the never ending story...

[morgan]

and going...and still not finished.
i had a huge build log, all deleted so heres the rundown.
1985 ae86 GTS(not swapped)
bought it from a clown in CA, had it shipped to NJ. needed a lot of tlc, but couldnt find any rust(til the other day, more on that later) so i bought it. heres how it looked before being loaded on the carrier from the 3000 mile trip.

got it with no interior, and a tired 16v. had a 20v in it previously, and a bfh was used to clear the distributor. few weeks after having too much fun, blew the HG.
yum yum, looks like she cr@pped herself...

came with a spare ST 20v, so i decided to swap that bottom end in, bought a rebuilt 16v head, a buttload of parts and did this.

[morgan]

then it was time to get the horrible rattle can job taken care of...with a slightly better rattle can job, with the help from Danny boy, as his pups stood guard.

[morgan]

bought parts, drove around, took pics, blah blah blah...












then winter hit, north NJ sucks for that...

[morgan]

found out why me heater didnt work, tried some new signal lights from the old 80's yota caravan, put prothane mounts in, rebuilt rear brakes/distributor, bought a Koyo radiator, snapped a pic i liked...

[morgan]

swapped in some 1998 200sx se-r seats, getting really tired of this pos pacesetter header cracking, went to a show, decided its time to ditch the 16v...onto project coppertop as some may remember.







made some one-off rwd coolant flow conversion parts, and did a freshening up of the motor...

[morgan]

so on to the next step of my swap, since its all DIY, heres makinig the harness. from scratch, junkyard connectors, sensors, etc...then time for new wheels

[morgan]

made some filter screens, photo shoot with a friend after skating, finish up harness-no more bugs to work out, OBX 20v flange header, custom test pipe, chopped up a shell(kept the firewall for later...)

[morgan]

changed my valve seals(full DIY write-up to follow), took a cruise with some big boys, motor went poo-poo and started burning a quart every 50 miles so teardown began again.







bought some knock off seats, made a manual rack adapter bushing to use with prothane bushings dn my newly aquired aw11 manual rack.

[morgan]

replaced firewall, sent head out for port/polish/etc., cleaned up ITB's nice, freshened up trans and driveshaft

[morgan]

got bottom end back after cleaning/hone/blueprinting, time to assemble with all new oem parts gaskets seals etc...COP conversion(2002 civic D17 coils)

[morgan]

bought aj dm wheel for $25! just needed some tlc, got head back, a/c delete tube, changed the lights to white, fuel filter relocation with gage, jdm rep. sideskirts, got a tow, fuel pump died, made it to show next day after wrenching the full tank of gas back up in position at 2am.

[morgan]

Goodridge lines, my not-so-advanced strut tube spacers with sw20 shocks and TRD springs, photoshoot for 86Garage Magazine

[morgan]

mountain run, last day i drove my 86...11/20/11-time for the worst idea ever...bodywork

[morgan]

teardown begins, boutght a Live Sports TRD rep wing from japland

[dr.occa]

Now that's a right nice looking USDM 86.

[morgan]

lightweight flywheel/exedy clutch combo installed, work on filling in oem hole from wing

[morgan]

bought new wheels, door panels for refurb, workin on wing...

[morgan]

bought a zenki bumper, had a baby, started stripping(the paint...dirty dirty minds...), lots 'o body work...

[morgan]

more bodywork, aw11 turnsignals and adapter harnesses i made for my jdm zenki bumper...then time to tuck my exhaust, pulled winshield out

[morgan]

sold windshield, found a cr@p load of rust. finished exhaust work, more bodywork/POR15 to cover rust at top of windshield, bought some parts needed

[morgan]

Now that's a right nice looking USDM 86.

thanks Jonas, kinda figured you like it, lol...

[Jeonsah]

Still the best build on c4ag!

[Zenki85]

Still the best build on c4ag!

x1 *thumbsup*

[roach_86]

All I can say is "WOW, wish I could do it!" Love the car and cant wait to see more.

[morgan]

^thanks guys!

did some work this weekend, almost finished the roof, just a few low spots i need to put filler in...when its warm enough.

then i started on the jdm zenki bumper support/brackets im fabbing up. cleaned all the plasma cut edges, started boxing it in, test fit on bumper, then on car after i put the fenders on. and go figure, i run out of welding wire half way thru...

[Zenki85]

Really admiring all the DIY in this build!

[RuizXIII]

Good to see you re-made your thread, Morgan! I've always kept up with it.
Hopefully you get this thing back in action for this summer.

[morgan]

Thanks guys, plan/goal is to drive it this summer, 1st day of summer that is. Got 2 complete doors today, which I shouldn't need but things got complicated and I needed to find a hood, fenders, and doors. Got everything finally.

[carbd7age]

Love the build, loved the article in 86Garage Mag. Great job on the body work, I know it's not for me so i'll pay somebody to make mine pretty lol.

[sekang0]

Sexy beast!