There was a time in Ireland where the AE111 Levin was one of the most desirable machines to own amongst the younger car enthusiast. To be somewhat precise, that was about fifteen years ago, a time when fresh new imports flooded the country, people had lots of disposable income and prices were sky high, especially for the Levin, about eight to ten grand to be exact.
We shoot a stunning Blacktop 4A-GE AE111 Levin, a somewhat forgotten chassis and the guys go drifting their Datsuns at Mondello Park.
We are quite fond of any excuse to go on a road trip. I was very keen to make my way up to Flo’s garage just outside of Galway city. I needed some brand new essential bits for the 86 and his garage is the best place to find them. For anyone that missed the last vlog, Flos has a very rare setup on the west coast of Ireland. He managed to create a business out of his passion for old school Toyotas, mainly the KP and AE86 chassis.
To be honest, I wish I took more photos of the car in this form before we tore it apart. I guess when you are in the moment you don’t really think of these things. As the car was slowly being torn apart, a little voice from the future came back to remind me that the 86 was never going to look like this again. As fucked as it looked, the car was already cemented into peoples minds like this and long after its restoration, this version will be the car people remember. It was still running and driving, just missing the dash and seats and cage and well everything from the interior. I quickly placed everything inside and brought it out for its final photo shoot.
Did we just find the rustiest AE86 ever? Barry finds this poor Corolla at the side of a shed and we chop off its chassis leg to use in the Trueno.
Let’s get stuck right back into our walk around Japfest 2017. I can’t stress how good this event was, it’s a clear indication that we are out of the dark times. The car scene is booming once again.
This article was lost when the website went under. I managed to recover most of it and felt it was right to get these photos up here from what was easily one of the best Irish car shows to date. This will be coming in two parts as there is a huge photo dump with this feature. I’ve left the original writing intact so it might sound a little weird as those were supposed to be posted back in 2017.
In this episode the AE86 gets the front chassis leg straightened out. The Trueno was in a bit of a smash somewhere on its timeline in Japan and the left chassis leg is a little wonky. The progress is always accompanied by a bit of nonsense.
Rings, Roofs and Christmas | Juicebox Unboxed #34
The Trueno gets the new roof fixed in place and Barry works his magic on the tedious bits of surrounding metal.
This is a little Christmas day treat. Happy Holidays to everyone who has been along for the ride so far. Hope its a good one.
Trueno Roof replacement with Barry | Juicebox Unboxed #33
Back to actual AE86 progress, the snow has melted and Barry returns to replace the rusty roof on the Trueno. We also tear down the 20 valve bottom end and rebuild the rear brakes. This one is pretty interesting.
AE86 Progress, AE86 distractions | Juicebox Unboxed #32
The Trueno gets some work done until we are horribly distracted by a freak snowstorm called the “beast from the east”. Knowing how rare this weather is we quickly take advantage of some cheap cars and plenty of beer.
Ice Drifting on a Snowy Frozen Lake and WRC Sweden | Juicebox Unboxed #31
We get distracted from the AE86 build and somehow end up drifting on a snowy frozen lake in Sweden. We also get to experience the WRC with a bunch of crazy Scandinavians.
The history of my AE86 | Juicebox Unboxed #29
In this Episode, we piece together this history of the AE86 and the recently acquired 20valve 4A-GE engine
Trueno Engine Swap part one | Juicebox Unboxed #27
Over a very productive weekend, the AE86’s original engine gets swapped for something silly… Also the shop is now live, with a fresh batch of stickers and clothing. Check it out:
AE86 parts graveyard | Juicebox Unboxed #21
We take a visit to an AE86 parts graveyard to pick up some parts for the Trueno, we also check out a very unique collection of old-school Toyotas locked up in some sheds.