What's up guys, I plan on dropping a blue top 4-AGE engine into my SR5, but I get the feeling that extra power'll upset the suspension or balance of the car and mess it up completely and I don't wanna do that. I read a few topics saying that it's a better idea to just buy a GT-S and save myself the trouble, but I feel like that's wrong...namely because I just got my AE86 in the panda two tone and I don't wanna see that go XD It's a wierd "this is my AE86 so I gotta stick with it" kinda deal I guess What I'm mainly asking is, if I drop the engine, what else should I upgrade in the car to keep the car at top condition

Sorry for basically re posting since this was posted like 1000 times on the old forum but I'd appreciate any advice or help!

The biggest performance difference is that the SR5 has a shorter final drive ratio (different diff) so you'll have more torque at the wheels with that setup, but the diff is weaker compared to the GT-S. The SR5 diffs were also all open, while some GT-S's are LSD's, so you won't get that nice lock when you want it. The GT-S also has a stiffer rear anti-roll bar to make it more tail happy, as well as different spring and struts.

As far as upsetting the car's balance, it should handle it fine but I imagine you'll quickly want to upgrade the suspension now that you have more power. A budget upgrade is a set of Tokico full stroke full stroke shocks which won't need new springs, and should offer a noticeable upgrade to your car's steering response and overall handling. If you can also get ahold of it, I'd definitely change the rear end over to a GT'-S rear end if you can. The diff is bigger, some come with stock LSD's (probably need a rebuild by now, lot cheaper than a new one), you'll get the right gear ratio for the engine and it also has the stiffer anti-roll bar.

In short you should be fine, but I'd definitely get new struts and swap the rear end. I think you might need a new fuel pump as well though, not entirely sure, I'm still in the middle of my 20V GT-S conversion and I haven't gotten to that point.

Personally, I think you'll get more satisfaction (and time with a running car) working with what you've got rather than dealing with the headache of a GTSR5 conversion. For example: engine-wise, upgrade those carbs for now while you rebuild a 16v head, swap your nice carbs to that (to avoid the wiring headaches). There was a sweet build thread in the old forums by a guy who got a free SR5 and went this route.

Suspension-wise, everything Army Fork said.

I think I get it, so upgrade the suspension with the Tokico strokes and shock absorbers...drop the 4-AGE in or upgrade my carbs, and get a GTS rear end...ironically enough when I bought my AE86 there was at least a GT-S trunk on it, so I'm not entirely sure if it was an abandoned project or not XD I doubt it though and I think it's just for show But thanks guys I'll do my best!

Good luck dude

Check out this thread to give you some idea of what to do to improve the overalll feel of the car : http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forum ... -Taka-Aono
It's a two part series of the full swap with a step by step how to featuring Taka who is one of the coolest 86 drivers around imho. However, i agree with the above posts that having a running car would keep you more engaged in the project. In short, it's easy to get discouraged when your car won't even start up.

I am in the exact same boat as you are, Panda SR5 and everything hahaha. about a year ago I bought a old neglected SR5 with a beaten up 4AC in it. I have spent WAY too much money getting it to where it is now, but I got to say, I have learned a lot and it feels awesome restoring my car to it former self. I am eventually either going with a 16v or 20v swap and upgraded rear end and all but for now just fixin her up into a nice little fun daily.

Goodluck with your project!

Awesome dude! My 4AC's not bad or anything but it's just old so I have harder time getting up hills...I have yet to drop in my 16v blue top but we'll have to save that for another day when I can spare not needing to use the car for a week or however long it takes to drop an engine XD

i didnt read this thread except for these two things.

1. sr5 and gts have the same suspension other than the rear brakes. so you're not going to upseta anything with that extra 20hp

2. sr5 has a longer final drive, not a shorter one. GTS is 4.3, SR5 is 3.9

The SR5 and the GT-s do NOT have the same suspension setup. I may have been wrong about spring rates, but the dampers are definitely different, as well as that rear anti-roll bar. Trust me on that, I've actually held both of the bars in my hand and the GTS bar is much larger.

My mistake on the short drive ratio, they tuned the SR5 for fuel economy so they put a longer diff in it.

Well, all depends on what your final goal for the car is. If u had a Gts you would most likely want to upgrade suspension eventually anyway. I have a Sr5 that I'm working on too. It runs fine, so far I've switched the rear diff to a Gts Lsd diff and it's my dd. Now I'm stuck debating if I wanna do a 4age or sr20 swap. Leaning towards sr20

advice i typically give to a lot of new guys starting out with SR5's...

if you want GTS, best options (in my opinion) would be to:

1. sell the SR5 for decent $$.. save the cash. work to gain a bit more $$, and buy a cheap nitty gritty GTS, or already swapped sr5-gts.
2. if you are really attached to your car and don't want to get rid of it.. wait around for a GTS parts car, and do the whole swap in one go.
3. the most expensive, and time consuming route.. piece together everything on the side and take your time with the swap.

Ryuesi, you can't just "drop" a bluetop into an SR5. You also need a different fuel tank, fuel lines, plumbing for the two, fuel pump, complete and MATCHING ignitor and ECU, harness wiring...maybe you remember the old forum had links to a 2-part magazine article that went through everything that had to be done. It is NOT "drop in". It is not cheap or simple. And when you are done, you will have thrown away a lot of the money because "FrankenCars" don't make it back on resale.

Better to look at the options for what you have, folks have modified the 4AC engine to produce just as much power as the 4AGE, and you can modify everything else with equally effective results. Drop in a Bilstein suspension if you want something better than GT-S. Check around, there's plenty to do that will make your car just as fast, just as sweet, without all the headaches of a FrankenCar.

Red wrote:Ryuesi, you can't just "drop" a bluetop into an SR5. You also need a different fuel tank, fuel lines, plumbing for the two, fuel pump, complete and MATCHING ignitor and ECU, harness wiring...maybe you remember the old forum had links to a 2-part magazine article that went through everything that had to be done. It is NOT "drop in". It is not cheap or simple. And when you are done, you will have thrown away a lot of the money because "FrankenCars" don't make it back on resale.

Better to look at the options for what you have, folks have modified the 4AC engine to produce just as much power as the 4AGE, and you can modify everything else with equally effective results. Drop in a Bilstein suspension if you want something better than GT-S. Check around, there's plenty to do that will make your car just as fast, just as sweet, without all the headaches of a FrankenCar.

Yeah I know all that stuff, and I know it'd be a serious pain in the fanny to get all the other parts for and whatnot, but I don't know of any ideas to buff up engine power, and yeah I'm probably gonna abandon the dropping new engine thing in since it's a lot more complicated than I thought XD I know this sounds ridiculous but does anyone know any good parts around for me to buff up my power to keep up with a GT-S? I'm thinking I want this car to be fast enough to be the competitive underdog at a track day, and I have a very limited knowledge on this stuff XD

And another question: if I changed the rear drum brakes to discs if I upgrade the power, is that gonna mess anything up? Or should I bother?

If you go to achive.org, aka "the wayback machine" you can poke around in the archived copy of the old forum message base. Look for the faq and tech ref sections, or look on the web for an Ozzie named "Bill Sherwood" who posted a lof of info on his own web sites. You should be able to find out what can be done to a 4AC to give it 4AGE power.

Brakes? First I'd work on power, you don't need more brakes until after you've got more speed and if you've had stopping problems.<G> Of course that will need a complete GT-S drivetrain donor, everything from the prop shaft back to the wheels has to change. So keep an eye out for those donor cars in the meantime.

Also check into whatever the rules are for the organizing bpody that will be conducting the races. They all have rules about modifications and classes, and if you change the wrong piece of equipment, you get bumped into a much more competitive class which might eat you alive. Others may let you run with any modifications you please, so "just" doing the cams, shaft, compression, and a blower might work. Folks who are already racing in that group may be very willing to chat with you and tell you what they're running. Sometimes they'll just smile and not say anything, but often they'll tell you what is working, or not. So hanging at the track, great resource too. Easy way to make new friends: Go on a really hot day, and pass out some extra cold water bottles, or something better.<G>

Red wrote:If you go to achive.org, aka "the wayback machine" you can poke around in the archived copy of the old forum message base. Look for the faq and tech ref sections, or look on the web for an Ozzie named "Bill Sherwood" who posted a lof of info on his own web sites. You should be able to find out what can be done to a 4AC to give it 4AGE power.

Brakes? First I'd work on power, you don't need more brakes until after you've got more speed and if you've had stopping problems.<G> Of course that will need a complete GT-S drivetrain donor, everything from the prop shaft back to the wheels has to change. So keep an eye out for those donor cars in the meantime.

Also check into whatever the rules are for the organizing bpody that will be conducting the races. They all have rules about modifications and classes, and if you change the wrong piece of equipment, you get bumped into a much more competitive class which might eat you alive. Others may let you run with any modifications you please, so "just" doing the cams, shaft, compression, and a blower might work. Folks who are already racing in that group may be very willing to chat with you and tell you what they're running. Sometimes they'll just smile and not say anything, but often they'll tell you what is working, or not. So hanging at the track, great resource too. Easy way to make new friends: Go on a really hot day, and pass out some extra cold water bottles, or something better.<G>

I'm actually working on archiving some of the more important threads from back then

https://sites.google.com/site/ncalae86/resources-1

also replacing some that can't be found with equivalents from other sites

Nice job, Mike.