Sunday 30 September 2012

Lil Reh's motivation - The Toyota 4A-GE 1.6..

What moves my 1987 AW11 Toyota MR2 along..
http://80shero.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/little-red.html

A 'Bigport' 4A-GE (usually just written 4AGE), an engine Toyota released in 1983 to replace the 2T-G.
Variation 4 of the A series block, G for Yamaha head, and E because of the fuel injection.
The Bigport, 7rib, red-and-black top 4AGE, with the TVIS manifold and an Airflow meter in the intake (rather than MAP sensor of the Japanese models); that was fitted to my AW11 from new, produced 88kw in its original form.
A great, solid, reliable, and very popular engine. I thrashed mine for 350,000km before it needed a rebuild..

Spec, as of the pictures..:
- Rebuilt, balanced, and High comp pistons.
- Tomei 264/8.1 cams
- Trust TR NA extractors
- 2 1/4" exhaust with longer secondaries, high-flow cat, and Fujitsubo Legalis R..
- TechnoToyTuning (T3) Manifold, AE101 silvertop ITB's, T3 trumpets, and Uni filters
- Haltech Sprint 500 ECU
- Walbro GSS341 255L/H fuel pump, and Adj. fuel pressure reg.
- Late 3S-GE injectors
- Smallport 4A-GE distributor
- Wrinkle red cam covers with no valley cover, and HKS oil and rad caps.
- Rebuilt C52 5speed, Exedy Sports Organic clutch, Quaife Helical LSD..

Probably only makes one extra kw, while being a massive pain in the ass and using twice as much fuel..
..but the sound at 8,000rpm - fffuuuuu...!


Saturday 29 September 2012

One of my favourites - The Weirdness, the Vortex..

1987 Subaru Alcyone VR.
Known around the world as the XT, or Vortex. These cars are wild..!
The styling is so bloody out-there.. that by the time they were introduced in 1985, they were probably already dated. 
The Vortex/Alcyone/XT were powered by an NA flat four, Turbo four, or early flat 6.

This particular car is a VR model, so has the Turbo H4...

The wheels on this car give me a very Lancia Stratos vibe... especially with the lights up..

Its always interesting to see these in the 'metal'.
They're so slim around the waist, with a high ride-height, and very tall glasshouse.
I've occasionally seen them at the wreckers over the years, and always great to have a fiddle with. The doorhandles are fantastic, with a lower section that flaps down out of the way when you go to lift the top section. very flush..!

Not to mention the asymmetrical wheel!
The Interior on these is a bloody party.. your very own spaceship..
Im fairly sure these were available with a digital dash too, but I'd probably crash if this interior went too far!

Shame about the blue floormats..
..but.. have a look at those seats! that fabric! argh!!


Reminds me alot of the Porsche Pasha velour.. which is coincidentally also phenominal...! hehe

I feel I have to post a pic of the Turbo four for reference, but goddamn, Subaru's have the ugliest engine bays I can find.
Having a flat engine configuration forces all the accesories up to the centre, so opening the bonnet just reveals such always-attractive components as the alternator, power steering pump, etc..
..urgh..
But, again, i suppose the low bonnet line has that flat 4/6 to thank!

Subaru Vortex/Alcyone/XT. Classic.


Friday 28 September 2012

Aye Aye Sixty Three.. The Carina..

Very cool, unassuming Toyota sedan..

.. A modified 1983 AA63 Toyota Carina.

very agressive front lip, cooler, and intake tubing...

Very nice, SSR Formula mesh. bloody spotless..

Safe to say, the cooler on the front gives you a good idea something interesting is motivating this Carina..
1983 onwards Carina's were available with the very early Bigport 4AGE; but that looks to have made way for the much later 20V 4AGE seen here.
This has then been fitted with a high-mount Turbo, a nicely done intake manifold, and equally neat looking intake/intercooler hardpipes.
shame its a little grubby, as a bit of detailing in here would go a LONG way..! :)



inside we've got a Nardi Classic, Apexi power FC, couple nice HKS guages, an interesting Mine's Exhaust temp meter, and a sweet little leather jacket hanging around the mirror..
..cos, you know, you gotta have one of those..! :)
Drivers seat looks to be an early Recaro of some sort, and the passenger seat possibly plucked out of the AE101 Corolla the engine came from. The Fabric looks familiar anyway...

Cool car, and would most likely bloody hammer!

Thursday 27 September 2012

The F31 Leopard..

The always sharp looking F31 Nissan Leopard Coupe..

This particular white on grey example is a 1988. 3rd year of production for a model introduced in 1986. The Second generation of Leopards, and the Toyota Soarer's natural enemy.
This car is a high spec'ed model, with the quadcam VG30DET...

Not totally sure why these seem SO popular in Japan.. some of them are serious coin..
Its a Handsome car for sure though. pretty much inoffensive in every way, with the most daring detail being the tail-lights..!
What look to be R31 skyline mirrors are screaming out to me..!

The stock wheels are neat. remind me of a simpler version of the teardrops used on same period S13 Silvia's.


You're not going to forget this is high-end 80's Nissan in here!
damn.. where to start..!
1. that dash. eee! its so flat, so vertical, so upright..! it looks as though it could have been pulled out of a Van or truck.. as if you'd struggle to see over it! definitely unique.
2. I see digital dash. always much, much love. I shamefully havent got a picture of it on..
3. We've got the Sony TV (?) unit..
4. Adjustable shock switch.
5. Climate control, which looks to have forced that clock onto the glovebox area?!
6. ...yep, clock in front of the passenger?!?!!
7. Burgundy velour..
8. furry factory mats.. with.. tassels??
..and..
9.. deep breath.. The Auto Changer Cassette Stereo, mounted in the console area. (!!)

awesome.

again, interestingly,  lots of R31 bits in that interior - switches, vents, locks, shifter, handles, etc..


Wednesday 26 September 2012

No AE86 here. The TE71 Levin..

1982 TE71 Toyota Corolla Levin. lightly modded, and looking sen-fkn-sational..




SO nice..
Fantastic high two-tone, SSR MKII's, awesome front lip, cool exhaust, and its clean!
not so sure about the mirrors that look to be plucked off a motorbike, but thats sure-as-hell not going to be a deal-breaker.
Wish this model had the E7/T18 slim little chrome bumpers, but eh, the colourcoded units on this one just makes it look more mid 80's... and thats fine by me!


The Recaro LX-D's and Momo wheel (looks to be a Montecarlo..) are nice, but it wouldnt hurt to chase down an original carpet and mats, console, shifter etc. Just neaten things up a little in here.. which is interesting seeing how spotless it is outside.
Another small shame is the loss of the original trim off the front seats... as you can almost see how good it would have been when you see..:
..the back seats.
racing stripes through blue velour makes me happy. haha

Motivation for this TE71 is the beautiful 2T-G.. Toyota's go-to twincam 4cyl prior to the 4A-GE.
Odd seeing the empty distributor sitting there..!

One last shot of the SSR's. love them.

People Collection, of course.. (!)