4 February 2012

Feature - Henry Russo's 'Break the Mould' AE86

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of an AE86? The handling, the styling perhaps or for most of us it will be the infamous 4AGE engine. A simple yet incredibly effective piece of engineering that has secured itself in history due it being at the helm of some of Toyota's all time great 'Drivers' cars. I personally think that the AE86 is the key car that the little twin cam motor has been pushed to its limits and beyond in. Despite its greatness, for some people the trusty 4AGE just doesn't fulfil their needs for whatever reason that may be and feel the need to re-write the rule book.  Henry Russo is one of those people.

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In my years of following AE86 culture I've seen many engine swaps, but sometimes one comes along every now and then that stops me in my tracks and makes me say 'holy crap!'. Henry's AE86 first came to my attention when he posted on the wall of the Corolla Brotherhood's facebook page stating how he had a couple of AE86s, one of which sported a V8. This instantly got my attention as I'm a sucker for a V8 rumble but I was perhaps a little naive in thinking this may be another 1UZ conversion that I've seen a few times over the years. So I dropped him a message to find out some more and sure enough, I was shouting 'holy crap' at my computer upon his reply! That's because Henry is rocking a Ford 302 V8. An engine made famous by the likes of Ford, Shelby and BOSS so you wouldn't think twice about seeing it in the engine bay of a 1969 Mustang, but a humble Toyota from the 1980s? Surely not!

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The car started out as an 1986 SR5 which Henry bought off eBay for $1300 then proceeded to drive it just shy of 400 miles home from Virginia to Pennsylvania. He knew it was going to be his next Drift car due to it replacing his tired old '83 Toyota Pickup he was using for Drifting at the time. So where does the 302 come into this I hear you ask? Well Henry explained to me how money was a little tight at the time so a friend of his gave(yes gave!)him a 302 motor complete with T5 transmission to help Henry get his project going. He then set to work on fitting a set of Megan Racing coilovers(Used by Formula D guys John Russakoff & Taka Aono) and a diff and headed out on the first track day almost straight away! At this point the 302 motor was still running the stock carb and sadly Henry blew the motor on the very first drift run!
Not to be defeated he set to work on stripping and rebuilding the engine, this time with a little more detail on the spec.

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Now sporting edelbrock aluminium heads intake, aluminium hi Flo water pump & a triple core aluminium radiator to keep that baby cool, it also now has a 2 d holley fuel injection system as opposed to the standard Carb system; which Henry says, 'works amazingly thank god'! Four wheel drive truck headers & ARP con rod bolts complete what has to be described as one seriously tasty sounding V8! Ensuring that the rear end can handle the power increase over the standard 4AGE it's used to, Henry replaced his axle with one sourced from a 1988 Toyota HiLux including a custom rear brake disc set up & A S D Hydro Handbrake.

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Henry is only interested in spending his money where it counts; the engine & the suspension explaining to me that aesthetics aren't his main concern and the paint was applied with a roller! But this is a philosophy that couldn't make more sense to me, as he has one fantastic spec car with an incredible engine set up which is great to see as it's obviously pushed the boundaries of what's possible in an 86 chassis. I'm going to conclude the feature with this video of Henry just so the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up after hearing that V8 wail!



Thanks to Henry for taking his time to talk to me about the car and supplying me with these great photos.

James.

5 comments:

  1. Henry is well known for his interesting swaps. That 1983 Toyota Hilux he replaced with the "Rolla" had a 22ret from a 86 Hilux. I would know I now own that exact truck, and if it wasn't for that truck I would if never met this amazing Guy!!

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    1. The Hilux sounds awesome, you'll have to send us a photo of it. I'm intregued to see it :)

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  2. I've gotten to ride in that car and wow is all I could say. Being the first drift car I was ever in it was the ride of my life. I was all about drag till that day. Thanks Henry for that

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    1. Sweet, I'd love to see it/hear it in person but sadly we are based the other side of the pond! Bet it was a great passenger ride. Thanks for commenting

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  3. Its an amazing blog post that you share with your audience. Tdmotion is offering Ford 302 Thermostat Housing which is made with pure aluminium.

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