Ok so ive been having brake problems for the last 3 weeks. pedal kept feeling spongy , thought it was the brake master cylinder so i bought a new 1-inch hilux to replace it . since everything has been replace . installed it . and nothing , same old spongy feel. the pedal would go down half way then there would be some feel and when it finally hit the floor the fronts would lock .... GAH! it was doing my head in .

it just didnt feel right .. so i spent a couple of nights researching and came across some threads about the Aw11 being prone to the fronts locking up , what most guys have done to solve this issue and balance the fronts and rears. is they have gutted the rear prop valve with good results.

thought maybe this might be my answer. so what to do???. i didnt want to wreck my aw11 prop-valve so i went through my box of AE86 parts and bingo .. they run the same as an aw11 89 model ( after some research i belive the earlier models run a 1 piece prop valve for the fronts and rears). i can confirm the aw11 4agze model run a 2 piece with the rear interchangeable with the AE86 .

anyways gutted it , cleaned it up and wacked it in annnnnd ... Nothing .. =(

same thing, pedal feel was no difference.

ok so tonight i came home eager to try agian ..over the weekend i made a vaccum assisted one man brake bleeder and got 5Ltrs of brake fuild and thought i give it another go .

put her up on stand , wack the the one man brake bleeder on and went for it ... 30min into it the brake bleeder worked a treat .. but nothing same old crappy brake feel.

then it came to me ... sitting there staring at the brake calipers , i wonder why my handbrake cable was so tight and just looked plain wrong .. and it clicked ! Sean my boss said to me late last week to check the nipples if they were on top and not on the bottom .

Now being the first time ive worked on the a aw11 it all looked ok and on ae86 it obvious because the nipples are right at the top and if one was to install it incorrectly its quite obvious. on the aw11 however when the caliper are upside down the nipples still sorta look in the high position ...

any ways an hour later the rear caliper were switched around and bleed again for the millionith time annnnnnnddd HAALLELUJAH ,

instant brake pressure and rock solid like how its meant to be ...

so a tip to anyone who is having issues with spongy brake pedals after a install of fresh calipers: CHECK THAT THE NIPPLES ARE UP HIGH AND MAKE SURE THE CALIPERS ARE INSTALLED CORRECTLY.

loving life agian . by the way the aw11 feels great to drive ... i cant wait to take it to its first track day .

not much to go before a blue slip

-get the exhuast done
-wash the car
-vaccum the cabin
-put back all the undercarraige plastic back
-drop the oil , and put some good stuff in it .
-make some brackets for the front indicators, i cant find anybody with a spare rio.
-make brackets for the intercooler
- wheel align ment

- save money for rego .

then happy times .

john.

ahaha thanks man . yeah felt a little bit like an idiot

Rego isn't going to happen for while. plan was to get 6 month rego , and then take it out on the track in April . BUT got told from a mate that i can only get 6month rego on a car that only requires a re-rego and a simple pink slip. since the aw11 hasnt be registered for almost 2-3 years it will need blue slip ... so no go for 6months on the aw11 ( i havent got enough money to go 12months yet and i need a working car to drive around in)

So the E30 is going to get 6months on it, and i'll be saving up for 12months on the aw11 after i pay of some debt.

p1 on friday .

mate what clutch are you using? is it one of those f1 kits - any good?

So this build thread is abit dead.

its been a long time between drinks . but there was nothing really to update . car still hasnt got rego but it does look good.

so to make up for the lack of pictures here's 2 ;

something new



and something old (from the sprinter )



so the point of this post is to record and share the weekend i had .

here goes :

Thursday to Tuesday .. it was all about cars and getting them ready to go to wakefield.

Friday
-organized the trailer
-mate hooked us up with a tow car
- Richard and Nev decide they wanted to go
-start looking for tickets

Saturday
- 8.00am - Mates white civic broke down and needed help
- 12.00am- Spent half the day fixing the civic / getting it started so he could drive home.
- Then off to Ray’s house (at Lidcombe) to help him with is ae86 suspension
- Richard got tyres for his watanabe
- 1.00pm We all decide to go the Ray’s house to get the cars ready there .
- We all got to rays house then Richards water pump blew.
- So Richards car needed a new water pump. Nothing was open so off back down to my area to pick up a new waterpump.
- Same time Richard was having fitment issues with the rims and sr20det brakes . needed spacers .
- 6.30pm new water pump got installed . and the car was left there for the glue to set .
- Then off to Penrith to pickup Richards Wakefield tickets
- 3am picked up Wendy and friends from the city.
- 4.00am went to sleep .

Sunday
- 8.30am to my rents house grab the lawn mower and Mowed the lawn .
- At 11:00am back to Rays house to finish off the s13 .
- We decide to replace the timing belt at the same time
- Richard worked the brakes , new rotors installed , new caliper bolted on , new wheel spacer on . then spent most of the day stuffing around with the rear brakes.
- Phouc started on the timing belt
- I worked on the white civic finishing it off and getting it running
- 3.00pm I come back to the timing belt , got told it the cam pulley jumped a tooth .
- Stressed out I ask for a s13 workshop manual . and then get blank stares .
- so richard at this point said just put it all on and start it .
- first start up with new timing belt . failed .
- Tare it down get the timing belt off . line the cam pulleys with oem casing timing marks
- 2nd start with new timing belt . start runs .. idle ok .
- 7.00pm bleed the brakes
- Nev runs off to go pick up his ticket at west ryde
- 8.00pm brakes and getting there
- I run off home to go pick up the trailer for the mr2
- 9.00pm I load the mr2 onto the trailer
- 10.00pm Im on the lap top looking for a s13 workshop manual .
- 10.30pm I find one and start reading and find out ca18de are interference motors
- Richard not home yet . I call him and find out that the car runs like **** and making noises .
- 11.00pm his back at my place – didn’t bring tools .. I read more and find out that if timing belt isn’t installed properly . valves and pistons could make contact . bad news
- 11.30pm pickup tools. Tare down the motor . rip off the timing belt.
- 12.00pm get told off by the neighbors. At this point I was told I looked like I was going to kill someone.
- 1.30am car is done. Timing belt is install as per the manual . cars power is back .
- 1.40am go to sleep.

Monday
- 4.00 am waked up , it’s raining and cold. load the van with tools and a jack and wheels . strap the car
- 5.00am meet up with the boys at BP and off to Wakefield
- 8.00am at Wakefield
- 9.00am we get out onto our first session. Me the in aw11, Richard in the s13 , phuoc in the ae86 , and wendy in the e30 and another mate in a DC5
- All goes well. Richard’s brake still feels spongy . so bleeds his brakes
- 2.00pm everyone is not tired and lacking sleep.
- Richard spins out on the track and a gets a leak.
- Comes back into the pits and the leaks is from the back of motor.
- Find out is a blown hose .
- S13 back on stands. And we go looking for suitable hose
- 3.00pm we get one fit it in but the hose clamps are no good . still leaking
- 4.00pm find the right hose clamps off the aw11 . by this time we’ve had the hose off and on about 5 times . still leaking.
- Wendy goes home with in the DC5
- 5.00pm starter motor comes out and we see the problems.
- 6.00pm loosing light and its fixed . drive home without the starter motor.
- 9.00pm get home , have dinner
- Buggered .
- 10pm pickup wendy
- Richard and rays sleeps over .
- 10.30pm I go to sleep.

Tuesday
- Wake up at 11.00am
- Go out to have breakfast with wendy
- 12.00pm Richard wants to run his f**K off wide ass rims on the streets
- So we flare his guards.,
- 3.00 pm I take wendy to work
- 3.30pm front and rear flares are almost done .
- 6.00pm at the car wash
- 7.00pm dinner
- 10pm pick wendy up from work
- 10.30pm go to sleep.

And with all that happening I managed a 1.21.8 around Wakefield in a stock mr2 with ratty old tyres.

Long and hard but a good weekend.

Glad I could be of help with the ticket, sorry you had to drive to penrif to get it. looks like you had your hands full for the weekend. Good to see you got your car on the track. I got down there yesterday , a bit busy with vouchers running out but still got about 70 laps in and once I got the tyre pressure right the car was really handling. Wish I had more time and vouchers now. Very happy that I didnt have your schedule either. Hope to see you down there soon.

pics from the weekend . 
 
GARAGE 37 crew 
 

 
 

 
s13 in question 

 

 
bird machine 

 

 
out there doing our thing after a hetick 3 days 

 

 

 

 
pit crew . 
 

 

 
slamed

 
and lastly a half decent pic of the aw11