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View Full Version : Overspool's real project car... 1986 Corolla 9/5/12


overspool
09-05-2012, 08:15 PM
I dunno how much you guys will care for this car, but I like it. It's been fun to rebuild, that's for sure.

I found this car next to a house in the middle of nowhere, in between Phoenix and Ogden (where I go to school). I left a note for the owner since no one was home, saying I wanted to buy their old red corolla. They called me back 2 weeks later, when I was elbows deep in rebuilding the motor for my legacy, and told me they'd sell it to me for $300. SCORE.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010022-2.jpg

towing it home... to Phoenix. 6 hour drive.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010014-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010011-2.jpg

The car was in rough shape. The doors sagged, so they hit the fenders...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010025-2.jpg

The interior was pretty bad as well.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010033-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P1010037-2.jpg

Most of the clear coat was gone, the paint was faded, but the frame/chassis itself is STRAIGHT. It drove straighter than my Legacy.

This is an SR5, not to be confused with the GTS. The SR5 has a SOHC, carbureted, pile o shit engine, with an open rear diff and rear drum brakes. The GTS has a DOHC, efi engine, most came with a LSD and rear disc brakes.

I got the local AZ Toyota guys over for a bbq to fix the car.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P10100331-2.jpg

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P10100321-2.jpg

gear oil was like mud.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/P10100041-2.jpg

The last of that engine bay...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/IMG_20110811_184309-2.jpg

I drove the car for ~800 miles after getting it running. I drove it from Phoenix, all teh way up to Ogden, UT. About a month or two after I got it up here, the motor blew. Welp, time for somethign a little bit better then.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/20120402_000942_988-2.jpg

4age, teh same engine/drivetrain as the GTS. I didn't get the rear axle though :/

a little bit dirteh...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/20120403_160255_861-2.jpg

valve covers cleaned up...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/20120601_232347_736-2.jpg

fresh rebuilt engine with an ACT 6 puck and HD pressure plate...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/20120608_153554_369-2.jpg

Putting it in...

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/20120613_110416_324-2.jpg

Engine bay all put back together.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423382_448781745156725_317168379_n.jpg

The interior has been stripped, I'm getting a pair of Bride Vios to go in there (trading the brembos off of my totalled legacy), takata harnesses, etc.

The car doesn't quite run yet, it still needs some exhaust work (mid pipe was cut in half when I got the engine), and it doesn't like to idle. I'm working out the kinks. This whole non obd2 and distributor thing is pissing me off haha. I miss my electronics.

The goal for the car is building a drift car on a budget. So far I'm about $2k into it, including the cost of hte car, but I've also got a brand new engine, awesome clutch, awesome safety bits, etc. Most people think I'm crazy for putting this much into an old corolla. But by the time I'm done, this thing will be ridiculously fun and fast. I have a spare motor with oil squirters that I'm building for boost... once it's done, it should be pushing just over 300whp on 91. On ethanol (which I plan to run it on) I should make closer to 350whp and 330wtq. All in a car that weighs under 2000lbs. It will be a rocket.
98legwag
09-05-2012, 08:36 PM
This is going to be an interesting build. Hope it all goes well.
Reason
09-05-2012, 08:40 PM
This looks like a fun project!
overspool
09-05-2012, 10:07 PM
I like it a lot so far, but I definitely miss driving it. I need to get it running so I can drive it around. There is something about a lightweight FR that is so much better than an AWD car. This thing on stock, 25 year old suspension with 250k on it, cornered faster than my legacy on wrx struts, tanabe springs, cusco rsb and kartboy endlinks.
Dead91silvia
09-06-2012, 11:36 AM
I had an AE86 once... It was an 86 GTS coupe, kinda fun to drive, but only kept it for about 6 months. My buddy and I got it thinking would practice drifting with the Corolla to save our S13's from being beat so much. It just was not as fun as our S13's though...

I got mine for $300 also, had $1000 into it and then sold it for $2000, still needed work. It was fun to work on, pretty simple. Even used some parts from early/mid 80's Celica's and Supra's.

Anyway, this was it... Have fun putting yours together. Just dont do over sized tires like we did.... LOL... Supra 14'x7's are a little big! haha
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/86corolla3-2.jpg

I also had a 77 TE31 that was pretty fun also!
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2012/09/IMG_8390-2.jpg
overspool
09-06-2012, 11:51 PM
Damn dude! I would NEVER get rid of a te31! those things are awesome!

The first "real" FR I drove was an S13 with a semi-built ka. It was fun to drive. I made a crack at my friend after he got it and said to him, "dude. Let's go drift your shit." He threw me the keys and said, "alright. You're first!" That's what got me hooked. I'm a Toyota/Subaru guy, so I plan to build the shit out of my corolla, and eventually move onto a better platform like an SC300/400, and my perfect DD (that isn't a Subaru) is an IS300 with a 3sgte.
nikolaus.conrad
03-04-2013, 12:41 AM
My best friend had a 1987 Toyota Corolla AE82 FX-16 GTS (smileitspaul) and it was an awesome little car to drive! It had the same (kind of) 4AGE you're putting in. I'm excited for this project
grayguy
03-04-2013, 01:30 AM
I've always wanted an AE86 coupe, but I've only ever seen 1 for sale and it was a pretty penny
1839cc
03-04-2013, 04:37 PM
My grandma had an immaculate 85 Corolla SR-5 coupe 4EAT. It had 185k when she traded it for a 95 Corolla DX. :smt011

She asked me if I thought it was a good idea and I told her it was not. But she did it anyway.
Dead91silvia
03-04-2013, 08:13 PM
Damn dude! I would NEVER get rid of a te31! those things are awesome!

The first "real" FR I drove was an S13 with a semi-built ka. It was fun to drive. I made a crack at my friend after he got it and said to him, "dude. Let's go drift your shit." He threw me the keys and said, "alright. You're first!" That's what got me hooked. I'm a Toyota/Subaru guy, so I plan to build the shit out of my corolla, and eventually move onto a better platform like an SC300/400, and my perfect DD (that isn't a Subaru) is an IS300 with a 3sgte.

This will make you cry then... I got that TE31 for about $300... sold it for about a $1000 after I fixed a couple things. Car was 100% rust free and 90% complete. Ran like a top too! Got rid of it to buy a dead S13 for a $1000 and fixed and sold that for $3400 to get my JDM Pulsar. :grin: As you are a Toyota/Subaru guy, I'm a Nissan/Subaru guy. :smt023

Any more updates on this ride?
chrish8r
03-06-2013, 10:25 AM
Swap a rotary engine(first gen I believe) in like this guy I saw at a car show, it shook the ground!!

http://youtu.be/mqbJ8ijMYDw
1839cc
03-06-2013, 11:50 AM
I could see swapping a rotary for the 4A-C, but the 4A-GE is a great engine in its own right.

A 3T-GE on the other hand.....
fireman2101
03-06-2013, 11:59 AM
I had a 80's something celica gt, can't remember the year for the life of me, but what always was the most interesting to me ways they way toyota guys can talk about motor codes and they make so much sense to them but sound like your having a stroke to everyone else. I knows its prolly not that complicated but I was never into yota's and never learned any of them.
1839cc
03-06-2013, 12:17 PM
Haha yeah. They do make sense if you learn them.

4: fourth generation of block.
A: A block (T for T block, etc.).
G: twin cam.
E: EGI.