Blaze's AE86

[Blaze0010]

Hey guys, it's finally time for starting my project!

The Salvage:
It's been quite an intersting trip! We leave Genoa with a trailer on a friday evening, destination Germany. Since the distance between me and the car was 1000km and since we can't go too fast with a trailer, it took us almost 12 hours to reach out destination. But as planned, at 9 am we arrived. A quick check of the car, small talk with the owner, put it on the trailer and hit the road again destination home. After another 12 hours (and a lot of mirror's checking ), and the 86 was finally in her new home, and i can finally go to sleep with a smile on my face!

The Car:
It'a AE86 Toyota Corolla Coupé GTi from Austria, 1984 model. Original color 4E1.
Thing that are missing:
- All of the Interior
- Engine
- T50 transmission
- Rear and front bumper
- All the light (front and back)
- Quarter back windows glass

It still have the rear axle (still don't know if open dff or lsd), no cracker, and all the front wheel assembly, all the brake calipers, front and rear suspension, two side mirrors.

Overall the rust situation it doesn't seems terrible, at least inside the shell and in the front. There are only a couple of points in the back that concern me but nothing that cannot be repaired! Of course i think that something nasty will come out once i start to digging, but we'll see!

The Project:
I will going to make a full restoration of the car, and i'll try to make everything myself, or at least try and maybe aquire a new skill doing so.
I still havent decided, but since i have to buy all the piecese anyway, i was thinking of make it with popup headlight. About the engine i think i will go with the originale 16v, but it's all a work in progress so anything can change
The first step will be to attack all the rust and repaint (the 4E1 it's a nice color, but i have to admit that the panda color scheme always tempt me).
I will update anytime i'll do some major work!
Here some photos of the actual state of the 86

[Power_uP]

It's up to you, but 4E1 is a beautiful colour. Rust repairs like that are not easy but are usually worth it, so don't be discouraged.

[banpei]

I have a soft spot for the 4E1 color (my dad's Carina was painted in that hue) but I understand if you would respray in panda white.
About the rear axle, you could check the firewall plate and see which axle it has. It's no guarantee of course, but it could give you a hint on what's inside. Axle code T282 is open diff and T283 is LSD

[Motorkool]

As for rust? I’ve seen a lot worse. Good luck with the resto


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Blaze0010]

I must admit that the 4E1 it's much better in person! And it's growing on me, but still, there's plenty of time to decide
Other than the two bad rust spot un the chassis, all the other points should be easy to fix (with new metal), i've never done anything like this and i'll try my best!
For now during the weekend i've stripped down and now i can properly start to hunt down all the rust spot.
I've managed to remove the windshield with the piano wire like advised in the manual, and i would say that worked great and it was fast and simple
Onestly the parts that scare me the most it's the bureaucracy, here in Italy when it's something car related, it's simply a nightmare
Anyway, in the next days i will finally start to see more bare metal and less rust

[decryphe]

Looks really cool, nice project!

What about a gold panda? You could use a metallic black color together with the gold metallic.

[Blaze0010]

After a long time, finally some update on my project!
Let's go in order!
Chassis and bodywork:
I removed all the rust, either by cutting the metal and replacing it with new pieces, or by grinding it away where it was just superficial.
All the metal patches i have done are far from perfect, but they work just fine and once the interior will go in place no one will see them

I've fabricated the two frame rail at the rear end of the car, and verified that the bumper is sitting nicely. I think it looks good!




Painting:
Once i was sure that the rust was gone, i've cleaned every surface and applied epoxy primer literally everywhere, underside, outside and inside. After that in the inside i've used just a metal gel paint to make it look nice and uniform.
Underside i've sprayed the 3M 8874 Rocker Shultz, really like the finish and it looks very sturdy.


I am now proceeding with filler and i think i will paint it the next weekend, with the classic two tone white and black, in the end.

Axles:
Front and rear axle repainted and rebuild, now i just miss the brake discs, and i will be able to finally put it again on wheels, once the painting it's over

When i opened the rear axle much to my surprise i've found inside an LSD OEM diff in good shape, so i just replaced all the bearings of the diff and the halfshafts.


Early this year i found a lot of pieces from Josip in Zagreb, so i took my fierce Peugeot 206, and headed from Genoa to Zagreb to collect them.
The main part was a complete engine, a Bluetop spinning free with cabling and ECU, should have 180.000km, and it was working when stored, but i will rebuilt it anyway.
Other pieces were the rear bumper (and bracket) in excellent shape, the headliner (needs some repair), side mouldings and some interior plastic.


My plan now is, once the painting of the chassis is done, start to assembly the interior and mount every piece i have at home to clear some space.
Once done i will start with the engine rebuild.I'm surely missing something, but there is really a lot of stuff to do and to follow, and really little time to do it
One last pic of the current state of the car from few days ago, just before a second hand of epoxy primer and the body filler.

[Ivan141]

Awesome work. Just one tip:
"I've fabricated the two frame rail at the rear end of the car, and verified that the bumper is sitting nicely. I think it looks good!"
Test fit your fuel tank, it gets squeezed tight against the frame rails when installed. I got lucky that I could get it in far enough because I made my new
rails too wide.

[Blaze0010]

(08-07-2023 03:46 PM)Ivan141 Wrote:  Awesome work. Just one tip:
"I've fabricated the two frame rail at the rear end of the car, and verified that the bumper is sitting nicely. I think it looks good!"
Test fit your fuel tank, it gets squeezed tight against the frame rails when installed. I got lucky that I could get it in far enough because I made my new
rails too wide.

Thanks for the tip! As soon as i get the fuel tank i will immediately check this. I think i've managed to keep the same size and position, but with no fuel tank with reference i can't be really sure

[Mylesmck]

Great work!!