This is actually a car that I regret having sold. I bought it for really cheap with accident damage and put a lot of time into it. It was never really NICE… but it came a looong ways from purchase. I’ve never been a huge fan of AW11 aesthetics, or even the MR layout, but ownership went a long ways towards turning me around. Until this time, I had always considered the AW11 inferior to the AE86… but now, I might have flipped on that. Of course… that might be largely due to an oversaturation of AE86’s on the scene, but certainly the AW11 is not as unlikable as I thought.
This AW11 in particular, with my sabiroku in the garage now… looks helluva appealing, espcially because everything wrong with it could have easily been fixed with the welder.
Specifications of the Machine
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FOOTWORK
SHOES
POWER UP
OTHER
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Drivers side seat rails are 90% done. It was really easy... and I was half way done before I even started. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to use the inside rail from my AE86, and only had to make one for the outside. Both of my old AE86 rails actually fit on the car, but they were spaced a little bit too far apart for my seat. Or rather... the outside rail was a little bit too far outside. The pictures show that it wasn't really a hard thing at all. My rails aren't anything fancy that's for sure... but... they'll work. You'll notice, I reinforced the original AE86 rail by welding on some more steel to give it an L shape. I'll do that again... and... I'll pull off a bunch of unnecessary material on the new fat one [...]
I browsed through some of my many AE86 magazines last night... (we're back at -20 and snow) Not because I was really interested in looking at AE86's, but because I was thinking about how to make more power for the AW11.
Ideas for more power... are pretty much the same as always... carbs, 20v, GZE... I don't want a turbo in this car. The only power up I've ever done on an AE86 was simple bolt on stuff. Definitely my favorite thing about the 4AG is aesthetics... it sounds awesome, and it can look so nice and clean and vintage. [...]
Work gets busy... and the weather is warming up (for the moment). I want to punch the AW out and get it on the road... but I think my standards slow me down. I was surprised to find that the seat rails I made for my AE86 actually fit the AW11... except... in the AW11 they sit about 2" too wide for the seat. If I modify them slightly however... they will work, and put me in a really nice seating position. Or they could... except there is a weird rail that sticks up about 40mm out of the floor and runs right down the middle of where I want to put my seat. If I just sit on top of the rail, I don't have room for a helmet...
Why can't Toyota just make cars with flat floors?
I took a cutting wheel to that odd stamped rail today, and was surprised to find what looks like a 2kg lead weight stuffed loose inside it. Huh? Seriously... I'll post pictures next time.
Randy is gonna hook me up with some coilover sleeves, perches and 250lb/in springs for the front of the AW. That's nice. Problem is they come with flat top hats, which won't work. I'll have to try and find some conical ones somewhere. Ryan gave me the all his OEM mounting hardware for the factory sideskirts. I've drilled holes for those. Sideskirts seem kinda silly on a car that I intend on thrashing in gravel... that in mind I probably shouldn't be putting them on. They're even fiberglass and not urethane... bad news. But... they just looks so good, and do a lot to give a shapeless car a little bit more flavour. Plus side is... they'll save my kick panels from rock chips. I have three sets of skirts now... to sacrifice to this cause. Other useless stuff will be a front lip which I'll grab from a junk yard car (I won't say which I have in mind yet) and fit to the existing bodywork [...]