Samwise

So another silly tale in the saga of the 86 - It failed it's MOT last week! Nothing seriously.. only the fact it burnt through it's front set of tyres in 3000 miles.. How? you ask? Well simple.. the alignment was screwed. It's all my own fault ofcourse! I put such an emphasis in to the rear alignment after a load of toe totally scrubbed my rear tyres clean last year that I went about carrying out a string alignment on them which went pretty well but I totally neglected the front end after doing the recent steering arm and bushing replacements, that along with the fact i've never truly done an alignment on this cae meant it was totally out of wack! So after having the tyres replaced and the alignment sorted the car drives a thousand times better, it's night and day with pretty much any and all bumpsteer/tramlining totally gone it feels so much nicer to drive and more importantly safer. Here's a look at my before/after alignment settings, but you've been warned the front is a train wreck! (This isn't the print out i received from the alignment shop, i just simplified it for my video and the original bit of paper has a coffee stain on it now thanks to me!) I go in to much more depth in to this in my latest youtube video where I talk about the effects of Caster, Camber and Toe on a RWD car - I do know these things, I'm just stubborn and tight when it comes to paying people to work on my car. Don't be like me, get your alignment sorted!

Haha thank you very much for the kind words! It's really cool to hear you've enjoyed seeing it's story and the journey it's been on, it's been good fun 😁

oh just an additional comment in response to this bit That's a great choice I do love the idea of the "Modern day 2JZ" that is the BMW straight 6's or their v8/v10, etc but I didn't want to be the poor sod to be the first to do a swap no one's ever done before and find out all the hurdles and pit-falls involved much like Jordan has had the unfortune of doing with the 1UZ. I am very much taking the easy route when it comes to doing a v8 swap as there's plenty of info on this exact swap from people across the pond.

in response to both comments: The beauty of the LS is that it's not heavy at all - The FA20 engine in the GT86 weighs around 170-180kg: https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2415250 The LS engine i have (I actually bought it last year with this in mind so I didn't so much have it "Lying around" but this has been my plan for a while and I bought one while I could, they're pretty rare over here!) is also 171kg in the form you see it in my video i.e - no alternator, intake, etc so it'll go up a bit but not by a massive amount. Granted this does of course mean that the CoG will be higher but I don't think that will be a massive difference over what say the 2JZ would change it by, as that engine weighs in the whopping range of 250-ish kg, and the problem with the SR20 for me personally is they're not actually amazing engines to make north of 350hp on and much like most nissan engines they like to munch oil pumps. The LS is "old" ish in it's archetecture but unlike the 2JZ or RB series of engines it's not got a load of old 90's tech on it that doesn't stand up to today's standards, it simply has almost no tech at all, it's about as simple as engines come and will easily make well over 400hp without breaking a sweat whereas thanks to it's rather high compression the FA20 is rather highly strung when you try to push past 320hp.. and it doesn't make V8 noises 😋 Not to be overly defensive of my choices, they're both valid arguements it was simple a case for me that i found much more excitement in the thought of owning a 2 door v8 coupe that didn't have say an £80-100k price tag or Jaguar/Aston badge on it and building that myself rather than the thought of having a 4 cylinder wth a turbo and worrying if and when my gearbox is going to blow it's guts, i've kind of "been there and done that" in a way and it didn't excite me as much after thinking it through, I did actually originally want a turbo 86 at first. I even researched and still have a list of parts, turbo, pistons, rods, etc i'd go for if i were to build the engine and go down that route. 😁 p.s v10's sound better than v12's... in my opinion 😋

Atleast all the bolts on it use Metric! otherwise i'd have dropkicked the thing in to the ocean!

Perhaps in unorthadox ways but im getting through them one by one 😂

A double bill update this week! Just a small one this time as it's something i've already talked about here but In my latest video I go in to depth talking about the future plans too LS engine swap my car (yes i still have it!) If you're interested in the subject or my plans for the engine swap give it a watch! Unfortunately as much as i'd love to dive in to it this very moment it's not something i'm likely to start until next year as I'll need to save quite a bit in the way of funds to get started on it but it's giving me plenty of time to research and plan my angle of attack!

Yeah that was my first thought as well. I was going to buy some but had the wrap to hand so figured i'd try this first. Just need some contact adhesive to get it to stick

Another Small update and mod for the car, this time for the interior. With a load of spare wrap i wanted to do something about the horrible interior panel duo the 86 features. Seeing as it doesn't serve any function and has a horrible plastic-y fake "Wannabe" carbon fibre look to it i've always wanted to do something with it but without the funds to buy a nice 1-piece alcantara or leather one I decided to join them together, fill, sand and wrap it! It started off alright getting the two pieces glued together while they were still in the car. After this I was able to take them off as one piece, further glue them and eventually fill the gap between them. However the issues started arising as I sanded and filled them further I found that no matter what I did the panel join could still be seen once the wrap or any shiny surface was applied. I Applied further filler and with further sanding it didn't get much bigger, part of the issue was that the plastic of these panels is real pig to sand as in some cases it won't get knocked back as easily as the filler did and in other areas it will delaminate and create big scars in the surface which look and feel horrible. I had further issues once i started applying primer as it reacted with the plastic filler I was using. After leaving the primer to dry I was able to sand it back slightly and apply more to neutralise the surface as well as fill any tiny gaps or cracks that had appeared thanks to handling it so much. In the end I applied a few layers of primer, sanded them back to a wet 600 grit finish and with the help of some friends we got it wrapped. The finish in the end isn't perfect as the join can still be seen perhaps the filler work I did cracked as I popped the panel in to position or perhaps the transition wasn't smooth enough. I'm happy with it for now but I might re-visit it one day, use different filler and re-wrap the piece. I also covered all of this in my latest youtube video

**Please note: these are not legal numberplates, strictly for use at car shows, static meets, etc Holes drilled for mounting, great condition Looking for £30 + P&P Located in Henfield

Thanks Chris, thats really good to hear you've been enjoyign them! The quickjacks are great, expensive definitely but perfect for me compared to a lift as I dont own the space i use ofcourse so one day when i leave i can take them with me! They need quite a bit of time required to set them up for just a simple job like an engine oil change or adjusting coilovers perhaps but anything that requires work on both front & rear axles or to get under the car such as changing the exhaust, etc they're far better than simply using jack stands, etc. As you've seen from the video's i've kept the car up in the air for weeks on end resting on the mechanical stops of the quickjacks without any safety concerns. All in all definitely a great bit of kit in my opinion and once you get them out and slide them under the car a few times it definitely becomes a fairly quick operation the only downside to them in reality is you need a pretty level surface which I would also say is a concern for jack & Jackstands I wish i could say this was a sponsored post but alas.. i'm not that lucky

So another small update this weekend! Hopefully they're not too-spammy, i get a bit worried about posting too many pictures but I guess more is always better! So this weekend I went about doing some much needed maintenance on the car, mostly in the form of Oil changes for the engine, gearbox and rear diff as the car has just ticked over 50k Miles but also installing some supporting mods for the gearbox in the form of a gearbox mount bushing insert as well as the MTec Shifter spring kit which helps to centre up the gear stick when dropping back or passing through neutral. I started off with the oils as of course that was a fairly easy task all round, even with access to empty and fill up the gearbox and diff oil it wasn't too bad as there's quite a bit of room to get the oil bottle up high for the oil to drain out. For anyone following a long at home i believe the gearbox takes 2.2L of Oil whereas the Diff takes 1.1, in my case i used 75w-90 and always be sure to use new crush washers! (Copper for the engine, Ali for the gearbox/diff) to avoid any leaks. Curiously the diff's sump plug is magnetic from the factory which is a nice feature but the same can't be said for the gearbox. I then went about installing the diff pushing insert which again was a very easy job - Undo 1 nut, jack up the gear box, push the insert in and you're done! In my case it seems it is very much needed as the gearbox mount looks to have started to crack and even warp at the front. I don't particularly abuse my car but perhaps it moves around too much from the factory and doing the drift day last May or the odd wet-B road peel caused it to rattle around too much. Hopefully the diff bushing helps to avoid any further damage to it! It's hard to see the damage in this picture but if you've seen a non-buggered one you'll know that mine looks a little worse for wear. The next day I moved on to the Mtec Shifter spring install as I figured that would be the hardest bit, it wasn't easy that's for sure but not particularly taxing either simply just slow due to the access to the two bolts that need to be taken out there's little more than an allen key can get in one side and it's best to take your time in general as the aluminium threads of the bolts can easily cross thread or strip if you don't clean the old thread locker from them. Once the two Ali plugs were removed and the old springs retrieved they could be swapped for the new springs and tightened back in. Not many pictures as it's such a tiny viewing window im afraid but i covered it all in my latest video here: The weekend after that I went over to Chelmsford to attend the SlammedUK meet which was a pretty good turnout, the closest thing we've had to a proper car show all year it feels like. I got chatting to alot of new people or people that follow me in various forms and the 86 got alot of great attention all round! Here's a few little pics from various photographers on the day: @Ryanhudsonphotography @all.kinds.of.cars @Sammjoey

Single exit 😍 I'd have this off you if i didn't already have my Single exit HKS

So this week I took the car apart again to address some issues with the front suspension. Namely 2 issues: 1 - With the added cambera on the front my front anti-roll bar drop links are coming in to contact with the chassis on full-lock 2 - Bumpsteer However the fixes or atleast the steps that I could take to help combat these issues were fairly simple. For the first I went about doing a mod known on the US 86/brz forums as the "RSX mod" named after the Acura RSX or better known over here as the Honda Integra DC5. This mod basically consists of removing the from ARB drop links and replacing them with far shorter versions used on the Integra or S2000 in my case (they were easier to get hold of and the same part) and instead of the drop link going between the ARB and Suspension strut instead they will now go from the ARB to the Control arm, which is a fairly common thing on alot of cars and yet for some reason Subaru really love bolting their anti roll bar links to the strut which just means they have to move around with the steering, camber changes, etc which isn't the case when they bolt to the control arm instead. The next solution to the bumpsteer issues was also a fairly simple one. Finally get the Whiteline Roll Centre Correct/Anti-bumpsteer kit i've had sitting around for ages fitted! However rather than just go ahead and do this alone as it requires the front lower control arms to be removed I decided to get the front & rear lower control arm bushings replaced while I was at it as well as give them a lick of pain to smarten them up ever so slightly.s With the replacement bushings the rear bushings offered by Whiteline are a simple polyurathene replacement however the front control arm bushings are actually offset to give some additional caster and anti-dive characteristics which all in all should give a much more compliant steering feel. All in all I can say it feels like a pretty good change, the additional caster isn't particularly noticeable but the reduced bumpsteer i was experiencing definitely is when driven in the dry however the car still has a tendency to pull in to dips, camber changes or drain covers slightly when it's wet which I think is more down to an alignment/tyre issue and i'm glad to know that my drop links aren't slowly eating away at my chassis legs anymore thanks to a rather silly design choice on Subaru's part. Hoping to get a full alignment done on the car next week as I very much need one! Unfortunately I didn't get any in-process pictures but all of it is covered in my latest youtube video here:

Oh and i'll make sure its clean this time!

I'll be there, it's practically on my doorstep

Can't seem to access the facebook event anymore but i'll be there for sure parts back for my car today so that'll be back in one piece and ready to go!

I'll be there either with my Justjap club or in the show & shine

I still pressure wash the car, but might like having a sticker on the car the wrap won't fair well if you aim the pressure washer full blast right at its edges, other than that a pressure washer is actually a great way to wash it. I would never take any car I cared for to a car wash personally unless it was one of those touchless/contactless ones but even then.. As for Waxes and Sealants as the wrap had a ceramic coat applied to it there's no need for Waxes or sealants until that Ceramic coating layers one day wears thin or off, all you'd be doing is hindering the ceramic coating's ability to repel water, etc by applying any further products over the top of it.

Another Week and a load more meets/events and photoshoots done! This week I gave the car a much needed wash which is fairly normal just making sure to be extra gentle when dealing near the edges of the wrap. After that I headed up to Caffiene & Machine for their first Japanese Daikoku Nights event since Lockdown. This time there were a couple of time slots of which I went to the earlier one as the 2.5hour journey home can be a bit of a pain but it was a good evening overall. I've been a couple of times before but I personally find it to be quite tricky to mingle with people there as people often come in groups etc however last Wedensday was really good and of course the Widebody 4k86 was a good topic of conversation with anyone. After that I was lucky enough to get a couple of photoshoots with a couple of photographers @Recropped and @Skelly__Photography on Instagram/Facebook. All of this has been compiled in to my latest video but i've also uploaded some of my favourite pics. Check them out below and make sure to check the Photographers out on Facebook/Instagram for even more pics!

£550 Located in Henfield *Price does not include P&P **Happy for buyer to collect or to meet them mid-way - Indicators sweep in a sequential Manner - Includes DRL Lights & Eyebrow that can work as DRL - RRP £888 without HID ballast or leveling motor from OEM Headlights - Used for roughly 18 months - Work perfectly, no scratches or major damage at all, fantastic condition. - Includes Rubber pieces needed for BRZ and gear to wire up the eyebrow as a DRL (no manual included) - Slightly dusty and some spots of overspray from primer/underseal on the back of the housings, you'll never see it once fitted - see pictures. What the sequential indicators look like: https://i.imgur.com/77WMshK.mp4

PM'd 😁

Bump, still for sale - Open to offers

Still been getting out and about in the 86 going to a few small car meet or coffee meets, meeting new faces and chatting alot about cars! During the week I also got another little job done which was to install a mini fuse box to remove all the various accessory connections I had hanging off the battery. I covered the install process in my latest little video: And as well as that i've got plenty more pictures of the car either taken by me or from various other photographers at a couple of little meets i've attended, but here's a few of mine:

Unless something suddenly springs on me in the mean time, i am