Parts and product requests

[yoshimitsuspeed]

My distributors have a ton of stuff I don't advertise on my website. It would take me ages to get it all up even just for the 4AGE and there's a lot of it that people would never want.
If there is anything I don't have access too I can look into it.
If there is anything that needs to be developed, designed or fabricated I'm interested in hearing thoughts on that stuff too.
So what are common hard to find products or things that you would rather buy from a reputable involved business than say ebay or something?
What is lacking or missing in the 4A,7A,AW11, AEXX, etc world?

[yoshimitsuspeed]

Some posts from the OC
[QUOTE=mk1noob]a good semi low budget intake manifold[/QUOTE]

I now offer intake side manifold flanges for all four generation 4AGE.

I will make a mani to anyone's spec or work with them to come up with a design.
Once the dyno is up and running I might consider doing a production piece but I doubt there would be the demand. Hit me up if you want. We can talk about a design and price.
If there are others who wanted a mani we could try to do a group buy kind of thing to cut costs a little.

http://matrixgarage.com/store/4age-fabrication-supplies


[QUOTE=Nine-Breaker]

Plug and play turbo manifolds and downpipes?

[/QUOTE]

Manifolds are available. I have made a jig now so each one is identical.
I will be making a DP soon and will send it to Aaron so he can make a B pipe that will tie into his systems.

[QUOTE=Nine-Breaker]
What about a battery tray for the frunk? I could make one but I'd like something more neat.
[/QUOTE]

That is definitely something I can do. I don't have any of the interior bits for the frunk so I would need some help making one that would work with as much of the OEM stuff as possible.

[QUOTE=Nine-Breaker]

I know some guys do 4AGZE swaps and their cars do not have the intercooler brackets.


[/QUOTE]

Might be doable if there was enough interest. I kinda doubt it though. I think we will continue to see less and less GZE swaps.

[QUOTE=Nine-Breaker]
Front and rear strut bars may be nice. I only know of Cusco that makes these for our cars.
[/QUOTE]
It looks like there I can get at least KW and whiteline swaybars for the Aw11. Don't know anything about them though.

[QUOTE=Nine-Breaker]

Maybe a larger capacity oil pan? My car has one and it's awesome having more oil capacity.
[/QUOTE]

I have offered this a few times and have never seen any interest.
I would love to make one based off the 7A pan and just make a larger capacity bottom for it. This would be easier than fabbing a full pan. I would do that too though if someone wanted.

This is another thing that would be great to do a group buy kind of thing on to bring the cost down a little.

How about this? It may seem a bit silly but I like the sounds of an extended oil dipstick. It's such a pain to get to the dipstick in our AW11's.

Lol. Get some more people interested in this and I'll look into it.


I also have a member on the OC who keeps breaking C52 shifter forks on his race car. Any other racers out there with this problem? We may end up designing and fabricating a more robust solution.

[onnaj]

The 4AGE 20V VVT Cam gear tend to wear and are absolutely expensive. Any options for such an item?

[carbd7age]

7AGE hybrid corrected timing timing belt drive gear. This would eliminate the guesswork of timing a 7A block and 4AGE head.

[yoshimitsuspeed]

The 4AGE 20V VVT Cam gear tend to wear and are absolutely expensive. Any options for such an item?

Do we know what wears on them?

[yoshimitsuspeed]

7AGE hybrid corrected timing timing belt drive gear. This would eliminate the guesswork of timing a 7A block and 4AGE head.

I believe someone offers a rekeyed crank gear but I can't find it right now. Looking into it more.

[MisterJerk]

http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_246/7a-conversion-parts.html

this would be much better if available domestically(read: Cheaper)(timing gear mod is on the bottom of the page)

[carbd7age]

http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_246/7a-conversion-parts.html

this would be much better if available domestically(read: Cheaper)(timing gear mod is on the bottom of the page)

Yep I want that.

[yoshimitsuspeed]

http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_246/7a-conversion-parts.html

this would be much better if available domestically(read: Cheaper)(timing gear mod is on the bottom of the page)

I think that is who I was thinking of.
I will look into offering one.

[onnaj]

The 4AGE 20V VVT Cam gear tend to wear and are absolutely expensive. Any options for such an item?

Do we know what wears on them?

I think it's the seal that's wearing and the lubrication that's inside disappears that way. That's only rumour i've heard, hope someone can tell for sure

[supraman10]

You should see about making this http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_257/intake-plenums.html and maybe include an optional upper supercharger mount, and this http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/142/crank-sprocket-timing-mod.html, and these http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/280/7a-h-beam-conrods.html, and these(no one stateside seems to make these consistently) http://www.ajps.com.au/parts/fc_brake_calliper_adapters.php, and these would be a nice alternative to having to spend hella money on rear coil overs http://www.ajps.com.au/parts/spring_seat.php, and a solid 3 point front strut tower bar would be awesome too.(not to mention i could go buy a new car for less than the cost of shipping from AUS or NZ)

[yoshimitsuspeed]

MRP also has a big enough community that supports them and makes it practical for them to continue making parts and expanding what they offer.

You should see about making this http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/browse/118_257/intake-plenums.html

I am constantly trying to spread the word that I can make a one off mani to your spec or specced to your needs for probably 50% to 80% the cost of their manifold.
I have yet to get one person to ask me to make them one. Makes the idea of making a production mani seem like a pretty long shot.
I would be more than happy to make a manifold for anyone who wants one though. If we can get a group who want a similar design it would cut the cost down even more.

The first intake mani I made for the 4AGE.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 932&type=3

I made the intake mani for my turbo BT with an integrated water to air intercooler.
Apparently a lot of people don't like it but hey if I can make that then I can make anything.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 932&type=3

and this http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/142/cra ... g-mod.html,

I am looking into this right now. Unfortunately I would want to get a nice clocked broach or other way of knowing I could nail the angle within very tight tolerances. I would probably have to sell 20 sprockets just to pay for the equipment. I'm afraid we would run out of healthy 7A blocks before that happened or most people would decide it was just a lot more practical to throw a 2ZZ or FRS engine and drivetrain in their car.

and these http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/280/7a- ... nrods.html

There was a company that offered 7A rods in the US. I don't believe anyone does anymore. That generally speaks pretty highly to the demand of a product. With something like this it would probably be a lot more practical to coordinate a group buy and save on shipping by bringing over as much stuff at once as possible.

and these(no one stateside seems to make these consistently) http://www.ajps.com.au/parts/fc_brake_c ... apters.php, and these would be a nice alternative to having to spend hella money on rear coil overs http://www.ajps.com.au/parts/spring_seat.php,

Again, both of these seem like better items to do a group buy on. The caliper brackets in particular concern me. If I wanted to make my own I would have to invest considerable time and money in engineering and stress analysis to feel confidant putting my name on them and accepting liability for them. It would take selling many sets to make your money back.
It would be more practical to order them from the people who already went through the trouble. Another option might be to try to work out a deal to get them machined in the US and give MRP a cut if that worked out cheaper than shipping.
You would still need to be able to prove a pretty serious demand for the parts though.

A strut bar is something that I would be very happy to make. I would need to get access to an AE86 for a bit or have someone make a mock bar that I could make a jig from. Heck I suppose even if we had a way to get accurate dimensions I could make one off that.

[supraman10]

if you want dimensions i could probably do that, just let me know exactly what dimensions you need. also, if you could design a medium length runner intake plenum for a smallport 4AG head on a 7A block and find a way to integrate the supercharger bypass valve into the back of the plenum and find a way to integrate an upper supercharger mounting location(with studs would be fine[this would make them optional]) i would be interested in negotiating a price and additional specs on it.

[yoshimitsuspeed]

When you say 3 point this is what you are looking for right?

[supraman10]

yes, except solid instead of bolt together, like this carbing one:

[yoshimitsuspeed]

That's what I thought. I was hoping the strut mounts were more level in relation to each other. That would make it much easier to try this just based off dimensions. Any way you cut it there would be some risk going off dimensions that it could not be perfect. I do however have some ideas that could make taking dimensions fairly precise. I am going to think about it a little more before coming up with a plan of attack.
Is that bar or other solid bars still available? If so is there any reason not to go with them?

I just found one thread online that talked about using an AW11 strut brace on an AE86. It sounded like they needed to shorten the strut brace and weld it back together. If the angle of the strut tops was the same I might be able to make a strut brace based on my AW11 with a turnbuckle adjuster in the middle. This would allow adjustment to fit variation in different chassis and even give the owner the ability to adjust the tension in or out on the brace if that were helpful.
I could mail you this bar and see if it worked. If not I could try to sell it to someone with an AW11 and try to modify it to make one work.
I could add mounting tabs and give you a plate with mounting tabs for the firewall. Once you received the bar you could take measurements for the triangulation struts.
If anyone else has heard of using an AW11 bar on an AE86 it would be very useful.


As for the intake manifold.
I have wanted to make a GZE mani for a long time. I would love the opportunity. In the next week or so I will be mocking up my GZE components on my spare block so I will be able to visualize things better. The AE86 bay may very well give us a lot more room and freedom in design.
I assume you have a FMIC? It is very likely we could make your piping much more optimized to your setup. Pics of your engine bay will definitely help bring this all together.

[Rogue-AE95]

Have you considered making thermal intake gaskets for the bigport and smallport? I've seen these out there for other manufacturers and engines. Like a friend of mine has one on his Honda B18. It's supposed to keep the intake (and the air coming into it) cooler since it's not fitted directly to the head.

http://www.hondata.com/heatshield.html
^ for a nice picture of what happens when a cheap knockoff is used

http://www.hondata.com/heatshieldgasket.html

[yoshimitsuspeed]

Have you considered making thermal intake gaskets for the bigport and smallport? I've seen these out there for other manufacturers and engines. Like a friend of mine has one on his Honda B18. It's supposed to keep the intake (and the air coming into it) cooler since it's not fitted directly to the head.

http://www.hondata.com/heatshield.html
^ for a nice picture of what happens when a cheap knockoff is used

http://www.hondata.com/heatshieldgasket.html

I would be happy to if someone wanted me to make them. Since I have drawings for all the flanges it should be no problem to make spacers.

I don't make a very good salesman when it is something I don't terribly believe in and this is one of those items.
My thoughts are very similar to a1091156's in this thread http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-engine ... asket.html

I have a hard time believing that the large volumes of air that spend fractions of a second in the intake mani are actually going to have any significant impact on intake temps or performance.

On the other hand others in that thread swear by them and seem to believe they have proof of their effectiveness.

In this thread http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2628596
They actually took dynos but they didn't do it very methodically. As soon as they saw the third dyno so much lower than the other two they should have done a third dyno to confirm a trend or show that it was just a fluke.
As it stands I feel I would have to dismiss the third dyno of the first set because it is so much lower than the first two.
So perhaps it's worth 1 hp. Maybe more under extended pulls however it's hard to trust the scientific evidence of people who don't use good scientific method.

If people want them though let me know and I will come up with a price. I already have a company who machines plastic for me and I even have a SP and LP flange cut out of polyethylene that I used to confirm fitment of my flanges. I would have to use a higher temp plastic for these flanges though.

I could use phenolic or look into higher temp plastics.

[Rogue-AE95]

Your images of the flanges is partly what made me think about those thermal gaskets. I'm also unsure of their usefulness, but figured I would mention it in case you or someone else knows more about them and their benefits (or lack thereof).

I think it was you in another topic that said you could do ceramic coatings for things like the intake and throttle body. I suppose that would be better for heat rejection as it would prevent outside heat (engine bay temps) from affecting them. If, in fact, it would make a difference at all.

[supraman10]

That's what I thought. I was hoping the strut mounts were more level in relation to each other. That would make it much easier to try this just based off dimensions. Any way you cut it there would be some risk going off dimensions that it could not be perfect. I do however have some ideas that could make taking dimensions fairly precise. I am going to think about it a little more before coming up with a plan of attack.
Is that bar or other solid bars still available? If so is there any reason not to go with them?

I just found one thread online that talked about using an AW11 strut brace on an AE86. It sounded like they needed to shorten the strut brace and weld it back together. If the angle of the strut tops was the same I might be able to make a strut brace based on my AW11 with a turnbuckle adjuster in the middle. This would allow adjustment to fit variation in different chassis and even give the owner the ability to adjust the tension in or out on the brace if that were helpful.
I could mail you this bar and see if it worked. If not I could try to sell it to someone with an AW11 and try to modify it to make one work.
I could add mounting tabs and give you a plate with mounting tabs for the firewall. Once you received the bar you could take measurements for the triangulation struts.

I would be willing to do some test fitting for you. With the pics I am going to be sending you I will also add dimensions to different locations with a very simply way to measure them. As for the idea of an adjustable bar, that's a good idea at least for the initial bar as we test fit it, but once you add the 3 point I don't think the adjustment for tension will work because it will add a twist to the bar and frame, adding a bending moment to all of the welds. We could also build a jig from this set-up after our test fit. hell, if we wanted to start out with a cheap eBay bar, I could tack weld the joints after I bolt it to the car, then I could add an additional bar from strut to strut and weld that in place so when I remove the bar and send it back to you it will maintain the proper angles. I could also do this with the third point as well. Once you have the mock bar made up and make the jig, you could at that point focus on how the bar actually looks, working with different shaped tubing and gusseting until you find something that works and looks good. Also, to be able to cater to different chassis you could make multiple mounting points for each strut top and the third point on the jig. I have a friend with a 74 Mango, 74 Peanut, 72 & 75 Celicas, 85 AE86 Coupe and Hatch, all of which we could use for mock ups if you decided to go that far.

[RW Bliss]

yes, except solid instead of bolt together, like this carbing one:

Can you get those shakkito plates?
Any input or experience with them? I track my car fairly regularly
And anything that would improve braking I'd be interested in. If its just bling then forget it

[yoshimitsuspeed]

yes, except solid instead of bolt together, like this carbing one:

Can you get those shakkito plates?
Any input or experience with them? I track my car fairly regularly
And anything that would improve braking I'd be interested in. If its just bling then forget it

I don't know anything about how much they do. With a triangulated strut bar like that I'd have a hard time believing they do much. At least not unless the car has a known inherent weakness there.

[supraman10]

RW, from my experience in structural analysis, if you are looking at stiffening your strut towers for braking, you would get a lot more reinforcement from a set of fender braces which are typically tubular and mount adjacent to your door hinges, which are already structurally reinforced for crash test standards, as well as the simple fact that the amount of structural reinforcement derived from those little scraps of sheet metal are no comparison to the tubular steel used in the fender braces. Also, one should note that they would be exponentially stronger if they incorporated additional complex angles and were box framed.

[RW Bliss]

RW, from my experience in structural analysis, if you are looking at stiffening your strut towers for braking, you would get a lot more reinforcement from a set of fender braces which are typically tubular and mount adjacent to your door hinges, which are already structurally reinforced for crash test standards, as well as the simple fact that the amount of structural reinforcement derived from those little scraps of sheet metal are no comparison to the tubular steel used in the fender braces. Also, one should note that they would be exponentially stronger if they incorporated additional complex angles and were box framed.

that was the type of response i was looking for. i already have fender braces. thanks for your input

[Rogue-AE95]

How about 4A-GE spark plug wire holders that replace the black plastic ones? They could attach to the OEM metal standoff piece by bolting onto it, I suppose. I know there are at least two styles of the wires holder, RWD and MR2. Not sure if the FWD piece is the same (bigport only, as smallport didn't have the wires holder). I think the only differences between the RWD and MR2 holders is the angle the plastic piece sits, and the metal standoff being straight (RWD) or sort of angled (MR2).

These could be made from aluminum if it would be easier to CNC them. Plus they can be powder coated, though that will change the thickness a little for where the spark plug wires attach.