4k GT86 Gets a Rocket Bunny Kit & LS3 V8 Swap!
Discussion
Anyone got some spare? should just need a bottle or 3...
Made a project thread for my new venture on the GT86 Forum's and thought i'd make my very first reader's car thread on here!
So a couple of week's ago I picked up my GT86, I wasn't planning on getting one so soon but I've been keeping my eyes out for a cheap written off one with just the right amount of damage and that's exactly what I got when this popped up!
Warning graphic images!
And it was in the exact colour I wanted! So less than 48 hours after it was listed I had placed a deposit and arranged to travel up to Lincoln to pick it up the following Saturday.
The car is a 63 plate and is registered as a Cat N (previously called Cat D) write off meaning that there is no structural damage to the chassis but it was beyond economical repair for the insurance company.
So the next Saturday rolled around and I was a little bit worried about what I was getting myself in to but I decided to just feign ignorance and rely on the Insurance insepctors classifying it correctly.
And when I finally got it back home and in the garage thats how it stayed for a couple of weeks as I didn't have the time to crack on with it.
Made a project thread for my new venture on the GT86 Forum's and thought i'd make my very first reader's car thread on here!
So a couple of week's ago I picked up my GT86, I wasn't planning on getting one so soon but I've been keeping my eyes out for a cheap written off one with just the right amount of damage and that's exactly what I got when this popped up!
Warning graphic images!
And it was in the exact colour I wanted! So less than 48 hours after it was listed I had placed a deposit and arranged to travel up to Lincoln to pick it up the following Saturday.
The car is a 63 plate and is registered as a Cat N (previously called Cat D) write off meaning that there is no structural damage to the chassis but it was beyond economical repair for the insurance company.
So the next Saturday rolled around and I was a little bit worried about what I was getting myself in to but I decided to just feign ignorance and rely on the Insurance insepctors classifying it correctly.
And when I finally got it back home and in the garage thats how it stayed for a couple of weeks as I didn't have the time to crack on with it.
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 22:53
And so finally today I was finally able to get my hands on it and see what was what!
My plan is to take it a little bit slow, not only to lessen the blow to my wallet but also to simply get things done right the first time rather than have to re-visit areas further down the line.
So I had already costed a few bits up before making the purchase, I know that the most expensive parts will be a set of headlights even if they are aftermarket and the Airbag set. Most of the parts im probably going to get from a Toyota dealer or online if they're cheap enough and legit.
So without further ado heres a few pics of my first day spannering on the car!
Here's how it sits in the garage, quite tight compared to the previous occupant and as you can see its still looking a little sorry for itself.
Couple of closeup of some of some of the damage
Quite a horrible sight! but with the fenders and the remnants of the headlights out of the way it was starting to look a bit better.
Those fenders are a bit of a pain to get off though!
The core support was a little tricky to get off with the washer bottle in the way and a few mildly bent bits of radiator support in the way but eventually after a few hours it was in a much better state and I could start checking out whether there was any further damage to be worried about.
Sorry for the blurry pic!
And the pile of parts that came off...
The Top "branches" of the rad support are clearly bent and I'll replace those along with the enter of it that holds the bonnet lach mechanism however I'm wondering if a couple of other areas are bent which I wasn't expecting, namely these areas:
It almost appears they've come ever so slightly away and bent downwards from the rest of the frame, thoughts on this?
As well as this the bottom of the rad support actually looks straight which I was not expecting, can anyone confirm whether this looks right?
So thats it for now, the battery's completely dead as well so that's a bummer.
I'm going to have to get a shopping list together and start placing a few orders as I hope I've removed all the bent parts so far that don't need their spot welds drilled out, those will come next!
My plan is to take it a little bit slow, not only to lessen the blow to my wallet but also to simply get things done right the first time rather than have to re-visit areas further down the line.
So I had already costed a few bits up before making the purchase, I know that the most expensive parts will be a set of headlights even if they are aftermarket and the Airbag set. Most of the parts im probably going to get from a Toyota dealer or online if they're cheap enough and legit.
So without further ado heres a few pics of my first day spannering on the car!
Here's how it sits in the garage, quite tight compared to the previous occupant and as you can see its still looking a little sorry for itself.
Couple of closeup of some of some of the damage
Quite a horrible sight! but with the fenders and the remnants of the headlights out of the way it was starting to look a bit better.
Those fenders are a bit of a pain to get off though!
The core support was a little tricky to get off with the washer bottle in the way and a few mildly bent bits of radiator support in the way but eventually after a few hours it was in a much better state and I could start checking out whether there was any further damage to be worried about.
Sorry for the blurry pic!
And the pile of parts that came off...
The Top "branches" of the rad support are clearly bent and I'll replace those along with the enter of it that holds the bonnet lach mechanism however I'm wondering if a couple of other areas are bent which I wasn't expecting, namely these areas:
It almost appears they've come ever so slightly away and bent downwards from the rest of the frame, thoughts on this?
As well as this the bottom of the rad support actually looks straight which I was not expecting, can anyone confirm whether this looks right?
So thats it for now, the battery's completely dead as well so that's a bummer.
I'm going to have to get a shopping list together and start placing a few orders as I hope I've removed all the bent parts so far that don't need their spot welds drilled out, those will come next!
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:04
I've already been buying some goodies for the car, albeit for the rear!
A Set of Clear/black/red Valenti lights from Ft86speedfactory in the states, these were my favourite over the smoked or red lensed offerings we get here and they were actually ever so slightly cheaper even after delivery and import costs
With these lights I had to do some fiddling to get them to work, had to do some soldering on the bumper/fog light to get it to function correctly as a fog light and I had to re-pin the connector for the rear lights properly as for some reason the USDM lights are wired with the indicator/main headlight swapped around, but I have to say im so pleased with them once I got them sorted!
Also got the last couple of bent pieces removed once I was able to drill out the spot welds, so all that's next is to order a new radiator support & arch pieces from Toyota!
That's where I am now, I must admit it's quite a luxury to be working on a car where I can simply buy all new parts from the factory. Hoping to have it all back in one piece & on the road by August.
A Set of Clear/black/red Valenti lights from Ft86speedfactory in the states, these were my favourite over the smoked or red lensed offerings we get here and they were actually ever so slightly cheaper even after delivery and import costs
With these lights I had to do some fiddling to get them to work, had to do some soldering on the bumper/fog light to get it to function correctly as a fog light and I had to re-pin the connector for the rear lights properly as for some reason the USDM lights are wired with the indicator/main headlight swapped around, but I have to say im so pleased with them once I got them sorted!
Also got the last couple of bent pieces removed once I was able to drill out the spot welds, so all that's next is to order a new radiator support & arch pieces from Toyota!
That's where I am now, I must admit it's quite a luxury to be working on a car where I can simply buy all new parts from the factory. Hoping to have it all back in one piece & on the road by August.
Edited by Samjeev on Wednesday 14th March 15:08
LordGrover said:
Shouldn't cost any more to insure. So long as it's MOT tested they couldn't care less.Best of luck - a nice project. Seem to remember several rebuilds on youtube - I guess you'll've seen those already.
My Vx220 is Cat D as well and it has never caused me any issues with insurance
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.
Bought a Cat N as I plan to keep the car for the foreseeable future with a few plans for body & engine but I don't want to say too much in case circumstances change in the future.
The engine run's absoluetly fine, even without the MAF plugged im. It just needs a new radiator which i'll buy and fit once I've got something to bolt it in to
Seeing as people are asking about cash, I don't really mind saying how much everything has or will cost (unless its against PH Rules?)
The car cost me £4000
new Chassis/radiator support parts, headlight brackets, headlight washers are likely to cost me roughly £900
Airbags will be roughly £1000
£500 for new Aftermarket headlights
£500-800 for new bumpers/front wings (going to get them from a breaker because I would prefer they were pre-painted)
Going to get a carbon bonnet (because I've always wanted one so why not
) So thats another £900 roughly
then a few extra bits, Intake, Rad, AC condenser, front side indicators, brackets, grilles, etc
of course these figures are likely to change and im fully prepared for it to be more expensive than I'm expecting however my first step will be to get it back on the road and then tart it up from there.
Bought a Cat N as I plan to keep the car for the foreseeable future with a few plans for body & engine but I don't want to say too much in case circumstances change in the future.
The engine run's absoluetly fine, even without the MAF plugged im. It just needs a new radiator which i'll buy and fit once I've got something to bolt it in to
Seeing as people are asking about cash, I don't really mind saying how much everything has or will cost (unless its against PH Rules?)
The car cost me £4000
new Chassis/radiator support parts, headlight brackets, headlight washers are likely to cost me roughly £900
Airbags will be roughly £1000
£500 for new Aftermarket headlights
£500-800 for new bumpers/front wings (going to get them from a breaker because I would prefer they were pre-painted)
Going to get a carbon bonnet (because I've always wanted one so why not
) So thats another £900 roughlythen a few extra bits, Intake, Rad, AC condenser, front side indicators, brackets, grilles, etc
of course these figures are likely to change and im fully prepared for it to be more expensive than I'm expecting however my first step will be to get it back on the road and then tart it up from there.
jsims1 said:
I want expecting 4000, that seems an absolute steal! I'm an ideal world would you prefer top have two, one like you have now and another smashed from the rear and have all the good bits swapped over to the keeper car?
Seems like a cheap motor if you could do that then have a breaker car left over with expensive bits to sell (engine, 'box, interior) etc and come out the other side significantly better off then buying new bits?
I appreciate space is probably an issue with that scenario but if that wasn't an issue?
Hmm, space and money no object I guess I would but I hadn't really thought of that. I hate selling car related things online to be honest so the idea of having to manage breaking & Setting a car is a nightmare.Seems like a cheap motor if you could do that then have a breaker car left over with expensive bits to sell (engine, 'box, interior) etc and come out the other side significantly better off then buying new bits?
I appreciate space is probably an issue with that scenario but if that wasn't an issue?
As you can imagine space is a big issue currently, it's verrrry tight in the garage and down the driveway, the 86 is roughly 30cm wider than the Vx220 which is now living on the driveway instead.
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.Good luck raising it from the dead!
Also Cheers everyone
Edited by Samjeev on Thursday 15th March 09:23
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 £10On 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 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 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...
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
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
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.
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
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! 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.
Went to the sussex gt86 meet last weekend and was the odd one out in my WRX
littlelewis6 said:
I'll have to have a gander for the threads then 
Hopefully they weren't uninviting to a Scooby? we have a variety show up to our meets sometimes, Celicas, Mx-5's, VX220's, no prejudice!
Nah, I arrived second and got a bit of a "is this guy lost?" kind of look at first but a few of the people there had seen my thread on the owner's forums so it wasn't too much of a surprise to them.Hopefully they weren't uninviting to a Scooby? we have a variety show up to our meets sometimes, Celicas, Mx-5's, VX220's, no prejudice!
I have a Vx220 as well funnily enough so could've taken that but it wouldn't be too handy at picking up all those parts from Toyota that morning.
Hoping to get the Gt86 on the road for the end of June so I can take it to Tunerfest at Brands Hatch!
Had loads of parts turning up over the last few days.
New front bumper, front wing, Ac Condensor and I got my massive order in from Ft86Speedfactory in the US, they shipped it on Tuesday and it arrived today!
Everything from a new Radiator, Radiator Fans & Cold Air Intake to interior trim pieces, magnetic sump plug and more!
Going to have a big update this weekend!
New front bumper, front wing, Ac Condensor and I got my massive order in from Ft86Speedfactory in the US, they shipped it on Tuesday and it arrived today!
Everything from a new Radiator, Radiator Fans & Cold Air Intake to interior trim pieces, magnetic sump plug and more!
Going to have a big update this weekend!
Got some progress done this weekend although there aren't many pictures im afraid.
Had my friend over to sort out the small bits of welding on the new front end pieces, this was fairly easy and clean on most parts but got a bit tricky for him where he was trying to weld the new thin gauge steel pieces to the much thicker pieces of the chassis legs, it's all welded up though and definitely strong but not the most pretty in a couple of spots
While he was busy at work I was also busy.. in my own way
Once this was done we got the new radiator, Radiator fans, AC condesnor and Rad filler neck fitted. Not the most difficult job in the world but I can now safely say without a doubt that I HATE those rubber radiator hoses on the GT86, they're such a tight fit even without their spring clips that having to fit and pull them off a few times really got on my nerves.
All in all a pretty good day, there are a couple of small issues I need to get sorted out and then I can start bolting the crash support, washer bottle, etc back on.
Couple of issues I ran in to were the fact that one AC pipe is bent, going to give it a whack to see if i can straighten it out before buying a new one if need be and the lower AC pipe's O-ring is broken so i'll have to source a new one of those.
The more expensive issue is that 2 of the Cam Solenoid connectors are broken so I need to get 2 more of those too.
Still planning to have the car back on the road by the end of the summer, should be a fairly reasonable goal.
Had my friend over to sort out the small bits of welding on the new front end pieces, this was fairly easy and clean on most parts but got a bit tricky for him where he was trying to weld the new thin gauge steel pieces to the much thicker pieces of the chassis legs, it's all welded up though and definitely strong but not the most pretty in a couple of spots
While he was busy at work I was also busy.. in my own way
Once this was done we got the new radiator, Radiator fans, AC condesnor and Rad filler neck fitted. Not the most difficult job in the world but I can now safely say without a doubt that I HATE those rubber radiator hoses on the GT86, they're such a tight fit even without their spring clips that having to fit and pull them off a few times really got on my nerves.
All in all a pretty good day, there are a couple of small issues I need to get sorted out and then I can start bolting the crash support, washer bottle, etc back on.
Couple of issues I ran in to were the fact that one AC pipe is bent, going to give it a whack to see if i can straighten it out before buying a new one if need be and the lower AC pipe's O-ring is broken so i'll have to source a new one of those.
The more expensive issue is that 2 of the Cam Solenoid connectors are broken so I need to get 2 more of those too.
Still planning to have the car back on the road by the end of the summer, should be a fairly reasonable goal.
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:21
CountZero23 said:
Another Brighton guy here, I'll keep an eye out on the road for you once you're done.
Big fan of Jap stuff and enjoying the build, keep us posted!
Oh, well you may have seen me about in my daily for better or worse Big fan of Jap stuff and enjoying the build, keep us posted!
Bright red blobeye WRX with a Ducktail, bit unique in that sense
Also cheers for the kind words guys, it's been alot of fun so far but really shocking how fast this year has been going. I've already owned the car 2 months by now!
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 16th April 11:29
CountZero23 said:
Nice motor, would certainly notice you in a crowd,
I've got a black RX-7 which is my daily so often about town - also fairly hard to miss
I think I've seen you about a bit I've got a black RX-7 which is my daily so often about town - also fairly hard to miss
Definitely don't see many black Rx7's about in Brighton at least. I'll try and give you a thumbs up next time Few more exciting parts today
It was my Birthday yesterday
so I had the day off work, excellent opportunity to take delivery of the Seibon carbon bonnet from Amber performance:
Ordered this a little while ago along with the new dash and airbags that should be arriving tomorrow finger's crossed!
Also got a few car related birthday presents including some new working gloves, bonnet struts and Mishimoto intake pipe for the 86.
Spent a small bit of my afternoon just tidying up the engine bay ready for the next steps which is to fit the new intake and get the crash bar, washer bottle, etc all re-fitted before body panels.
I got rid of the extra bits that hang on to the intake, im not a fan of funneling intake noise in to the cabin and i'd rather have the engine bay a little less crowded.
Got a new bonnet latch coming from Toyota as well however the 86 may need to take a bit of a back seat for a few weeks. Keep meaning to sort out a few issues on our Vx220 track car so gives me some time to save funds, wait for the new cam solenoids to arrive and so on!
It was my Birthday yesterday
so I had the day off work, excellent opportunity to take delivery of the Seibon carbon bonnet from Amber performance:Ordered this a little while ago along with the new dash and airbags that should be arriving tomorrow finger's crossed!
Also got a few car related birthday presents including some new working gloves, bonnet struts and Mishimoto intake pipe for the 86.
Spent a small bit of my afternoon just tidying up the engine bay ready for the next steps which is to fit the new intake and get the crash bar, washer bottle, etc all re-fitted before body panels.
I got rid of the extra bits that hang on to the intake, im not a fan of funneling intake noise in to the cabin and i'd rather have the engine bay a little less crowded.
Got a new bonnet latch coming from Toyota as well however the 86 may need to take a bit of a back seat for a few weeks. Keep meaning to sort out a few issues on our Vx220 track car so gives me some time to save funds, wait for the new cam solenoids to arrive and so on!
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:38
Edited by Samjeev on Monday 15th February 23:42
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