Interior:
I found a place in Taman Mayang that does only interior work on cars. The minute i stepped into this place, the only cars i see are all classics! Old triumphs, VW Beetles etc. So since i got some time where i didn't need my car for the running around i usually do, I dropped it off at the interior shop and got the insides all done up! Roof lining, back seats, dashboard, steering wheel. The whole car, in and out is just black and yellow. I didn't realised i only had 2 colours i could use until the interior guy pointed it out... His pricing are as follows:
-Steering wheel refurbish: RM250
-Dashboard refurbish: RM800
-Roof lining ( taking off the old Proton PVC and replacing it with a black cloth ): RM600
-Changing the colours of the back seats from orange to yellow and black: RM500
On top of that, I managed to find real original OMP 4 point road harnesses from the OMP dealer at Johor. He comes down to KL frequently so i got it from him for RM750 if i'm not mistaken. As usual, getting customs to clear them were a big hassle...
My dad also brought back an aluminium number plate for my car, where the alphabets were not pasted on the metal but molded. It was a thin piece of aluminium so we had to go to the accessory shop to get the regular plastic plate glued to the back of the aluminium plate and then only managed to stick it on the car.
Total FOR INTERIOR ONLY: RM2900.
Now the juicy bit!
The exhaust manifold that i got with the engine, from the half cut shop was crap. So i was recommended to go to this exhaust shop in Segambut, Pakar Exhaust FIMA :) Very small place, one man show but this guy knows what he's doing! I got a used Japanese Manifold from him, FGK 4-2-1 for RM600. Less that 2hrs it was fixed on the car already, with no issues.
For some reason, I found out that I had fake NGK spark plugs that i've been running on since i first started the 4A-GE, and it was causing some misfiring issues. So i decided to invest in some Denso Iridiums, the same one that the Toyota Alphard uses. There is a higher performance iridium plug that Denso has, but I got this because the workshop was carrying this plug, and i know it won't be a fake since it has Toyota branding all over the box, i hope. But so far so good! :) So 4 new Iridium SK20R11 plugs cost me RM220.
The spark plug wire also has been giving me some problems, one of the wires' core had melted so at that time the workshop was trying to fix my misfiring problem and a quick fix for that one spark plug wire that was causing the misfiring issue is to replace it with a used but still functioning wire. I was doing a bit of research on the spark plug wires, it seems to have no benefit in performance but there is a benefit in spark delivery. My idling has improved with new spark plug wires and with the new iridium plugs. I went to Mun Lee, one of the biggest half cut shops in PJ, and they only had Ultra spark plug wires for the 4A-GE, and they are charging RM400 for 4 wires, not 5 with a trade in of your old wires. To me that was a rip off! SO i went online to check for wires, which brand suited the 4A-GE best. Then it hit me! The 4A-GE was a race engine that Toyota used last time, along with the 3S-GTE in the future. So TRD should have developed a spark plug wire for the 4A-GE and true enough, I found the parts catalogue and there was a spark plug wire set ( 5 wires) for the 4A-GE. Now the question was where do I buy them? I found a sit in the US that sells the TRD Yazaki spark plug wires, it costs USD$120 with shipping to US address. So i bought the wires and my grandma was coming back to KL the day the wires were delivered to her house so I managed to get them and installed on the car already! OH YEAH!One shot, did it all! :) My next aim will be getting a new ECU for the 4A-GE! With all the upgrades in performance, there is a slight increase in power but not alot. Hopefully if i change the ECU it will help. Camshafts from the half cut shops, difficult to find for the standard engine, the standard intake and exhaust camshaft should be 240, with standard pistons and con rods, the biggest exhaust and intake camshaft to use would be 256. Any larger than that, it will be difficult to run the engine on the road.
Hi hirrev,
ReplyDeleteI would love to know whether do you require extensive modifications when fitting this AE86 dashboard into your KE35? I am also interested but not until the extent of doing it right now as I lack $ but currently I have a KE30 in my house (which lacks a tachometer) and hunting for a KE35 dashboard (with tachometer) is even harder than looking for AE86 dashboard.
Therefore I am thinking of settling down with some AE86 items on my KE30 such as axle, front brakes (larger?) and brake booster pump . Would love to hear your recommendations! =D
Best regards.
Hi Leong YZ,
DeleteFirst of all sorry for the late reply. Well the AE86 dashboard is a straight fit into the KE35, should be good as well for your KE30.
The original KE35 dash with meters would be great but they are really difficult to find, if you're lucky you'll find one that someone is throwing away. However, if I were to keep the car original, I'd keep looking for the KE35 dashboard. But if I have a 4A-GE under the hood, I'd go for the AE86 dashboard. If you do come across a TE37 dashboard, that would be gold right there to put into your car! The AE86 dashboard is also getting a bit too common in KE30s and 35s, at the end of the day the decision is yours according to your taste.
As for underneath the car:
-Brakes: No issues installing and servicing, but rotors you'll be better off buying new rotors if you do have the extra cash. Just keep the center piece of the front rotor from the original AE86 fronts. For me the stock size rotor is good enough, but if you do have extra cash then why not, provided it clears the rim and callipers.
Rear Axle: The KE30 and the AE86 uses a different suspension system so the AE86 axle would not fit straight onto the KE30/35 but what you can do is try to transfer the insides of the AE86 rear axle into the original KE30 rear axle.
Hope this helps, if you need anymore info pls don't hesitate to ask. If I'm not sure I can ask my mechanic and get back to you.
Kind regards.
Hi hirrev,
DeleteThanks for your info. Well, my wallet is too tight to splurge on a 4A-GE engine. I wanted it badly but situation doesn't permit me to do so except some minor upgrades which I intend to do such as replacing the entire front KE30 struts to AE86 struts coupled with T3 AE86 lower arms and T3 AE86 steering arms and Superpro bushings.
My original idea was to have the car run on 2T-G engine but I have wasted completely all the money into entertainment, which devastatingly took a toll on this project. Originally wanted to :
1) Soda blasting (if there was, heard only sand blasting)
2) Welding
3) 2T-G engine
4) Double Weber carb
5) Wiseco pistons LOLOL
I think I dream too much without realizing my ability previously!
Now only left with minimal hope of getting a 4A-GE engine as it's still, up to today's standard in my opinion. I'll ask for your opinion again when I manage to find an AE86 front struts to upgrade my front brakes. Now I stay to the Malay proverb, "perlahan-lahan kayuh".
BTW, my final questions are, how much does it cost you to do the swap for the 4A-GE and do you think I can get an AE86 halfcut for below RM4000? And I think my KE30 is originally 1.2, I don't know whether JPJ permits it to be endorsed for 1.6.
Best regards.
Hi Leong YZ,
DeleteIt is a bit expensive yes to put in the 4A-GE. Slowly do it up, that's what i'm doing with my car actually. If you notice, the parts are coming in slowly bit by bit, but thanks to the halfcut i got most of it at one go. My 4A-GE halfcut came with brakes, suspension, the whole deal for about RM4500, but I can try asking around and check the prices again.
I've never heard of soda blasting before. Most people would sand blast their car, which i didn't do for my car and i'm regretting not doing the sand blasting and the proper welding.
A 2T-G would be an awesome transplant for your car, I really want to do that right now with mine but the 2T-G engine is even harder to find. Even if you could find the 2T-G, the spare parts would be very difficult to find. Wiseco pistons would probably cost more than the engine haha, but I like your idea!
JPJ approved my 4A-GE swap with the help of a runner. So shouldn't be a problem as long as the car is in your name already.
Hi hirrev,
Deleteagain many thanks for the info. So far my budget only permits me to upgrade the front struts to AE86 struts, and I didn't take into calculation for the work involved in the swap. Yeah, just slowly do it up.
As far as I know, 1970s Toyota engines are way too seductive especially the 2T-G and it's rarer version with 16 valves. I know toyheadauto carries parts for 2T-G but the prices are exorbitant, perhaps it's due to our currency conversion.
A 3K-R would be great too but the engine alone will cost 2 arms and 2 legs coupled with the rebuild process and scarce parts. I know there's one Philippines website which advertises rare 3K-R and 2T-G race engines. They are beautiful.
Therefore 4A-GE is the answer. I'll let you know later brother.