random snap: 2007 flashback

Here is a cool shot of Neils Corolla and Kevs 1st Trueno after a nice day at the 'Hill..

my 4age is dead. long live the 4age!

Well it has been an extremely quiet month (or two now) at Garage Hachi, mainly because not much has been happening with the cars! For me anyway I have just been daily driving the Trueno, as its nice to have a car that is on the road more than off it for once. Kev has a few things up his sleeve which I will let him blog about soon. Also the weather has driven us into the warmth and comfort of indoors and away from the hachis! But as we come into the better weather the enthusiasm (and some money!) returns and the projects resume again.

My longer term plans for my engine have jumped the queue a little with a tasty head gasket failure last weekend. The coolant in my car was never the cleanest despite many many attempts at flushing the system out, and my uprated temperature gauges revealed a water system that was not the most stable, quite often after a hard drive there would be a lovely mess in the engine bay after the expansion bottle got sick all over the chassis leg! Something that I knew needed addressing but finally has to be done. Now.

So, Kev and I drew up a few plans, keeping with the head-build that is already in progress, and added a few more items, to come up with what will be a very nice streetable but still track day capable (if I ever get there...) 16v T-Vis 4age for my Trueno. So, until the build pics start coming, all I can offer is the planning list so far:

• cleaned / skimmed big port head with port work by Kev
• HKS 256/8.3mm cams with HKS pulleys & HKS valve springs
• ARP head / main / big / flywheel bolt and stud sets
• TRD/Toda 0.8mm head gasket
• block cleaned / bored / decked, to make way for...
• Wiseco 81.5mm high comp. pistons
• new big / main / thrust / spigot bearings
• new Toyota oil pump
• all new Toyota gaskets 
• new timing belt & tensioner
• all new Samco coolant hoses (including new heater hoses soon available thanks to jdm86gtz on 86irl!)
• new standard radiator
• breathing through my full ARC intake system and Fujitsubo Super Ex 4-1
• all thoughts controlled by my AP Engineering Apexi Power FC

If funds allow I might get some bodywork repairs done while the engine is being build, and hopefully sometime soon I will have a pretty fresh hachi for 2011! So here last pic of her we'll see for a little while, turning another corner in the project life :)

* another shell up Trueno build!?!

Well, it's not quite as good as Kev's creamy slider shell but still!
I broke my foot a week ago which means no driving, biking,working on either machine, or pretty much anything else cool for the next 6-8weeks of the "summer"! Fail.

But, as ever, the interwebnets will keep me going. In this case, its thanks to ebay for finding me this AOSHIMA Kouki Trueno 3 door hatch in tasty black over graphite! (A 2-door coupé would have been way cooler of course lol but hey!) I have this on the shelf a while now but I guess the time has come to put it together.



Its a pretty decent model kit, spring suspension, and the choice of GTV or GT Apex interior, and can even be badged as a Black Limited on the outside if I want (the closest I'll ever get to owning one!). The only thing letting it down is the lack of a 4age to put under its mega lightweight plastic hood, that and the XR4 wheels ,but I'm being picky now haha..



If I can find some the right paints for it on ebay it might just come together right, and kill some more time until I can throw these damn crutches in a skip!!!

** no vtec yo!!

Kev mentioned some motovation from me, well here it is in the form of a late model Honda NC25, aka Bros 400 "Product Two".



It is a bit of an styling oddity as it has a twin spar aluminium frame normally and clip-on handlebars normally shared with sportsbikes, yet it has a relatively mild mannered 400cc V-twin engine and no fairing. Most interesting is its Elf designed Pro-arm rear suspension, and this was the second production Honda motorcycle to feature this advanced (in its day) single sided swingarm. This late model was produced in Japan for one more year after they were discontinued elsewhere, and features lower clip-ons, a close ratio gearbox, and solid spoke wheel - which are tidier than the "vented" spoke version IMHO... Handling wise this bike is slim and agile, and has enough power to keep a noob like me more than entertained while still being learner legal.



I have grown up with bikes, but due to crazy insurance as a youngfella, and the obvious distraction of cars (2x Mercedes W201, 1x Golf II GTI 8v, and now the Ae86) it is only now that I finally got one of my own. I have always wanted one of these cult machines, and after a while searching the right one came up. It is pretty standard apart from the Laser "for racing use only" stamped end can some braided lines, but its clean and in great condition. AND its not black and ex-courier which is maybe most important!!

Lego block style rear light FTW!


I have no plans for it other than some tidier mini-indicators (black plastic and AMBER please - as usual...) and I am toying with the idea of twin headlights but other than that its keep it clean and improve my riding skills on it. It will also be a handy daily for when the Trueno goes to the bodyshop haha or just to save some juice and repeated cold starts on my trusty 4age..


Meanwhile, stay tuned for a neat Spal electric fan install on the Trueno, I will be having fun with soldering and relays as I try to get the built-in fan controller in my sPa gauge to work ;)

JDM 2 wheeled action**

For something different, here's one of my latest projects!
my Kawasaki ZXR400 H/L model.

I have to admit ,I have this bike for a good few months now but I only recently found motivation to get it up and running , thanks to Rodge,Dave and Eoin !
I bought It not running right, and needing alot of TLC.

I played around with it for a few days, learning how it went and soon realised that I had the terminal problem of oil and water mixing...... BOLOX!!!!!
So how it went from there........out with engine.....strip down ....parts ordered.... and nothing for Months as I got caught up with more important Hachi work.
Present day(last Friday evening).....I picked up a Good second hand full long block from a member on biker.ie/ and Rob and Me Pulled an all nighter(literally) , fitted it and got it running the next morning.........

After a couple of spins last weekend future plans include :
Sorting out the front disks as one is warped,
Re-cleaning the carbs to sort the bad Idling issue,
Exhaust upgrade,
Valve clearance adjustment and
General tidying of the bike.
I have already changed the air,oil and fuel filter and replaced the plugs

H/L Model ??? Yes this is a strange one, I have a thing for boxy jap machinery , this ZXR is "H" styled as it has the older fairings, But I fitted a newer "L" model engine to the L frame.Although It does still run H model front shocks and brakes at the moment...

Summer here we come!

Summer's on the way, and I've alot of small jobs to get done to keep up with these guys!!

First of all, I have to change both rear wheel bearings, and fix a tired starter motor! I'm also planning a suspension change, as the car is far too harsh on our bumpy back roads and the dampers are worn out anyway!

Pics to follow as these jobs get ticked off the list!

Sarah x