Matt's AE85 Trueno Coupe

[85Kai]

Hey guys,

I thought I'd start a thread on my car. It's an AE85 with an original 25,400km. Started out as an automatic and I had the car built up to my specs in Japan. Now it runs a 86 running gear. Mostly standard apart from the exhaust and the TRD 2-way LSD. It has lowered sports suspension but I opted not to fit coilovers. The car's interior has been completely replaced with 86 gear, too. It's got power steering, power windows, power mirrors and air conditioning. I'll keep it looking as stock as possible, except for the Advan A3A wheels. They give it that classic 80s Jap styling.

It's been on the road since late June this year and I'm loving it! The diff whines a bit but that will be sorted soon.

I took it out to Willowbank last night to see what it would run. I only did 4 runs as I really couldn't see much improvement to be had. The times are as follows:

1st: 16.83 @ 128.3km/h
2nd: 16.77 @ 131.3km/h
3rd: 16.91 @ 130.7km/h
4th: 16.82 @ 126.8km/h

We're hoping to knock around a second off once the new diff gears are fitted and the engine is rebuilt (nothing too fancy, just a bit more mumbo).

Does anyone know what the official figures were for these cars when they came out new? I'm guessing somewhere close to that, which would have made it a quick little car back in the early 80s.

Anyway, more to come on the build later. I'm still collecting parts for now.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/397834.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/397836.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/397838.jpg
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/397840.jpg

[john84ie]

Very nice mate, looks super minty

[Rice86]

Best AE85 in aus

[haveaparty]

Seen this in the flesh. Is legit

[skin]

nice original 85

[Matt]

Mint car...

[.ady]

looking immac.

[85Kai]

Thanks guys. I'm really looking forward to doing a few subtle things to it but keep it as original looking as possible. I just want to go cruising in it all the time. We really need to have more meets and cruises here in Brissy.

[-ollie-]

Wow matt, thats a really tidy coupe! You should spray those bumpers black, theyre a bit faded etc.

[mcBen]

More mint then a mentos factory

[85Kai]

hahaha...thanks for the comments guys. It does have a few areas that need some work but overall it's a clean car. Still the original paint from 1985, too!

Ollie, my friend actually suggested I paint them red to match the car but I won't touch them. Instead, I think I'll find some spare bumpers and have them painted and fit them so I can keep the original ones as they are. They're unpainted plastic at the moment.

[timbo]

Photo's don't do it justice! My favourite 85/86 by a country mile.

[85Kai]

Hi guys,

Just a bit of an update, a reality check if you will. I'm currently fixing a few areas on the body that are in need of attention, mainly the areas where the original owner thought a paintbrush was a good idea to touch up the paint blemishes and a few rusty areas. Rust, my nemesis. I guess it's not too bad for a 27 year old car but it still pisses me off that it has any rust. I thought I'd share some of the nasty bits with you all. It gets fixed next weekend hopefully.

Inside the driver's side front fender.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/400211.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/400213.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/400215.jpg

This is the worst of it. The passenger side has a bit of surface rust and there's some behind the rear bumper, too. A wire wheel will take care of that but a patch will be needed on the driver's side.

[mcBen]

Also check the firewall on the passenger side under the wiper, take the cowl off on the driver side and shine a torch down the hole to the end

[85Kai]

Well, I've been a bit slack updating the progress of the car. The rust has been dealt with. We touched up a few paint blemishes while we were at it. I would have liked the touch ups to be better but we were a little rushed for time and red is just one of those colours. Still, the car was ready for the Jap Nats.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402413.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402415.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402417.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402419.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402421.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/402423.jpg

Next up, get the new diff gears fitted (4.6:1) once they arrive from Japan and get some more power out of the engine.

[Low Style]

Love the look of this thing! Super clean!

[85Kai]

Build update: Well, not much happening with the car lately, still waiting on parts from Japan but I did get the air-con regassed. $179 later I'm now cruising in comfort. Just in time for a stinker weekend up here. At least my chu-hai arrived. Progess has been much more steadier on these. :DD

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/404367.jpg

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/404369.jpg

[85Kai]

Woohoo! Christmas came a little early for me. Got a heap of assorted parts in yesterday. There's still more to be unloaded but this is what I've got so far:

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/409670.jpg

Spare wheels. There A3As are in pretty good condition, I hope to get them widened a bit.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/409671.jpg

Spare front guards. Always handy to have.

New gear ratios. 4.6:1! Can't wait to have them fitted!
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/409672.jpg

More chu-hi! Just in time for Christmas celebrations.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/409673.jpg

[85Kai]

Well, after giving the car a thrashing at QR one Friday night I drove home feeling pretty sad about it. The car wasn't very happy either. Gear changes back to 2nd were really hard to do. The shifter just didn't want to go in. I consulted my mate who suggested draining the oil, filling the gearbox with kerosene, running through the gears while the car is up on blocks for a while (I probably did it for 7-8 minutes but should have gone longer), drain the kero and fill the box with Castrol VMX80 oil. He suggested it would take about 50-100km of driving before I'd really start to notice a difference but even just a drive around the block indicated things were working well. 2nd gear is now usable again and will hopefully free up even more. So if anyone is suffering shifting issues I'd say give it a go. I spent $50 on kero and oil and took a few hours of stuffing around to do it all in my garage.
I'm guessing I'll have to recondition the gearbox out properly sooner or later though as the decision has been made to supercharge the engine. There'll be many updates when that happens.

[dansomerville]

I saw an SC12 setup for sale on eBay earlier today.

[85Kai]

I must have missed it. Oh well, I'll probably end up sourcing something from Japan. I think it's hilarious that some sellers on Ebay think an SC14 supercharger is worth $450.

[Jacobxxx]

I have a full sc12 set up

[dansomerville]

It was only yesterday, was 300 I think.

[85Kai]

How do you find it Jacob? I was thinking of running the engine on E85 with a water-to-air intercooler. I don't want to make too much mess of the engine bay and I want to keep my a/c and p/s.
I wonder if an AMR500 would push enough air. They're a fair bit smaller than the SC12.

I might have another look Dan.

[Jacobxxx]

Oh i mean i have one sitting in my garage haha

[85Kai]

Would you be interested in parting with it Jacob?

[Jacobxxx]

I don't require it so i don't see why not.

[85Kai]

Excellent. Could you give me some more details on the supercharger please Jacob?

[85Kai]

Finally got my 4.6 gears in! What a difference! Not to acceleration but to the feel of the car. I had the LSD rebuilt at the same time (well, more put together properly). Now the car is tight and quiet and I can enjoy driving again.

Next up... the supercharger.

[85Kai]

It's been a while since I last updated something here so here goes.

I got a heap more goodies in recently. One of which is my SC14 supercharger and a bunch of suspension parts. I'm still chasing 6kg springs to fit the front struts though.
I've got a 2nd set of A3As now and decided to start polishing them up and painting them.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/507144.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/A3Apolishing_zps2b95e0f3.jpg.html)

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/507145.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/A3Abeforeafter_zps2c820398.jpg.html)

I've now got a growing collection of panels and glass and even a spare disk brake diff. I'm also waiting for my oil cooler kit to arrive and a few other parts I've probably forgotten about. I think I'll slowly import another car, piece by piece. hehehe

[85Kai]

Got some paint onto them as well.

Etch primed.
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/507182.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/A3Aetch_zpsb946c7ec.jpg.html)

Gooooooooold
http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/507183.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/A3Apaintedpair_zps70f3cf4a.jpg.html)

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/507184.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/A3Apainted_zps7c1b93aa.jpg.html)

Two wheels down, two to go.

[stixy]

Just found this, Nice work Matt.

Such a nice car, wouldn't mind having a better look next time we pop round =D

[85Kai]

No worries Ben. Just give me a buzz when you're gonna work on your 86, too. I'll get in and give you a hand.

[stixy]

Awesome!!! that would be great, hopefully i will be getting some doors and a hatch this week.

[ae86 drifter]

nice colour choice on the wheels mate

[K1W1 Simo]

What is the name of that colour Matt? looks good. Painting my wheels is next on my list of things to do.

[85Kai]

Hey guys,

sorry for the sloooooooooooooooooooow reply. Been offline a bit lately. Thanks for the compliment Pete. I tried to get the colour as close to the original gold they seemed to come out with in Japan.

Simon, it was just a can from Supercheap. I've gotta buy another can to do the rears so I'll get the paint details for you soon.

Here's a quick picture of what it looks like on the car.


http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/508428.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/gold-A3As_zps611c932a.jpg.html)

[85Kai]

Unfortunately, there's not much to update until the next load of goodies come. I can't wait.

[ae86 slide]

Are you still planning on supercharging it?
Did you consider just doing cams, exhaust and intake. It seems like a shame to mess up an immaculate engine bay with a nasty SC and piping.

[85Kai]

Hi Jason,

At this stage, yes. I'm really chasing a lot more torque. It will certainly destroy the aesthetics of the engine bay but at this stage it's still planned. I may look at a 7AGE build as an alternative, if that's the case I'll sell what goodies I've acquired so far for the project. I'd love to hear about people's 7AGEs. If anyone is in Brissy with one please take me for a ride. hahaha.
I'm chasing about 200nm of torque to make it a really quick little streeter.

Something with this sort of performance would be good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hiLBW81TVA&list=FLEqTHFDQSMjM8M7uYqWMoqw

[Seventy]

Yeah I second not wanting to mess up the engine bay, hopefully you can build something nice

[85Kai]

Thanks for the advice guys. I spoke to my mechanic and it looks like a 7AGE build will happen. Stay tuned for my garage sale to raise funds.

[85Kai]

Here's the paint code I used for my wheels. I get it from Supercheap Auto for about $14.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/508889.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/2013-06-02104804_zpsdbdd82b4.png.html)

[85Kai]

Happy day! Most of my suspension parts arrived today and some really bizarre shit, too. Some of my purchases are really hard to explain. I've got no idea what I was thinking. Hahaha... oh well. The good news is my car will see some happy days soon and anything I don't need will be up for sale.

This picture show about a quarter of the presents I've got.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/509945.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/July2013parts001_zps34927ad4.jpg.html)

In other really out there news. I had a dream and with the help of Benny Boy, I made it a reality. This is only a prototype but holy shitballs! How awesome is this!?! (nobody has actually agreed with me on its awesomeness yet).

Behold! My Double Decker Jack!

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/1/5/8/1/7/509946.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/85Kai/media/DoubleDeckerJack_zpsd7b2de84.jpg.html)

The plan is to make 4 and have a quick, economical way of lifting my car up about 600mm. I know what you're all thinking, "That's fucking amazing Matt, but is it safe?". Well, it seems to be quite sturdy so far. The idea is to wind one jack up, fit the car stands, then wind the second jack up and raise the car stands on flat ground, with the wheels on and using Boat People to put the car stands in place. Safe as!

[dansomerville]

Seems legit.. Hahaha, I won't lie I've done worse including my car falling and rolling out of the garage at one point.

It's always a good day when boxes turn up.

[mcBen]

Damn that jack is some next level shit! Pun intended

[85Kai]

Thanks for your positive feedback guys. Now I just needa really catchy name soi can market it to countries with relaxed safety laws. Let's make ita competition. Whoever thinks of the best name for my jack will receive a 21mm/23mm ring spanner. The first six runner-ups will all also receive a 21mm/23mm ring spanner! For reasons I can't explain a whole bunch of these things. Haha

, that's hilarious mate. I like your style.

[haveaparty]

If u put a bigger base plate on the bottom then it should be fairly sterdy. And maybe made out of some thicker steel. I have a big sheet of 3mm plate here I can donate. However, will it fit under a car even tho both are wound all the way down?

[85Kai]

Thanks Brett. Yeah, I didn't have anything good for a base plate at the time. Some 3mm would be awesome.
I have a little 'helper' jack to get the bigger jack in place. It's juuuuust too tall to fit under right now and I'm guessing my new suspension will sit a little lower than my current stuff. Which my shopping spree is complete. lat night I grabbed some TRD 4.3kg rear springs to complete the package. The bushes, camber tops and rear springs will be getting on the plane very soon. I can't wait

[smackdown.exe]

haha i made the exact same thing with my jacks! mine is to jack up a kombi and hasnt broken so far 2 years on..

loving the build mate, cant wait to see this thing.

[mcBen]

boo you outbid me on the springs. What's your front rate going to be

[85Kai]

Haha. Sorry Ben.i wasn't going to let them go.i could have bought brand new TRD ones for not much more but I didn't want to wait.
I've got some TRD 6kg fronts to go with the 4.3kg rears. I've also got another pair of fronts That are a bit softer I think and two sets of rears that area but firmer. I thought I'd geta collection going so I could try a few out.

2 years undera kombi and no breaky breaky is good enough for me!

[85Kai]

Suspension is in! TRD F6kg/R4.3kg springs, full TRD bush set, TRD adjustable front and rear blue shocks, Cusco camber tops, 30mm longer tie rod ends, XT130 lower control arms with new ball joints. It's now a brand new car underneath! I'm yet to get a wheel alignment but it's already impressive. It isn't stupidly low either. I'll get pics and an update soon.

Next up, brakes.

[Otaku]

Holy shit it's a real AE85 Lisse!! 8|

[85Kai]

Haha. Yes indeed. Top of the pov spec!

[Otaku]

I've always wanted a AE85 Lime for some weird reason