So, it's been a while, last year I ended up driving the car a bit, I had all of my TRD bushings installed front and rear, as well as my TRD 2-way LSD. Taking out the RH rear axle proved to be quite the challenge, even by AE86 rear axle standards. I ended up removing the axle housing from the car and having a couple of techs at work go at it for a few hours with a bigger slide hammer. Eventually it came out, but not without some collateral damage (more on that later):
After doing some driving with it, I also determined that the front-mount intercooler is way too much piping between the throttle body and the intake manifold. I feel the best way to fix this is an air/water intercooler setup. It keeps the piping short, and allows me to customize the water lines without having to cut any holes in the body, and also allowing me to run complete factory under covers. I have the core, water pump and water reservoir, just need to get a heat exchanger and have it all fabricated.
Even after replacing my brake master cylinder, all my hoses (with stainless braided), rebuilding all the calipers and replacing pads and rotors all around, I am still a bit unhappy with the braking performance, so I have ordered a set of Endless SS-Y front and rear brake pads. They haven't arrived yet, but I do have a new set of front and rear shims for them. I ordered in a set of Japan-spec shims, as they use a shim on the inner and outer pad as opposed to just the outer on the North-American cars.
Took it out early this year for its first drive, still a bit too much gravel on the road, but I was very careful.
I also parked beside an Echo and enjoyed how much smaller (mainly shorter) my car was compared to the much newer "economy" car.
I also spent some time doing a 3-stage polish and wax on the paint. There were a few areas that had some hazing due to wetsanding dust nibs, and I wanted to take care of it. Just by hand, but it turned out extremely well, I think. The lighting wasn't the greatest when I took the pictures though.
There are a couple of remnants on the car from when I was young and poor, notably the outer tie rods which are aftermarket. Also when switching to the manual steering in the car, the new rack came with aftermarket inner tie rods and boots. Last time I was under the car I decided that was enough and ordered new inner and outers. I've also got a clunk in my steering when parked, though it has persisted through changing the rack, the inner and outer tie rods, the lower u-joint and the intermediate shaft, so I'm pretty sure it is either the upper joint or one of the bearings/thrust stoppers in the upper column. I will find it and fix it, but for now, new tie rods.
I spent the better part of the last six weeks trying to find all the vibrations I am feeling in the car, and found that my center support bearing was worn, as is the rear extension housing bushing on my T50 transmission. I replaced the support bearing and plan on replacing the bushing as well, though in the course of doing this inspection I also determined that not one, but
both of my rear axle flanges are bent. I did hit a curb (though not hard) back in 2005 on the RH side, the same side that was a major pain to get out last year when installing the LSD. I also suspect some of my more "creative" attempts to get the axle out may have done more damage to it as well. Either way that doesn't explain the bent LH axle, but regardless, it was obvious I needed new axles.
So that's where it sits for now. I also have rear decals for the trunklid being produced to OEM standards, and may possibly sell them if there is any demand for OE-quality (
actually OE qualtiy) reproduction decals.
Come see it at Driven 2015 on the 23rd in Calgary!
Jeff
