Words: Jess Parsons Photos: Sam Parsons
Some cars just stop you mid-scroll. For Andrew Saunders, that moment came when a rough AE85 shell showed up on Facebook Marketplace, half a cage, sketchy repairs, and a long road ahead. He didn’t hesitate. “I didn’t even ask my wife,” he laughs. “I just bought it and parked it in the yard under a cover.”
That impulse buy kicked off a three-year project that turned a neglected shell into a sharp Sunburst Yellow Sprinter Trueno built almost entirely in his own garage. It’s a car that shows what steady graft and late nights can do.
Andrew’s car passion started in the late ’90s and early 2000s, sparked by Import X and late nights watching laps around the Avenues. He snapped up every NZPC issue and soon bought his first modified ride, a 1996 Nissan Silvia S14 facelift. More Silvias followed, then a two-door WRX STI, then a 180SX, which he quickly started making into a Sileighty with an S13 front end. Those early cars taught him to paint, wire, and figure things out on his own.
After finishing the Sileighty and moving on, Andrew went through a fair few other cars and was always looking for something extra. A black Trueno hatch, straight out of Initial D, sealed the deal, and the rest was history. “Once I drove it and fell in love with everything about the car, I didn’t realise how much it would ignite something in me.” A silver one came next, and after that, a wide-body turbo Trueno hatch finished in white, better known as MAD AE. Each project raised the bar and gave him the chance to push himself further and refine the skills he’d built along the way.
The Marketplace shell was originally bought as a YouTube project. It was Andrew’s second Trueno build from a rolling shell and had a full cage, log book, and reg on hold, along with cert already. He cut out the front half of the cage and started stripping it back. Under the paint were years of bad repairs and filler that meant long nights of welding, sanding, and repeating the process before it was anywhere near ready for colour.
Andrew’s biggest problem was having no space for his car, so being a true DIY man, he extended his garage to keep it undercover “Being a builder, that part was easy,” he says.
He’d already built Truenos in white, black, and silver, so this one needed to stand out. After scrolling through countless Japanese AE86 builds, he landed on Mazda RX-7 Sunburst Yellow. Only a few sports cars ever came in a factory yellow, so it was the perfect fit. Andrew quickly learnt that painting yellow is tricky; it took three full resprays before the panels finally matched. Painful, but worth it, especially when you see it in person.
With the body finally sorted, the hunt for parts began. Years of collecting AE bits helped: a fresh 4A-GE small-port engine, a T50 gearbox, and a lot of small hardware were already sitting in boxes.
Now with a beautiful Trueno body in yellow, Andrew decided to take the build a step further and tuck as many of the engine-bay accessories as possible to keep the clean, show-car look. From relocating the battery to re-running and lengthening the factory wiring harness to hide it away, the car was really starting to take shape.
The interior kept the same approach. “It had to be Recaro SR3 Confetti for a period-correct look,” he says, and luck was on his side when a friend offered a pair for sale. To carry the exposed yellow rear interior through to the front, he hunted down yellow and black checkered floor mats from Japan. A Shirtstuckedin x Nardi wheel and matching shift knob add the right touch without going overboard, and a Surfab half cage ties it together without making it look like a stripped-out drift car.
Under the bonnet sits a 4A-GE 16-valve with a seven-rib block, small-port head, and Kelford cams. It breathes through 20-valve blacktop individual throttle bodies with 120 mm stainless trumpets, and a custom stainless high-rise header leads to a full 2.5-inch exhaust. Fuel comes from a Deatschwerks pump through 365cc injectors, ignition is handled by an MRP coil-on-plug setup, and it all runs on a Link G4+ Atom II ECU. Cooling is handled by a Fenix radiator and twin fans.
Andrew and his mate Renan built the engine loom themselves, running all black wire for a clean look. “We had never made a complete loom from scratch,” Andrew says. After a few cranks, it fired. “Turning the key for the first time and having it start on the first go was unreal. So much work went into that moment that seeing it come alive was an amazing feeling.”
The driveline is simple and proven: an AE86 T50 five-speed with an Exedy Stage 1 clutch, a 20V flywheel, and a TRD T-series LSD. A one-piece driveshaft and adjustable panhard brace finish it off. Suspension is BC Gold adjustable coilovers up front and D2 Racing in the back, with Wilwood Dynalite callipers and Endless pads for stopping power. It rolls on a set of classic 14-inch SSR MK-II wheels, wrapped in Falken Ziex rubber.
That first drive was another milestone. After checking fluids and loading a base tune, Andrew eased it out of the garage with a laptop on the passenger seat. A quick vacuum-leak fix and some roadside ECU tweaks later, the Trueno was running strong. “After a few laps of the block and constant road tuning, she felt great, like a new car,” he says.
You’ve heard the stories about how the AE86 drives, and this one lives up to every word. Light, direct steering, sharp turn-in, and the wail of open ITB trumpets make it special. “Every time you hit that loud pedal, you smile,” Andrew says. The 4A-GE doesn’t chase huge power, about 95 kW, but the raw sound of the engine and the way it responds make every run a highlight.
The project took about two years of steady work and a lot of small wins to keep things moving. There were slow patches and plenty of late nights, but Andrew kept chipping away.
“With my other builds I’d finish and think I should have done this or that,” he says. “This time I put everything into it from the get-go and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Future plans are simple: a dyno session to get the most out of the engine modifications and then plenty of driving. He’s quick to thank the people who helped along the way, his wife Marie Jane “for being there for me and understanding my passion for working on my cars,” Simon at Surfab “for his attention to detail,” and Renan Ravi Singh “for the late nights in the garage building the loom and tuning.” Most of all, Andrew hopes the build sends a message closer to home: “And to my son Liam, I hope this build shows you that if you put your mind to something and never give up, anything is possible.”
For Andrew, the Trueno isn’t just another project. It’s the result of years of learning, patience, and pushing himself further each time to refine his skills. There’s nothing flashy or over-the-top, just a clean, well-sorted AE85 built at home and driven the way it should be. The build Every time the 4A-GE fires up and the trumpets sing, it reminds him why he fell in love with these cars in the first place.
SPEC LIST
1984 Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE85)
Heart
ENGINE: 4A-GE 16V, 1600cc four-cylinder
BLOCK: 4A-GE 7-rib block
HEAD: 4A-GE 16V small-port head, Kelford 266/262 cams, DPR adjustable cam gears, Kelford KVS101-16 valve springs
INTAKE: 4A-GE 20V blacktop individual throttle bodies, 120mm custom stainless steel trumpets, Techno Toy Tuning adapter plate
EXHAUST: Custom stainless steel high-rise headers, full 2.5-inch stainless steel exhaust system, two-inch twin muffler
FUEL: Deatschwerks DW200 in-tank fuel pump, 4A-GZE small-port 365cc injectors, aluminium 10mm fuel line from fuel tank to engine bay, AN fittings throughout
IGNITION: MRP 1NZ coil on plug conversion, aluminium T6061 adapter plate
ECU: Link G4+ Atom II
COOLING: Fenix radiator, twin electric fans
EXTRA: Custom engine loom, Techno Toy Tuning strut to body braces, Battery relocated to boot
Drive
GEARBOX: AE86 T50 five-speed CLUTCH: Exedy Stage 1 Organic FLYWHEEL: 4A-GE 20V blacktop flywheel, ARP bolts DIFF: AE86 TRD T-series LSD EXTRA: One-piece drive shaft, driveshaft hoops, adjustable panhard brace
Support
STRUTS: (F) BC Gold adjustable coilovers, 6kg spring (R) D2 Racing adjustable coilovers, 6.3kg spring BRAKES: (F) Wilwood Dynalite lug mount callipers, MRP 262mm Honda Civic rotors re-drilled and slotted, Wilwood BP-20 pads (R) AE86 callipers and rotors, Endless CC-Rg pads, MRP braided lines throughout ARMS/KNUCKLES: AE86 arms, AE86 power steering knuckles
Shoes
WHEELS: (F) 14×7-inch (-5) SSR MK-II (R) 14×7.5-inch (-5) SSR MK-II TYRES: (F) 195/45R14 Falken Ziex E920 (R) 195/45R14 Falken Ziex E920
Exterior:
PAINT: Mazda RX-7 FD3S Type RS-R “Sunburst Yellow” ENHANCEMENTS: TRD style boot with moulded wing, carbon fibre window monsoons, factory front lip, Windsauto side mirrors, AE86 facelift rear lights with custom “Sprinter” logo, Raybrig Crystal blue headlights, Factory option Auto cover retractable fog lights
Interior
SEATS: Recaro SR3 Le Mans driver and passenger seats STEERING WHEEL: Shirtstuckedin X Nardi Personal 330mm INSTRUMENTATION: Factory EXTRA: Surfab half roll cage, stripped rear interior, Techno Toy Tuning Tall Lever short shifter, RHD Japan checkered floor mats, Shirtstuckedin weighted shift knob, Shirtstuckedin vent cup holder, Recaro seat bolster protectors
Performance:
POWER: 95kW
TORQUE: 148Nm
FUEL TYPE: 98 octane
TUNER: Road tuned
Driver Profile:
DRIVER/OWNER: Andrew Saunders
AGE: 38
LOCATION: Christchurch
OCCUPATION: Foreman builder
BUILD TIME: Two years
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Three years
THANKS: My wife, Marie Jane, for being there for me and understanding my passion for working on my cars. Thanks to Simon at Surfab for his attention to detail. Thanks to Renan Ravi Singh for the late nights in the garage building the loom and tuning. And to my son Liam, I hope this build shows you that if you put your mind to something and never give up, anything is possible.
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This article originally appeared in New Zealand Performance Car issue 317
