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Thread: The Pointless tale of a guy and his sprinter

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  1. #1
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    Aaron
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    Default The Pointless tale of a guy and his sprinter

    Hi my names Aaron and back in august 2011 I became the proud owner of this little ae86

    Its a 83 Australian built sunroof model hatch sporting a bog standard 4ac powerhouse and standard everything else with the exception of lowered springs and some 15" Roh wheels, and an aftermarket radio. This was only my second car and the first car I had owned with some sporty aspects, at the time I knew very little about these cars and the world around them, I'd never even seen Initial-D, all I knew is that my mate had one and I liked it. I picked it off Carsales for the grand price of $5,500.

    This car has taught me a lot so far, I was 17 when I bought it and from having only driven through the hills a couple of times prior to buying the car and little driving experience it didn't take long for it to change what I wanted to do on a Friday night. Rather then seeing my friends I wanted to be out in the hills, taking new roads, learning better lines and driving techniques, while I've still got a lot to learn I'm grateful that its this car that's teaching me.. its saved my rookie ass more then once!

    I've never really had a set plan for how I've wanted it to look, or what I've wanted to do with it. Over the years I must have and over a hundred ideas on things I could do, changing my mind every month or fortnight, or day at some points. Probably the only plan that's stayed there is to have fun with it.

    One other thing that's become clear in my mind is that I never want to get rid of it, other cars can come and go but I've build a bond with this car which I hope some of you can understand, to others it may not be much but to me its priceless.

    Current Photo april 2016:
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    Last edited by azbro; 9th April 2016 at 08:50 PM.

  2. #2
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    Aaron
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    Nov 2011: Lesson 1

    Unfortunately with the exception of an oil and filter change and some general maintenance parts the first real tinkering with the car was replacing parts after spinning it into a curb...
    This was a lesson on how owning an ae86 does not make you an instant drift king!
    going home from work on a Friday night the road was a bit damp and slippy and I couldn't help myself, taking a right at flagstaff hill roundabout (for those not familiar it was probably the widest roundabout in Adelaide at the time) I planted the throttle and unleashed the mighty single cam (this is also before I started clutch kicking), eventually the back end stepped out but it was too late and I was almost at the my exit (I should also mention this wasn't peak our traffic I went home early), I swung all the way round to opposite lock to try and pull myself around to face the exit but to much counter steer lead to the back end swinging back the other way and with that I was sliding backwards into and up a rather nasty curb onto the side banking.
    After embarrassingly waving on the stunned on lookers I got out for a quick check, to my surprise everything looked okay, no broken rims and I didn't hit the wall that was a meter down from me, hopping back in with my heart still going nuts I waited for a gap and got back on the road only to quickly discover everything was definitely not okay, I limped up the road to a safe place to park and had a better inspection.

    the damage: a mangled LCA, a bent rear axle, and a bent front stub axle.

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  3. #3
    Moderator dove grey 64's Avatar
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    Default

    Nice 86 man, love silver levins

  4. #4
    Member phoenix's Avatar
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    Nice car mate, think I even remember seeing this thing around the place a few years ago too.
    Formerly 86 Nick

  5. #5
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    cheers guys!!
    its been off the road for a few years now getting a resto which i'll get to abit later.

  6. #6
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    Click image for larger version. 

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    Sitting on the hoist in my brothers shed waiting for parts.

  7. #7
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    Nov 2011: Lesson 2

    Now with my only car off the road after crashing it I was left with one major issue, where the hell do I get parts from??
    Back at this point I had no idea about ae86dc and other forums and I didn't know of any parts suppliers locally. After ringing around the wreckers I quickly found I wasn't going to have any luck there, with the exception of a front LCA out of a KE-70 at the local u-pull-it. A quick google search initially led me to AJPS in the search of a front suspension strut but his coilovers required me to already have two good struts to supply. Next on the list was QLD based justJDMimports where he had a sales listing on a pair of secondhand coilovers (pulled out of a jap import, cut and shut struts, unknown HKS coils, Tein cambertops), without much thought I contacted him and purchased them for $780 and had them shipped. During this a family member was able to source a RH side axle for my ADM drum diff.
    Parts sourced and fitted back up I was back on the road again.
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  8. #8
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    Dec 2011: Dash fix

    All problems currently under control (sparkplugs, gearbox oil, clutch master, wheelbearings, and tie rod ends) it was time to do something I wanted to do and that was to fix the craters in the dash. After a google and business listings search I sourced a company at Holden Hill (cant remember the name) that would be able to re-skin it.
    First thing to do now is pull it out.
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    I'd never pulled a dash out before so this was quite interesting for me, it wasn't too difficult, just a case of taking it piece by piece and working out what the hell held some bits in place.
    Parts out and sent off a couple of weeks later it was looking next to brand new again with the exception of a dodgy fit around some of the vents.
    The cost $440
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    Oh and a broken clock surround, although I'm aware these can still be brought new I decided to try out using a piece black tin cut to fit, I'll get a proper surround at some point but this will do for now.
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    Last edited by azbro; 9th April 2016 at 06:57 PM.

  9. #9
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    January 2012: bumper lights delete.

    A lot of driving and another list of maintenance jobs ticked off I felt like tinkering again and the aus spec number plate lights mounted in the bumper was in my sights, not being able to afford some jap white or red lines I decided to have a go at mounting them in the "Toyota" trim panel above the number plate.
    Space was an issue so a trip to u-pull-it was in order to pocket some smaller globe holders, other then that it was just a case of cutting the required holes, cutting some holes in the trim to let the light through and connecting up the wiring.
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    I would later go on to patch up the holes in the bumper by gluing a ruler under the holes and filling up the recesses with bumper filler.
    Last edited by azbro; 9th April 2016 at 07:48 PM.

  10. #10
    Member azbro's Avatar
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    April 2012: Cancer Control

    Rust was starting to bubble through at the back of the rear wheel arches and I wanted to get it under control before it spread to much.
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    I didn't have the skills to repanel them so my methods were alittle dodgy, basically just grind as much as I could away, bathe in rust converter and fill with bog...
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    For some reason I drove around for ages with no bumper but for the life of me I cant remember why
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    Last edited by azbro; 9th April 2016 at 08:04 PM.

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