Been a over a month since I blogged here but covid in the hospitals has been very crazy this past months. I have some time to do a quick update on the AE86.

I plopped my 2nd motor sometime in July, and thankfully she started right up. I then added an accusump to help fix my oil starvation issue. After 1 week, I took the AE86 to AE86 matsuri track day. Thankfully all was good and no issue! She is ready for the upcoming race season this year! I do hopefully plan to track often, and maybe even hit up an endurance race. Thats it for now. Hope y’all stay safe and have fun too.

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Mid June, I got a text message my block is ready for pick up. The machine shop did take some time, about 7 weeks, before I was able to pick it up. The shop inspected, and cleaned the block in preparation for the rebuild. In addition to the typical machine work, I upgraded the 35 year old main and rod bolts to ARP bolts. I had the machine shop install ARP bolts, because its not as simple as it seems. After installation, it’s ideal to check the bore is still factory spec. This is because ARP bolts increases clamping force that could alter the line bore. I didn’t have the tools or skills to do this, but machine shop could do.

I ordered some MRP goodies, but unfortunately its about a 3 week lead time. There some things in life that you can’t control, and just have to deal with it. This will be my 2nd motor rebuild, and I’m adding few better parts that would be more capable to take the abuse of the track. The motor will be the 3rd motor, and serve as a back up. As I have picked up a complete 4age 16V in North Carolina, that I already put in the AE86. Stay tuned.

My last post, I went to North Carolina to pick up a 4age motor that I could plop in while the other spare motor is in the machine shop.

On my days off, and after work I started to swap parts from the blown motor to the motor I picked up. I worked on the motor little bits at a time. The Texas heat is starting to really get hot and didn’t want to get dehydrated.

I’m more mechanically inclined now then when I first started this project 3 years ago. I learned form past mistakes and working on getting my motor in the AE86 wasn’t too hard the 2nd time around.

Thankfully no hiccups and everything went in smoothly. I plugged the engine harness connections and I called it day. Next on the list is to bolt in the exhaust system, then add oil. Hopefully Ill be able to crank her up.

If she runs, then thats one big step close to making my race in July. Stay tuned for more updates!

Last weekend I did a last minute road trip to North Carolina. What sparked for this last minute trip, was missing my race at Hallet that weekend. Unfortunately the motor that I tore down is still at the machine shop, and wasn’t going to be able to make it in time. With uncertainty of delays, I might miss my race at Circuit of the Americas in July. But I didn’t want to risk that, and lose positions of the general season. First step in wining a race is to complete a race. If my car is down, Im just going to my position since I’m not getting any points.

That’s when I started looking for running 4age motors, and unfortunately its slim pickings. The motor is over 30 yrs old and some people asking ridiculous amount of money for them. I did see some reasonably priced 4age 16V motors, but couple got sold before I could buy them. That was my fault since I took too long to respond back. I checked another motor, but wasn’t looking fresh visually. The motor spins, but its hard to turn by hand, kinda worried I would have to rebuild it.

In the AE86 group chat, one my friends ,Rick, pulled his 4age motor to put a beams swap in, but ended up wanting to go back to 4age 16v. I randomly messaged Rick if he wanted to sell his 4age. He gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse. The problem was he lives in North Carolina, and I’m in Texas. The motor was a good deal with all the goodies it has, but averaging 12mpg in the Land Cruiser means gas would make it expensive.

I did some quick maths on how much gas I would possibly spend on the trip, and it still turned out to be cheaper, then buying a 4age closer to me and getting it rebuilt. At least this motor is drop in ready. Luckily it just so happened that I would be off 7 days on my race weekend. This was only time in my busy work schedule that I would have that many days off. I took it as a sign, and I loaded up the Land Cruiser and took Lambo along.

The drive is North Carolina is about 18hrs, and there is no way ill be able to drive that long straight. I just cant, and I need my sleep. I broke the trip into sections: 2 days to drive to North Carolina and then 2 days drive back to Texas. To keep cost down, I camped at the national forest along the way to North Carolina. The roof top tent paying for itself, and best part its free to disperse camp at any national forest.

Thankfully the forest is cooler then in the city, and Lambo slept comfortable in the summer night. I love camping, and just being out in nature. Different vibes then the city. I woke up to the sunrise and I noticed it was 530am according to my watch. I was caught off guard thinking my watch was off, but the sun rises in the east first, and makes sense since I’m driving East.

I had a quick instant raman breakfast with some coffee. I walked Lambo around the campsite and soaked in the experience. The views was very similar to Sam Houston National Forest, just more hilly. After my morning routine, I packed up and headed to North Carolina. On the drive there it seemed like I caught up to the Texas rains of last week. Once I passed Georgia, it just rained non-stop to North Carolina.

I arrived at Ricks house, and picked an additional motor and transmission for a local Texan. I didn’t mind the additional load since I was getting paid for the gas. Whats really impressive is the Land Cruiser capability. I have my camping gear, food, and clothes on the start of the trip. Now I have two motors and a transmission stuffed inside too! I nice bonus of being an SUV is the motors and transmission are keep clean away from the outdoor elements.

Ricky bought some east coast BBQ for me to try. I love BBQ, and it’s great to see and taste a different style BBQ. I had the pulled pork sandwhich that was complimented with mac and cheese, coleslaw and sweet tea. Very tasty and the sauce is thin and vinegary compared to Texas BBQ. This BBQ style reminded of Cebu lechon in the Philippines. After eating and chilling for a bit, I headed out to the next campsite which was a man made beach.

It was still raining, and dark when I got to the trail. The Land Cruiser has stock lighting, which is okay in adverse weather, but some areas was hard to determine the terrain. I took it carefully and I didn’t get stuck. With the future forecast calling for more rain in the morning, I didn’t want to pop tent and dry it out later. With the Land Cruiser stuffed, I had no choice, but to sleep sitting in the drivers seat. It wasn’t good at all. I was sleeping upright, and kept dosing on and off every hour. Felt like I was on a Spirit airline flight, and I just couldn’t get comfortable. I said, screw it, I need to pop my tent up so i can get a good night sleep for the long drive ahead. If it rains more I’ll just deal with it.

The next day, I woke fully rested and comfortable. Worth it.  I wanted to get a head start on my drive. I made instant coffee as my morning breakfast and got food food at a local donut shop. My friend, Deba, recently moved to Atlanta with his girlfriend, and offered me a place to stay overnight.

I’m driving to Atlanta, and it’s now day 3. I was looking forward to a good shower. On long camping trips, I think it’s good every 3 days to shower, re up on supplies and do laundry. This is a 4 day trip, and I just need to do the shower part. Atlanta is a beautiful city, and the southern feeling here is more calm and laid back then the Houston mad max vibe. I was in the deep south. We ate out, and had some drinks before calling it a night. Deba used to live in Houston, and we would wrench on his car in my garage. He was another track rat and good memories. Nice good to catch up!

The next day I left Atlanta early because its a 12 hr drive back to Texas. My wife wasn’t able to attend the trip and wanted to spend the extra days off with her. We both love to camp and knowing you could be spending time with someone you love doing the same thing is kinda a bummer. Regardless I still had a great time and made it back home! I did a solo trip and Lambo was a great companion to have. He is loyal dog that knows when to guard and be chill. Lambo love being outdoors and would go out whenever we have the chance.

Next on the list is to get my AE86 ready for my race in July. Stay tuned!

I hope to see y’all out in August!

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Having such a busy work schedule and finding time to work on the 86 so I can go racing next month, it’s hard for plan for camping trips. After work, I would work on the motor of the 86, and then start prepping for Toyota Jambo. In the end, its all about the experiences you have. Time doesn’t wait, and if you want to do something, you make it happen.

For anyone that isn’t familiar with Toyota Jaboree, its an 4×4/camping event only for Toyota/Lexus makes. Free dinners, and venders showcasing products. Then you can hit the trails wheeling with friends, or join the group runs. The 4 day event is hosted at Barnwell Mountain in Gilmer,Tx. Northeast Texas is more forestry then the typical desert land in West Texas.

I was looking forward to this trip, because I’ll be seeing friends whom I haven’t seen since covid started last year. A lot of events were canceled including Jamboree due to covid.

The weather forecast showed it was going to be highs of 70s and lows of 60, with chance of rain. This was going to be another muddy weekend. My kind of party. I love the look of a dirty 80 series. Some people doesn’t like the cleaning their rigs, but I just wait for the next rain storm and it’s a free car wash.

Originally we where supposed to leave on Thursday but had to finish some errands before we could go. My wife and I left Friday morning around 10am. The rain storm seemed like was following us. The drive was just rain. Our Land Cruiser was getting a good wash before the muddy trails. One gas station, I met a fellow attendee that drove all the way from California. I know how those long drives are, and props to him.

We arrived at the check in gate, and thankfully we were the 2nd one in line. The event showed 300 plus rigs registered and glad I went before it got really busy. At the check in entrance, I was able to radio to my friends that arrived a day early where they set up camp. I installed a GRMS radio in my Land Cruiser this year. The range on antenna has been pretty impressive, and been able to radio my friends miles out.

When I arrived at campsite, it was kinda tight with all the trees but most of the campsites were taken by Friday afternoon. I do love camping because I get to spend time with my wife, dogs, and friends. Just good times with great company.

We set up our awning, and unpacked our camp gear. Once you start coming for awhile you have a routine on what to bring and leave behind. Since this was a 4 day trip with lots of friends coming, we didn’t pack a lot. I just made sure we have enough alcohol for the weekend plus recovery gear.

We hit some trails on Friday afternoon, nothing to crazy. We did notice the park trails received some repairs from the last Toyota Jamboree event. Nice to know the owners maintain the park very well.

After wheeling in the afternoon, it was time for Friday night dinner. Toyota Jamboree provides free dinner, and the night menu was Jambo-laya. Very fitting for the event name. I got two bowls. I was pretty stuffed. We walked it off by checking out the vendors.

We eventually headed back to camp to get the party started. We made a campfire and started drinking. Some of my other friends that was camping at other spots came by. I was able to test out my snow peak camp oven for some wood fire pizza. We had an awesome night, drinking, then getting hungry from drinking. Hanging out with friends in the wilderness. I did get pretty drunk that night, and slept like a baby.

Saturday morning, I woke up to a hangover, but my wife and I come prepared. I took some Motrin, and drank some coffee. By time my friend got done cooking breakfast, my headache was reduced significantly.

Saturday we plan to watch the rock crawling, and stampede competition. Last time we didn’t get to see it because we wheeled during the events. The rocking completion got pretty rowdy, with one FJ almost flipping. In the stampede event another FJ got too much air and airbags deployed when it landed. Seems like the FJs owners love to send it. All in good fun, and no one got got injured.

After the event, we headed back to camp and cooked a quick lunch. I was using my new dual burner stove. The wind deflectors was a nice touch that prevented the fire from dying. Tony brought over some sausages, and we provided the beers. German October fest going on here.

I didn’t drink too much since I was going to hit the trails till dinner time. We did hit some traffic, and stuck vehicles but it’s all part of the adventure. Thankfully no body damage or broken parts. It’s always fun wheeling with friends because you can all help each other.

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Saturday night dinner was BBQ! My favorite Texas cooking. Fortunately we just made it right before they closed. Texas always makes good BBQ. Saturday night, Toyota Jamboree does the raffles, but I didn’t stay too long because I didn’t buy raffle tickets.

I left the raffle a bit early and headed back to camp to start a campfire, because it was starting to get chilly. Ryan told me it was going to rain later in the night.

As soon as I lit my fire starter, it started to rain, then pour. A lot of the people that stayed in the raffle were making their way back to the camp sites. My waterproof Northface jacket, putting in work and keeping me dry.

It rained the whole night, but I wasn’t giving up on my campfire. I put my firepit under a tarp and the tarp was high enough, it wouldn’t catch on fire. That did the trick and got the fire going to where the rain didn’t douse the flame.

Couple my friends had their birthdays this weekend, and we celebrated that night. We drank whiskey and had filipino BBQ. Pretty good combo. This time I didn’t get too drunk and I remember the night. The rain did stop around 1am, but the forecast called for more rain later in the morning.

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Sunday morning I woke up to a rainy morning. I was up at 8am, but I stayed in our tent till the rain died a bit at 10am. Our Roofnest kept us warm and dry. Almost one year and has been great. Worth the investment if you plan on camping often.

When I got out of the tent, everyone was out and about. I came late to breakfast, and most of the breakfast tacos Allan cooked was gone. I love breakfast tacos and Allan fries his tortillas for the extra crunch.

After breakfast the rain stopped and we started to pack up. Anything that was left outside got soaked. We didn’t have the time to let it dry out, but you made sure to do that when we got home. Number one rule after a wet camping trip is to let the tent or anything with fabric dry out. You want to avoid mold.

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Once everyone packed up we had a group photo and headed back to Houston. It was a great weekend, and thankful I was able to join. Work can get stressful and get too busy you don’t have time to spend with friends and family. Camping allows me for that, and I’m thankful for the experiences.

Photo credit: Me and Ryan

With a busy work week right after racing, I didn’t have a lot of spare time to work on the 86. I did make some good use of the little time I had to teardown the spare motor and get it ready for the machine shop. I am documenting that process on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzkNYW0j2sywupuQ_jg85Q/featured

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I still had to pull my blown motor from the AE86 to figure out what went wrong. My hunch is the oil pump gear went out and caused a sudden drop in psi. Which caused the oil starvation and that small second in oil pressure drop caused the motor to blow.

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The one day I was off in the week I went to work on the AE86. I already disconnected the engine wiring, fuel lines, and all fluids drained. That day I had to hook up the engine hoist and unbolt the engine and tranny mounts. Having pulled out the 4age motor in the past, it wasn’t that hard after your first time. But I always double checked the motor wasn’t snagging on a line or wire.

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I pulled the motor with the transmission, because from the general conscesusons its a lot easier to put it back in that way then trying to stab the motor to the transmission. The transmission looked good on visual inspection and no leaks since I replaced all the transmission gaskets.

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The really nice thing with the motor and transmission out is the ease of access to all the bolts. Next, I separated the tranny from the motor and making sure I take pictures of the process, so I’ll remember on how to put it back together. The clutch looked kind of thin, but will make sure with when I measure the thickness. But then again, wont hurt to replace.

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With the motor separated, I was going to go back home to get my engine stand. But thanks to track friends at the shop, they had a couple of spare stands. I borrowed one of them and since the motor was on the stand, I had some time left in the day. I continued on and disassembled the motor. Having the spare motor recently taken apart, I knew from memory what I had to do with this motor, without the manual in hand.

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I took off the head and cylinder #1 looked visually good. The valves has some scratches from the aftermath but no cracks or gash marks. I’m hoping it will be useable but I’ll get confirmation from the machine shop. Then I continued on to the bottom end, to really see the carnage.

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As I flipped the block you could hear all the metal chunks from the oil pan. The bearing for cylinder 1 is nowhere to be found and its not fused to the crank. Once side of the con rod part of crank is burned, which I think is a sign of excessive heat from oil starvation. The piston broke in half and the con rod is bend in a bad way. Something failed and caused a chain reaction of unfortunate events.

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I continued on and started to removed pistons 2-4. The con rod bolts wasn’t loose, so I don’t think the con rod bolts failed that caused the motor to blow up. But the con rod bearings looked scored. Signs of poor oil lubrication meaning oil starvation. Then I continued to removed the main caps for the crankshaft. The main bearing looked new and no scoring. This tells me the lubrication was good for the main bearing but since the bearings on the con rods looked scratched up and worn out. I didn’t feel gouging though.

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The hole in the block location means its the first areas to be lubricated from the pump. This makes me think oil pump failed or the sloshing of the oil caused a slight air in the oil pick up that I had brief moment in oil loss the motor went boom. To rule out oil pump failure is to open the oil pump and check the gears. The oil pump body didnt have any damage. But to make sure I took apart the pump to see if it the gears inside are broken. Well, the gears in the pump are not broken and its the updated toyota gears too.

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This tells me the pump is functioning properly and with no other damage. The conclusion: motor blew up because of higher cornering Gs, which caused the oil to slouch one side creating a air pocket for the oil pick up. This caused a drop in oil pressure soo low the protective film of oil was gone. The metal to metal contact made the rod bearing fail, and that failure caused a chain reaction which ultimately lead to demise of the motor.

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Things to learn from this is even with proper baffle pan and up pressure spring, you still get oil starvation. Having a gripper tire increases that chance. Upgrading the oil system is a must for any track car. For the next build I will add an accusump, and have additional oil drains from the head. The accusump will provided additional oil if it senses a dip in oil pressure. Adding an extra drain from the head will allow oil to drain quicker down to the pan.

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I do hope these measures will make my motor last more then 1.5yrs of track use. But if my 2nd motor fails then I’m going dry sump.

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Stay tuned.

On my last post, I blew the motor right after placing 3rd on Race 1 and 2. My plan is to pull the motor and inspect what caused the failure. Currently, work has been busy and haven’t found the time yet to pull the motor. At least I can tear down the spare motor in my garage and just make sure I can use the spare for a rebuild ver 2.0.

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The history with my spare motor is it came off my AE86 originally, but once I got the motor running properly, it started to smoke from the tail pipe like a steam locomotive. Compresson test shown it was low on compression and needed a rebuild. Thats when I bought another 4age, which also needed to be rebuild. I found out that old motors just needs to be rebuild, and something I’ve come to accept.

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Thankfully, I kept the spare 4age, but wasn’t expecting to use it after 1.5 yrs tracking on the other motor. Something happened failed suddenly at the track. Thats I think right now, after looking at the oil log from the AiM telemetry. I had good oil pressure relative to the rpm. Then turn 5, I suddenly lost pressure at 16 psi, while it was at 6000 rpm. That split second is what made the motor blow.

Now it time to start the tear down on the spare and get it ready for the machine shop.

Thanks for reading and following along on this journey!

Last weekend I had a race at Eagles Canyon Raceway, with NASA. I got my car prepped and ready for the event. With new Advan tires, I was excited to try them out. I arrived on a Friday afternoon in anticipation for the 2 day races. With camp set up, and after eating out the friends, I called it a night.

The next day, I woke to sound of cars running and I knew I had to get ready. Practice felt great with the car newfound grip. For my car, 32psi hot is the sweet spot for grip. Then in qualifying, I managed to get 4th place for grid. I was surprised becuase the last two race events I placed last or 2nd to last. So it was nice feeling to place mid grid.

Race 1 I had some great wheel to wheel action. I had a close battle for 3rd place with 2 other drivers, all while 60 plus cars entry with 6 different classes. Two other drivers and I where switching positions, trying to get the 3rd place finish. I ended up passing the 3 place car on the last corner! I saw the checkered flag and was ecstatic. Here is the video:

Race 2 you grid where you placed on the last race. Since I got 3rd I want to keep that position hopefully. And I wanted to prove to myself the 3rd place win wasn’t just luck. I knew I had to keep my position or hopefully gain position in this race. It was anther great battle for 3rd place. I wasnt able to close the gap with the 2nd place car. But then the full course yellow happened and I used it to my advantage. With full course yellow, you can not pass anyone regardless of classing. Naturally the faster cars from the another class caught up to me while I was trying to chase the 2nd place car. Well the Spec Miata that caught to me was on my bumper and one corner he passed me. I didn’t really get mad since its from a different class. But the Spec Miata driver had contact with the 2nd place car in my class. Thankfully the incident wasn’t too bad but I can the 2nd driver was mad. We caught to the train of Spec Miatas in the full course yellow. Eventually the full course yellow became a waving green flag on the start finish line. It was back to racing! I tried to stay on the tail of the 2nd place car but I just couldn’t close the gap. Eventually the 4th place car was starting to catch up to me. I was getting worried. Then on top of that a spec miata caught up to our battle. I wanted to give the Spec Miata a pass but learning from past mistakes. The 4th place car will use the draft from the Spec Miata to pass me. I didn’t know what to do. Should let the Spec Miata pass or not? Well I ended just driving hard and if the Spec Miata wanted to pass me they will pass around my racing line. It wasnt going to be easy. Then on the last corner I carried a bit too much speed and did a tiny drift. The mistake allowed the spec miata to pass me on corner exit but I was still carrying enough speed that the 4th place could pass on checkered. Man sooo intense.

After race 2, you have the award ceremony. Heard my name called, and got my 3rd place trophy! I was sooo happy, I couldn’t stop smiling. My first podium finish! Of course I drank hard and had some delicious tacos with the homies. It was great, and looking forward for tomorrow. I hope I could use the momentum to get another podium finish.

Day 2 I woke up late, and bit hungover. I missed my early morning practice, but wasnt too worried. The car fit great and I didn’t feel like I needed to make changes.

On my qualifying session, everything was great till mid session. Coming out turn 5 I heard a bang then metal clanking. Immediately turn off the car and went off track to avoid spilling possible fluids on track. Here is the video moments before the big bang:

No warings, just went. The qualifying session ended and safety crew was able scoop me up with a flatbed tow. Props to the safety and corner workers. Without them, we would be able to have track event. So thank you.

The safety crew unload the car back into the paddock. I inspect the damage. I though it was the tranny since the oil drip on the flat bed smelled like gear oil. I jack up the car expecting to see a hole in the tranny. Turns out the tranny and driveshaft is fine. I noticed oil dripping on the front driver wheel. I popped the hood and see hole in the block.

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The motor blew and from the damage its probably a oil issue. I might oil starved, or oil pump failure. I could also be the con rod bolts failed. The motor did live its rebuilt life on track with 16 track events and 3 drift days. Plus it gave me a podium finish before it let go. Thats racing for ya.

My plan is to pull the motor, tear down, and see what might have failed. I have a spare motor that I will rebuild and hopefully make it last longer the 1.5yrs of tracking. I will be documenting the build process.

Since I’ll be using my spare motor, its time to find more 4age motors as spares. Thankfully the track and 4age community are supportive. I was about find some potential motors I might be picking up. With racing, it always good to carry spares.

My next race is in June at Hallet. By some chance the 86 wont be ready, I’ll do Spec Miata and borrow my friend’s spare car. I love racing and track days soo much, its hard not to stop. Just have to pick yourself back up and come out better.

Thanks for reading and hopefully see y’all at the track too!

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Got my Advan A050 tires mounted on the spare track rims. The fitment is more aggressive then my TE37. On the initial test-drive, my car was rubbing very bad where I can see smoke coming off the tires. I gingerly drove it back home and went to work.

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I rolled and pulled the fenders that my friend let me borrow. I used the Power By Max fender roller because that is the only roller that is low car friendly. I initially bought an Amazon fender roller originally, but from trial and error, it was just too big to fit under the fender.

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After rolling and pulling the fenders, another quick test drive showed I was still rubbing. The next option is to raise the car! I’ve adjusted the suspension multiple times and figured how to adjust the preload right. You can see it in this video:

Then finally another test drive. No more issues! My spare track wheels all dialed and no more rubbing. Just in time for the next race! Ill be at NASA Eagle Canyon, and hopefully to see yall there!

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