Trueno AE86

Well, went by Kam Seng's workshop on Saturday afternoon. Was woken up by a phonecall from Kong. He said he needed some help in getting around KL. So he told me to go over to Puchong. Since he came all the way down from Penang, I couldn't just turn him away. Kam Seng was too busy taking apart the engine that was just installed in the Trueno.

I vaguely remember those words from Kong, "Kam Seng will take only one day to install the engine. The rest of the electronics are all plug and play..." I said skeptically, "Yea, you don't know much about engine transplants do you..." He was so confident as the 7A engine was sitting in the workshop and most of the parts have been replaced and serviced. Hehe, I just told him to wait and see.

True enough, when Kong came on Friday night, he tested the Trueno with the 1.8 block. He thought that he'd be getting a lot more pull from the car, but it totally seemed out of breath. Apparently the 7A has low compression pistons. Hit brick wall number one. With the low compression pistons on an N/A (Naturally Aspirated) engine, it doesn't equal more power. He drove the car for one lap around Puchong and shook his head. It felt worst than his old engine. Kam Seng adviced him to install a turbo, but Kong resisted. He wanted N/A anyway. So the other alternative was to take apart the block again, and change the pistons. Kam Seng selected pistons from a B8, the ones from a TX3 and we had to go get a metal gasket for the top of the block from Weng Hing, located in Cheras who specializes in TRD parts.

Since Kong didn't know the way, I went there and drove him to Cheras. Traffic was a bitch and everywhere we went, we just ran into gridlock. Sigh, luckily I was driving Kam Seng's little Kelisa and a good thing too cause it was an Automatic transmission. There's a lot more work that needs to be down with the gasket that we picked up because the original size is 80mm, but it needs to be bored to 82mm to be able to fit into the 7A block. That's when I said to Kong, "See, told you it'll take longer to get the job done." He just laughed.

I just called up Kam Seng and he says the car is still sitting in the workshop. Apparently the exhaust system is just too small and the car still feels a little restrictive. I've always been one to support big bore exhaust systems. Mine's running a 3" pipping from the front to the back paired up with a HKS Super Drager. I've always sworn by this exhaust. Never liked any other.

Now that I've gotten a confirmation to work for an MNC, I'm probably gonna plan to get my new car before the end of the year. Look out for this space to see what I'll be getting. Anyhow, I will still be getting another turbo/supercharged car. Can't live without force induction, overtaking will never be the same...