The First Photoshoot with my finished AE86
It’s hard to convey here just how happy he was to finish his seven-year itch finally. I’m not going into great detail here. I think we covered it perfectly in the video on the 86, but being able to finally do a shoot like this on an unusual April evening in the same spot I had shot this car seven years before. I don’t think the vehicle will even look this good again, but either way, I wanted to get these photos on the website for some time.
As sad as this sounds, and I know there won’t be a lot of people looking at these, I never thought a time would come when I could finally post my build on Juicebox; doing this blog since 2009, I was always out of capture whatever I thought was cool in Ireland and beyond. I hope to get my car to be proud of up here. By the time I got to it, blogs were essentially dead, so we’ve moved the story to YouTube, but it’s a real sense of achievement to shoot this car and post it on the blog. Please enjoy a generous amount of images from that evening. And as always, thanks for looking.
I had to do the Colin Starsharks for the final unveil: 14×9-12 on the back and 8.5-19 on the front, wrapped in 185/55/14 Yokohama S drives.
Front-end-wise, it’s an OEM late-spec front bumper with a modified early-spec front lip mounted from behind. A clear set of Expert OZ indicators, brand-new headlights from Raybrig with Raybrig bulbs, and new corner lights have been installed.
I refreshed the side skirts with new Toyota rubber. I couldn’t find the exact model; I think this strip is for an Alezza, but it didn’t do the trick. I really like how Barry and Jackie did the arches, flowing the flare seamlessly into the front bumper, making it look almost OEM.
We got so lucky with this evening, the beautiful sky gradient casting the perfect reflection on 18 months of bodywork from the Jackie Fitz machine. All those nights of sanding were worth it.
Even the way the rear TRD flows, Jackie did his magic, and it looks like it belongs there.
The back end is super simple; I chose not to run any OEM stickers because this is a modern-day hot rod, and I wanted to appreciate the car’s overall silhouette and keep it simple. I feel the redline rear lights perfectly match that black paint.
I opted to tint the windows because I wanted this car to feel like a villain’s car from a movie or to have some sort of brutal energy about it. I’ve gone into great detail on the YouTube channel about why I love black cars, but it mostly comes from Mad Max.
I honestly can’t get enough of the rear end, and Im not trying to sound cocky; if this was anyone else’s car, id be saying the same thing. The simplified arches, simple side of the vehicle and plain rear end might not be to everyone’s taste, but I love how you can stripe the 86 back to a simple silhouette, and it’s just as fantastic.
Inside, I always wanted red seats against the exterior black; I feel like it’s such an excellent contrast.
The only wheel choice was ever going to be a Nardi 350mm, and I managed to secure a TRD horn button from a friend, which works with everything else.
I have an Apline head unit, which is used in the Lamborghini cab, and I wanted to keep it somewhat period.
The clock had been rolled back to zero because we never had the car’s original clocks, so why not make it brand new again after all the effort?
The Defis sit inside an Omori Factory triple stacker. I tried to use Omoris, but sadly, I couldn’t find a matching working set.
The red spokes tied in with the rear lights and the seats, and Jackie knocked it out of the park on this. I’ve got them bolted on with Watanabe wheel nuts.
This car came from Kanagawa, so the front bumper being cut like this was of the time. This is where the original Goodline design came from, simplifying the front end for flow and having the early spec lip. My car original had this look before it came to Ireland so I just cleaned it up as Its my favourite style for the Trueno, I’m not the biggest fan of the grill under the bonnet or on the bumper.
The Goodline hood is my favourite part of the car. I tried for years to get one. It’s such a simple design, and it’s funny the story we have just to collect it. It spawned the Japan in a Van series.
In this photo, the EC works mirrors are a little droopy. I had to make a spacer after this to try to fix them. These were universal race mirrors from the early 90s, relatively standard in the ’86s around the 2000s. They never sold them with an 86 base plate, so these have AE5 blanking plates for a wing mirror option with the 86, and this was used to make base plates.
I got this Kakimoto box on Croober for 50 euros. It was designed for a Honda Airwave. Kakimoto doesn’t offer an under-axle for this car, so we had to make our own one, as I love this rolled burnt-tip rear end.
More photo spam.
It’s unusual to be truly happy with something you have envisioned for years, but this hits the spot. Im fussy enough, which I didn’t realise until we were putting this together, but this is precisely how it has my Truno, and thankfully, we got it there in the end.
I’ve always wanted the Megatec Art Trumpets. I opted to strip back the look of the 20valve, too, as it’s such a modern engine, and I wanted it to look more old-school. I put exposed pulleys on the front with a red Toda belt to tie into the car’s theme. The satin bay then really does it for me against the high shine of the exterior. I wasn’t sure if this would work, but I wanted to try it.
My friend Dave, who had the brown 86, was one of the first features here. He got this Powecraft Tornado manifold in 2007, and it’s been on my list ever since. During COVID, I managed to get my hands on one from some intense saving when we had nothing to do. We got a decent colour match on the Pulley, as the stock Toyota VVT is raw metal.
I waited years to get this angle and this shot. I was thinking about the enjoyable bits I’ve loved to shoot in other people’s cars over the years. It’s weird that this is finally mine to shoot and appreciate.
These sound insane. For me, it’s all about the noise of these cars. I know it’s probably not the best thing to have, but I don’t care.
Another thing on the bucket list, but it never worked out, was this Zeta 2 Carbon Kevlar seat. I remember seeing one in the Techno Pro Spirits 86 many moons ago, paired with the Ueo-style Greddy Harness. This was more or less what Ueo ran back in the day. He had a silver cage and this harness with a Red Zeta 2. That original car has been the biggest inspiration for this build.
Someone in the UK was nice enough to make this fuel flap, which matches the seat nicely.
The battery box we got lucky with back in 2019 at an upgrade in Hamamatsu.
Mission complete! I’m unsure if I’ll ever feel as satisfied and happy as this again! Delighted Flip was there to take this photo.
I’ll include a spec list below for anyone interested, as I haven’t done one for this project yet.
Exterior
Expert OZ indicators,
New redline rear lights
Goodline Bonnet with Hoodpins in black.
Bandoh EC Works Mirror
Early spec Trueno Lip
Oem Side skirts with fresh trim
Flared arches with extended bumper pieces. (and shopping trolley)
New headlights,
New door handles, a lot of new bits around the outside, eyelids, corner lights, seals, etc
Flushed TRD wing with FRP boot lid.
Wheels and tyres
Colin Starsharks, made by SSR
Wheels rebuilt to 14×8.5-19/14×9-12 with Pine Engineering lips from NZ
SSR Valve Stems
Fresh Stainless Hardware
RS Watanabe Wheel nuts
Yokohama S-Drive Tyres 185/55/14
Footwork
Cusco Tension rods
Cusco Tension rod brackets
Cusco front brace
Flos lower arms
Uras tie rods
Uras rack spacers
Power steering knuckles
Cusco Roll Centre Adjusters
Revolver front Suspension top mounts
Revolver Struts with TRD blue Inserts
Greddy Gracer front strut tower bar
Cusco Brake master stopper
Flos strengthening kit for shock towers
Cusco engine mounts
Cusco Gearbox mount
Wilwood four-pot front brakes with EBC Pads
Cusco’s rear trailing arms
AVO Dmac rear suspension
Entire Polybush kit, front to back
Cusco rear Panhard rod
TRD Antirollbar front + rear
Engine and Driveline
TRD LSD with 4.7 CWP
Exedy Hyper Carbon Single Clutch
T50 rebuilt with new Synchros with Cusco shift linkage bush
20 Valve 4A-GE from AE111
ACL bearings
ARP rod bolts
Skimmed Head
Tomei Poncams
Toda Cam Pulley
MRP Coil on Plug adapter
1NZ Coils from Denso
Tec Art 100mm Trumpets
MRP Throttle linkage adapter
TRD Oil filter
Garage RS Yasu Pulleys
Toda Cam Belt
Cusco Sump Plug
TRD Oil Cap
Koyo Radiator with twin electric fans
TRD Rad cap
Powercraft Tornado Exhaust
Kakimoto Regu Back box with Custom stainless Exhaust
Interior
Fresh black Dash
Defi gauges
Omori triple stack Din meter display
Alpine 7390M head unit
Nardi 350mm
TRD Horn Button
NKB Boss kit
Okuyama Carbing pedal set
Okuyama Carbing footrest
Okuyama Carbing shift knob
Bride Zeta 2 Pro Kevlar driver seat with Bride super low rail and head cushion
Bride Brix 1.5 Passenger sear on Juran Super low rail
Tec Art Carmate mats
Greddy Harness
Cusco 7 Point Dash dodge roll cage
MR2 dome light
Techno Pro Spirits rear strut brace
Carbon Kevlar fuel tank cover
Pit Road M Factory battery box
Fuck that’s a lot of nonsense! Right enough of that. I hope you enjoyed this!