After a month of awful brakes on the Trueno, we finally figured out the problem.
We take the AE86 out for its first drive with the new engine set up around the business park, no panels, lots of noise and lots of laughs!
Here are a few of Flip’s photographs from our last drift video, a rare occasion where we all got out drifting. This day was right after the first ease of restrictions in Ireland during the never-ending sea of lockdowns. It was great to get together and enjoy some skids. Flip took some epic shots that day, so I’ve thrown them up here for people who still appreciate photos on a blog. I’ll keep the words to a minimum. I hope you enjoy it – Neil
For anyone who has been here before, the feeling as you nervously wait for the engine to fire up, years and years of putting time and effort into this build with friends because this car is a communal effort hoping it will pay off.
After years of building, the AE86 runs and drives! A huge milestone for the project. Also, our shop is finally live and fully stocked!
Progress was a little patchy on the AE86 during lockdowns and restrictions. We bring you up to speed on the Trueno progress which was filmed off camera. It is not long till the first start now.
We head back to our friend Dan’s back garden, where we initially found the AE86. We check out his collection of forgotten Japanese cars to hear his plans, reminisce about old stories and collect a sensor for my 4A-GE engine.
Getting closer to that first start on the AE86, we fit the clutch lines, add gearbox and clutch fluid and mess around with hidden throttle linkage from SQ engineering.
So after a massive chunk of progress, we were onto the brakes. I thought this would be smooth sailing after fitting the engine box and other chunky bits. It turns out this would be one of the most temperamental parts of the build. The bias valve to the rear was faulty and wasn’t allowing fluid to the back brakes. It took us a good few hours to figure this out. You might have seen it in the video.
We install brake lines on the AE86 and eventually get the callipers to work. As usual, it’s not without a slice of typical Trueno torture!
At the time, I didn’t realise just how important this day would be. In well over three years, the ae86 hadn’t seen the light of day on its wheels. After we fitted the engine and box, we decided to push the car over to Flips to fit the manifold, sort a Flexi pipe and do the exhaust.
This was another one of those incredibly productive weekends. During covid, things were patchy, and progress ground halted for much of Christmas 2019/2020. With lockdowns and everything in between, the car progress had stopped, and it wasn’t until May/June 2020 that things started to move again.
This build has always been feast or famine, massive chunks of progress in the shed or small dribbles of effort. Over this weekend, our friend Darrel had re-adjusted the clocks to zero, as we felt the car deserved it. It had never come with the original Clocks. If you are a long time viewer of the build, you will know that the clocks were out of an AE92 supercharged FWD Levin, along with the entire loom.
The AE86 rolls out of the shed for the first time in daylight with an engine, and we push it over to flips to sort an exhaust manifold setup.
Considerable progress on the AE86. We fit the 4A-GE and gearbox Trueno and a few other small bits. Another step towards starting this thing!
We reset the clocks on a cluster for the AE86, and add some parts to the 4A-GE