Toyota GT86 build thread

[walamai]

jaacck said:

i like the spannering in what seems like your underground car parking space?

Yep, to answer K14A's question, its just a car park in my building in Battersea. It's dry and warm which is nice. Nowhere to store tools though which is a pain in the ass. A few other residents have little plastic garden sheds in the front of their spot, so I think I'll invest in a box or something to keep down there. Carrying tools, jack stands and a trolley jack down the lift every time I want to work on it is getting boring!

[walamai]

DeaconFrost said:

Interesting point you make about feeling less safe leaving the 86 than you did the Cayman - I wouldn't have expected that.

I'd very much like to try a cayman and see how it compares to my 86 which has had quite a lot of work done. I'm a little afraid I might like it too much though! :-)

I think leaving it parked is probably more a worry about having the wheels or lights or whatever nicked, rather than the car itself. I had the same thought typing all that up - why did I sell the Cayman!?

[walamai]

tonyb1968 said:

..lots of stuff about modifying cars...

I thought you were in the wrong thread with the start of that post I don't completely agree on the 'compromise' thing. Manufactures make decisions with one thing in mind - profit. For example, you could arguably modify a car with the single aim of just making it more reliable. That wouldn't be a 'compromise on a compromise' - except for cost of course. Maybe we're saying the same thing.

That aside though, my main goal with what I'm doing is mostly just to make it look and sound better (according to me!). Those things are what will make the car more enjoyable for me. Some ok quality springs achieve exactly the same look for me as coil-overs. I'm prepared to accept a slightly worse ride quality for it to be aesthetically better. (And I'm certainly prepared to accept a slightly worse ride quality rather than spend another £1k!)

That said though, I like the character of the car and don't want to deviate too much from that - so I wouldn't put wheels on which weigh 20kgs each, or put a 100kg stereo in the boot or something.

[walamai]

K&N Air Filer

Time for more actual doing stuff. Pretty straight forward this, just bunging in a K&N filter.

Step 1
Remove the two clips on the filter box and undo the circular clip on the inlet. Not sure you actually need to remove the circular clip, but I found it easier to pull the whole lot out.



Step 2
Old one comes out.



Step 3
Old one wasn't in bad shape, just a couple of grass seeds.



Step 4
New one goes in.



Does it make any more power? Possibly. Does it sounds better? Not really sure, maybe. Is it installed? Undoubtably yes!

[walamai]

Eibach Pro-Kit Springs

I've had these springs sitting ready to install for a couple of weeks. I might have been talked in to coilovers, but I had them, so they're going in!


The kit lowers the front 25mm and lowers the rear 20mm. I'm not going to go through everything on this one, there's a really good guide here which I pretty much followed exactly.

Obligatory before pic



Undoing the top of the strut
Happily with these cars the springs aren't under much tension, so rather that having to use spring compressors you can just undo the strut top and it gradually decompresses as you lift the car. Need to be careful and use a long allen key to hold the middle of the strut as you undo the nut. Have you assistant hold the allen key


Rear strut nut
Same story on the back. Too hard to hold it and take pictures!


Up on stands


Front strut
The nuts were a bit tough on the front strut. Nothing a bit of vacuum cleaner out of the recycling bin sleeved over the socket handle couldn't solve!


Front strut done


I wasn't sure what the clearance was going to like with the wider wheels and stock struts. I've managed to get away with only 3mm spacers on the front though which is good as they will be ok with the stock lug bolts. There's a good 5mm of space which is heaps, no rubbing at all when driving.


Rear strut
Kind of the same story on the back. New spring going in.


Torquing up the nuts to spec on the lower control arm (59 ft-lb for this one).



All done!








No more off road look. Pretty happy with how it turned out.

[walamai]

edo said:

Looks MILES better without the rear spoiler, I really like that. Are you going to get the holes properly filled and then boot painted?

I'm afraid I prefer the factory wheels!

Makes a huge difference doesn't it. I really thought I'd end up with a 'TRD style' ducktail, but spoiler-less is really growing on me. I think filling and painting is not worth the hassle and it would feel a bit sub-standard to me if the holes got welded. I've been meaning to call and see how much a new boot lid would be but just haven't got around to it.

Wheels are so subjective. I hadn't consciously thought about it, but someone the other day mentioned that I seemed to be going for a 'retro' look. A mate made a comment too that 'reliving your youth with a bigger budget is fun' - so maybe there's a theme there.

[walamai]

DeaconFrost said:

I like the no spoiler look but I wouldn't want to be without my ducktail
[picture of black GT86]

I like what you've done with the yellow rim and lettering on the tyres - looks cool