Private Tuning Hands v3.0

-jack up rear at the frame. drain diff. gear oil thats a 24mm socket

-take off wheel and take off rear calipers by loosening 12mm bolt at lower back of the caliper. pull up and slide out the calipers, set aside usually with a zip-tie to prevent stressing out the brake lines in case it falls.

-remove brake pads. make sure you don't loose those pad retainers and anti-squeal shims when taking out the pads. remove the caliper bracket by loosening two 14mm bolts at the back side of the brake dust shield.

-remove the rotors. sometimes (or most of the times) they get stuck into the axles. here's what i observed when i was taking them out:

a) (better method!) i never figured out what those threaded holes on the rotors are for until now. if you have appropriate bolts, you can wrench it in to push the rotor out. (caliper bolt same thread per post #3)

b) i didn't have the right bolts. luckily, the slide hammer i rented have a lot of attachments. so i just did this MAKING sure i didn't damage the back surface of the rotors.

-(edited) axles can be slide out without removing the dust shield. (refer to post#2, no.5) i didn't realize this when i was doing it. so instead, i removed the clips and moved the lines so i can dremel the brake tabs, just like what we did when we upgraded to front coilovers. careful not to dremel that steel braided lines!

-now ready to remove four 14mm axle housing bolts

-now calling for a slide hammer. take care not to damage the axle oil seal when removing the axles. i rented mine at autozone and it came with various attachments as well.

-alright! axles out, off to a shop to press out those bearing and retainers. btw, i bought my koyo bearing at PASS

-now's the time to remove those old gaskets and clean those surfaces where those new gaskets will be put in. i just lightly sandpapared the surfaces and wipe clean w/ brake cleaner.

-got oil leak? inspect your oil seals for wear damage. as you can see on the axle housing, i do have a leak. i pulled out the oil seal again with the attachments from the rented slide hammer and pushed the new one yet again with another slide hammer attachment + biggest socket & extension for precision adjustments. make sure the oil seal is in straight. to check for good depth, oil seal just at the edge of the chamfered surface (per post #2, no.6)
Toyota Oil Seal PN 90311-52059

-put anti-seize/ grease where the outer bearing would sit. (thanks andrew)

-toyota FSM calls for a liquid sealant applied to the gaskets. i chose to use toyota FIPG on the axle gasket, both sides. if your gonna use FIPG, act quick ~ they cure fast.
Toyota gasket, rr axle hous. PN 42185-14010 (metal)
Toyota gasket, rr axle bear. PN 42425-14010 (paper)

-that's it! everything in reverse order:
slide axles / dust shield in
(4) 14mm axle bolts (Toyota FSM recommended 48 ft/lbs torque)
rotors in
(2) 14mm caliper housing / brake pads (Toyota FSM recommend 34 ft/lb)
caliper and 12mm caliper bolt (Toyota FSM recommended 14 ft/lb)

don't forget to fill the diif. gear oil up

Happy new year! Well I got some cool things over the holidays. One of which is a new kouki corner lights for my bumper. Instead of hacking my new corner lights' wiring to fit the usdm wiring, I went to the junkyards to find the pigtail wirings for the lights. The 3-wire connectors came form an ae86 sr5 and the 4-wire connectors, um well I forgot! I was scouring various 80's toyota cars for there cigarette wiring connectors. Luckily, I found to so all is well. simple butt-connectors, elec. tape and its done. Way better than splicing your wiring.

Finally, I passed smog! As they say, 3rd one's the charm. I was afraid that my car will fail smog again. I bought a Magnaflow hi-flow cat from Summit Racing. This is the same cat that I have in the car right now. Once I installed the cat, I found out that there is a slight leak so I went to Napa auto to buy an exhaust gasket. After that, I drove for 30 miles before pulling into my local smog station. I didn't realize that the EVAP testing already took effect this month. Man, another obstacle to overcome. Once my car is hooked up to the dyno, I was hoping it will pass. After a few seconds at 15mph, it switched to 25mph. YES! it passed 15, it didn't ran out of time so that was good. 25mph, was quick as well, yes! I passed the sniffer test! Now he was checking for the EVAP, it took a couple of minutes so that made me anxious as well. It passed anyways and the smog guy told me that there have been a high percentage that cars pass the EVAP test. So yeah, the 86 is good for 2 more years. I'll swap back my old cat so I can keep the new one when smog comes again. 

 Round 1:

15mph HC max - 130; means - 53
CO max - 0.80; means - 0.08
NO max - 835; means - 1183 (!!!)

25 mph HC max - 105; means - 32
CO max - 0.69; means - 0.04
NO max - 774; means - 957 (!!!)

Round 2:

15mph HC max - 130; means - 64
CO max - 0.80; means - 0.07
NO max - 835; means - 1015 (boo!!!)

25 mph HC max - 105; means - 48
CO max - 0.69; means - 0.06
NO max - 774; means - 650 (pass)

Round 3: (PASS!!!)

15mph HC max - 130; means - 73
CO max - 0.80; means - 0.09
NO max - 835; means - 821
25 mph HC max - 105; means - 40
CO max - 0.69; means - 0.04
NO max - 774; means - 166 (nice!)

I was able to yank Mark to this event. It was a good call because he really had a great time. I try to continue what works from the last round: softest setting in the rear swaybar, 3/4 stiff in the front, 3/4 & 3/8 f/r settings in the dampers. As far as tire pressure, we initially started with 36/32 psi. My thinking is that having low pressure will increase my grip in the rear since it helps the tire track the road with its whole width. However, Mark told me that that is also his setup on his 90 civic for oversteer! Wait, I thought pumping up the pressure will make the car prone to oversteer? (a la drifitng)  We talke to Cliff and he told us that increasing the tire pressure will also increase the grip up to a certain point where it then starts to decrease dramatically. That makes sense since I run crazy pressure when I am drifting.(um, always beyond 40++ psi) Now its more clear to me, well kinna. Everything is about how it feels and adjust accordingly. Anyways 1st runs we ran 36/32. It was okay. We let the psi rise to 37/35. 2nd runs were better so we stuck with those tire pressures. I had a good day autocrossing, the track is great and flows smoothly except for the off-center slaloms. Mark was having a blast driving my car as well. I guess new tires and some thought in suspension setup really helps. Oh there was a new subaru sti that rolled and autox'ed. I just had to take pics since this sti isn't even out yet. The inner fender still rubs the tires on Konig rewinds. I guess now I have time to pound the inner fender so I can gain clearance. Round 6

Man, when was the last time I participated in any form of motorsports? I think it was March. Man, that's a long time! Anyways, I was able to prepare my ae86 for this autocross event. This last two slush events will help me setup the suspension settings on the car for next years championship season. I changed my swaybar settings to full soft in the rear and 3/4 in the front. The last time me and Mark went to autocross, He complained that the car was very loose, easy to oversteer. I hope the changes in suspension settings will help the car plant itself around corners. I also changed the damper settings to 3/4 front and 3/8 rear. I usually set the rear 5-6/8 and I think this makes the car oversteer too much.I also raised the front a little bit to have some suspension travel.  I have to remember that settings for drift doesn't apply to autocross. What I want is  neutral handling, rotating the car at will. (and not drift king angles) For tires pressure, I initially set it at 36/32. I really liked how the konig rewinds are on the car. With the new jdm kouki bumpers, the car looked more mean. That's sick! I still have some rubbing in the front and don't have a full lock. Its okay since im not drifting or whatnot and the steering angle where it starts to rub is pretty good. Candlestick is very slick! You look and turn, but the car still goes straight! 2nd and 3rd runs I compensated but still very slick. On the second run, I trimmed my time by 4 seconds! That's pretty good, but overall I was still slower. I also felt that I wasn't pushing the car into its limits. Well, I haven't driven for a long time so I guess it will take time for me to be faster. Round 5

How many times, will this diary entry wake up from the dead? Anyway, good new is I finally got a job that is related to my engineering degree. I got a jon working at Hexcel in Dublin, CA. Hexcel is the leading composites manufacturer mostly in aerospace applications. I am a lab technician at Hexcel applying various test methods to compostie materials. All the while this summer, me and my friends got into mountain biking. I got an entry-level Specialized Hardrock that is good for tackling the trails around there in the Bat Area. My favorite is Tilden Park in Berkeley. This pretty good becasue it helps us to be somewhat fit and got more stamina. And lost some weight to boot! Well now that I have a good job, my eyes turned into my hard-parked ae86 for months. This time around, I am more interested in autocrossing rather than drifting. I dunno, I have been drifting for years now and although its still a blast, I do not have that level of excitement as I did before. Don't get me wrong, I still plan to hit up some drift sessions in the future, but my focus right now is autocrossing. I gues I got envious when my buddies got their SCCA trophies when they were able to complete a season. I said to myself, okay now its my turn to get one. Although I was an SCCA member back in '04, I think I only ran 3 events. So technically, I am still a novice. (talk about perpetual novice eh?) Now I want to create a car the way I like it rather than around SCCA's autocross rules. So I intend to run OSP-N for next year and the remaining of this slush series. OPS is basically run what you brung so my car fits in there. (although I know I will always get spanked. Finallyt, after years of owning my ae86, I finally got my jdm bumpers. The fronts are bought from max and the rear ones as well as the brackets are courtesy of luis. This rear bumper have a white paint becasue it came from a Keiichi white 86. I ordered a plastic paint stripper safe for the bumpers. It works great and I only have to touch up on other areas. I also obtained a set of Konig Rewinds with Falken Azenis RT-615 already mounted. I got the set for a good price and the tires were practically new. This wheels have good amounts of negative offset that will be beneficial for autocross plus it looks sick! I also got the color I want, bronze with a polished lip. Registration and insurance are now up to date, but I still have to pass smog. Luckily, I have a temporary sticker good until Jan '08. So I hope I have passed smog by then. With the sick negative offset, I had to roll the fender a bit. What I did is buy a wooden baseball bat from Toys R Us and a heat gun from Harbor Freight. It worked pretty well I must say. Good thing I test drove the car around the block! With the Rewinds, I cannot get full lock becasue the tire is catching the inner fender wall trim, eating the tires. Thank God I bought that heat gun. The sheet metal inside the fender was thick, heating it up with the heat gun helped a little bit before I pounded on them. I still don't have full lock, but I'm going autocrossing, not drifting right?

 During the whole summer, me and my friends got hooked on mountain biking. This is my other toy, a Specialized Hardrock Sport '07. We were all over the tails here in the Bay Area. But we really like Tilden Park at Berkeley the most. It's another form of excitement and the health benefits are good too! Its harder to ride during winter but I'll try if I get a chance. 

Finally a drift session at Altamont. It's been a while since I entered a drift session. Anyways, the car is running great; engine is good. However, my suspension setup isn't dialed in yet. I think the Whiteline swaybars in the rear is too stiff. I initially put in 3/4 stiff. I can connect the short course, but I was having too much drift angle that it seriously kills my forward speed. On the main course, forget it! I always spun around corners. And when I got a change not to spin, I cannot plant the rear tire to move forward. It was so hard to keep the rear in check even if I tried to catch the drift and counter early. My crappy tires didn't help either; the fronts were also crappy that I cannot keep my line and kept washing out. I hope I can figure out the settings soon. But it was a fun event. I had a blast and it was also nice seeing the usual folks on the track. I still need to figure out my suspension settings.