Serendipity's comprehensive AE86 J160 swap

[Drifting86]

The Pandemic Update:

After the COP conversation, I felt that the engine looked a bit unfinished. So, back in December, Quinn from SpeedHero and I started another collaboration; an OEM style spark plug cover.
Attachment 15990


Quinn scanned and modelled the original Toyota part in Solidworks and made some fundamental improvements:

1) An 80's period correct Toyota logo
2) Side gussets for heat venting modelled after the 2JZ cover
Attachment 15984



The initial prototypes were 3D printed and tested for fitment. Two in the pink and one in the stink...
Attachment 15986Attachment 15985Attachment 15987



After the fitment was ideal, we sent the file out to be 3D printed with an SLS printer (Selective Laser Sintering). And we have our final prototype:
Attachment 15989Attachment 15988



Would you be interested in having one for your car too? We'd like to gauge interest before considering production options. If you have any questions, send me an email @abronsonatpmdotme.

I'd be interested in this considering I'll be going COP in the future.

Ray

[Serendipity]

I'd be interested in this considering I'll be going COP in the future.

Ray

Hey Ray,

Sorry for the delay. I haven't been on the forum for a while. Send me a PM and we can connect regarding the cover.

Adrian

[Serendipity]

Now that I’m home, I’ve been able to spend some quality time with my girl. First on the list was to prepare the suspension upgrades to go in.


What I was running until then:


Up front:
-OEM AE86 strut casings
-Tokiko Illumina White shocks
-KYB strut mounts
-Eibach Progressive springs
-DSP 50mm RCAs
-An OEM Front Sway Bar (21mm)
-Beck Arnley Front sway bar end link bushings
-OEM hub & bearings
-Brembo front rotor
-OEM Front brake calipers with Porterfield R4S Pads



In the rear:
-Eibach Progressive springs
-Koni 80-2437SPORT rear shocks
-An OEM rear sway bar (16mm)
-Original rear sway bar end link bushings
-Pilenga rear rotors with Porterfield R4S Pads



I had bought a long-term member's Koni Coilover Setup which he’d ran in his Corolla Hatch for a number of years with great success. Apparently, Brian had cut the OEM spindles and welded the setup for the coilover sleeves. Good parts often change hands in this community.

Of course, there was some refinishing involved with Warren at JSF Coatings doing an excellent job at powdercoating the spindles and springs.

What we ended using:


Up front:

-Shortened AE86 strut casings


-A brand new pair of Koni race inserts 8610-1437RACE


-T3 Ground control coil over sleeves

-Eibach 8k springs.


-Brand new Fortune Auto AE86 camber plates


-Top hat kit with Torrington bearing in the top hat


-BC Works custom bearing spacer to prevent binding.


-DSP 50mm RCAs


-CUSCO front sway bar (23mm)


-CUSCO front sway bar end link bushings 116 918 A


-MRP Aluminum Hub with Koyo Bearings


-Brembo front rotor

-OEM Front Brake Calipers with speed bleeders




In the rear:
-6k TRD japan rear springs with approx 1 coil cut off


-Koni 30-1265SPORT rear shocks


-CUSCO Rear Sway Bar (20mm)


-CUSCO Rear Sway Bar end link bushings 116 923 A

[Serendipity]

Curious as I am, we measured the weights of the suspension parts before and after:

Old strut assembled 9.7kg/21.38lbs
New strut assembled 7.88/17.37lbs

Old hub 3.34kg/7.36lbs
New hub 1.31kg/2.89lbs

Total unsprung weight savings per side=
3.85kg/8.49lbs

In the end, there was a total unsprung weight savings of 7.7kg/16.98lbs !

[Serendipity]

ECU Tweaks

Base Tune
Blaine at Carmena Performance spent three hours doing a street tune which brought the performance of the car back to something comparable to the OEM ECU. We discussed spending another couple hours tuning the cold start map and the decel fuel cut (as there is some backfiring while coasting).

I would have loved to finalise everything with a few dyno pulls, but there's nobody left on the island with a dyno.


Thermostat Switch
Now that the ECU controls the E-Fans, the default Base map was set to throw the E-Fans on at 85ºC. It's not ideal because the thermostat opens up at 87ºC, so very little hot coolant goes to the heater core. The Fans would also come on regularly at stoplights, which we felt was unnecessary.

I believe that changing the E-Fans to switch on at 95ºC and switch off at 90ºC would keep the thermostat open, allowing the heater core to do its job as well as keep the Fans from turning while waiting for the light to turn green.

[Serendipity]

Small Restoration Steps

Ten years ago, people saw the Corolla as a cheap and disposable fun car. They weren't wrong, as they could once be had for $500 in running shape. Now unmolested examples are selling on BAT for $40,000 USD. The World has gone mad...

I'm really thankful that every project I've done on the car has included plating, powdercoating and painting. Now that the mechanical upgrades are done, I can focus on the small details that will help me start the general restoration process.



Third Brake Light
The 3rd Brake light cover bolts were showing quite a bit of rust, so I decided to take it apart to see what was up.



Warren at JSF Coatings came to the rescue and blasted the 3rd Brake Light bracket along with my Radiator Mounts and my Batter Mount.



Now I could reassemble everything. Looking good! As I'll be refinishing the hatch in 2022, I didn't reinstall the 3rd Brake Light.



Parcel Tray
The OEM Kouki Parcel tray was showing it's age, I ordered a new Zenki one in black from Toyota. Part Number 64330-12450-11. Koukis have been discontinued.



I went to Style's Upholstery and had them match the Zenki to the Kouki. As you can see, the Kouki metal brackets are about 1 inch closer to each other than the Zenki ones on account of the 3rd Brake Light.


And here we have a brand new AE86 "Kouki" parcel tray. These are the things Toyota Heritage Parts should be making, not selling rear brake calipers for $1000 a set...



Windshield Trim
I also wanted to replace the Windshield Moulding. I realise it might have been better to hold onto the parts until after the body & paint, but I decided that everything I had in storage either went on the car or found another home. Part numbers FRONT 75531-12271, LH 75534-12130, RH 75533-12200



Removing the side mouldings first, I found a disgusting amount of gunk.



After cleaning said gunk, the area looked a lot better.



Fellow DK member, Jad showed his generosity by helping me install the new mouldings (by doing most of the work), and fixed a couple of other blemishes with pleasure. What a great guy. Thank you Jad!