It’s been a number of months since I final up to date you on my AE86 endeavours right here in Japan, and what an eventful few months it’s been. We’ll kick issues off with a fast journey to Ebisu Circuit.
For years, I’ve been behind the digital camera, capturing drifting motion first in Australia and now in Japan. However getting behind the wheel? That was at all times a objective, simply by no means a precedence. As a rule, I’d spend monitor day cash on a brand new lens or digital camera accent as a substitute. However when the prospect to float my Levin notchback in Japan got here up, I’d have been insane to say no.
Don’t get it twisted, although. Taking Venture AE86 to the monitor wasn’t a call I made flippantly. It took my associates months of arm twisting and reassuring me that the danger of placing the automotive right into a wall was minimal. Ultimately, they gained.
Coming from Australia, the place monitor choices are restricted and much from dwelling, I knew I needed to benefit from Japan’s huge choices. For a lot of, drifting in Japan is synonymous with Ebisu Circuit – with seven tracks starting from newbie programs to D1GP and FDJ-level circuits, it was the plain place to start out.
I made the drive as much as Ebisu from Tokyo very first thing on a Monday morning with a superb good friend who’d simply completed constructing his AE86. For each of us, it was a little bit of a break-in testing journey – courageous, contemplating we had no trailers and have been a four-hour freeway drive dwelling after afterwards.
Apart from a number of enthusiastic corners right here and there, this was my first correct time on the monitor. I had no thought what the automotive’s setup was like, and from the differential to the steering knuckles, it could be a studying curve.
To my reduction, the automotive did have a limited-slip diff in it. It felt like a TRD 2-way with the usual 4.3 remaining drive ratio, although you wouldn’t discover it till you kicked the automotive sideways at pace. The road wheel setup, nonetheless, was a bit too grippy for Ebisu’s freshly re-paved College Course floor – to be anticipated from 195/50/15 semi-slicks.
After swapping on a pair of RAYS Volk Racing TE37Vs with some throwaway tyres inflated to 45psi, we have been in enterprise. One factor that makes Ebisu so nice is how quiet it’s on weekdays. We solely needed to share the College Course with a number of different vehicles, giving me loads of time to focus and work on my drifting approach.
For essentially the most half, the automotive carried out excellently. I needed to put a whole lot of religion within the manufacturing unit gauges, although. Sizzling-lapping the automotive in 10-minute periods started exhibiting the constraints of the Freedom ECU, which ran wealthy sufficient to sap the already minimal energy produced by the lightly-tuned 4A-GE 16-valve engine.
Right here’s a fast video of some laps at Ebisu College. As you’ll see, it’s a critical exercise for the clutch, however with slightly extra pace and confidence, I’m hoping I can provide it a little bit of a break. Large because of Dino for catching all of the out-of-car photographs!
The Transformation Begins
After my day at Ebisu, the automotive’s subsequent essential outing was to JBeat Customs, a physique store simply exterior Tokyo in Saitama. This journey had been a very long time coming. Over the previous few months, I’d been gathering components and concepts for the Levin.
While you purchase an AE86, until you’ve acquired cash to burn, there’s at all times going to be a compromise. For me, that compromise was the automotive’s paint. It’d’ve regarded okay in photographs, however in actuality, it was removed from nice. The paint job was a yard DIY effort, with overspray in every single place and a scarcity of primer that led to chips throughout a number of panels. However most of all, I simply didn’t love the salmon purple.
Strolling into JBeat, I didn’t even know what color I wished to repaint the automotive. The shortlist included silver, gunmetal gray, darkish inexperienced, blue, and black, so it was honest to say this was going to be an impulse resolution.
Jun, the proprietor of JBeat, advised we combine up a customized black base with a blue pearl. He was assured it could be your best option and distinctive in Japan, the place each AE86 color combo has been executed.
After a fast combine and take a look at spray, we made the decision. From most angles, the paint seems to be black, with only a trace of blue reflection. However when the sunshine hits it, the blue shines. This refined impact was precisely what I used to be after.
Together with the brand new color, I had earlier picked up a Goodline FRP bonnet and a set of Group A-style mirrors. These have been each AE86 ‘grail’ items for me, so getting to place them on the automotive was thrilling.
Two Weeks In
Two weeks later, I discovered myself again at JBeat, checking on the progress.
Seeing the automotive in items gave me an opportunity to take a look at some hidden surprises, primarily within the type of rust spots. Fortunately, the staff at JBeat was fast to chop them out and change the affected areas with contemporary metallic. In addition they sealed up the antenna gap, giving the driver-side fender a a lot cleaner look.
We’d additionally determined to take away the gold from the RS Watanabe wheels, leaving the uncooked, silver anodised end. A small change, however one which’s made a world of distinction to the automotive’s total look.
By this level, primer had been utilized to the still-unknown physique package, and I used to be simply in time to see some color laid down. Seeing the paint on bigger surfaces would give me a greater thought of how it could look on the automotive.
Evidently, I used to be stoked with the end result! As supposed, the automotive regarded black from most angles, with the blue solely turning into seen beneath direct mild, particularly within the fluorescent glow of the store. I stepped again and let the JBeat staff end their magic.
The Closing Outcome
Quick ahead 4 weeks, and I picked up my freshly refinished AE86 from JBeat. To rejoice, I did what any self-respecting automotive fanatic in Japan would do: a comfort retailer photoshoot.
Then I took the Levin out to an area rice discipline for some extra quintessentially Japanese photographs, sitting again and admiring the automotive because the solar dipped beneath the Shinkansen tracks. The JBeat crew did an incredible job – not solely on the paint however on the general end. The panels that had as soon as been slightly wavy have been now completely straight, the wheels have been silver, and the mirrors and bonnet have been in place. Better of all, the rust was gone.
I’ve efficiently turned the AE86 I supposed to study drifting in right into a automotive I’m virtually too scared to park on the retailers. However actually, I couldn’t be happier.
Present Day
A few months have handed since I acquired the automotive again from JBeat, and after leaving Japan for some time, I’m now again and placing the automotive’s new look to good use. I’ve racked up a number of thousand kilometres on the odometer in just some weeks.
I even threw collectively a video from a fast evening run by way of Tokyo. Test it out!
It’s not simply Tokyo that’s been graced by the sound of 8,000rpm and 4A-GE ITB goodness. I additionally took the automotive as much as Hakone Turnpike and Skyline – simply an hour from dwelling.
The view from the highest of the Turnpike is well certainly one of my favorite spots in Japan, particularly at sundown. That’s in case you don’t get swallowed up by the clouds, which occurs very often once you’re over 1,000m above sea degree.
And that’s the place we are actually, all caught up on my Venture AE86 journey. Big because of Jun and his staff at JBeat Customs for his or her unbelievable work on the automotive. I’m trying ahead to the subsequent replace, hopefully from one of many dream circuits I’ve to drive right here in Japan.
Alec Pender
Instagram: noplansco
