the wait is over!

[headrush]

Hi there!

I am "new" to this great site and community of AE86 enthusiast! I got actually registered like 4 years ago or so, and I've been reading this forums since then, gathering information from here and there and learning all I could about the model, but now I've decided to take part in this community just because, well... I've finally bought my own AE86!! (I've been waiting for years to use this icon!).

I'm from Barcelona. As many of you may know, the car was not sold in Spain (except for Canary Islands), so my car comes from Portugal, in fact I bought it roughly 2 weeks ago so I am still in process to legalize the car here.

I drove the car on my way back from Lisbon to Barcelona, almost 1300 Km's driving in the rain. Perfect time to get used to the "new" car! I have to say, though, it behaved really well for a 27+ years old car!

Here are some more pics I did some days ago when I went to my dad's workshop for a fluid's change and to have a look on the underside of the car:


Still with Portuguese plates... I'll get the car legalized here soon, hopefully!



JDM Trueno tail lights (zenki model) as a bonus!



OEM wheels look so funny nowadays



Original intake and header manifold



Interior is ok overall but the dash has the typical cracks and the passenger side is bent due to sun action...



Low miles on the odometer!



OK, time to work on the car now!


The car itself is a 1987 Corolla GT from Portugal, it's in good shape and mainly stock except for some Koni shocks on all four corners (the previous owner said they were adjustable, but I haven't had the time to check it) and APEX springs, and it has a set of Prothane bushings on the suspension. The exhaust is not original and, unfortunatelly, it was not so well made as it hits with the chassis or with the transmission somewhere doing awful noises, so I'll have to fix this issue soon before its first inspection. The final drive has been changed for a shorter one as well, I don't know for sure which gear ratio it is, but it's not the original 4.3 one for sure (GPS says +-100 Km/h when speedo is doing 120), I think it should be a 4.55 or 4.77... advice anyone?

So, my plans now with the car is to fix the small problems it has, and then I'd like to install an LSD (1.5 ways, I'd like), restore the interior, which is in good condition overall but the dash is cracked as the rear quarter pannels had seen better days) and finally get some bodywork and painting (the car had a scratch on the left side while being parked on the street and I can't say it was repaired very well ).

I'll post a picture with its new brother, my other car, a MY99 Subaru Impreza GT:


So I guess I can now obtain my license to open a tofu shop here at my hometown!

Thanks for reading guys!

Cheers!!

[mad.matt]

Welcome to the forum

She looks like a tidy stocker what are your plans for it?

[Spitfire]

86's like this are pretty rare these days, youre lucky!

The OEM LSD is a 1.5way unit so unless youre looking for something with beefier internals like KAAZ or Cusco you might be best off with just simply rebuilding it with fresh parts. I did that with mine (together with slightly increasing the locking power by modifying the clutches) and its pretty awesome.

[banpei]

Welcome and congrats with the car!
I did a quick search but could not find the car on the forum yet, so a bit hard to track its history with regards of the final drive.

[headrush]

Thanks guys for your comments and your warm welcome!

(11-27-2014 11:20 AM)mad.matt Wrote:  She looks like a tidy stocker what are your plans for it?

Yeah, it's mainly stock except for the upgrades on the suspension (Koni Shocks with Apex springs and a set of Prothane bushings) and the exhaust that is one of the few things I don't like (I think it's even quieter than the stock one!), so I'll be looking for a sweet exhaust sometime in the future. I'd like something that lets our engines breathe and show it's particular sound and tone, but nothing too loud or radical for the street.

My plans are keeping the car in stock form as much as possible, I am a fan of the clean/stock looking cars with some modifications only noticeable to the enthusiast eye. I'd like to restore the interior to a near "like new" condition. The exterior also needs some bodywork, as I said the car had a huge scratch while being parked on the street and it was not so well repaired, it is not so obvious if you don't know it, but it's noticeable if you look carefully; the driver's door was not very well adjusted and the rear fender was awfully repaired. I'd like to chose a different colour for the paint but I've still not decided which one... some shade of white maybe with a pair of OEM side skirts and deleting those ugly pastic trims on fenders is close to what I have in mind

(11-27-2014 12:42 PM)Spitfire Wrote:  86's like this are pretty rare these days, youre lucky!

The OEM LSD is a 1.5way unit so unless youre looking for something with beefier internals like KAAZ or Cusco you might be best off with just simply rebuilding it with fresh parts. I did that with mine (together with slightly increasing the locking power by modifying the clutches) and its pretty awesome.

Thank you! As far as I'm aware, my car did not come with an LSD from factory, I think it came with the stock open diff (I've not tried or checked yet, but it's what the previous owner told me). So I think even a factory LSD will be a huge improvement! I'd like to get a TRD unit, or a Cusco, tho (I've only seen 2 way LSD's from Kaaz).

(11-27-2014 10:25 PM)banpei Wrote:  Welcome and congrats with the car!
I did a quick search but could not find the car on the forum yet, so a bit hard to track its history with regards of the final drive.

Thank you Banpei! Unfortunately I don't think the previous owner was registered on the forums, but who knows! As far as I know, he wasn't aware of the swap for a shorter final drive (I'm sure he would have told me).

He went to the workshop with a noise in the diff and they replaced the crown and pinion with newer ones, but at this point he wasn't driving the car so often anymore (the car ran barely 2.000 Km's in the last 10 years, I know it sounds crazy but I got the inspection sheets as a certificate), so I think he didn't know about this.

I'll try to figure it out with some calculations (I've already seen some interesting threads in this forums! hehe!)

Thanks everyone!

[dinkers542]

Welcome man! Havent been here too longmyself but just wanted to compliment you on your car. You dont see hachi's as clean as that here in Seattle.

Dinkers

[Deuce Cam]

That is a great start, and I'm glad to hear you don't plan on changing much.

I'd recommend rebuilding a stock lsd unless you plan on a lot of track duty. The aftermarket plate lsd units are really aggressive which can be annoying on a street car.

[pack]

Hey! Welcome to the forums! Our 86's are disappearing.... haha

(11-27-2014 12:42 PM)Spitfire Wrote:  86's like this are pretty rare these days, youre lucky!

The OEM LSD is a 1.5way unit so unless youre looking for something with beefier internals like KAAZ or Cusco you might be best off with just simply rebuilding it with fresh parts. I did that with mine (together with slightly increasing the locking power by modifying the clutches) and its pretty awesome.

Actually the OEM LSD is a 2way LSD

I studied how it works, and it's a 2way unit. The locking % is way to low compared to a 2way TRD or KAAZ but it's a 2way unit.
regards

[headrush]

(11-29-2014 03:15 AM)dinkers542 Wrote:  Welcome man! Havent been here too longmyself but just wanted to compliment you on your car. You dont see hachi's as clean as that here in Seattle.

Dinkers

Thanks man! It's always encouraging meeting people who does really appreciate your car, I really appreciate it! The car is completely unknown here in Spain. First week after I bought the car, I went to my nearest Toyota dealership to buy some oil / air filters and the dealer himself asked me why in hell did I buy that old piece of junk (and he didn't say it in a very playful manner... I was a little shocked at the moment but later I was like "WTF, really?" lol).

I understand this is an old car that anybody has ever seen around here, but it can be a little discouraging some times! haha

But hey, he's selling Prius so what the hell does he know about our beloved hachis

(11-30-2014 03:34 AM)Deuce Cam Wrote:  That is a great start, and I'm glad to hear you don't plan on changing much.

I'd recommend rebuilding a stock lsd unless you plan on a lot of track duty. The aftermarket plate lsd units are really aggressive which can be annoying on a street car.

Thanks! I think the car it's a great base for a restoration to near-OEM spec indeed!

I'll consider rebuilding a stock LSD, is the TRD version as aggressive as a Cusco or KAAZ or it's something in between OEM and aftermarket?

(12-01-2014 12:51 AM)pack Wrote:  Hey! Welcome to the forums! Our 86's are disappearing.... haha

Don't worry Pack, you have tons of 86's left, including some of the nicest ones I've ever seen! I wish my country had half of your sports car culture!

So, back to the LSD topic again, most 86 sold in Portugal came with an open diff from factory, right? So I'd be smart to think my hachi comes with one of those stockers open differentials (which is what I was assuming already).

Btw, when will be the 20v swap running on the streets? It must be awesome!

Thanks!

[harkes]

What an amazing example! Beautiful! Take very good care of it