to AE? or not to AE*56k warning*, That is the question.. Options

[Valo666]

So my celi's head is about to blow on me amd ive been figureing how much it would cost to replace my head or get it fixed. So its gonna be up around $2000 for a new head, cleaning, rebuilding, gaskets and installation and then duin the timing. So i found out i can get the threads on the one spark plug that is messed up replaced/recut/coiled for around $300. But it would still leave my head a ticking time bomb. So i got an e-mail from my friend Renato who is living over in japan. He had his AE86 for sale a few months back. I was thinkin of buyin it but my dad refused. Any ways, i was thinkin of sellin the celi again and buyin his AE86 and throwin a silvertop in it. His AE is absolutely mint condition, comes with 2 sets of rims and 3 sets of tires. 1 for drift, 1 for street and 1 for winter. Any ways, heres the pics of the AE as is now.




he has the trunk plastics just not installed cuz they arent cut for the strut bars



Mods: Sprinter tails, JDM badges, KAAZ 1.5way LSD, KGMM springs, 45 way adjustable Tokiko shocks, TRD suspention bushings, bigger sway bars, stainless braided break lines, Sparco rally wheel, momo shift knob, 2inch stainless mandrel bent exhaust system, and he has the pieces to make a short ram or CIA for the 4age. Motors got 156xxxkm on it. Car is like a street legal go-kart. And im Sept, im goin back 2 school and im gonna be livin alone. IE im gonna b drivin to work and to go shopping only. SO im thinkin of gettin somethin a lil better on gas and somethin that would be fun to run around. Plus if he still is selling his car for as much as he was b4, i could buy the car, do a silvetop swap and buy new brackets for my other sparco.

What do you think??

This post has been edited by Valo666: Jan 9, 2006 - 7:29 PM

[Bigmeanbulldog55]

So, if someone were to get an AE86 and put a rebuilt 20v silver top in it, that person could still expect a lot of problems? Kwanza, what's up with that? There's guys out there driving 50 year old cars every day to work, and as long as they're well maintained, they're fine. I use to have a 78 Ford F-100, and although it eventually broke, it was not a constant problem. The motor blew in it, my fault. I can see it not being as nice a ride, but how can it be so much less reliable? Any car with significant mods is not reliable. Is it the 20v that makes it bad? Transmitions go out? Suspension stuff break a lot? With a rebuilt 20v and propper wiring along with a good transmition, I just don't see how it could really be that bad. I know you know what your talking about, I just don't understand why it's your opinion.

[Kwanza26]

So, if someone were to get an AE86 and put a rebuilt 20v silver top in it, that person could still expect a lot of problems? Kwanza, what's up with that? There's guys out there driving 50 year old cars every day to work, and as long as they're well maintained, they're fine. I use to have a 78 Ford F-100, and although it eventually broke, it was not a constant problem. The motor blew in it, my fault. I can see it not being as nice a ride, but how can it be so much less reliable? Any car with significant mods is not reliable. Is it the 20v that makes it bad? Transmitions go out? Suspension stuff break a lot? With a rebuilt 20v and propper wiring along with a good transmition, I just don't see how it could really be that bad. I know you know what your talking about, I just don't understand why it's your opinion.

Easy answer. 20 years ago... EFI started to become a standard option. 20 years ago... cars started to finally rely on electronic control devices. Cars prior to that didn't need anything electrical besides headlights and ignition. Carbs, although not as efficient as EFI, are very self sufficient with mechanical fuel pumps and such. That's what made the muscle car generation so great. Their mods meshed easily with each other because nothing relied on anything...

Now-a-days... it's different. Just ask anyone here who is swapped. Ask them if they feel their car is more reliable, or is slightly less reliable. Ask them how long it took them from simply getting the car started and running, to getting the car to a comfortable stage of driveability, without having to worry about small issues. It's not a matter of the engine or the swap or anything like that... it's sum of all those things together. A 20V swap, done by yourself, will not be quite as reliable as stock because it's NOT stock and we aren't perfect. It's not really a mechanical thing either... and the T50 is a great tranny for the 20V btw. It's always the small things and I want the OP to understand that before he tries to have his cake and eat it too. You can't have a cool project car with a swapped engine done and driving without a plan for the downtime. Even my AE86 has been sitting for about 5 months now... and I like to think I'm more mechanically inclined than most.