This was probably the most significant change in the ae86 build. The car had sat in that strange maroon colour for so long in various shades, paired with primer and glimpses of restoration work; the car was essentially a patchwork quilt of misery. After years of tackling this without seeing any significant visual change, sanding the entire body down to bare metal and seeing the whole car uniform in silver was a moral boost.
A productive weekend at the shed, finding more Trueno problems, fitting the headlight assembly, checking out Foley’s forgotten S14 and more.
At the time, I didn’t realise just how important this day would be. In well over three years, the ae86 hadn’t seen the light of day on its wheels. After we fitted the engine and box, we decided to push the car over to Flips to fit the manifold, sort a Flexi pipe and do the exhaust.
Fitting new parts onto the shell was one of the greatest feelings. Everyone was buzzing to help, which made for a hilarious weekend of assembly craic with the lads. It was a huge milestone, it felt like we had reached the peak, and everything was going to be easier from here on in. After looking at the 86 as a bare shell for so long, I was starting to wonder if we would ever get to this stage. Out of nowhere, the body went from looking more or less the same for two-plus years into pretty much a rolling chassis in the space of two nights. It all happened so quick that it took a week or two for my brain to catch up.
Due to unforeseen circumstances and my father’s death in June 2019, the AE86 project took a bit of a hiatus; we put the build on pause until we felt it was right to get back at it. It wasn’t until we returned from Japan in September until we started to move on with the project again. I was hell-bent on getting this thing finished, but life always seems to throw a curveball when you least expect it, and it reminded me to slow down and enjoy the ride.
So, where to start with Okayama’s annual AE86 fest? The first thing that pops into my head is the sound, quickly followed by a rush of excitement walking up to the paddocks and hearing those cars screaming down the straight.
Your brain is in overload. Add the fact this day had already topped by Rob, allowing me to drive his 86 to the event; I was at capacity for trying to enjoy this experience; the memory bank was full. Looking back, most of it was a blur. It’s only through this imagery and the video that I’m getting to relive this stuff! Thank fuck for these photos.
Valve lapping is up there with taking out the sound deadening and removing the sealer from the wheel wells. Three of the most miserable parts of this car so far. For everything else, I’m lucky to have people like Barry and Bryan helping otherwise id be screwed.
Lapping felt like forever, so why not bring the head to some scenic spots, take in the sights and enjoy the more beautiful things in life, like beaches and misery. I still get a chuckle from these pics. Good times…
Barry is back to cut the rust out of the AE86. Jackie calls down to apply fresh seam-seal the vulnerable parts of the Trueno! More progress and fewer distractions with this one.
With all this COVID 19 stuff, I’ve been going through all these photos recently, finally having time to sort them out and upload them on the site. One thing I’ve noticed is just how little time I have these days to do articles on the website.
We head to Irelands largest gathering of Japanese cars. An annual event held at Mondello Raceway, Japfest is the largest gathering of Japanese cars in Ireland and usually brings out some unexpected treats.
In this episode, we fall down the rabbit hole, trying to find out how many AE86’s Toyota produced worldwide. This episode started because two of our Truenos were 40 cars between each other on the assembly line in 1987 and now they live in the same shed. We also uncover some rare photos and interviews with the head designers and engineers on the AE86 chassis.
It almost seems like I never owned the Trueno, we got it in July 2017 and the car was actually in one piece until October of that year. We brought it to AE86 festival, Japfest and then stripped it down for blasting. Its been a shell longer than a car at this point and as of writing this, it’s a year and five months of metalwork with Barry.
I had been meaning to shoot these cars for quite some time now. During the week when I’m working up in JDMDistro, I’ve been trying to make my way out to certain cars or groups of mates with interesting sheds. These lads are all local to where I’m living midweek so we managed to lock in a date after work last year and head for the hills.
Shed distractions, rings, A31 Cefiro’s and old stories with very strong Irish accents.
With the freshly painted Calsonic March, a few AE86’s, a couple of Nissans and a pair of starlets, we hit the road for the Irish Motor festival. This episode was supposed to be uploaded last week but Japanese Jet lag won the battle.