newbie thinking about starting an AE86 project... HELP? 0_0

[zerosktz]

hey guys...

just to give you some background info... my name's adrian, 23 years old and i hail from sunny miami florida in the U.S. i was born in Los Angeles and pretty much all my life I've lived in Miami, although since last year in September (2009) i've been living out of the country in south america (peru to be more specific, which is my parent's native country). i graduated from college in april of last year as well and because of the whole economic downturn i was unable to find a decent full time job so i joined my parents who had also emigrated back to peru a year before (in 200. here in peru, my dad is a shareholder and director for a toyota dealership and has pretty good connections with toyota of peru and japan to some extent among other business ventures and business is pretty good down here, the economy is pretty strong, so i'm working down here for now.

the thing is, i've left my car behind (a 2006 nissan 350z z33, which i bought brand new and is in pretty good condition, has 33000k miles and is always garaged) in my garage back home (in miami) and i'm thinking of selling it because first of all i can't import it here to peru (duty tax on it is too high) and second of all because it's just going to depreciate in value and get messed up if it's not being driven around. my old roomate is currently starting and driving it around the neighborhood every week so thus far (i hope) there's been no problems, but i'd rather just sell it and get rid of the problem of worrying over it, even though it's my baby, as i'm sure all of you can understand.

anyways, since i'm thinking about selling the z and i'm here in peru for now, and what with our (pretty strong lol) toyota afiliation, i've been thinking about starting an AE86 project since the hachiroku has always been my favorite toyota (my dad bought and owned a brand new USDM GT-S Trueno Liftback back in the 80s, which unfortunately was stolen, and my uncle bought himself a GT-S Trueno Coupe as well in the early 90s, which he sold later on).

since i have full access to a toyota dealership carshop, a team of mechanics who can help me out, and i suppose easy access to original parts from japan, i was thinking of rebuilding/restoring a TRUENO LIFTBACK (like my dad's lol) hachi from the chasis up to stock factory gt-s/gt apex standard using original toyota and or trd (even though that'll be more expensive) parts if possible. i want to do a full restoration and get the car as close to straight from the factory brand new as i can with all the mechanical parts: t50 tranny, lsd differential, ventilated disc brakes, the suspension, etc etc, as well as the interior: upholstery, leather seats, instrument panel, a/c, power windows and locks, power steering etc etc. the only things i'm thinking of modifying from stock are a 20v 4age engine and minor cosmetic changes (rims, jdm bumpers etc etc) and maybe an alarm/keyless entry if possible.

i'm a pretty laid back driver, i don't plan on using the car to drift or race, i just want a nice daily driver that can replace my z in terms of looks, sportiness, and performance and the ae86 fits the bill in my opinion, plus it's a family tradition i guess. lol

the thing is i'm a bit of a newb in terms of car mechanics haha... now this shouldn't be a problem cause like i said i have a whole crew of toyota mechanics to help me out, and i'm more than willing to learn, but i was wondering first of all... how much should i expect to spend on a project like this in terms of parts and everything? i'm selling my 350z for around 16k and I have another 7k I have to spend, in addition to what i'm going to spend on the chasis or a really beat up, running sr5 around here ($0-$2500 at most I assume). I was just wondering 'cause if I get rid of the Z, I want to be able to get the hachi to how i want it (reliable, looking new, with no problems) without having to spend $100,000... If not I guess I'll just get a new Yaris (0_0 Please god no...) lol.

But yeah any opinions on this would be very helpful. Also any pointers to useful resources would be appreciated as well... I've already found copies of scanned ae86/4age manuals online, as well as toyodiy.com, but any other resources that could help out with the project are welcome.

Also... is anyone familiar with the workings of importing a car into the US? Just asking because obviously if I go through with this project, it's going to be a huge investment in terms of money and time... And as a U.S Citizen, since I plan on moving back to U.S eventually, I'd like to build the car to meet all emission standards and whatnot so that I'd be able to bring it back with me, if that's even possible? Most of the AE86s here in Peru are USDM imports with some JDM imports that have been converted to left hand drive... But I'm guessing it'd be better to find a chassis or base car for the project that was USDM to not have any problems if I want to import the car later on... if that's even possible (once again) lol. I'm going to consult with U.S Immigration and Border Control as well as the U.S Embassy before I start with the project, but if anybody knew anything about this, I'd appreciate it your comments as well. If not I guess I'd have to risk driving all the way back to the U.S (through California and Mexico and a dozen other countries), assuming I wasn't kidnapped/car jacked/raped/beat up before making it home if I wanted to bring the car back with me to America lol

[Lew]

Just keep the Z as your daily driver and forget all about this stuff, if you really still have to ask on a forum, on how much money you will have to use for all of this.. It depends on the condition of car you buy.. Who makes all the work.. Do you have to pay them? Is yes, how much as a gig or per hour? Are you going to go "Museum"-style and change everything you can to 0km parts? Or be smart and use secondhand parts also, since you're going to be using it as your daily driver?

Dear God, you Americans are some interesting people..

But hey, that's just my opinion...

[NoHachi]

Now, now, non need for that harsh an opinion... everyone has to start somewhere and sometime.

How much will it cost? Anywhere between 10.000 and 50.000$. There is one general guideline that you should really follow: Always buy the best base car you can afford. In your case that would probably be a mint-restored JDM car imported from Nippon.