$500 V35A? GR86 Build

[DustinS]

Last year I had to sell my FRS that I had owned for almost 10 years. We had been through a turbo kit (ended in blown engine), a 418ci LS swap, and ended our time together with a self built high compression 2JZ VVTi.


Untitled by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Untitled by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

I have been lost on what the next project would be, but I always said I would love to do a stripped out FRS run on standalone and a pdm. So why not that.

Enter the $500 GR86 Chassis. I figured if I cut this one up and ruin it, I wouldn't feel bad junking it, but lets see what we can do.


Bare chassis by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Bare chassis by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

This is the worst of it. (that and no doors, that kind of sucks as they are still super expensive for the 22+). I work at a dealership, so I have the repair instructions and discounts on the parts I need to fix it. I am not quite worried about fixing it quite yet. Need to see where my other plans go before I dive too deep.


Bare chassis by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Not 100% sure on what drivetrain will be going in it. I have a general plan. For now, I am planning on running this K20 that I was given for free... For very obvious reasons...


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Head is toast, should be able to pick up another head for like $200


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Ready for machine shop to see if it is even worth using.


Engine by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

The major hiccup in this project is going to be the transmission. I have wanted an AWD FRS for the longest time, and I think this will be the perfect chassis to try it with. I have kind of narrowed it down to 8hp45x or 8hp70/75x. I really want a 70/75 but getting one with a i6 bell housing in the US is difficult and very expensive. So I will most likely go with a 45x and build the tunnel a tad larger to support the move if I ever get a chance. There is also the choice of 335xi manual 6 speed, which I would like even more, but I am not sure on the strength of the gearbox, and again difficult to source and expensive.

I have the hubs and front/rear diff sorted out for the most part. Front and rear subframe will likely be modified stock units. Using stock steering gear, knuckles, control arms, suspension. Brakes will be another custom Porsche setup like I had made for the FRS (or maybe bigger as I was working to keep the factory bias and abs happy). Interior will likely be a stock, but gutted dash, race seats, and that is about it. I am going back and forth on rear seats for my kids, or half cage because racecar.

[SP86]

Looking forward to your progress with this one! God-speed

[DustinS]

I didn't plan on updating this thread for a little while as things are going to move pretty slow, that was until I landed a pretty amazing deal. So here is a little update.

Got the car on jack stands today on lunch.


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Got a better look in the quarter panel. So it will need a quarter panel and inner wheel well. Add that to my list.


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

I also happen to come into 3 V35A 22+ Tundra V6 engines that were getting scrapped. 2 complete for the most part, and one that is just a short block. One is toast as you can tell from the pictures of the black main cap and rod. They other two should be good for rebuilds. One only having idle time before it started making a noise and was replaced.

I will need to do a major check of everything as I am not sure the condition of the heads or valve train. I know one head looks like it got hit with a fork lift arm at an intake port, which may clean up. One of the other heads has two valve springs uninstalled which I find very odd. More pictures to come as I really tear into everything.

I also ended up buying a MK60e5 ABS pump last week. Should be here tomorrow. I am very far off from getting brake lines routed, but I wanted to get it before prices got too crazy. I will need to figure out if factory sensors are going to be compatible or if I need to custom mount the BMW sensors somehow.

On to the few pictures:


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

The Dollys are what I used to move the chassis from my front yard where the car was dropped off on the parking pad in the back, and they make a perfect rolling resting point for these engines until I can get them torn down. The short blocks are surprising light, so moving them around like this is great.

Dead engine here:


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

Look how black the number one rod is compared the other ones. Got a tad hot...


V35 by Dustin[Smith], on Flickr

At this point, my plan has shifted to hopefully running one of these in the car. I will need to design a turbo adapter (maybe run factory turbos with modified vacuum based wastegates?), Transmission adapter, intake manifold?, direct injector plugs, and I am sure a slew of other parts. I will be seeing what I can do about upgraded valve spring packages and upgraded AM rod/main bearings when putting them back together at first.

[DustinS]

Just a small update.

Got the "good" engine torn down.



A little bit of marks on the skirts and cylinder walls.





Bearings weren't the worst I have seen. They will not be re-used. Will order new ones and have them coated.

One if the rods



One of the mains



Two of the three oil pumps very obviously ate metal. So they will junked.



Factory turbos are more than likely going to be set aside in favor of an aftermarket that is slightly larger. This will also make packaging easier with how far back the engine is being placed.



I modeled up a flange to fit a 2" pipe future plans.



Going to build a plenum from here to a single throttle body that is forward facing



Right about here:



My old front subframe installed to use as a reference point. This also lets me get the frame rail sort of in place.



This bolt is slightly out.



Which was fixed with some cutting and a come-along.





Plan is to cut it about here and tube the rest of it.



I got lucky and found an aluminum 8.8 at the local junkyard. $120 well worth it.



This should help with sizing a front diff as gear ratios are plentiful. I have a few options to try and figure out for the transfer case and front diff. If I use the 8.8 ifs, I can pair it with the ATC300/ATC45 transfer case from a bmw. Or I try and use a toyota ifs with an infiniti transfer case. Syvecs has a nice controller for the infiniti transfer case which is nice.

Next on the list of changes is the front suspension... With the front frame crunched, this messes up the front control arm mounting.



Being that I previous said I was going to just cut the frame and tube it, you can imagine that I am not planning on running factory control arms. With the use of WRX hubs, we can use the factory knuckles with axles up front. This sticks us with 5x100 bolt pattern though. Playing with wild plans, I have tossed around the idea of using Corvette C6 rear suspension setup.



This would allow for an axle up front and I gain double wishbone suspension, but a lot of research needed to do it right. I also have a non-standard bolt pattern. Using a STI knuckle I would gain the larger bearing and 5x114.3 bolt pattern, be able to use a GR86 coilover, and only have to come up with a custom lower control arm, which is much easier (but I still like the c6 idea).

I have been trying to get rid of the dct from my 2jz project as the htg controller has been a giant mess. It essentially bricked my transmission as the company has had some major issues. I would need to replace the mechatronics unit inside to be able to fix my issue. All the used mechs i could find have been more than I paid for the transmission, which was not something i was going to do. That was until this week when I found one for $500. I jumped on it immediately. I can now put my box back to stock. I can either sell it as a standard unit, or use one of the better sorted controllers (or Maxxecu) to run it. Domiworks just so happens to sell an awd adapter kit.... So current plan is to finally use the DCT 2 years later. Either run the Domiworks adapter with the bmw transfer case, or make my own adapter with the infiniti case.

I also have starting collecting parts for the MK60e5 ABS system.

[DustinS]

Looks like battle aero has FRP rear quarter panels that has me tempted.



I don't care for really any of their other stuff, but may save me a lot of time and money.