4k GT86 Gets a Rocket Bunny Kit & LS3 V8 Swap!

[Samjeev]

Shappers24 said:

I seem to recall from my gt86 ownership experience that oem headlights are disgustingly expensive... £900 each I seem to recall.

Good luck raising it from the dead!

Yeah they seem to be roughly £600 each form a breaker, the Hid ballast and bulbs are still intact from the crash so i'm going to decent aftermarket set and re-use the ballasts on them, should be able £550 for the pair then.

Also Cheers everyone

Edited by Samjeev on Thursday 15th March 09:23

[Shappers24]

It’s a crazy amount for lights it really is.

[GiveItSomeWellie]

Best of luck, will be watching this with interest

[croyde]

Gone are the days when a door mirror got knocked off my old Renault 6 (It was very secondhand in 1980) and you just popped down to the motor spares shop and bought a generic one for a fiver and just bolted it back on.

[Samjeev]

croyde said:

Gone are the days when a door mirror got knocked off my old Renault 6 (It was very secondhand in 1980) and you just popped down to the motor spares shop and bought a generic one for a fiver and just bolted it back on.

Those days are a bit before my time i'm afraid but I did have a bit of a bargain when I dropped the jack taking the wing mirror of the Vx clean off, only to find that the mirrors on the Vx/elise are from a Metro and can be had brand new for £10

On the other hand the headlights on the Vx220 are so rare they easily go £900 each second hand.. which is why they're so easily written off.

I'll have a few more updates this weekend, going to have a look at what's involved with getting the dash board out and clean up the interior.

[Beefmeister]

Have you seen B is for Build on YouTube?

He's done up a couple of crashed Subaru BRZ's (same car as I'm sure you know), might give you some help/insight.

This is a link to the playlists, you can see the BRZ ones there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl4-WBRqWA2MlxmZo...

[vsonix]

Samjeev said:

In the case of the GT86 they do punch a big hole in the dash, airbag kits come with a whole new dash which im dreading having to fit and avoid future rattles. All in a new airbag kit can be had for about £1000 or ofcourse if you were so inclined or wanted to make it a track-only car you could just go without.

One lives and learns! Seems like a very destructive way to do things, almost like they want to make it as expensive as possible to put them back on the road after a bump.

I hear you on the PITA of breaking stuff. I've had success in the past selling engine, box, and premium bits then selling the rest of the shell to another purchaser. I've also sold stuff on behalf of other people breaking cars for commission. Sometimes it's easier that way.

[Samjeev]

Beefmeister said:

Have you seen B is for Build on YouTube?

He's done up a couple of crashed Subaru BRZ's (same car as I'm sure you know), might give you some help/insight.

This is a link to the playlists, you can see the BRZ ones there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl4-WBRqWA2MlxmZo...

I've been a fan of B is for build for a long time. I love watching his content but his methods leave alot to be desired

[AyBee]

Looks like a decent project Have you had it on a jig to check that it's straight and there's no hidden damage prior to buying a load of new bits?

[Beefmeister]

Samjeev said:

I've been a fan of B is for build for a long time. I love watching his content but his methods leave alot to be desired

Haha yeah the steelwork on the front of the ali Evora and Vantage was somewhat sketchy!

[pthelazyjourno]

Beefmeister said:

Haha yeah the steelwork on the front of the ali Evora and Vantage was somewhat sketchy!

He bodged the Vantage the same way he bodged the Evora?

[TwoStrokeNut]

pthelazyjourno said:

He bodged the Vantage the same way he bodged the Evora?

That's not half as scary as his home made driveshaft attempt!

I like the chap too, but he sometimes does lack even the most basic appreciation of engineering. Even high school / common sense stuff.

[Samjeev]

Managed to make some more progress this weekend!

Took a trip down to my local Toyota dealership who had some parts waiting for me mostly consisting of new front end crash structure/rad support parts, as well as a few other bits including the headlight brackets, rubber radiator pipe and replacement headlight washer.

Set about getting those painted:



So they were atleast red meaning they atleast wouldn't stand out too much in the engine bay, the finish isn't great and the colour match isn't perfect either but it will do for now. Once all the other brackets, covers and bolts are on it shouldn't be too noticeable (I hope) as you can tell I had a very professional paint booth set up!




I've also placed orders for everything I need to finish up the car with the exception of the passenger side wing and headlights.

I ordered a set of Airbags/Seatbelts and Airbag ECU from a breaker on Ebay.

I've ordered a Seibon Carbon fibre bonnet and also ordered a few other goodies including replacement aluminium radiator, radiator fans, new smoked side markers as mine were toast, Mishimoto cold air intake as the OEM airbox was turned in to a jigsaw puzzle in the crash, Mishimoto intake pipe and a few OEM black interior trim pieces to replace the carbon wrapped pieces fitted currently all of which is coming from the US.

I Know the Intake bits won't really improve performance however with the OEM airbox and Maf pipe destroyed I felt getting new toyota parts would be more expensive than getting the aftermarket pieces. As well as this i've been considering getting an exhaust to fit so it's atleast a little nicer sounding once im all done and dusted, looking for something cheap as you can imagine after all these recent orders so i've been considering the untested and questionable Malian ebay exhaust

Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:11

Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:12

[Samjeev]

And it's time to start putting this car back together!



It was all fairly simple as it was a case of bolting on the nice new parts:





And that's it!
Its all loosely bolted back in to place as some parts will need to come off again to have a couple of the spot welds re-done next weekend by my buddy

Went about re-attaching and fixing some of the various brakets and clips that hang on to these pieces:



Airbag sensor, old vs new. Had to replace one of them, as it was lost in a mess of folded up metal. Managed to get this one bent back in to shape and popped the sensor back on.


All done for now, once I get the new Rad, AC Condensor, etc I can start bolting those on as well as the new parts getting spot welded next weekend.

Unfortunately there were a couple more casualties from the crash, namely the Rad filler neck, bonnet latch & one of the O2 Sensors:




Already managed to source a new filler neck & rad cap for £30 and i'm trying to find a new bonnet latch mechanism but the o2 sensor could easily be £150+ so I think i'll take it off tomorrow and have a crack at re-soldering it.

Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:15

[hyphen]

Good progress.

Makes me wish I had a garage

[alec.e]

Great work! I sometimes see accident damaged cars online and think about fixing them.

[littlelewis6]

Following this!
Where are you based? Be good to see this in the flesh when finished if you're not too far away.

[Samjeev]

littlelewis6 said:

Following this!
Where are you based? Be good to see this in the flesh when finished if you're not too far away.

Down in brighton, aren't too many PHer's around here im afraid

[littlelewis6]

Samjeev said:

littlelewis6 said:

Following this!
Where are you based? Be good to see this in the flesh when finished if you're not too far away.

Down in brighton, aren't too many PHer's around here im afraid

Ah man, bit out of the way for me in Nottingham

Will you be joining any of the clubs? I'm in the GT86 Drivers club, they're a pretty far spread and sociable bunch, do quite a lot of events and meet ups etc.

[Samjeev]

littlelewis6 said:

Ah man, bit out of the way for me in Nottingham

Will you be joining any of the clubs? I'm in the GT86 Drivers club, they're a pretty far spread and sociable bunch, do quite a lot of events and meet ups etc.

Yeah i'm on the owners club and driver's club forums, i have a project thread on both!
Went to the sussex gt86 meet last weekend and was the odd one out in my WRX