I bought this 1987 T-top in 2000 for $2500. It was a survivor car - untouched and probably parked winters. It had about 113,000 miles on it or thereabouts. I drove it for about 4 years and started to notice increasing amounts of oil useage and um, contrails...
I started to look at rebuilding and found that it would be cheaper to buy a JDM engine from ebay than to go through the lengthly and uncertain process of a real rebuild. I'd had mixed results with non-american, non-V8 machine shop work in the past, plus not having all the tools and resources I used to have as a tool and die maker.
So, around 2004/5, I bought a 4age 20-valve BlackTop based on MR2oc forums' build threads. It took about a year, working with a mashup of various posts and approaches, but the result was what the car should have been in the first place (IMHO). Revvy and great sounding at speed. (OK, more revvy) I also rebuilt the suspension and brakes.
I kept messing about with the suspension over the years of autocross and track days, getting the alignment, ride height, and grip worked out. That process is an ouroboros of modification, break something, fix it, another mod, break something else, fix, mod, etc.
It's been feeling a little tired recently, and I've been looking to get a little more pep back into it. It took 2 years of dithering - rebuild, 4agte, 2zz, 2ar, 3sgte, Beams blacktop, k20, round and round.
So without going into all the considerations (so many posts on the forums about which engine; Much emotion! Wow!), I finally got on the mk1.5 train. Due to market forces ;-), I wound up getting a "gen5" 3sgte, based on TCS's assurance they could make the gen5 ECU work.
Aquiring an engine and transmission through the internet requires a certain dedication to communication. It seems that most used engine sellers are taciturn folks - maybe they think messages cost by the word? Anyway, eventually, I bought a gen5 3sgte from Alberta, Canada, and an s54 LSD from Savanna, Ga.
I extracted the existing wiring harnesses from the car, new engine, plus the ECU and sent them to Justin at TSC. Justin was very helpful over the phone in helping me get the whole process started. I set up a todo spreadshheet and scoured the forums to see what others had done. Not too many Gen5s in AW11s...
Timing belt kit, flywheel/clutch/pressure plate,(the Caldinas were all automatics I think), NA axles, fuel pump, gasket and seals. Lots 'o parts...
I've collected a few more tools since 2004, so I felt more confident I could make the engine mounts myself; so far, so good. The mount description by MR220v is an invaluble starting point for those inclined to roll your own no-cut style.
I started to look at rebuilding and found that it would be cheaper to buy a JDM engine from ebay than to go through the lengthly and uncertain process of a real rebuild. I'd had mixed results with non-american, non-V8 machine shop work in the past, plus not having all the tools and resources I used to have as a tool and die maker.
So, around 2004/5, I bought a 4age 20-valve BlackTop based on MR2oc forums' build threads. It took about a year, working with a mashup of various posts and approaches, but the result was what the car should have been in the first place (IMHO). Revvy and great sounding at speed. (OK, more revvy) I also rebuilt the suspension and brakes.
I kept messing about with the suspension over the years of autocross and track days, getting the alignment, ride height, and grip worked out. That process is an ouroboros of modification, break something, fix it, another mod, break something else, fix, mod, etc.
It's been feeling a little tired recently, and I've been looking to get a little more pep back into it. It took 2 years of dithering - rebuild, 4agte, 2zz, 2ar, 3sgte, Beams blacktop, k20, round and round.
So without going into all the considerations (so many posts on the forums about which engine; Much emotion! Wow!), I finally got on the mk1.5 train. Due to market forces ;-), I wound up getting a "gen5" 3sgte, based on TCS's assurance they could make the gen5 ECU work.
Aquiring an engine and transmission through the internet requires a certain dedication to communication. It seems that most used engine sellers are taciturn folks - maybe they think messages cost by the word? Anyway, eventually, I bought a gen5 3sgte from Alberta, Canada, and an s54 LSD from Savanna, Ga.
I extracted the existing wiring harnesses from the car, new engine, plus the ECU and sent them to Justin at TSC. Justin was very helpful over the phone in helping me get the whole process started. I set up a todo spreadshheet and scoured the forums to see what others had done. Not too many Gen5s in AW11s...
Timing belt kit, flywheel/clutch/pressure plate,(the Caldinas were all automatics I think), NA axles, fuel pump, gasket and seals. Lots 'o parts...
I've collected a few more tools since 2004, so I felt more confident I could make the engine mounts myself; so far, so good. The mount description by MR220v is an invaluble starting point for those inclined to roll your own no-cut style.