Lauren's 1985 Kouki Trueno

[Lauren]

Okay, massive thanks to Si, Tom and of course Mark for their help to fit the new inserts at the front.

Getting the struts out was not particularly difficult. We did wonder if it would be stock or not. We found out that the struts did indeed have inserts of the TRD green variety!

These are part number 45811-TA001

Sorry for the hopelessly blurry pic! Better pics to come.


There was me saying the front was underdamped, but I think it was really over damped as the car would skip everywhere. The TRD Greens are just so stiff. They are also short stroke. I'm really coming to the conclusion that nothing TRD works very well on UK roads. I've still got the TRD blue springs which are pretty short.

So, putting in basically OEM replacements which are long stroke of course, so I'm not convinced how clever that is, but really I'm doing 300 miles a week in the car and am about to do a 1000 mile round trip of Europe in a couple of weeks so I was getting fed up with the really choppy ride which tended to make the car jump around on bumpy A roads.



Installation of the insert wasn't anything difficult really. Here we bolted the axle back to the wheel so we could do up the nut holding the insert into the strut:



Of course now we had a nice short TRD spring and a long stroke damper, the top mount was miles away (literally) from the top of the spring, which made it a right PITA to try and put the strut back in. This was hindered more by the RCA's. In the end my friend came up with a solution which was to compress the springs sufficiently enough so we could get the strut back in. It worked but there were a few frustrating moments!

RCA can be clearly seen here:



The top mounts weren't too clever so we cleaned the bearings up:



After this we re-greased it. They weren't amazing but they are a bit better. I didn't want to spend money on new top mounts when I am planning to fit CS2's in the next six months or so.

Unfortunately my front discs and pads are in desperate need of replacing, so will be doing that next weekend. Those Hawk Racing Pads have just eaten the disc away to pretty much dodgy levels in 20,000 kms! So they will be getting changed before our holiday in two weeks time.

There are still a number of other jobs to do, but the car is getting the propshaft centre bearing changed. We've opted to let a local indie do this as we don't have the pullers and presses needed. We'll also get the gearbox rear oil seal changed at the same time and hopefully have a seat mounting bolt helicoiled as well.

How does it ride? Well, it's now perhaps a little underdamped now, but overall the ride is a lot, lot smoother. It still kicks the back end out with seeming impunity, so all is well as I found out on every wet roundabout on the way home. I did also run it at higher speeds on a bumpy road and I do think it rode them a lot better, this time absorbing the bumps rather than skipping over them. It feels like the tyres are in contact with the road more.

[Lauren]

Since my last post I've managed to melt piston number four again. The car did a trackday at Anglesey but I wasn't happy with the handling so I only did a few laps over the course of the day.

Then I drove it all around northern Europe managing 3000kms in 10 days. On the way back it was really hot, so I had the car fully loaded, cruising at 130km/h and the aircon on full wack. I drove back from the middle of Germany to London in one go. Something like 800kms. I think that is what did it!

So I sourced another 4AGE with the intention of putting it in as a quick fix. But the new 4AGE was looking tired so we opted to do a rebuild to do it properly.

I employed the services of my good friend and current lodger! He's an engineer by trade and has spent the previous building overbored DB6 engines amonst other things. He's a fussy bugger and that is most definitely a good thing!

Okay Tom's pics:

My AE86 virtually buried, but still there! It will live again!



The block and ancillaries in the kitchen. This is everything back from the machine shop and a whole load of Toyota parts hiding in that box:



Block prior to de-burring:



De-burring the decked block:



The rather corroded side:



De-burred:



Engine stand spider attached to block ensuring that there is appropriate access for cleaning the oil gallery:



Block being prepped for painting:



Ready for final clean with cellulose prior to painting:



Painting:



Cleaning out all tapped holes:



Prepping the other side:



Final clean:



Ready for painting:



Painting:



Grimy oil pump with knackered seal:



Sump and baffle plate needs all the sealant removing:



Knife and brush used to remove all the sealant:



Finally all the sealant removed:



Oil pump with cover removed:



Remove plug for cleaning:



The components of the oil pump:



Oil pump assembled:



Tom had to use a heater on the parts washer to help it to work better:



Some of the clean parts building up:



The table of dirty components getting smaller, finally:



Curing the block paint:



Camshafts replaced by retainers to hold the tappets and buckets in place:



Cam covers are going to need a bit of work:



Cylinder head uncleaned. Spot the problem one!



Initially cleaned but I expect we'll do more with this:



An ever increasing pile of bits!



Random nuts and bolts cleaned:



Sorted and bagged:



Pistons, conrods and main bearing caps:



Main bearing caps dried immediately and protected from corrosion:



Everything you need to build a 4AGE!



Ready for re-assembly:

[Eifelaner]

damn man, all respect for rebuilding the engine by yourself

[Lauren]

I'm not doing it myself. I've a good friend who is an engineer and happens to be my lodger, so it worked out well.

I could do it myself, but he'll do a much better job and I really don't have the time at the moment.

[Lauren]

Had a quick hour and a half at it today.

Got the engine ready for mating to the gearbox next weekend.

Torqueing the Inlet manifold:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
New injector seals on:

Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Injectors in until I realised it would likely be easier to push them onto the fuel rail first. What a fiddly job on your own.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Dizzy in:

Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

I might look at getting a new O ring. Couldn't find one amongst my new parts bag. Also can't find one of the bolts for the distributor so will order another from Toyota. Might be ordering a few lost bolts at this rate!

Alternator on. Was interesting that I found that when I bolted up the lower brace for the inlet manifold it didn't seem to fit right. If I did the bolt up to the block it would have been under tension. Turns out the AE86 has a different brace which is shorter and bolts off one of the lower block strengthening brackets.

Not that interesting, save for putting the fan/alternator/water pump belt on, it's pretty much ready for bolting the gearbox up.

Next weekend this can go on:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Then hopefully we'll get it all back in.

[Jan Pedersen]

It looks nice with the White covers! Great job

[robokill]

looking good :-)

[Lauren]

Well progress seems to be slow. I seem to feel ill everytime I work on the car, it's just a bit too cold in the workshop at the moment.

We got the engine off the stand with the help of the engine crane. I put the clutch and pressure plate on, but then remembered, arrghh, MR2 crank, spigot bearing!

I'm glad I remembered as I wouldn't want to go through that again.

Here it is with the spigot bearing which the gearbox input shaft locates into:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

It does make it harder to get the gearbox on though.

Mark drills out the stripped thread on the bell housing:

Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Then he taps it:

Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Then helicoil in:

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Engine and gearbox reunited complete with new clutch.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

There are four bolts missing. Mark wasn't happy using whatever bolts were around so will have to order the right bolts from Toyota.

Next step is getting the engine and box in, not looking forward to that!

[Lauren]

A bit more progress.

Mark insisted that I buy new bolts for the bellhousing to gearbox and block strengtheners. So off he went to Toyota:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

£25 for 8 bolts!

I'm glad we changed them though, the old ones were in terrible condition:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Mark makes the first cut to the wiring loom in preparation for the new injector clips (we've changed to later injectors from an AW11):


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Meanwhile Si and I get the engine and box ready for lifting so we can get to those other bolts:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Starter on and some shiny bolts too:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Mark's soldering setup. I know crimping would be better but we don't have the gear. They will be well soldered, knowing Mark:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Mark, hard at work:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

New injector plugs spliced into the old loom:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Next the engine and box goes back in!

[Lauren]

Okay, we have the engine and box back in the car! It's been 20 odd months since it last sat in there!

Waiting for the rain to stop so we can open the shutter doors and get the engine and box in position:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Shutter going up and time for the AE86 to meet the GT86.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

With three of us and me being underneath guiding the gearbox down, we had it all on the mounts within 15 minutes.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Mocal sandwich plate for the oil cooler on and new Toyota filter added:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Si gets busy with all the awkward bits:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

This pic doesn't show much, but it signifies the prop being back on the gearbox, so all is connected underneath:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Exhaust manifold needs some more wrapping yet:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Si still fiddling:


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

A bi of a problem here. The inlet seems to have got broken somewhow where it's been stored out of the car. Not sure what to do, will see if Toyota still have new ones and price up, I think. Not sure I can do much with that.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Still, a decent amount of progress has been made today.


Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

We need a few bits. Apart from the radiator, I need engine oil, gearbox oil and a few odds and sods. But, will hopefully have it running in a few weeks.