win on the auctions!

Its been a quiet one this month, mostly a bit of money saving for parts for all 4 of the Garage Hachi fleet, but last week I was very lucky to be forwarded a link to my precious 2-door Redlines on the Yahoo Auctions. With just 20hrs left and amazingly no bids at 8000Y, (they were listed in exterior aero rather than rear lights) I placed my bid via JAA. Checked it the following morning and I had won! They do not come with the centre "garnish" but I already have one with the two small white lines. I think that is the only small difference so I will just spray the number plate surround a fresh satin black for the time being. Can't wait for them to arrive now and give them the Plast-RX treatment before fitting.

I have seen two versions of 2D Redlines on the auctions, some have just one stop/tail bulb per side, and others like these have two, so it looks like my light loom will just plug straight in and I still get the nice dual stop tail / parking light set up.

Also yesterday we attended the Prodrift 2010 Finals and there was some AE86 only parking arranged which was pretty cool. It was freezing cold and I only thought to take a picture towards the end, by this time a few other 86's and an 20v swapped E7 Corolla had already left, but it was still nice to park up with some other nice Hachii. If I find some more pics of the line up on the net I will post them up.

Wheel whoring^*^

How much I wish my TOM'S IGETA where this cool I can't express, I reckon these bad-boys would suit my Lev down to the ground!

on another note , Possibly the COOLEST umbrella stand in the world??????

Some Panda Trueno Love...

I just love em , there the original 86 to me! and I'm on a panda buzz this month!

I just missed out on this one a couple years ago, but it sold to Oz in the end.

You cant go wrong with a proper Initial D spec panda! I'd love a totally standard ID spec Trueno with 185/60's on mild wats ready for a mountain run , NO Stance'd out fancyness need apply!!!!!

inspiration.. less is more

This is sooo close to what I want.. Just add the zenki lip, the TE37's, then remove the skirts and the ride height...

add a standard rear bumper and those ALL IMPORTANT (did I mention sooo important) redline tail lights!!

I think they belong on late Truenos but as with all Ae86 parts, they are swapped around so much, and I have seen them on jump-eye and flatnose models (lol) of all spec levels. Maybe this lovely 2-door got them because it is Apex grade, and mine got the whiteline style tail lights as she is poverty spec super light weight GT grade?

Random Snap,

this Levin ticks all the right box's for me, looks like a proper used and abused track drifter.....

more low weekend! **

before lowering

At long long last we got around to installing coil-overs on my Trueno this weekend. The photo above is the last time that the space between the wheels and arches will ever be seen!

We started by opening up a second hand set of Japanese coil-overs I picked up a while back. I had also purchased second hand barely used MCN/AVO inserts, as we did not know what inserts lay inside the new tubes.

To our pleasant surprise a PERFECT set of short stroke adjustable TRD/Tokico blue inserts were there. So they went right back in...

I spent a bit of time cleaning the spring perch threads with the wire wheel machine...

Here Kev reinstalls the cleaned Cusco adjustable top mounts..

And after the brake discs and new bearings were transferred over from the old struts, and a quick coat of satin black for freshness..

They were ready to meet the new Australian made 40mm RCAs from AJPS.

Front end off the jacks and things were looking good!

Attention was then turned the rear, and some squishy "Vmax" 35mm lowering springs fell out, along with a pair of standard Monroe shocks.

Leaving this handy shelf for coffee when working on the back end of the car!

The new MCN/AVO rear coil-overs are so easy to install, and height adjustment is very easy - just jack up the car, let the axle hang, and then turn the perch to the correct height..

After a few adjustments and final checks:

I HAVE STANCE!! :)

And then off to Mondello to take in some Japfest and Prodrift action.

The front is a still a tiny bit too high, so I will wind it down a few mm to get the correct subtle nose down stance I want, and the lateral rod must be adjusted slightly too, and after that its some more tracking and camber settings, but even straight off the jacks the car feels so great. The 6kg front and 5kg rear springs are perfect for the rough Irish roads, but the car still feels stiff and sporty. I have to experiment a bit and do some track days to find the correct settings for the front and rear dampers but I'm very very happy with the drive. Not to mention arch gap is well and truly deleted!

Back end Build

So I dropped the rear axle and got to work on it! Was gona go with a larger liteace axle but Ive decided to stick with the ae86 axle now. I striped it down totaly bare ,sanded it and got it ready for some satin black, rattle can style!

I built it back up using t3 fully rosejointed adjustable 5 link , trd roll bar and mcn/avo short stroke coilovers

 

now just waiting for funds to allow for new shafts and final drive setup, should have it fitted to the car this weekend , while I wait for other parts