the front suspension that I've been meaning to hunt out, but haven't got around to it yet. It's either a loose caliper bolt or one of the bolts holding the strut to the steering arm has come loose, so it's probably a good thing it's out of fuel
Today's list is find that clunk, lower the front and take some photo's for the site front page

[webby]

Rant/language warning, if you're going to be offended by the large amount of expletives in the following post then you probably shouldn't scroll down :

So this piece of shit has spun a f@*king bearing all of 1200k's after I rebuilt the f@*king thing
Now I've got to fork out more money that I don't have to fix the bloody thing so I don't have to walk everywhere.
NOT F@#KING HAPPY!!!!!
I hate it, I should have saved my money and bought a f@*king decent car instead of this piece of shit. F@#K!!!!!!!!!

[webby]

Sorry bout the rage attack folks, as you can probably guess I was NOT happy

Anyway, I'm going to pull down that Magna bottom end I've been talking about to see what it's like, if it's any good I'll give it a hone and bung it back together with the head off the car and drive it like that. 12:1 or whatever it is probably is a bit much, but it'll do until I can get my hands on a cheap NA 4G63

[webby]

Wow, haven't been on here in a while
My diagnosis skills are rubbish, so I had Dad have a listen for me. He thinks it's run a balance shaft, so I'll be buying an eliminator kit and throwing them in the bin. If that doesn't fix it, I'll go with the Magna block thing.

[webby]

Well, it's no longer dropping my mate's neighborhood's real estate values. Dad made a 10pm run with a car trailer so it's out at his now.
I'm going with the Magna bottom end idea. I need to source a GN timing case and order a full gasket kit and a balance shaft eliminator kit, once I have those and put the motor together and in it'll be good to go for a pinkslip. I get paid again in 2 weeks, so I'll buy/order that stuff then and it should be registered by mid March. Fingers crossed that will be the end of the reliability issues I've been having.

What sort of comp ratio should I be expecting from a 2.6 Astron 1 with Magna flat tops?

[webby]

I'm thinking seriously about scrapping this and using it as parts for my GE. With the amount of problems this car has I have my doubts it'll pass rego again, and the GE is in a LOT better condition both body- and mechanical-wise. It just needs a windscreen, the wheels and front suspension from the GJ and a motor to be ready to go.
I'll talk it over with Dad on the way to Cobar tomorrow, and see what happens from there.

[webby]

Turns out the locally owned parts shop here in town does awesome prices for me because the owner's mates with my dad, so mechanical dramas are no worries
Anyway, the engine is out. The crank has a pretty awesome crack through No.3 rod journal, and there's no lip left to hold the bearing in the rod. I have a spare crank and heaps of rods, which is good, and bearings are ~$115, which is awesome

[webby]

Seeing as I have to fix some rust before rego anyway I might commandeer my mate's garage and do a closed door respray in that common as sheep shit in a shearing shed and therefore dirt cheap off-white you see on VN's and the like. Either that or red, I haven't decided yet.
I may have to pull the right hand front guard off, give it a rough going over with a hammer and a block of wood and smooth it over with bog, unless I can find a straight guard for cheap.

[webby]

Parts shop tells me there's two different types of throwout bearing. I have no idea which one I need, so I might just buy both and sell the one I don't need.

[webby]

Bearings are here, I'm going to get stuck into this thing tomorrow with a bit of luck

[Smithy]

Good luck with it mate

[webby]

Cheers dude.
Anyways, the engine's done and back together with the Magna crank and rods, just need to drop it back into the car, fill it with oil and run it in. Hopefully this will be the last major issue I have for at least a year
While it was out I did the clutch throwout and spigot bearings, as they were grumbly and horrible. No more whine from the trans hopefully

[webby]

Everything is together, in the car and almost ready to go Just need to fill up on oil, coolant and fuel.
I would have had it finished tonight, but I was gettingt owned by the mozzies that had bred in the dam. I had 17 on my arm at once there at one stage

[13bsigma]

i hate mozzies lol..

good on you for sticking to it mate i dont know how many times i rebuilt my motor of my first car.. a red GJ scorpion. 4 times i think.. but ilearned a valuable skill and got a passion for the cars. i nearly murdered the car so many times though out of anger, but got through in the end.. so a big for your commitment bud

[webby]

Fluids are all topped up. It should be good to go, but the farken dizzy's out 90deg or so, really cbf fixing it right now so I'm going to take a break.

[webby]

Also, I'm planning on making it to Sydney for the All Jap Day on May 1st. I've got to come up with the $15 entry fee as I'm currently broke, but that's easy enough to get around.

[webby]

No dice, there was more than just bearings wrong with the engine. It's still making an awesome metallic rattle. Also, it appears I had a brain fart and forgot to do the oil pump drive sprocket up, so it's flown off and punched a hole in the timing case.
This car has just been problem after problem after problem, so I'm going to start over with the white car. This will donate a few bits then go to scrap, unless someone wants it.

[13bsigma]

did you check the balance shaft bearings?? that was what caused probs in my scorp and one of the reasons i rebuilt the motor. .

[webby]

Yep, they were buggered also so they got replaced while the engine was out. Cunt of a job, had to get my uncle to come and do it with some special tool
To be honest, I'm not 100 percent sure what I want to do with it, but it's been nothing but headaches so far so I'm going to concentrate on the other car for a while.

[13bsigma]

yeah, i remember it was lol. i had to get my block sent away!! it cost $400 to $500 to get it done! the next time i rebuilt the engine i got myself a shalf eliminator kit for like $67 lol.

[webby]

Way I'd do it is turn the weights off the balance shafts on a lathe and do it that way, I don't trust the oil pump not to crap out without the shaft there to support it
Anyways, I had another look and I'm pretty sure I had a brain fart and forgot to do the oil pump drive sprocket up properly, hence the rattle and the nice hole in my timing case. I'll suss it out properly later, gotta go to town today.
So I'm going to keep at it

[webby]

Start taking notes people, because THIS is how you put a Scorp together PROPERLY.




Incidentally it's also the direction I'm planning on heading for my car. Different colour (I'm thinking charcoal grey), no front spoiler, different rims (gunmetal or black Watanabe RS-8 with the red pinstripe) and about an inch and a half lower, but you get the picture.