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.
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.
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.
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
I can still taste the rich fumes on the back of my throat from this weekend. I’m sure this was a moment Flip would never forget. During the lockdown period of 2020, Flip and Reuben were quietly working away on resolving all the gremlins in the FC and sorting it out for its first start. They gave me a call when they knew they were close to the first proper start.
Reuben was jobless and looking for something to occupy his time during what seemed like a never-ending lockdown, and what better way to pass the time than jumping headfirst into the unknown land of rotary power. When I called out, the lads were talking about things I had never heard of, and it was great to see just how far down the rabbit hole both of them had fallen on a mission to get the 13b Fired up.
Flips RX7 fires up for the first time, and it sounds glorious, and we fit wheels to my AE86.
Here are a few shots of Evan’s lovely GX71 work in progress. We pulled it out of the shed about a month ago to shoot the B roll for the episode as I had realised we filmed nothing extra from the original video.
Evan is excellent on camera once he warms up to it, and it was nice to immortalise his build in the videos. Much like all our builds, progress has been slow due to other life circumstances. He has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve with this build over the next year, and I’m looking forward to this taking shape.
For now, enjoy these pictures of Evans time capsule. This GX71 was the same base he was searching for, and he somehow came across it on the auctions, a low mileage, un-modified example, a perfect slice of eighties bubble economy goodness.
This is an insane adventure across Southeast Asia, finishing in Japan. Enjoy Reubens six-month bike trip, narrowly avoiding death on his sketchy motorbike. Something different to start the new year.
We test fit the 4A-GE to the Trueno and see what kind of clearance we have with the 100mm trumpets. We also try on the Goodline Hood to see if it works with the engine installed.
We had some good times with this little Civic. We were always one of the first out at each event and usually the last to pack up. The car loved every second of the punishment we gave it on track with its trusty little B16A. Continue Reading
A sad day for Juicebox! I sold the EK4 Civic and explained, with updates on Merch and what’s coming up on the channel.
A Glitch in the simulation! Seeing this car on the other side of the world in Ireland, what are the odds?. What’s incredible is we made a friend in the process! Danny Gave it socks in last nights video before he went home. His Corolla was the first AE86 we spotted in Japan back in 2016, and it was surreal to see it once in our recent video.
I got a message out of the blue one night, and it was a guy called Danny from Wexford. He had watched our first Japan video, and he couldn’t believe his eyes. His very own 86, which he had recently imported, had just driven past us on the motorway in our feature-length “Japan without a plan.”