Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: my carina (Page 3 of 5)

New goodies: kouki Carina AA60 tail lights!

After missing out a couple of auctions on Carina AA60 tail lights, I decided I really had to get them the next time and contacted Ewan from Hayatonka. He understood the pain and difficulties, and did his best for me. After nearing the scary deadline the price rose quickly, but we managed to win the auction after all!

After being on a boat for four weeks the tail lights finally have arrived at my doorstep:
JDM Carina AA60 tail lights
A pair of zenki Carina AA60 tail lights, mid console and some other small stuff included in the auction. The lights basically look like they are brand new, so that was a very luck win!

The difference between the Carina AA60 and AA63 tail lights is that the AA63 ones are smoked. This means the AA63 ones look a bit blackish, while the AA60 are just normal ones. I can live without that I guess. 😉

Here you can compare how different they look from the zenki ones:

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My Carina: Carina GT-R Cluster pin layout


This Carina GT-R AA63 Cluster has already been lying in my shed for two years now.
Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: opened up
Carina GT-R AA63 cluster cleanup: opened up

Why? Well, there are three modifications I need to make:
1. Speedo cable on the wrong side, so I need to modify the cable-bracket to be mounted on the other side
2. An additional hole for the odometer reset button on the dash
3. Rewire the connector to match the AA63 pin layout

1 and 2 are not really problematic, but can only be solved when I’m mounting the new cluster. 3 is a bit more difficult since these clusters are not documented outside Japan. So I started following all wiring paths and documented where they went and what their use should be.
This is the table of changes (I found so far) to make:
AA63 Cluster pin layout
AA63 Cluster pin layout

As you can see it is far from complete: there are still seven questionmarks. So, next time I’ll try to figure these out as well.

In case you are wondering where the numbers are located on the clusters:
AA63 Cluster layout
AA63 Cluster layout

Carina LHD Cluster layout
Carina LHD Cluster layout

Carina RHD Cluster layout
Carina RHD Cluster layout

I did find a CD with all Japanese workshop manuals for the A40 and A60 series at Auctions Yahoo, but a steep buy-me-now price of 48 euro (68 US dollar) refrained me from buying it. I’ve trieed to contact the seller by email and asked if they can sell it directly to me, but no answer so far… So if anyone has the AA63 cluster pin layout, please contact me! 🙂

My Carina: 86068 and diamonds grille!


A few small updates on my Carina, I mounted a diamonds grille:
My carina: diamonds grille!
My carina: diamonds grille!

Earlier this week I finally mounted the diamonds-grille I bought from Rob (NZ) some months ago. I was only able to make pictures today. My Carina DX is suddenly upgraded to a ST! 😀
The white stripe on it is also a bit discolored, so I need to redo that soon, but nothing a rattlecan can’t fix. 😉

I also passed the 86k some days ago and today I managed to make this nice hachi-fanboy-mileage:
My carina: 86068 kilometers!
My carina: 86068 kilometers!

86068! I wanted to make a picture of my favorite combination 86063 (AE86 + AA63), but at that moment I was driving on the highway with 100km/h to my dad’s house, so that would have been a bit diffcult…

Carina Sightings: Lucky Seven!


Today I own my TA60 Carina for exactly three years! I bought it on the seventh of the seventh of the seventh (07-07-2007), so in other words: lucky seven! This is what the car looked like when I bought it:
When I bought the Carina TA60
When I bought the Carina TA60

You can even see my old AE86 parked in front of it!

I bought the car after my girlfriend (in the meanwhile she became my wife) became pregnant of our son. When test fitting the child seats in the AE86 it was clear that the only way to fit the child seat was to put it in the front seat. Since everyone trying to sit in the back of the AE86 was complaining about every speedbump I took, cramps and more of that I realized it would be impossible to keep the AE86. So I tried to find a four door Cressida, Corona or Carina and found this Carina in a good deal. Basically the TA60 Carina can be considered a four door AE86 with a puny engine: it has (almost) the same axle, the same gearbox, the same steering rack, same front struts and the only difference is the absence of a 4AGE and a LSD!

Carina TA60 Enginebay: the indestructible 2T engine!
Carina TA60 Enginebay: the indestructible 2T engine!

About the Carina itself: when I bought it it had only 73000 kilometers on the odometer. It had been imported from Germany and I am the third owner of the car. The car belonged to elderly people living near Koln and the car is exactly how you would expect elderly people to buy a car in the early 80s: lowest spec possible and automatic. 🙁
Actually the car having an automatic gearbox saved the Carina from being exported to Africa: they only want manual cars for export to Africa.

Celica Supra (Celica XX) wheels
Celica Supra (Celica XX) wheels

The car is basically still the same as when I bought it: it still has the same engine, autobox and open diff. Only upgrades done were shocks, brakes (mintex up front), Marchal yellow foglights and Celica XX alloys. I do have plans for engine and gearbox swap, but I still haven’t made up my mind yet on which engine and gearbox… Could be a 4AGE, 2TG or even an 18R-G.

My Carina: Marchal yellow foglights
My Carina: Marchal yellow foglights

Normally it is impossible to get it sideways, but on rainy days this car is a hoot and I love it when I manage to get it sliding! Also people do not expect such an old clunker to do stuff like that and certainly not a family car! The car learned me much more than the AE86 could ever have done! 😉

The Carina brought me luck so far: never had to spend large sums of money on it and it only failed on me once because I neglected to buy gas in time… Currently the age of the car is showing its toll: the bootlid and the roof have start to show some rust so there is definitely a need for a respray sometime soon!

And this is how the Carina looked this morning at 6:00:
Carina TA60 headlight and foglight
Carina TA60 headlight and foglight

She is cheerful, isn’t she?

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