Blaze's AE86

[Ivan141]

Quote:Yes i've requested some samples of fake leather of the same brand (textaafoam), more precisely is called Aston, while the velvet is called Seven.
I am not really satisfied of the fake leather, while it seems a good product, i doesn't look to have the same kind of finish compared to the oem.
The oem is smooth and more lucid, while this one is more soft the touch and doesn't reflect the same.
I was thinking to try with a more generic vinyl found on amazon that looks more like the original one.

If I'm being honest the best thing I can recommend to you is you find a shop that carries loads of upholstery materials and just have a look around their inventory. Seing and touching materials by the light of day makes it much easier to decide what you like.
I went to the building of this webshop: https://www.skai-leer.nl/categorie/premium-skai/, which is where I found most of what I used by browsing through sample books.
The leatherette in the link is what I've used in the previous picture by the way. Decent quality and I like the look of it, not too different from OEM. Have used a cheaper one on my own seats (I'm sure it will hold up fine), but this stuff is a little heavier, more elastic, and feels like it will last for ages.

By the way, here's a pic of a Seven sample card, shows up the colors a bit better. There is a darker red (wine red) too.

[banpei]

Thanks for sharing all that Ivan, Decryphe and Blaze!
I have requested some samples from Skai-leer, and I'll have a look if it's similar to my headrests. I noticed with the colorpicker on my photo that the headrests on the blue interior are more dark grey than blue, so I have also included some grey samples.
(I know, I'm hijacking this thread now )

[Ivan141]

(05-14-2025 09:31 PM)banpei Wrote:  Thanks for sharing all that Ivan, Decryphe and Blaze!
I have requested some samples from Skai-leer, and I'll have a look if it's similar to my headrests. I noticed with the colorpicker on my photo that the headrests on the blue interior are more dark grey than blue, so I have also included some grey samples.
(I know, I'm hijacking this thread now )

Thread hijack continued.. I also took a bunch of their samples for blueish dark grey materials with me Art.. Not sure if we'll see eachother IRL any time soon but I could take them with me if you want. And I could also make those seat tops for you if you want, they're kind of a pain in the ass to make (the little crescents around the head rest are fiddly).

[Blaze0010]

Ah yes, i've heard of the Skai material and on your seats it looks almost like the original, at least from the photos!
I've ended up purchasing a similar material (if not the same under another name).
Just received and i'm quite satisfied with the color, that match almost perfectly the OEM brown of the plastics.
Compared to the other fake leather samples, i like this one more because the texture is more similar to the original stuff, same for how it feels while touching it.
Now just need to wait for the rest of the fabric to arrive.
In the meantime i still have to finish some bodywork on the doors and the hatch

[Blaze0010]

It's been a while since the last update, but well, i might say that i'm almost done with the restoration!
Since the last post i was able to complete the seats (and the interior) and to finish all works on the body.
Mainly:
- installed seat cover
- install all the lights (ended up using clear bumper light lenses from a Camry)
- installed mouldings all around
- bit of engine bay wiring clean up
- finished body work on door and rear hatch, and installed everything
Doesn't seems like to much but everyone of these task has a LOT of steps and thing associated that are very time consuming ahah
Here some pic of the disassembled seats for decryphe i'll post the other photos in another post

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Pics of the seats and lights

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Final pic with the car finally out in good company








Now there is the hard part, getting it roadworthy.
But before that i still have a couple of issue to fix, the most important one is the handbrake that currently is not working at all.
I have, new disc, new pad, new rear caliper, all 3 new cables, but still, even following the guide i've found on the forum, the handbrake does not hold and i can simply push the car while engaged.
The weird thing is that even with 0 slack between the pad and the disk, and with the adjusting nut at the bottom, it still goes up to like 13 click, so reach the 6-9 click range seems impossibile. I've even tried with a Celica cable (2cm shorter), and i can reach that range but still doesn't hold.
The only thing i can think of now is that the disk and pad need to be seated, so i should drive a bit and engage the brake to remove the superficial protection.
Other than that, the rear brake work fine.

[Ivan141]

Looking good! The passenger seat bolsters look a bit loose though.

[Blaze0010]

(09-03-2025 03:35 PM)Ivan141 Wrote:  Looking good! The passenger seat bolsters look a bit loose though.

Yes true! but it actually not an issue with the cover itself, it's the foam.
These seats are both from Japan, so that was a driver seat, and the foam was basically non existent anymore
I've tried to fix it but i probably haven't got the precise form, but i can still get back to it later!

[Ivan141]

Ah, sounds familiar. I've had to do some foam transplants myself. If its really rotten, cut out a square bite of the bad foam and glue in a block of fresh foam, then cut it to shape with a bread knife (and perhaps fine tune with a kitchen grater or similar). If you have a thin foam or polyetser batting you can also cover the whole bolster with a layer of that to get the fabric to fill out.

[decryphe]

(09-03-2025 03:25 PM)Blaze0010 Wrote:  Here some pic of the disassembled seats for decryphe i'll post the other photos in another post

Thanks a lot! I'll save those and then take me a good moment to search for the squeaky source. Not much in the picture looks like it could be squeaky in the first place, it's all dead simple.

(09-03-2025 03:25 PM)Blaze0010 Wrote:  The only thing i can think of now is that the disk and pad need to be seated, so i should drive a bit and engage the brake to remove the superficial protection.

I'd go with that. When either or both are new, they are probably not perfectly touching, so the first clicks of the handbrake bends/aligns them before they even start building friction. Had to do that with the drum brake parking brake on my Camry when I changed the disc-drums, pads and shoes on it. Did that, then did a final adjustment, works great now.

Also, clear lenses on the white car look pretty rad!

Congratulations on putting it back together this nicely.

[Blaze0010]

(09-03-2025 08:17 PM)Ivan141 Wrote:  Ah, sounds familiar. I've had to do some foam transplants myself. If its really rotten, cut out a square bite of the bad foam and glue in a block of fresh foam, then cut it to shape with a bread knife (and perhaps fine tune with a kitchen grater or similar). If you have a thin foam or polyetser batting you can also cover the whole bolster with a layer of that to get the fabric to fill out.

I did something like that actually, i've used a felt painter mat, which is very thin and follow the curve quite nicely.
At least now no more yellow foam everywhere

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(09-04-2025 11:00 AM)decryphe Wrote:  

(09-03-2025 03:25 PM)Blaze0010 Wrote:  Here some pic of the disassembled seats for decryphe i'll post the other photos in another post

Thanks a lot! I'll save those and then take me a good moment to search for the squeaky source. Not much in the picture looks like it could be squeaky in the first place, it's all dead simple.

(09-03-2025 03:25 PM)Blaze0010 Wrote:  The only thing i can think of now is that the disk and pad need to be seated, so i should drive a bit and engage the brake to remove the superficial protection.

I'd go with that. When either or both are new, they are probably not perfectly touching, so the first clicks of the handbrake bends/aligns them before they even start building friction. Had to do that with the drum brake parking brake on my Camry when I changed the disc-drums, pads and shoes on it. Did that, then did a final adjustment, works great now.

Also, clear lenses on the white car look pretty rad!

Congratulations on putting it back together this nicely.

Thanks! i'm quite happy of how i've putted back all together. There is for sure some improvements to be done (paint is awful for now), but once it will be road legal i will think about it.

About the brake, i can confirm that the issue was exactly that! Yesterday night i did a 10-15 minute drive in what is basically a closed road just behind were i keep it, and after adjusting the nut, it now seems to hold very good!
Before with the handbrake engaged i could move the car alone, after yesterday not even 3 people could move it! i'll just need to try parking on a slope and see if it holds.

I've purchased the clear lenses from buyee, brand new for like 20€, and to fit the you just need to do a little notch to match the housing, literally a 2 minute job!

Some consideration after the test drive:
- second gear is a bit stubborn, at least under 3k rev, nothing crazy but maybe i could change the syncrho gear
- No leaks of any type, oil pressure always good. Same for the water temp.
- i think timing is a bit off, not by much, but acceleration is not linear, when revved it doesn't sound like a 4 cylinder. I'll double check this. From the video it can be heard a bit.
- After parked i heard an hissing sound from the fuel tank, and when i opened the cap it released quite some pressure. Fuel level is really low honestly, and also sitting for a while, so i think it could be just this, or the charcoal canister clogged, i will also double check this.
Beside these minus "issues" it all look good and promising!



https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mG7nc70Ulec