BigMike's Forum

I spent soooo much time reading through this thread (http://www.aeu86.org/viewtopic/ae86/t/6171/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0) I wanted to mirror and share it here. This is the sort of build I want to do to a 1985 MR2 someday. From the frame-up, complete build like this 8)

The goal of this project:









Target weight will be 800 kg (1,764 lbs)

The original thread is over 16 pages long.
I'll cut through all the bullcrap and just post the important stuff :D

[JAN 2008]

First he built a cage




Picked up a real Formula Atlantic engine

Here is the forged crank compared to a small port SC & 20-valve crank



Engine parts



Mocking it up



Staying true to the early Carburated Formula Atlantic specs



The inlet and exhaust cams are both 320 deg with 10.6mm lift TRD #881



He couldn't find an original flywheel, so he had this one custom made



Twin plate Quartermaster 71/4 inch clutch

Here it is built

Everything he bought was straight out of the TRD N2 Manual

TRD Shocks







Complete with Tein strut tops



Front Caster Rods



TRD Sway Bars

Brand new TRD 5.3:1 R&P



The real N2 cars ran Diff coolers. Here is his setup for this



Brand new TRD Transmission gear set



He couldn't find new TRD engine mounts, so the next best thing were these Cusco mounts

Various parts

Koyo radiator



TRD Header









TRD Dry Sump Kit

Here is how much of the body is being cut for the wider wheels

The measurements for all of this were taken straight out of the TRD N2 Manual







Cut for Fuel Cell. He offset it opposite the TRD Manual for better weight distr.

Check out these car holders. THIS IS AWESOME





He says he has been collecting Corolla's for over 12 years
Here are some other cars he owns



Ton of parts



He also owns a GT3 or something GEEEEEEZ

Got the interior stripped out



He "made" this himself out of fiberglass





[APRIL 2008]

He took the shell down and had the paint stripped and had it primed

Building parts to strengthen the cage

The templates





The final piece







Installing...

Check this out, he really does have a complete TRD N2 Manual.




Here he is test fitting the N2 body kit





and with his custom hatch installed

Suspension links



Got the cage primed



Starting on the rear axle



These are genuine Toyota axles made for a LSD diff



He noticed the shell had some bent parts, so he cut them out and replaced them using parts from a donor car

Here is the rear end coming together

Check out how awesome it is to just flip the shell over using that awesome car holder. WOW that is SO NICE






Flipped up-right



Front end coming together with caster rods



Test fitting more stuff



He says the car will sit much lower once everything is installed

[MAY 2008]

Test fitting the engine





Discovered the TRD dry sump interfers with the steering rack

He continues to coment on how important and helpful it has been to test-fit stuff

Getting the fuel tank installed



Made some home-made plate for the project 8)



[NOVEMBER, YES NOVEMBER 2008]

Starting to come together




[FEB 2009, YES 2009]

Here he is building his own custom fiberglass hood
Look at the rolls of fiberglass he has. WOW



Making the molds





Got it finished

Got the seat mounted



Starting on the pedal assembly

Modified the floor to fit it all






Canister for dry sump oil setup

[MARCH 2009]

Removing everything to get it all painted up



He plugged the hole where the stock brake booster & master and clutch master were mounted



Started to sand everything down



Bought a ton of gauges



Took everything down to get electroplated

Here is some lexan he will use to build into lightweight windows



Building the windows here. Complete with black trim




Started on the TRD Gear Set. Here is his stock T50



Note how the TRD gears & shafts are SPLINED so you can interchange gears and also replace broken gears. N-I-C-E



Brand new parts for the rear axle

Began to work on the rack and pinion so it will clear the TRD dry sump





Bunch of stuff to rebuild it with a closer ratio unit



Here is the Cusco mount with an electroplated cross member. Looks great



He decided to get the oil canister polished. Nice



Still working on the fuel tank stuff



Getting everything mounted

Modifing the rear diff for the cooler & pump





[MAY 2009]

Here is the body back from the painter. LOOKS GREAT! I am really starting to dig Silver 1980s Toyota's

Here are the wheels he is going to use



They are 13" by 8" wide for the front, and 13" by 9" wide for the rear. His rear wheels are wider than the wheels on my Rock Crawler! DANG!





215mm wide front tires



240mm wide rear tires

Starting on the decal work. Everything is Vinyl





Got the parts colored. WOW





NICE



Check out those lil 13" wheels



He is still hoping the car will be a lot lower

Here are progress pics of the engine reinstalled into the painted shell





Here are his lexan windows installed

Here is his T50 trany all put back together



TRD short throw shifter



Engine Oil cooler mounted



Working on the oil lines

Working on the fuel lines



Got the fuel tank all done




[JULY 2009]

Here is the rear diff cooler mounted up



The cooler lines running to the rear diff



Took the rear diff back out to give it a new coat of paint. GEEEEEZ

Looking good here



Here is a high torque reduction started. Not sure why he would need this...



Then he decided to use this awesome "Stack" dash instead of all those Autometer gauges

Then he decided to switch to an EFI setup

Off with the rebuilt carbs



Blurry pic of the intake runners



Slapped on a TRD manifold



He made the switch to EFI because he found out that New Zealand is going to ban "100+ avgas" setups (carbs??) for motorsports.

He knows that the engine was built with carburation in mind, but he thinks with the right tuning it will do okay with EFI.

Here is has a heater box installed using some marine blower motor



Let the wiring work begin!

Reduced this:



To this:



Some lightweight batter

Starting on the interior now. WOW



Switched to these seats for the improved neck support



Also switched to a different harness



Here is the seat mount

Working on the intake now



He is using 460cc injectors





This box is pretty large



W-O-W

[OCT 2009]

Here is a brand new laminated windshield installed




[NOV 2009]

WOW







WOW



The coil pack is from a Ford

Pushed it outside for some pics





He is happy with how the suspension has settled down
But he did order a different set of springs with a slightly lower rate that he might switch to

Some shots from beneath







Dry sump breather

Installed some highspeed staps to hold the rear lexan window in.
He really hates how it looks with these on, but they are for safety



Added more to the dash including a brake bias knob



Built a switch panel





Fuse Block install



and covered up nicely

Got some new calipers in




[JAN 2010]

Decided to build some custom door panels



This is built for the mold



The finished panels



Here is the driver's side. Notice he kept a roll-up window. This is the stock glass window. The other side has a lexan cover

work on the brakes



Same size brakes front and rear

The rotors are 270mm diameter (10.6") They will fit in the 13" wheels with the 4-piston calipers



Got the calipers mounted



Front



Rear

[FEB 2010]

Back to the wiring... Coming along nicely



Got an exhaust system mocked up





He is worried it might be waaaay too loud




[MAY 2010]

Finshing touches with the pedals, now has a proper gas pedal installed

[JULY 2010]

CHECK THIS OUT! I want to do this, this is awesome





NICE



Added cool air for the brakes



Here he got the engine running and got it dynoed!!



200 HP at the wheels, estimating 235 at the crank

He decided the first exhaust system was to loud, so he installed this larger muffler



Here is a close-up shot of the header area





Here it is in the wet

And finally, three videos :D

QuoteAE86 N2, start up of new Formula Atlantic engine yet to be tuned and run in

http://www.youtube.com/v/mE8uokLSzzA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999

QuoteTesting new AE86 N2 car , first time on track

http://www.youtube.com/v/RmPeCKTrjyY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999

QuoteFirst club event in a new car in very very slippery cold conditions . Car handled well (drives a bit like a AE86!) with no bad habits.Can't wait for the dry !

http://www.youtube.com/v/QzQYTbVYlSc?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999

Those last two videos are from just last month.

So he started in Jan 2008 and got it on the track in Aug 2010. Serious, Serious commitment and a LOT of money for sure. MAN that thing is SA-WEEEEEEEEEEEEET