I made a decision to order a SW20 coilover from Tein. A slight risk considering the possibility of not fitting into AW11. Tein UK delivered quickly.
Shiny bits!
Tag: mr2
New balljoints
Got all new balljoints for the suspension. Old ones had punctured rubbers and other damages (I might have whacked one with a huge mallet to loosen it from suspension arm…) so the replacement was needed. Rear balljoints came from a japanese company called 555 and the front ones were genuine (and expensive) toyota originals.
Test fit.
Problems with SuperPro
The SuperPro bushings kit was meant for a european spec AW11. Found out that the rear swaybar was thicker on the JDM model. JDM seems to have a 14mm rear sway bar and european model has a 10mm. Solved the problem with new order of SPF1333-14K to replace the SPF1333-10K that came with the kit.
Shocks reference
I’m going to do a reference chart of the height differences between Toda, stock and the third possibility. Measures are bit rough (maybe millimeter here, millimeter there) but the idea is to get ballpark measures for the shocks.
Edit 4.10.2017 sadly this is never getting done
Quick compare
AW11 Toda rear at the bottom.
Differences between AW11 and SW20 suspensions
| Front end | AW11 (mk1b) | SW20 (early) | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top mount nuts | 4x 14mm, 8mm thread (90179-08097) | 4x 14mm, 8mm thread (90179-08097) | same, bolt pattern different |
| Top nut | 21mm, 14mm thread (94182-11400) | 21mm, 14mm thread (94182-11400) | same |
| Bottom bolts | 2x 17mm, 12mm thread (90105-12042) | 2x 19mm, 15mm thread (90105-15001)* | *) late models have 90105-15005 |
| Bottom nuts | 2x 17mm (90179-12025) | 2x 19mm (90179-15001)* | *) late models have different nuts |
| Bottom bracket width | 26mm | ??mm | different between AW11 and SW20. A stack of shims is needed |
| Upper bolt hole | 12mm x 14,5mm | 15mm | Diameter difference |
| Lower bolt hole | 12mm | 15mm | Diameter difference |
| Bolt hole c-to-c | 59mm | 59mm | |
| Trailing arms | 48660-17010 | 48660-17030 | difference? thread and thickness is same. |
| Tie rod end | 45046-29135 | 45047-19075 | length, shape. sw20 points upwards |
| Rear end | AW11 (mk1b) | SW20 | notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top mount nuts | 3x 12mm, 8mm thread (90179-08122) | 3x 14mm, 10mm thread (90179-10103) | bolt pattern same thread is bigger |
| Top nut | 21mm, 14mm thread (90179-14015) | 21mm, 14mm thread (90179-14015) | same |
| Bottom bolts | 2x 19mm, 15mm thread (90105-15001) | 2x 19mm, 15mm thread (90105-15001)* | same *) late models have 90105-15005 |
| Bottom nuts | 2x 19mm (90179-15001) | 2x 19mm (90179-15001) | same *) late models have different nuts |
| Bottom bracket width | 28mm | ?? | almost same |
| Upper bolt hole | 15mm x 17mm | 15mm | The camber adjustment method is different |
| Lower bolt hole | 15mm | 15mm | should be same |
| Bolt hole c-to-c | 59mm | 59mm | should be same |
| Trailing arms | 48780-17020 | 48780-17030 | difference? |
| Tie rod | very different |
Other stuff:
- Tie rod ends share the same castle nut. Most likely the tie rod ends are nearly identical and SW20 ones should fit AW11. Length might be an issue and the thread to the tie rod as well
- Aftermarket SW20 rear trailing arms should fit into AW11
- Aftermarket SW20 front trailing arms up to -91 should fit to AW11, after that I’m not sure. At least the front bracket where the far end of the trailing arm attaches should be swapped.
- 90105-15001 (aw11 rear) bolt measures:
- total length 67mm
- without head length 55mm
- head height 12mm
- threaded part 29mm
- M15(?) thread
- 19mm tool needed
- flange diameter ??mm
- nut height ??mm
- 90105-12042 (aw11 front) bolt measures
- total length 64mm
- without head length 53mm
- threaded part 33mm
- M12(?) thread
- 17mm tool needed
- flange diamter ??mm
- nut height ??mm
Garage updates
The shelves are up! The garage is cleaned and it is rather nice place. Only my stock shocks stayed on the floor because I was way too tired to lift them on top of my part of the shelves.
Got the AW11 running again, after winter months. I tightened the battery ground cable and the car started on the first try.
Nothing really special here, the car runs without a hitch. 116601 kilometers on the odo.
The plugs looked great but there was this weird cream colored residue. Widrics four-doored GC8 on the background.
A 240km/h speedo for the AW11
Found one!
I found a whole gauge cluster to be exact, but the clear plastic was missing. The cluster had acquired a lot of dust and was in need of cleansing.
All cleaned!
Turbo project – something to show
Mr. Manon from Manon Racing Products, NZ made me a turbo manifold 🙂
I havent yet bought the actual turbo, but I have a manifold at least! It is custom made to fit a BorgWarner EFR6255 or 6258 turbine into AW11.
Here are some measurements of the engine compartment I took for Mr. Manon to see if it would fit. The engine in the picture is a naturally aspirated one and the trunk side is not very accurate. Also, seems that at least my engine sits somewhat tilted towards forward for unknown reasons.
Measured distances should be accurate to 10mm.
Click the picture for a bigger, clearer one.
Used Bride seat
Using Widric as my front I managed to acquire a old Bride Brix seat. It’s one of those early ones that will change the color to dark purple when they’re left into sun. The early Brides didnt have proper UV protection.
The seat was in good condition. I like how I was able to take the seat apart for cleaning, so I washed the thing with mild soap water and squeezed the seat supports dry.
Here’s the seat installed:
My old Sparcos are bit clunky already and I’m not that fond of the red color.
Found out that the seat rail pattern was slightly different between Sparcos and Bride and I had to somehow correct the difference. The Sparco pattern was 345 x 271mm while Bride uses 290 x 330mm for the bottom mount MO-type seats.
Not 100% sure about this, but Momo, Sparco and OMP should be using 345 x 271mm, while Recaro, Bride and Cobra use 290 x 330mm.
I bought some 50mm x 4mm aluminium bars and made some highly technical drawings inPowerPoint OpenOffice. CAD is overrated anyways \;)
There are five adjustment holes to move the seat slightly forward or backward because I was too lazy to measure the exact position difference of the mounting holes.
Countersunk of course. The freshly drilled hole is still bit rough here.(Edit: this was one of my test drills hence the roughness)
Did I do something funny here? Cant remember anymore 🙂
Now I need to get a second one just to have a matching pair.