AW11 restoration

I guess ill start off by a little history in the car.
it came from new york, a friend of mine bought it and drove it for a few years. however he went on active duty and the car sat while he was out of the country. during that time it rusted away.. badly. the quarter panels were gone, as were the bumpers and frame inserts. the engine still ran but it took alot of work to get it moving. eventually however, he had to sell it because he was moving, and me and another member of this forum jumped on the chance to get a lemons project to work on.
unfortunately we knew nothing of the 4AGE and the AW11. and i learned that the car, while having LOTS of potential, liked to explode when running for long hauls like a 24 hour endurance race. this can be remedied by a 20 valve 7 rib 4AGE with updated oil and cooling passages, but that was outside the cost of the budget even IF we sold the perfectly intact dash in the car for is usual price of $500.
so with that, i started taking the car apart.. SLOWLY. eventually i got some help from a specialist in body work who taught me how to paint and polish, i've been teaching myself here and there along with his help on bits of my car, but nothing serious yet.
almost a year later, my friend found an ad in craigstlist for 4AGE parts. I ended up getting a whole shortblock for $170 with about 500 miles on it. it was time to tear the engine out and really get to work.

When i first got it, it looked like this:
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you can see where the previous owner was trying to mock up a mold so he could make fiberglass fenders. the real weight is handled on the C pillar mount which runs to the strut on the inner fender, so the outer fender is purley cosmetic (bill strongs V8 AW11 has no outer quarter fenders.).

The first thing i got to work on was the cabin. i stripped it all down to find:
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LOTS OF HOLES
i ginded the rust away, and sealed the floor using fiberglass. fiberglass is common in DIY restorations, however my planning is that it provides a new floor mold so i can later cut the steel out from underneath and weld in new pans that can bolt into the fiberglass (which has a steel mesh through it just for that purpose). I like trying new ideas out, and that seemed like a good one. the resin i used is from west system and is designed to have a similar expansion rate as steel. regadless of my use of materials and planning, there was much trolling on forums over this. i could care less.
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the drivers side wasnt bad at all. and in fact, after a coating in por15, i left it alone.

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that is the steel mesh in question, this is a mock up i was doing before i laid a layer of glass down.
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the next thing in question was the rust on the body.
fiberglass just wont cut it for that, so i drove down to NC to pick up from quarterpanels, bumpers, and engine parts from a friend.
the bumper was stripped and painted with por 15, and then i proceeded to strip the car down to nothing.
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and by nothing i mean even the quarters were cut, to deal with the rust.. and foam
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new quarters were mocked up
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aaaaaaand were never welded on.
still trying to find someone to weld it :/

thats when the real work started.
me and my friend kyle, and ted, started to remove the engine
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the manifold is without a doubt the hardest thing to pull off of that engine. no where to get tools onto the bolts

eventually the engine came out, and i started to build up the new engine.
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i also found that the clutch was in good condition. or at least, still useable
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the old engine, as you can see, looks hideous.
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other than that, i've been sanding and painting all the suspension parts, i have a prothane kit to put in it, as well as tokico blues for the struts.

further updates to come. i have the new engine completely assembled minus the timing belt. im putting the suspension back together and pushing the car out to get it into a real garage.

Sweet, nice work, can't wait to see more :) Is the 4AGE was the engine in the Trueno/Levin right? Sounds awesome.

Tygur wrote:

Sweet, nice work, can't wait to see more :) Is the 4AGE was the engine in the Trueno/Levin right? Sounds awesome.

yup, fourth generation A block with dual cams and electronic ignition.
Personally i feel that the 16valve 4AGE is a bit of a joke. the head design is rather crappy and its very hard to get it up past 200hp without serious work.
however the 20 valve 4AGE addressed all of the old problems with the 16 valve. i've seen people mate the 20 valve head with a 7 rib 4AGZE block and turbo and make upwards of 275 hp.
the 4AGZE was also an artillery shell of an engine, it could really take power and abuse. but the NA 16v 4AGE was rather.. wimpy. lol
does great in this car though! :p

when this build thread is 100% finished, there will be a 270hp 3SGTE MK2 motor swapped into this car.

Very nice, that will be quick! And powerful or not, those 4AGE engines are a big part of Japanese automotive history. The one you are swapping in is from the next gen MR? Looks like from that code, its basically the same thing they put in some Celicas and Camrys at the time? Seems familiar, I had an 86 Camry with basically the earlier generation of that, the 2SLE. Was a freaking bulletproof engine, I expect a 3SE variant would be as solid as the 2SE ones.

Tygur wrote:

Very nice, that will be quick! And powerful or not, those 4AGE engines are a big part of Japanese automotive history. The one you are swapping in is from the next gen MR? Looks like from that code, its basically the same thing they put in some Celicas and Camrys at the time? Seems familiar, I had an 86 Camry with basically the earlier generation of that, the 2SLE. Was a freaking bulletproof engine, I expect a 3SE variant would be as solid as the 2SE ones.

oh yea, 4AGE brought about a whole new era of engines from japan. when the MR2 came out it was using computer controlled ignition, port injection, cam sensing (known as DLI) and many other standard features that you just didnt see in the economy end of cars from that day.

the S block is similar to the A block but it uses a 1,995cc displacement rather than a 1,587cc displacement. the 2S and 4A were staggered in update years, but they ran along side each other in production. the camry received the 2S, the corollas got the 4A.
the 2S went through a revision and was released as the 3S.. and that engine is where toyota REALLY became a force in the power production world. WRC saw the use of the 3SGTE making 800bhp. there are a few guys on the MR2 forums that have pushed the 3SGTE up into the 1000hp region, its insane! along with that they made the 3SGE and the BEAMS engine which both were nice little upgrades for MR2s just like the 20v upgrade.

there is so much you can do to this car its nuts.

That new engine is looking sexy, man! Good progress so far. Keep it up!

nice progress!

Keep at it, it'll be finished before you know it.

2many2choose wrote:

Keep at it, it'll be finished before you know it.

heh. im freaking out with the work that needs done.

after the engine goes in i have to figure out how the vacuum lines go back together. not to mention those quarters need welded too. its a pile of WTF.

also forgot to mention that the suspension is being powdercoated this week.
should be pretty epic.

syty wrote:

2many2choose wrote:

Keep at it, it'll be finished before you know it.

heh. im freaking out with the work that needs done.

after the engine goes in i have to figure out how the vacuum lines go back together. not to mention those quarters need welded too. its a pile of WTF.

Oh gosh, vacuum lines are a joy lol

Congrats on bringing that MKI back from the dead. That's way more work than I wanted to put into one. You can still find good bodies out there. I ran with Deno Plumley for many years. He was the first one to put a 3SGTE in a MKI. That car is a beast.

89SC wrote:

Congrats on bringing that MKI back from the dead. That's way more work than I wanted to put into one. You can still find good bodies out there. I ran with Deno Plumley for many years. He was the first one to put a 3SGTE in a MKI. That car is a beast.

I wanted to shell swap, but the guy i was talking so had an SC body, so the VIN on it would run up a higher bill on insurance. 3SGTE is my ultimate goal, or turbo 20v based of yoshimitsuspeed's turbo build. but for now this works.

also. engine is almost complete. the intake is being tanked right now so i can paint it flat black (the silver just gets too dirty), and i got a new waterpipe courtesy MR2TIM, who has pretty much every part you could need for these cars.

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Finally got some time to put some sweat into the MR2. work and DJing has been keeping me busy, never know whats gonna happen in the network field.

hey look at this, shiny metal, something i never thought id see in this car.
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thats good enough for me. im not going for show car quality, but ill probably go at the nooks and crannies with a dremel in a bit. but that rusty plate there.. meh who cares? its not rotted.

cleaning these up. shocks STILL arent here, neither are the springs.
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got both the lower rear suspension bits done. but this one came out nicer. the other one needs a quick sanding and reapplication of paint.
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also cleaning out the engine bay. im mainly going to leave it as is, but im cleaning up any rust i find.
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more parts on their way. im in a horrible mess right now and im really stressing about getting this car going in time. the good news is that i now have a car trailer so i can tote it around to machinists when i need to.







oh btw, 89sc, do you know tim nusbaum?

Don't know Tim. I haven't been active on the MR2 Board for awhile.

While you have that tranny out, check the bushings on the shifter linkage. They were froze on my 89. I replaced them with brass bushings but some are using bearings from inline skates.

89SC wrote:

Don't know Tim. I haven't been active on the MR2 Board for awhile.

While you have that tranny out, check the bushings on the shifter linkage. They were froze on my 89. I replaced them with brass bushings but some are using bearings from inline skates.

ah, tim and i thought you were the 89sc he knew, but then i found out the other 89sc lives in mt hope WV.
tim is a parts dealer from TX, good guy, i buy alot of stuff from him.
R.O.B.O is another SC owner from down in huntington. theres quite a bit of us in this state im finding out. lol

syty wrote:

after the engine goes in i have to figure out how the vacuum lines go back together. not to mention those quarters need welded too. its a pile of WTF.

Just get a cheap standalone and an adjustable FPR and go from there :) Remove all vacuum lines. Much easier. May not even need the standalone and stuff, depending on how those ECUs work. Of course it would probably make any cruise control and AC stuff and possibly heater controls not work but its worth it, right? haha

Tygur wrote:

syty wrote:

after the engine goes in i have to figure out how the vacuum lines go back together. not to mention those quarters need welded too. its a pile of WTF.

Just get a cheap standalone and an adjustable FPR and go from there :) Remove all vacuum lines. Much easier. May not even need the standalone and stuff, depending on how those ECUs work. Of course it would probably make any cruise control and AC stuff and possibly heater controls not work but its worth it, right? haha

eventually I'm going to strip it down and make it full trackwhore just for fun. but for now I just want to get it up and working in stock format.

at least i have this handy image
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right, got the whole rear frame taken care of. the result is pretty nice, seems durable, and I'm hoping it will last for at least a few years. It was pitting and surface rusting pretty bad so i hit it with a ginder and brush, then coated it in rust resolver to seal up any leftover pits that could reform some rust, coated it in primer, and then coated it in undercoating for added protection.

im moving onto welding the quarters here in the next few weeks hopefully. my neighbor who is a structural welder suggested that I use FUSOR in the wheel arch area and door jamb to protect against water damage, and then tac weld the top of the panel for support. I'll have some detailed pics tomorrow if anyone wants to look. Does anyone have any input on body adhesive? i know this car has alot in it, but I dont know how well the consumer stuff works.

anyway, some pics.

got the rear wall coated with primer after stripping the old paint. after that i put a coat of high temp enamel on there since I want that looking niceish
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heres some more work i did. after the resolver dried i put down primer and then bed liner. the liner sprays brown, but dries black
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I got some areas over sprayed, im not too worried as the stuff comes right off with acetone. tomorrow im going to work my way up with the primer and then high temp enamel gloss. the bed liner was only for the frame
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