www.86garage.com

After meeting some of the members of 86garage and seeing fantastic examples of the AE86 on 86 Day, it's time to share my build with 86garage.

Project Nicholas was started back in April 2009 to commemorate my late grandfather. This was my way to honor him, and thus, it began... I began campaigning a 1996 Integra RS with rgvpca's HPDE / Time Trials. Here's the old build thread just in case you were curious: http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2662751" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The DC chassis did well and finished first in every outing with the XC2A class. But things took a different turn for me when Jomon-C let me drive his Trueno. I could not believe this was an 80's chassis, and the way the car handled just left me with a big smile! I have always liked the 86, but after driving one, I knew this was the "more" proper chassis to honor Lolo (grandpa)...

Jomon-C's Trueno



85Levin then moved to Texas, and after seeing his Levin, this just solidified it for me. I had to get one!!!

85Levin's Levin





After countless hours, days, nights searching on ebay, club4ag, here and craigslist, I finally found one. On April 2010, a one year anniversary for Project Nicholas, I finally have a Hachi Roku...

The Beginning



A New Home

More work than we originally thought!
When Arturo and I picked up this car, we were left under the impression that the only things needed was a paint job and a tune. Maaannn, that was not the case... This thing was full of zip-ties were they don't belong, vacuum leaks galore and a "custom strut bar" that does not make sense. We had to start from scratch to get her done right!

Since the coupe was originally an SR5, first thing is first - get a GTS rear differential. An LSD and calipers will really help if we're planning to auto-x or road race...


So she has LSD huh???



Man was it filthy!




Just a bit too long

Sand Blasting - A day at the beach minus the ocean!
A word of advice: if you have never sand blasted before, do yourself a favor and get the pros to do it, and you'll save some time and money, lol!

This was a 30-60 minute job that turned to 3-4 days. Just ask Arturo, he "encouraged me" while making a fool of myself as he drank michelada!

Thanks a lot, F'er, lol...

Harbor Freight at its best


The Setup



The Blasting Begins



I broke the puny compressor, lol, but I gotta continue...



Slow Progress



Progress


Finished Product

After 30-40 micheladas, it was Art's turn. Time to use what Jomon-C calls "Hot-Version Tool."

Special Thanks to: Max and Spence
These 2 guys are top notch people, friendly and helpful as hell! Max came to the rescue with his last Zenki-diff. Spence provided all the Weir Performance goodies!





Old Stuff



New Shiny Stuff



Weir Performance 4.77 R&P and Max Grip Kit






Hot Version Tool

Back to Refurbishing

This didn't work out as good...


And here I though my sand blasting days was over!


Nice and shiny


For the smaller stuff
EvapoRust - good stuff



Lower Links


Changin' Out the DS

Part Two - Filling in the Gap

D-max with Stockers - "Poodle Legs"


D-max with Celica-Supras



Thanks Jomon-C
D-max with Work Eqiups without NRCAs





For Now

Teaser of what's to come...

great write up Alan. i will post pics of the velocity stacks when i am done with them.

nice alan. it was good to meet you out at the event! hurry up and get it to running condition so you can make the next one.

good work man love it ! keep at the hard work

very nice wheels. nice build.

the project is looking great alan. looking forward to seeing it in person.

oh damn... i so want levin

Hey thanks everyone! This means a lot coming from 86 aficionados...

Also, all suggestions, comments and advices are welcome during this build!

Let's take a poll here - What color should I paint the Levin? 1) Keep her red 2) Off White 3) Dark Charcoal 4) Other

Some examples here:






Does anyone have a photo or example of Toyota Ivory 4E7?

This is all I can find so far on the 4E7, but it's hard to tell what it will actually look like...