My red hatch (fix-up and restoration)

[Grant]

Thanks for the compliments.

The axle confusion was mainly about the tapering that people claimed was the difference between zenki and kouki axles. I measured the axles and they match up with zenki LSD axle measurements.
As for the LSD, actually it's a Cusco 1.5way LSD. The previous owner told me he put it in after the original died. I have verified it locks up very well.

At the moment I'm waiting on getting my front suspension parts back from sandblasting/powercoating. Pretty excited!

[Grant]

Finally another update on the front suspension parts:

Got some of my parts back from sandblasting.


Again I'm using POR-15 for coating. My rear axle that I also coated with POR-15 still looks like the day I painted it, so hopefully it stays that way.


I had the springs powder coated because they are a pain to paint. I'm curious which coating will fail first?


Finally done with all the painting for these parts.


Now the only parts left to paint are the struts. Those are on my to-do list for next weekend.
I am choosing to leave the cross member for later since I don't have access to an engine hoist for supporting the engine (I know I could put wood under the oil pan, but I don't like that idea).

That's it for now! I'll have more updates as I start putting the car back together.

[trigun402]

All nice and clean

[notnilc20]

Loving your build cleanup restoration. great job so far. Did you measure your rear axles? From what I understand the zenki axle is 24 millimeters diameter, and the kouki axle is 25 millimeters diameter. I am currently in the never ending search for a complete rear end right now and would love to know how your rear end turned out. sounds funny.

[Grant]

Loving your build cleanup restoration. great job so far. Did you measure your rear axles? From what I understand the zenki axle is 24 millimeters diameter, and the kouki axle is 25 millimeters diameter. I am currently in the never ending search for a complete rear end right now and would love to know how your rear end turned out. sounds funny.

Thanks for the comments!
Yes I did measure them. Both are zenki LSD axles and with a 24mm spline diameter. Basically the main point I discovered is the tapering on the axle does not tell you if it is zenki or kouki. You must measure them.

[Grant]

Another quick update. I've been pretty productive with the car since I am moving and I need to get the car driveable.

Putting everything back together, bushings are all in and greased.


I cleaned up and painted the front calipers and brackets so they match the other shiny parts. I didn't even disconnect the brake lines, it just took some clever work with the painters tape.


Almost time to put the wheels on!


I'll get another picture of the finished job tomorrow.
I am pretty pleased with the results after taking a quick drive. Handling feels much nicer and there isn't really a noticeable increase in noise or vibration.

[Grant]

Here is a bit better shot of it all reassembled.


I have a question for anyone who has experience with long trips with their AE86. Do I need to worry about sustained RPMs around 3500-4000? For example highway cruising at 65mph. I am about to make a 550 mile trip with the car which is mostly highway. I know the car loves to rev, but how long is safe to sustain that kind of engine speed?

If anyone wants to share their experience with long trips let me know.

[Grant]

Well it has been a while since my last post. Moving is quite a lot of work, but I'm pretty much settled now and I wanted to give a quick update.

My car made the long trip without any problems! The only thing I had to do on the way was tighten the A/C belt a little since it was brand new and stretched during the trip.






In May of 2016 my car officially turned 30 years old (according to the metal placard on the driver side door), so I like to think it's doing pretty well for its age.

At this point since the car is 100% functional, and most of the wear items have been replaced I will be focusing more on the cosmetic restoration (basically dumping money on paint and bodywork ).

[Grant]

Hello again, I've been off these forums for a while now, but I figured it was time to give an update again since I'm starting more work on my car, with more updates to come later this year probably.

A lot has changed since I posted last, including moving again, this time several thousand miles so I decided to not drive the car.


My latest project has been on my checklist since I got the car, replacing the old crusty exhaust. I finally decided on an HKS Hi-Power.


I had to cut the old pipe off because I couldn't jack the car up high enough, but HKS exhaust fit over the axle a lot easier and didn't require jacking it up that high.


Besides the fact that I am missing an exhaust hanger (hence the jack holding up that part) the exhaust fit perfectly as you would expect from HKS.



The catback also fit together great with a Magnaflow catalytic converter for the AE86 in case anyone wants to know.


Once I have everything bolted back together I'll post up a video comparing the old stock exhaust to the HKS, because you can never have enough exhaust comparison videos.

[scalpel]

Always one of my fav build

[Grant]

Sorry this took forever, but I finally uploaded a clip of the exhaust comparison. The phone has some trouble picking up the lower sound of the HKS, but the improved note is obvious. I was going to record a drive-by too, but didn't get to it yet. The sound is amazing and I am glad I picked the Hi-Power over the HKS Sport exhaust.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIgOMizhdF0

I'm working on patching some rust spots and other body work now, so I'll have more updates later.

[Grant]

It's been a long time since my last update... obviously much has changed for everyone since 2019.

My car is still running strong, but this winter I decided to finally start rebuilding the spare engine I have.


I'm fairly certain it has never been rebuilt, so it's a decent starting point, and I'll be taking it down to a machine shop to have it cleaned up next week.
I also have a rebuilt head ready to go as well, and I'll share all the parts I'm using as soon as I know for sure what to order.

My goal is just to have a nice reliable engine with slight performance upgrades. I'm thinking Tomei Poncams and some better valve springs, along with better ARP bolts and studs for the top and bottom.

[Grant]

Here are some more shots after taking everything apart and preparing it for the machine shop! I'll post pictures of new parts as I get them too.

[Sepheroth86]

Keep it up with the posts.

It is pretty quiet here these days. I recently pulled my AE86 out for an inspection after a decade of it sitting in the barn. I am unsure if I want to start the journey on the car or simply sell it as-is..

[Grant]

Keep it up with the posts.

It is pretty quiet here these days. I recently pulled my AE86 out for an inspection after a decade of it sitting in the barn. I am unsure if I want to start the journey on the car or simply sell it as-is..

It sure is quiet, but I'll keep updating this thread even if I'm the only one reading it.
It's a good way to track my own progress (or lack thereof) anyway.

Got any pictures of your car? I'm sure you know the values of our cars have been skyrocketing lately...

[Sepheroth86]

Keep it up with the posts.

It is pretty quiet here these days. I recently pulled my AE86 out for an inspection after a decade of it sitting in the barn. I am unsure if I want to start the journey on the car or simply sell it as-is..

It sure is quiet, but I'll keep updating this thread even if I'm the only one reading it.
It's a good way to track my own progress (or lack thereof) anyway.

Got any pictures of your car? I'm sure you know the values of our cars have been skyrocketing lately...

I have a couple of pictures on my phone that I took. The car is not as nice as it was when I parked it for sure. Definitely needs some repair before it gets out of hand.

I am not sure how to post pictures on here anymore. lol

[Grant]

Quick update on my engine rebuild. I finally received all the parts I needed!


Some other gaskets and stuff aren't in the picture, but these are all the important parts.

In other news I swapped my steering wheel for a JDM one. I've always thought they look way better, and it just took a long time to find one in good condition.


I'm just waiting on scheduling now and then I'll start getting the new engine back together!

[Grant]

I have another quick update on the engine build. Basically I'm waiting on rods from Molnar rods before I can put everything back together, and I don't have an ETA for those parts yet...

Over the summer I had the bigport head cleaned and ported by oldskewltoy! (check out his thread here):



I'll get some better pictures of it when I reassemble everything, but for now it's staying safe inside that bag.

I also got some aftermarket forged hi-comp OEM-like pistons from Traum!


That's it for now...

[ariel_86]

This makes me want to update my thread with new links for pics and covering some of the things I've done (and not done) over the last few years. Keep up the good work!

[Grant]

It's been another long period of waiting, but I finally got my engine back. The bottom end is all assembled, machining and balancing is all done, and it's ready to put back together. I'm first going to paint it with some "black oxide" coating to make it look more OEM.


I have some other work planned while the old engine is out before I drop the new one in though:

• Clean up and repaint parts of the engine bay
• Replace crusty old power steering lines with newer ones that I have
• Remove the subframe, get it cleaned up and repainted
• Remove the transmission and get the MFactory 5th gear installed

That shouldn't take too long, and I can start assembling the new engine in the meantime too, so I'm hoping to have it all back on the road this summer... or at least by the fall.
More updates/pictures to come soon now.

[Grant]

The old engine is out! The hardest part was really just getting the input shaft detached from the engine. I can imagine it being a pain getting lined up when it's time to put the new engine in.



Now I have plenty of room in the engine bay to clean things up over the next couple months...

[Grant]

Another rather boring update, but last weekend I pulled out my transmission.


First it needs a really good cleaning, but I will then take it off to be inspected and have my MFactory 5th gear installed!


I'm also going to swap the drive gear for my speedometer off another GT-S transmission I have because I'm sick of the speedometer reading 10mph too fast. Related video below for anyone who wants to know what I'm talking about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfaINn2k2y0