Ideas, Please

[banzaijoe]

Trueno: Yup, I'll be at Japfest with my 86. We've got a new trailer stand and the Corolla will be one of the cars on our plot. I'll be manning the stand with a couple of our advertising girls, so you're all welcome to come over and have a chat – I'm a friendly, approachable kinda guy. Honest!

86Jay: Yup, every month from the June issue there'll be features on my Corolla. I'm planning to run the series for at least a year. So get those orders in to your newsagent to save them for you. Don't want any cheapskates reading the article in the shop and not paying for the mag!

;)

[PazzaAE86]

Hi Joe, glad youve got an 86 and im glad youve come here for advice cus at the very least, it wont have 17"s and Neons... Ugh! Ive skimmed over the replies so im not 100% on whats been covered allready but i dont think anyone has mentioned RCA's and such...

I have strong views on what should and shouldnt be done on AE86's and so airing them here will start fights :D But Celica Supra alloys need to be banished and i believe 13" wheels can be a bit too small, i certainly wouldnt run them but the donut guys in Ireland swear by them. On my Levin i ran wide and low offset 15" Hoshino Mesh and on my Trueno im running everything in 14" (RS Watanabe, SSR MkII, Longchamp XR4, Advan Oni and a few others). I can provide more details of my sizes (width and offset) if you wish.

As for suspension, i wouldnt put anything thats available off the shelf in the UK onto any of my AE86's, for example Bilstiens and Koni's. Never. Gaberiel Tylers T3 Coilovers dont seem too bad, Tokico HTS with your own Coilover conversion would be cheaper. KG/MM do good short stroke springs, ive heard good things about Espiler and ofcourse, TRD Japan (Technocraft) comes highly recomended for shocks and springs. There shock stroke is 20mm longer than the HTS so it requires less spacer in the front shock housing yet still offers a high level of performance and adjustability. Also quite cheap if you can find a supplier. T3 is the easiest option however and basically coilovers provide the adjustabilty that you will need in the future so buying them now saves paying again later IMHO.

Once lowered, you NEED Roll Centre Adjusters at the front. Any lowered AE86 without RCA's (Roll Centre Adjusters) will suffer from more bump steer and natural understeer than desirable. The idea is to match your drop in mm with the hieght of the RCA but in reality its not entirely possible, but any RCA makes a dramatic change in AE86 handling. 30mm to 40mm seems to be the most common sizes. Battle Version, Cusco, T3 are the most readily available items. T3 also offers an "NRCA". This allows you to increase Negative Camber at the bottom of the strut but having multiple mounting posistions. It also increases track. Depending on drop in suspension i think you can get up to negative 3 degree's of camber. Coupling those with Pillow Ball Upper mounts will allow over negative 5 degree's of camber! That amount will never be needed however, if your car is going to be full drift spec then the maximum id suggest is negative 4 degree's and even then, youd have to be **** hot to make use of it. I had negative 3 degree's on my old Levin and found that was perfect for how i drove and my setup, no un-even tyre wear at all. As for NRCA's and safety, some people say they can be dangerous and some say they are fine.. Ive only heard about one set snapping.

At the rear, after lowering you also need an adjustable Lateral/Panhard Rod. The easiest to get would be off Team Danco in Ireland, T3 also make an adjustable Rod. You need it because of the 5 link rear setup, the axle moves out toward the passenger side and you need the adjustability to pull it back in (unless you go really low like i did, then after a point the axle starts to move back in because the rod is lower than horizontal.. If you look at the design that might make sense, but the way i typed it probably didnt make sense :D ).

While your on suspension id refresh the Bushes. The car may be low milage but they are still very old. TRD do bushes which are nice but the OEM ones arent bad either. Im pretty sure whatever you replaced the old bushes with, youd feel an improvment...

Anyway, thats basic suspension mods i think? If you have any more questions, dont hesitate to ask... And on that note, time for some pics of my old car! :P

The rest of the Album:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288852697

Sadly that car was sold, and i know have a AE86 Sprinter Trueno, pics soon.

Paz

[banzaijoe]

Cheers for all the advice, Pazza. Don't worry, most of your recommendations have already been ordered. I've got a full set of Whiteline poly bushes coming, Whiteline RCAs (30mm I think), Whiteline anti-roll bars front and rear (all from Jap Innovations), and a pair of uprated top-mounts from TAS Motorsport. Leda has come up trumps with a coilover setup, and the car will be going to the workshops straight after Japfest.

Shame you're not so keen on Celica Supra alloys – I've just been over to Fat Wheels to photograph mine in all the stages of refurbishment. They look the absolute nuts.

I've been looking for a place to supply a new Panhard rod, so thanks for the info on that one. Lots more products on order but I don't wanna give the game away too soon.

[PazzaAE86]

Ah, sounds like the car is coming along then.. Leda, they slipped my mind but ive heard nothing but good things from AE86 owners who had Leda Suspension, one even swapped out Tokico HTS for a Leda setup!

I had Celica Supra alloys on my Levin when i first got it a few years back, they were black with a polished lip but i soon realised i wanted a better size and offset. I guess the Supra alloys wont be bad for a track day rim and indeed i used to use them on the back of the Levin when i ran out of rubber... They are very heavy however. The 14x7 +8 offset isnt a bad size but it doesnt cut it for me anymore... They sit a few too many inches in for me :D

All the best!

Paz

[EircamAE86]

Oh my got Pazza where did you get the longchamps xr4s I so need a set of them!!!!!!!!!

Had loads of posts on club4ag but not one single suggestion on where to get em.

[PazzaAE86]

Oh my got Pazza where did you get the longchamps xr4s I so need a set of them!!!!!!!!!

Had loads of posts on club4ag but not one single suggestion on where to get em.

Heh, they came in the boot of my Trueno

If you go to Jubiride.com and look on the Forum/BBS type thing, you will see a post by myself asking about wheels. They reply to that post was made by Jubiride's USA Agent and he can get any wheels of the Jubiride site, XR4's are amongst them. They aint cheap tho, but will be brand new and available in any size you choose pretty much (all the sizes are on the jubiride site).

Other than that, just keep an eye on the For Sale section of Club4ag, thats where i got my Impul Hoshino Mesh for the Levin. Shipping cost a bomb.

Paz

[EircamAE86]

Keep an eye out, the guys at Keithley impost cantre north of bradford are importing a few GTVs from Japan, think one or two em are 4agz

[EircamAE86]

Pazza ae86 did you import your ae86 your self???

I am planning on spending a nice few quid for one in the comming months but would rather go done the import route and get what i paid for, like this for example

http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h11438917

gonna go daft a try to locate a full widearch jblood kit for the levin.

Just dropped another 4age into mine lastnight and its not worth pumping any more money into it, shes a alright car but thats where it stops.

I want to tune up a 4age lump to about 170bhp , jblood wide-arch kit, proper suspension set-up and some longchamp xr4s and then ill rest.

Any suggestions, what some of money can i expect to pay for a minter of a Levin, not a big trueno fan.

Its not very easy to find out about ae86 stuff though, anybody I know are happy with a near standard set-up, not for me though.

[banzaijoe]

Thought everybody would like to know how the car's coming on.

Ordered new track rods and wipers (can you believe they're unique to the AE86 so you can't get replacements from Halfords?) from Toyota, plus some new front arch trims. Cheeky pricing on those latter items – the nearside is £46, while the offside is £26. Same part, only reversed, so why the difference in price? Apparently, you're more likely to hit the nearside, so Toyota has upped the price on the one more likely to get damaged!

My refurbished Supra wheels and new Avon tyres are being delivered back to me today, and I should be getting my roll centre adjusters and uprated anti-roll bars on Wed. My poly bushes should be turning up in a week or so, just in time for being fitted together with the new coilovers. Unfortunately, I've only got time to fit the wheels before Japfest on Sat. Booked a time slot to go out round Castle Combe circuit on Sat too – scary with original suspension

Will there be any other AE86s there on Sat?

[Treuno]

Alrite Joe, I'll be there racing my AE86, ive got 3 time slots booked so she will be getting a serious hammering! There is also a white 86 with 13" minilites that should be there I think his name is Dave, he's at castle combe fairly often!

You say about your anti roll bars, which ones have you gone for!? I recently fitted TRD roll bars all round and I could not believe the difference it has made!

I know what you mean about the w/arch trims! I work for Toyota so I can get them cheaper so I bought 2 sets, just in case the unthinkable happens! Plus the stock is running low! They are all old stock and I dought very much Toyota will bother remanufacturing any more!

I recently stripped my brake master cylinder to replace the seals and pistons (Kits still available through Toyota!) but when I looked at the bore of the cylinder I noticed some corrosion, so I decided to get a new one!

I decided to try and get a non-gen item due to a gen is £200!!! But not a single motor factor could get one not even any old stock! So I then phoned fensport, they said not a chance you will have to get a genuine one!

So I gritted my teeth and got my m8 at work to order me one! Or so I thought! Toyota have none left in stock and have discontinued production! AAAHHHHH!!!!!

So in the end I carefully honed out the bore and put it back together! Ive driven it hard for 2 weeks and it seems ok!

Anyway the moral to my story is keep those brake fluid changes regular as per the Toyota schedule!

[banzaijoe]

Trueno: Went for Whiteline ARBs in the end, together with Whiteline RCAs and poly bushes. I did think about getting TRD bits but the price from Whiteline was just too tempting. I'm getting them all from Jap Innovations (0161 652 0920 or www.jap-innovations.co.uk) who put a special order in for me from the Aussie company.

Might be worth others checking out Jap Innovations's prices too, coz they're pretty competitive. And I'm poor (you may not believe that last bit but I assure you it's true – I have to live like a monk and eat bread and water to afford all the parts for my baby!) ;)

[Treuno]

When you get round to fitting them tell me what there like cuz i got a Whiteline strut brace which is good quality but i had to relocate my washer bottle to fit it!

[banzaijoe]

So... for those of you who saw my AE86 at Japfest (both on the stand and round the track), what did you think? Go on, be honest. And you don't need to point out that I was relatively slow around the track – that was on purpose. Standard suspension setup which needs uprating and passenger next to me who'd never been around a circuit before (but she loved it).

[Treuno]

All i can say is lucky b**t**d! lol. What a good find in genunie condition! Did you get any irish guys come over trying to buy it!? They did to me, nice guys and quite funny aswell!

Did you feel guilty taking it out on the track, thats why mine isnt mint so that im not so bothered about a few scratches!

Is there gonna be a write up in Banzai about the day??

I bought the latest mag, i like the sob story u gave!! lol.

[banzaijoe]

Yeah, two Irish guys came over. Offered me four grand straight off but I flatly turned them down. Though it's my own car it's still the mag's long-term project, and I couldn't really quit that without some serious wedge in my back pocket. They were quite persistent, so I said that I MIGHT think about it if their offer was closer to ten grand, just for a laugh. Except they didn't laugh! They even spoke about sponsoring me to come over to Ireland with the car to hook up with the rest of their AE86 crew. Nutters!

Yeah, there'll be a show report in the July issue. There'll be plenty of shots of my car, natch.

[97paseo]

Hey Joe didn't spot this thread before, car looks ace in this months mag - nice find!

[banzaijoe]

PazzaAE86: You mentioned about adjustable Panhard rods from Team Danco in Ireland. Have you got their contact details? I'm trying to get hold of one of these items to complete my suspension mods.

Cheers

[PazzaAE86]

PazzaAE86: You mentioned about adjustable Panhard rods from Team Danco in Ireland. Have you got their contact details? I'm trying to get hold of one of these items to complete my suspension mods.

Cheers

Here you go, contact Pete Turner here and ask regarding the Danco Adj. Panhard Bar. pjturner@yahoo.com

Paz

[banzaijoe]

Thanks, Pazza

[Treuno]

Banzai: How come you want to go team danco instead of whiteline? As you have done with your a/r/bar!?

Pazza: What is this 'Night Spirit' thing all about in your Signature? I notice sum1 else also has it!?

[PazzaAE86]

Pazza: What is this 'Night Spirit' thing all about in your Signature? I notice sum1 else also has it!?

Its our Team. Some of us drift, some of us race. We liked the idea of the Japanese "hashiriya" teams so we started one ages ago (Prob 2000-2001), and Team NightSpirit is the result.

Np Joe.

Thanks

Paz

[Treuno]

Sweet! You look like you all have awesome cars! Where are you based then!? Any action shots of your team??

[banzaijoe]

Right guys, more advice needed. But before I go into that, I've eventually been able to book a time to get the poly bushes, ARBs and strut braces fitted to my car. That's happening next week, so I'll let everybody know how I get on.

I'm now beginning to think about the engine's breathing. I've already sourced a JR filter to go directly onto the throttle body. It also features a system of attaching a separate cold feed directly into the top of the filter. Hopefully not too much hot air will be drawn in.

But where I really needed some advice was about exhausts and manifolds. What do you lot use on AE86s, what works and what doesn't. I've heard that quite a few of the Irish contingent use complete Janspeed systems but have noticed that these are only available in a mild steel construction.

Any recommendations?

[guglielmo]

Cone filters directly on the throttle body aren't a great idea on the AE86: you'll have rad hose clearance issues and hot air intake. Better off with a custom pipe and filter at the front of the car or a modded OE airbox with a drop in K&N.

As for exhausts...

The stock manifold is actually pretty good (but heavy and ugly) but the down pipes join will always blow at some point, so it is worth changing.

I'd recommend a 4-2-1 system in stainless steel, such as an HKS Super Header II. Janspeeds are better than stock but the 4-1 design puts all the power up top and you'd gain more overall driveability from a 4-2-1 design. Get yer credit card out though (HKS 4-2-1 is £650 new)...

Although they sound great and increase response and power a little, the Janspeed manifolds and systems don't last particularly long, so if you're looking to keep the car for a while, you'll be changing it again in 2 or 3 years time.

As for systems, it's worth going stainless. Compaines like Powerflow and Longlife will build to your spec if you can't be ubikd importing something from Japan.

I'll probably get round to getting a custom under-axle stainless system at some point, probably a 2.25" bore to mate to my 4-2-1 work of art of a manifold I have in the front room.

[PazzaAE86]

the Janspeed manifolds and systems don't last particularly long

That man, he speaka the truth! Ive had bad experiances with Janspeeds, both times leaving me somewhat stranded in the middle of no-where at 1am. :ffs: Avoid if possible.

Paz