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
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.