Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Wed Sep 02, 2015 11:26 pm

Thanks man! It took a lot of work. Man I wish I got a cap for the alternator +12V port sooner.

They do have separate fuses on the AE86. I suspect something is wrong with how the hazard fuse is getting to the driver under dash because the horn doesn't work either. Will have to sort that out.

I'm currently more worried about the headlights and popup headlight circuits. Will have to work on that as well.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Tue Sep 08, 2015 9:57 pm

Turns out the root cause was the 80A fusible link near the battery. It was semi-blown, and was intermittently giving low voltage when there is high power draw.

After I took care of that, all the other circuits started working.

Today I went on a 3 hour drive around the block and on the highway. Everything seemed good!

I practiced starting from a hill for at least half an hour at a local parking lot with an inclined ramp, just going up and down. I always have trouble with that and end up stalling the car out and this helped me switch from brake to gas quicker.

Mechanically, the engine is still idling at 1500rpm. I bought some brake cleaner to check where the leak is. Maybe it's somewhere else other than the ITB throttle bodies or bushings. I want to double check before getting them rebuilt.
The brakes squeal a little bit when almost stopped. Not sure if this is normal.

With no power steering, getting back into my garage is a real work out, my arms are getting pretty sore!

There is also that heat issue underneath the driver side floor pan.

P.S. I'm really enjoying driving the car when I'm actually moving about. It's very fun to just stomp on the accelerator on a manual. The kick is instantaneous! I'm more comfortable with driving the car around and I even was able to rev-match some downshifts when I need more power. It's so rewarding when you get it right.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Tue Sep 08, 2015 10:17 pm

Yes. That's where all the fun of driving a stick comes from :)

The brake squeal is normal with sporty pads at low speeds and medium pressure. Otherwise you might be missing some of the antisqueal hardware (metal pins in the pads/caliper)


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:32 am

You know what. I did notice a metal pin missing on the front left pad. I'll check all the pads tonight.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:11 pm

Hey guys, just wanted to give an update.

I found the vacuum leak that was causing a bit more air to go into the intake and it was actually where the fitting for the brake booster screws into the vacuum box. I sealed it with teflon tape and thread sealer.
Other than that, on the hardware front, I installed Solex locks on the driver/passenger doors.

Last weekend there were two car meets going on so I decided to test the car and drove ~34 miles to Tacoma. I went on friday and on sunday, totalling ~134 miles. The car seems pretty stable. Only complaint is the rear right fender rubs a bit with the tire on more bumpy parts of the highway.

Here are some pictures from the two events:

Friday (low key AE86 meet)

Image
More here: http://imgur.com/a/XRlQ2

Sunday (bbq meet w/ FRS BRZ folks)

Image
Image

More here: http://imgur.com/a/PQhyo
Last edited by aceforever on Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby jondee86 » Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:26 pm

Good to see that you are getting out there and having some reward
from all the hard work :)

Cheers... jondee86

PS: You might want to look at blocking out the number plates on your pics
as some folks like to keep a low profile with their cars.
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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Fri Sep 25, 2015 10:35 pm

Thanks! It's great to finally be able to drive it around. Thanks for all your help on this project so far! I couldn't have done it without you.

It's fun that even at a BRZ/FRS meet, my little car was getting a lot of attention.

re: P.S.: I've since redacted all the readable license plates.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sat Sep 26, 2015 1:04 am

Good job. Enjoy it!

What's next on your list to fix? :)


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sat Sep 26, 2015 10:09 pm

Thanks man! I'm currently working on flushing the brakes. But hit a snag:

Image

Going to try getting a butane torch and extractor.
Last edited by aceforever on Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Sep 27, 2015 3:29 am

Dang! Or since you got the caliper unplugged, take it out, have someone at a shop take it for you (maybe easier than sourcing a butane torch and extractor?) and after that while at it, rebuild the calipers with the toyota gasket and seals repair kit ;)


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Tue Oct 06, 2015 9:47 pm

I couldn't get it out. No matter how much PB Blaster I used. Or freeze-off. I couldn't get the extractor bit to grab at all and it ended up rounding it out.

Ordered some remanufactured calipers from AutoZone:

Image

Came with some extra parts, but who's counting right? haha.

Traded in the original calipers as the core.

Total cost was around $140.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby totta crolla » Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:59 am

For anyone struggling with broken bleed screws you can tap in a slightly over sized Torx bit. This method has never failed me.
Do not use 'extractors' as they are brittle and break easily and when the break you are left with a REAL problem :?

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Wed Oct 07, 2015 6:45 am

Ahhhh! I didn't think of that! Thanks for the tip totta crolla. I'll add it to my repertoire.

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Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Thu Oct 08, 2015 12:15 am

Got the calipers in! I was going slow and made sure everything looked good and torqued down. Took about 2 hours per caliper. When I tested the ebrake at first, it didn't work. I asked around and apparently you need to prime the caliper by pulling on the ebrake repeatedly. After that the calipers hold up when Ebrake is held.

Image

Image

Up next: rebuilding the front calipers!

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:12 pm

Here's my progress so far on rebuilding the calipers:

Most of the bolts were relatively easy with a breaker bar. The main piston seal was a bit tricky to get out. I managed to get it out with a flat head screwdriver and a pair of pliers.
Image

Look at how much sludge is in there! Is this common on cars that have been sitting for a while? Or just common in all cars?
Image

Cleaned off the piston with a scotchbrite sponge like jondee86 suggested.
ImageImage
ImageImage

Tried to clean off the calipers for paint prep. There was rust still in the places where the piston seal was, couldn't really get them with a sponge.
Image

I'm currently soaking the calipers in EvapoRust to get the rest of the rust off before rebuilding.

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:45 pm

While those calipers are soaking, I decided to make progress on the foglights I've been wanting to put on for a while.

I was trying to find name brands like Cibie and Hella, however they were out of my price range. People were selling used Cibie lamps for $250, and Hella was $50 each for lamps that were a bit bigger for what I needed.

I finally ended up with a 90-era SAE-certified foglight kit off of eBay. It was old stock, never used. $23.
Image

I was told that the bumper was a real JDM OEM one, and to not mess it up by drilling holes in it. So I figured I could use the bumper mounting bracket as the anchor point.
Image

Drawing the sketch up was super easy, but without any expertise in metal work, it proved to be difficult.

My friend had some scrape aluminum laying around and offered me them for this project.
Image

I knew I needed to clear the bumper but the scraps wasn't exactly what I was planning on, so I had to make do. Here's the progression in testing how the pieces might fit.
ImageImageImageImage

A key takeaway for me was: if you don't have a table saw or drill press, it will be a lot of hard work. I only had a hacksaw and corded drill. The drill bit was also probably not made for aluminum. While drilling, the aluminum gets SUPER hot, I burnt myself a few times before using pliers.
Image

Bolting up the two pieces.
Image

Here's my masterpiece. A bodge beyond bodges.
Image

But it did work. So I'm going to keep it until I figure out a better solution.
Image

After some fiddling, I got the lamps to sit at decent height away from the bumper. I'm going to try raising it a bit more.
Image

Hope you guys enjoy the pictures!

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:53 pm

Well done! I didn't want to make a hole on my new jdm bumpers either, so I did something similar to what you did. But instead of a u-bracket, I decided to drill and tap the bumper's hex screw. It took a while but works too and it's a bit simpler (in concept, it actually took more effort by modifying the foglight brackets themselves in further ways.

Btw, you can find Cibie NOS sent from Taiwan for cheap. Can't remember exactly but I paid less than $100 iirc for a pair of new airport 35s. I'll try to dig a link for ya


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 12:55 pm

Smartphone link. Hope it works for ya:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/291581572425


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:00 pm

Oh really!? OMG

Also found some other ones:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CIBIE-Skipper-s ... 1a&vxp=mtr

Which ones are better in terms of lighting performance?

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Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:07 pm

Skippers are an entry level to Cibie. Airport were standard equipment on countless euro cars in the 70s and 80s. 205 GTi and Renautl 5 Turbo (both on the fwd and the MR) to name a few...

This seller also has a cool Skipper kit that fits with the license plate. Sold for the JDM market only. Very rare and cheap. I've considered them a couple pf times. But don't see myself fitting them. Plastic case on the skippers puts me off. But the idea is quite cool and handy for an easy install.

If you really want performance though, you need a proper set of Cibie Oscars and fit them like the Irish do on their "Twin Cams" (how they call the 86s over there).


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Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:11 pm

Airport35 will be nice for when mild foggy conditions arise, but it's still very old technology. Once I fitted my bosch lenses and philips xtremevision bulbs, I had a hard time noticing the yellow lighting from the airports, making them only a nice vintage touch, but not much more. On thick fog you are going to be having to drive at 10-20mph like it or not.

Here's a comparison vid I did with my lights before and after fitting them. Btw avoid raybrig and other kits out there. They "look" nice and as an upgrade, but they're not half as good as these bosch or valeo/cibie headlights.

https://youtu.be/ZPnSdzZdW-s


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:21 pm

The bosch lenses and philips bulbs look great! I noticed the low beam light pattern changed when you swapped over. Is that the lens or the bulb?

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:23 pm

That's the lens. Different from federal to euro beams. But I much rather like the euro beam, and they're less aggressive towards other drivers coming face on.


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:25 pm

Ahhhh thanks! I have those Euro pattern on my 2011 BMW. I'm guessing US allows euro spec lenses now.

I wonder what quality my lens/projector setup is. I wish for more light in the dark.

Also, thanks for your historical knowledge on the Cibie products. I ended up buying the Cibie Airports with stripped lenses.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301759058754

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby YoShImUrA » Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:35 pm

They're either Koito (oroginal!!) or some (probably cheap and not very good) replacement. And usually they're closed, or however you call the kind that don't allow you to get a different bulb.

If they are a non-original lens, and they allow for a bulb replacement, try the philips xtremevision bulbs for starters, and if that isn't good enough of an upgrade, try the lenses.

I ended up fitting the philips to my MR2 koito lenses and even though they're not as good as the Bosch, that made a Big difference


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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby jondee86 » Sun Oct 11, 2015 8:47 pm

When I got my car it had these attached...

Image

I still have them somewhere, but don't know that they would be much good in fog :)

Cheers... jondee86
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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:12 pm

Woahhh very nice! Haha such a rally car!

So Hella is a good name brand then? Were there any other brands that were popular back then?

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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby jondee86 » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:56 pm

HELLA, CIBIE and PIAA are the ones that come to mind, although I am sure
there were others. They needed lots of power to run. Nowdays I think it is all
halogen, HID and super-bright LED lights. More light for less power. But since
I rarely drive my car at night, I have no need of high power driving lights.

Cheers... jondee86

PS: Tho they might be usefull for "signalling" to those annoying people who
drive around with their lights on high beam in the city :twisted:
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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby jondee86 » Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:27 pm

aceforever wrote:Look at how much sludge is in there! Is this common on cars that have been
sitting for a while? Or just common in all cars?

The reason that you get corrosion/sludge on the pistons and in the wheel cylinders
is that brake fluid is hygroscopic. Despite the brake master cylinder being capped,
the cylinder "breathes" when the brakes are applied, and the brake fluid absorbs
moisture from the air. The older the fluid, the more moisture it will collect.

It is this moisture that causes corrosion within the braking system, and with the wheel
cylinders being the lowest point, this is where the moisture tends to accummulate.
Moisture also lowers the boiling point of the brake fluid, leading to "brake fade" under
hard usuage. Changing brake fluid once a year is good practice (and before every rally
or circuit racing session).

Cleaned off the piston with a scotchbrite sponge like jondee86 suggested.

I recommend scotchbrite as it removes corrosion without removing any metal from
the piston. The piston surface needs to be clean and scratch free for best sealing.

There was rust still in the places where the piston seal was, couldn't really
get them with a sponge.

The most important thing is to try and get all the "lumps" of corrosion out of the seal
recess. Use a piece of bent wire or similar inside a rag to wipe the recess clean until
you no longer feel it catching on rough spots. The seal gets pressed into the recess
with a lot of pressure when the brakes are applied, so a little bit of tight surface
corrosion (discoloration) will not be a problem.

Cheers... jondee86
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Re: Restoring AE86 w/ 4AGE 16v + HKS ITB + Haltech E6X

Postby aceforever » Mon Oct 12, 2015 9:26 pm

Ah, thanks for that educational post! I'll be sure to keep the brake system healthy for as long as I own the car!

I was looking at goodridge brakelines for the car and I'm a bit confused on how to determine if I need the 7 line replacement or the 5 line replacement. Do you guys know what to check out for?

My car was manufactured July, 1985 but I want to be sure.