JDM GT-Apex Trueno in the Alps #

[decryphe]

Hi guys!

So, now it's time to blog, rant, appreciate and tell about the probably only JDM Trueno in Switzerland. Long story long, here it comes:

So, one would probably first want to know, why the 86? Since it's such a great little car, there's many reasons why one might want specifically this car. For me it's mainly the basic idea of being small, lightweight, RWD, quick around corners and being a really bare bones car - a "car" car. That would fit to stuff like the Ford Escort, E30 (M or non-M), Alfa Romeo GTV and a bunch of other sporty coupes or hatches from the 70s and 80s - but for me it has to be from Japan. I grew up with Toyota, so that's what it is. And last but not least, this is the most damn sexy car there is. So the idea was born.

Searching for the right one, I've come across a couple options, but I had a specific flavour in mind. Had to be a red panda. Had to be mostly stock interior. Had to be mostly stock looking in the engine bay. Mainly, I didn't want to have to track down a ton of parts to restore the car to how I want it to be. After 9 months of scavenging japan-partner and tradecarview and a couple others, I stumbled over the one that I ended up importing. No more than two days after finding it, the money was transferred and it was mine. That was mid April.

Here's the pictures from tradecarview upon which I decided to buy it:









A few days later, I receive a large collection of photos from the contact of my Swiss importer, showing a car in really good condition:








After a long waiting period (longer than I had hoped), I finally finally got a call two weeks ago that the car had arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany. Found a company doing the unlading and releasing on Monday (LPL Automotive), picked up the papers for the car on Tuesday evening, prepared customs declaration, cash and temporary licence plates on Wednesday morning (5 min before closing of traffic office, 5 min before closing of the bank) and went to work in the afternoon. Took the night train with my girlfriend from Zurich to Hannover, woke up in Germany and arrived in Bremerhaven around 11 am. After the paperwork was done, security deposit made and the car had its A/C tested for R12 coolant (fortunately it had been upgraded to R134a already in Japan, as R12 is illegal here), it was time to pick it up. At 1 pm I saw the car for the first time in the enormous parking lot with all the cars being moved at Bremerhaven.




Then it was time to drive it home. First pass the German customs with the T1 transit document (so I don't have to pay taxes in Germany), then start driving. After some initial warming up of my skills driving manual (haven't done so for six years), I started getting used to it again. Also had to be careful not to kill the engine (which I didn't do, fortunately), as the battery is low and needs a refill. A few stops for gasoline, a traffic jam and about 10 hours later we arrive at the Swiss border. As all documents are in order, I can pass and pay the customs next day in Zurich. Go to sleep at 2 am and go to work at 7 am - no sleep, but totally worth it.





Some noteworthy things:
The car is very well set up, handles just the way it should - decently neutral, but very quick around corners. Set up for grip like a race car, feels a little like a go cart.
Fuel economy is great, keeping 150 km/h on German autobahn on average just used 8l/100km bleifrei 95.
It's loud... my ears were a bit numb after 10 hours at 4.5k rpm. Also, the warning bell didn't help either as it was constantly on.

Plans for the car:
I want to build it into a quick mountain pass cruiser. Not heading for max power or an actual race car, but something rather balanced. I also want to keep the stock appearance as much as possible, as that's part of why I love the 86 so much. So here's the steps that I have already decided on:

1. Make it road legal in Switzerland (install fog lights, replace headlights for LHD, figure out what to do about position lights/Standlicht). Will have to check what else needs to be done
2. Make it a little less loud (probably some interior damping between engine bay and cabin to make it less of a resonance chamber). Just need to keep it light still, don't want to make it heavy.
3. Fresh engine and tranny mounts, probably the rubber parts are dried up.
4. Freshen up the interior with new upholstery (high quality cloth and new padding) in the stock chairs and floor mats and stuff.
5. Install an era-proper radio (I'll take the radio from the '92 Camry) and keep a collection of mixtapes in the car.
6. Investigate meaningful engine performance enhancements, maybe some cams and some valve work.
7. Polish the exterior, seal/protect the paint and apply new OEM stickers.
8. Restore the wheels - there's dents and chips in these amazing Advans.
9. Get it registered.
   

That sums it up, hope you enjoyed the read!

[mad.matt]

DAMN! That is CLEEAAAAAN!
Even the seat backs are intact!

[Nakilad]

That's a great looking car! Have fun!

Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk

[banpei]

It is even better than in the first few photos you showed us!

About the chime: it is located next to the car radio, so you can easily unplug it:

It looks like this:


Replacing the headlights should be easy enough: any T160/T180 Celica will happily donate its lights. There should be a lowbeam/citylight position, but I guess it differs what is legal per country. If you have the same issue as us in the Netherlands, those amber citylights are not legal. They are the same items as on the AW11, so perhaps you can order the Swiss version to make it legal.

[Ivan141]

Cibie sells headlight units with replaceable bulbs for a reasonable price..

[Bean]

Looking good indeed, not the only Trueno in Switzerland but might be the first road legal one.
Let me know if you need help with engine ideas, can help out.

[decryphe]

Hi guys!

Thanks for the infos so far. I've figured so far that there's lightbulbs with both low beams and position lights - legally the definition of position lights is to have backup in case the low beams fail and the driver doesn't notice. Being such weak lightbulbs, those basically last forever.

So, for sound dampening, do any of you know where it would be most effective to place absorbing mats?
Might the engine mounts be shot, considering the rather strong vibration of the steering wheel and the loudness inside the chassis, or would this just mean that performance engine mounts have been installed (Cusco or TRD possibly)? Haven't had a chance to put the car on a lift yet, so I don't know.

Also, had to go to the customs office one more time, they had forgotten to close the T1 transit document. Now that's done and I'll get back the deposit/security I had to front the import company.

[decryphe]

News today!
I visited the car today and jacked it up as well as removed the headlights to install replacements with European certification. Here's the most interesting pictures:



[img]http://www.toyco.ch/images/AE86/switzerland/(.jpg[/img]








First question: What's the Cusco part that's connected with the garden hoses to the oil flow in the engine head? What does it do?
As for the exhaust, I couldn't find any markings other than JASMA approval on the muffler, but I figured out that the main source of noise is from the end muffler resonating at a very unpleasant frequency and somehow transferring all the sound to the chassis through the mounts. Standing in front of the car and revving the engine by hand is no problem at all, noise levels are where they should be.

Apart from the wheel wells having some gooey stuff on the insides, I was unable to find any rust whatsoever. Just the odd screw in the engine bay that's collected surface rust. I also found a cat (actually two, there's a feline living in this former barn), which was a bit unexpected considering it's from 1984 and a catalyst wasn't mandatory in Switzerland yet. Also found some nice touches like steel braided brake lines and fresh engine and tranny mounts (seems to be Cusco, TRD would be a bit thicker).

I'm really curious about what kind of work has been done to the internals of the engine, since this car is faster than what can be seen in youtube videos of minimally modded 86es (stock + exhaust and intake). Time will tell once I get around to do some head work.

[cke70]

That garden hose is connected to an oil catch tank, a very good mod if you're going fast around corners and drifting.

[banpei]

It is so clean! You are really lucky with it!
Are you planning to add some protection on the floor?