Andy's First AE86 - it's JDM yo!

[4doors]

Thanks for the clarity McLevin. I thought it was something special after seeing the same type of wheel in a few examples on the net. Definitely keeping it.

[bazz84]

Hi mate. Sweet car. Congrats. That label says force fan off (using Google translate app). The steering wheel is an italvolanti admiral Like McLevin said. It is takumis steering wheel so quite sort after. They are also a very high quality steering wheel so even if your not a fan of the anime it's pretty sweet. That wideband O2 also looks pretty cool. How does the car drive?


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[4doors]

Hey Bazz,
Thanks for the info! That's great!

The steering wheel has seen better days, but I'm going to keep it and maybe even try and freshen it up (although it would look sweet in a glass cabinet).

How does it drive... hmmm. Talk about tease! I got to drive it onto the trailer, then off the trailer and down the driveway (of my complex) and then parked it. It's pretty much out of fuel and has a dead battery. Sooo.... yeah, it's just sitting in my driveway. Oh man, I've got no time to work on it and my tools are about 30kms away... hmmmggppphh!

I gotta say, it was a stiff ride down the driveway and it got me very excited.

I'm just happy to own this thing and it's a great birthday present to just see it in my driveway.

[4doors]

***UPDATE***
It's been an age since I've opened the doors on this thing... A few weeks ago I dropped in another battery that had more charge than the dead one. After a bit of messing around, I finally started it up. That made me happy.
But after only a few minutes of cold idle, it started to hesitate and drop right down in the revs. Didn't want to idle at all. Tried holding the throttle at a constant 2000 rpm and it still was hunting around and wanting to die... Gremlins I'll have to find. I had a similar issue with a GZE in a ke70 once where it didn't want to idle... But I cannot remember what the final fix was. I do remember re doing the entire ecu loom on that thing though 😐

****MORE UPDATES****

I bought a new daily. LN147 dual cab Hilux 2wd with 3.0L diesel! As soon as I bought it I got it tinted with 18% and had the A/C regassed. I will be personalising it more and more but it's a great ute with all that I need right now (has tow bar already).
This is me changing rear shocks on Monday.



So, yesterday I had time (finally) to work on the levin. My plan was pretty simple:
- swap seats left & right.
- check to see if boss kit has dual stud pattern (in order to fit my Nardi copy)

So these two jobs took all day ...

I started by removing both seats. But decided to work on the steering wheel first as it seemed like a quick job.

This mess of tools is what I needed to remove the wheel.


Turned out that 50% of the Allen screws didn't want to come out. Had to destroy them to get them out. Lucky I had some old torx bits lying around. I used a hammer and shifter to "shock" them loose.


It was a relief to see the dual stud pattern reveal itself when the last screw was loosened. Hooray!


Here is the old and new comparison:
- old "Initial D" style wheel is larger
- new Nardi copy has a classier horn button but is a lot smaller.



Fun fact: I found this date stamp on the back of the old one when packing it away (now boxed for safe keeping).


After figuring out what the pieces were for the horn setup, I decided to reduce the parts and go for a simple look.




I installed the wheel into the car and wasn't too happy with how the new Allen screws fitted into the counter sink holes in the wheel... Hmmm. I kept moving though and started work on the seats.

So the fishnet Recaro was the drivers side seat but I found the newer Recaro to fit me better so I wanted to swap them around. (By the way, I do prefer the fishnet look over this newer style seat and would be very happy with two fishnets. Once I source another I will get them re trimmed in matching blue tartan, etc)


The newer seat was never really bolted in proper and after removing the rail from it, it showed that it's suited to a completely different vehicle. Luckily I was prepared for this and had a Bride passenger rail ready to go (thanks to Craig at Just JDM Imports).

You can see here I'm pointing out the access hole so you can line up the mounts on the rail and seat for easy installation. I found this out after bolting it up and fighting with the slider back and forth.


After the rails were swapped on both seats I installed the passenger seat into the car. Easy. Then I had a bit of a struggle getting the drivers seat in. Because it's a genuine Recaro rail, it can be split in two, leaving the base bolted into car while the slider comes out with the seat. Ultimately designed this way for maximum adjustability. But I'm sure that the slider section is a "one size fits all" part from Recaro and that's why people grind them down to suit various vehicles. This was the case with my car. The previous owner in Japan had the slider section ground to fit. No worries, I can work with that. The following photos show the clearance issues I spent an hour on to get it to bolt up right:





Finally got it bolted up! I mounted the front of the seat at a different position to the last time, just pitching it back slightly.



Seeing how the newer Recaro was out of an optioned vehicle (that would've come with the seat from factory or similar), it was a purpose built passenger seat. Meaning that the recliner adjuster is only on the left side of the seat. I tried to see if I could swap this over to the right side, but that wasn't going to happen without completely dismantling the seat and removing most fabric/trim.
This is how the seat looks in the car now. Not worried about it as once I've got my desired driving position sorted I won't be using this knob much.



So back to this steering wheel. I noticed that it had become loose after I was hanging onto it while adjusting my seat back and forth. Not good. Because it's a cheap copy, it doesn't have holes that match the screws properly. I tried tightening these as much as I could without stripping the Allen head, but it still wasn't sitting right.
I went down to bunnings and purchased a few different types of fixings to sort this out (took the wheel and screws with me to make sure it was only one trip).
The end result is some stainless counter sunk screws that sit in the holes better. I also used a decorative washer to secure the horn button as it just pops into the centre.


Wow. That took all day and it was just seats and a steering wheel! I don't expect anyone to read all of this, but I'm treating this thread as my build diary and want to record all work on the car.

Yes, those seats are dirty and I should've cleaned them while they were out of the car...


I'm happy.


Seeing how I have time off over Xmas, I want to work in this bad idle issue and get it running right.

Merry Xmas everybody!


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[bazz84]

Hi mate. 4age idle always a headache. If the plugs and leads are new, then bleed the coolant and check the timing. 90% of the time it's one of those in my cars.


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[4doors]

Hey Bazz,
Thanks for the tips. It need a proper service and engine bay clean up (omg cables and leads and zip ties everywhere!).

It'll be something simple I'm sure and I'll keep you all updated.

Thanks again.


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[Brendan]

those coilovers look like JIC's

[Matt]

Just be careful with some of the fake nardis getting around, if u grab both hands on the wheel and it flexes i'd be replacing it. You'd hate to have an accident and have your hands on the wheel. There are allot of second hand genuine wheels out there which are in real good condition from Japan for < $100.

Seats look awesome though.

[4doors]

Hi Matt. Yeah it's not the best long term solution. Probably only good as a show piece in the garage somewhere.
I know that Just JDM imports has some second hand wheels. I'd really like a deep corn!


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[4doors]

Hi folks. Finally started work on my hachi.

Just jacked it up and removed the wheels.



Brakes look good. Still plenty of pads left and the rotors could just do with a machine. No warping or ripples.
Front:
(Looks like custom made coilovers with "Swift 080" springs)



Rear:
(KYB New SR Special shocks with Unknown blue springs)


Found a heap of dirt packed into the LHR quarter/bumper... (Probs from a track day in Japan)



Also, some rust repairs done by previous owner (Japan):
(This is next to fuel tank underneath)


(And what it looks like inside the boot)


Oh! Also found out that it once has bolt on flares. Then they covered them out with these weird plastic arch trims...
(I can imagine some wild fitment wheels to justify this mod):

See the holes?!


Slowly slowly I'm learning more about this car. Probs has a rich history and I would love to find pics of it in Japan. Not sure how to do that though...

Going to take bumpers off now.


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