Red top in the ae86

[gh0st]

Hello everyone,

I have a red top in my 86. I have read somewhere that a redtop came in the ae92 and the blue top in the ae86. Does that mean I don’t have the original engine in my 86?

[Power_uP]

Wanna post a photo so people can be certain?

But yes, if your car really has a redtop then it can't be the original unit.

[gh0st]

(04-25-2022 08:45 PM)Power_uP Wrote:  Wanna post a photo so people can be certain?

But yes, if your car really has a redtop then it can't be the original unit.

Here is the photo:

[totta Crolla]

Well...
It's red!
TVIS suggests that it could be an early red top TVIS engine as opposed to the later smallport non-TVIS red top.

[Power_uP]

Having had the covers resprayed in red doesn't necessarily make it a redtop engine. It's most likely a bluetop that's had the cam covers repainted, but you're going to have to do some research to be certain which engine you have.

[gh0st]

(04-26-2022 11:09 AM)Power_uP Wrote:  Having had the covers resprayed in red doesn't necessarily make it a redtop engine. It's most likely a bluetop that's had the cam covers repainted, but you're going to have to do some research to be certain which engine you have.

I know for a fact my engine has 124 hp. I read the ae92 redtop has 124 hp. A bluetop has 112 hp.

[r.ave]

and what facts are you talking about? dyno sheet?

Please see this video Banpei made a while ago with all the differences

I believe (based on the video) the bluetop makes 96kw = 130pk

[banpei]

(04-26-2022 12:25 PM)gh0st Wrote:  I know for a fact my engine has 124 hp. I read the ae92 redtop has 124 hp. A bluetop has 112 hp.

Don't believe everything what's written on Wikipedia: that's not written by professionals.
The truth is that it really differs per car and per country.
It's true an AE86 bluetop outputs 112hp, but it does so in Californian spec including catalytic converter.
In Japan according to Toyota the AE86 bluetop outputs 130ps (which is 128hp). It did this with a catalytic converter but I highly doubt any factory new AE86 left the factory with 128hp. Japan was in HP wars back in the early 1980s and dynos have proved that they actually output around 120hp.
In Europe the output of the AE86 bluetop was rated at 124hp without catalytic converter and 116hp with catalytic converter.
In Switzerland the output of the AE86 bluetop was rated at 120hp without catalytic converter and 115hp with catalytic coverter.
However when you drive the cars, you won't find a lot of difference in power between all these engines. It's only 10% difference between the weakest and strongest engines.

The 4A-GE redtop is a very very different engine than the bluetop. And yes there were bluetops with red writing on them but that doesn't make them a redtop. It would have been much easier if they were named either bigport and smallport.
This is a redtop smallport 4A-GE:

As you can see it has a very different intake which is ribbed on top. This intake is a much simpler one due to the absence of the TVIS and it has slightly shorter intake runners.

From the side of the cylinderhead you can see why they are called smallport and bigport:

[Nismo]

Your engine maybe a redtop with an adaptor plate to fit the TVIS?

The most accurate thing is to count how many ribs are on the the block and report back to us. If it is seven rib block then you know you got an AE92 engine.

[Power_uP]

If you need any help identifying the block, there's a fantastic explanation in another thread here: 4AGE identification