1986 Toyota Corolla Levin 2dr GT-Apex

[banpei]

Nice! That's an upgrade I might consider doing in the future. I'm so used to central locking in my daily car, this weekend I forgot to unlock the door for my daughter, and she had this look on her face...

[ondafly]

Its been awhile ! but making hay while it shines. I don't have as many pictures as I hoped either.

Since last update I've done the following:

-replaced front disks/pads with Toyota OEM
-replaced all four shocks/springs with GroupD combo kit Medium level
-replaced all four tyres with Yokohama Advan Fleva V701 195/50 R15
-fitted runfree light covers (top only for now)
-fitted HKS induction kit
-fitted new hella horns

The kit consists of BC-racing front shocks with spindles and GroupDs own rear coilover (married) setup


Tyres in the boot for fitting !


As the car is so low - I brought ramps, but they also let me jack the car up etc. I wanted to make sure there was no sill jacking being done. The guys were very obliging.


Fitted - and you can see I raised the car up a bit also

[Koen]

Nice updates! Do you know the spring diameter of those group-d rear coils? I've bought a different brand, but they don't fit (spring hits the body). My guess is that group-d uses a narrower spring to avoid this. I have to get a new top spring holder, so I'd like to know what wide these can be

[ondafly]

good question - I don't but I will be taking the rear wheels off in the next while, as I have new inner face bolts/nuts for the advans, but also need to replace the rear disk/pads. If I remember I'll take a measurement for you. They do have a smaller helper spring at the top also.

[ondafly]

(05-12-2026 04:25 PM)Koen Wrote:  Nice updates! Do you know the spring diameter of those group-d rear coils? I've bought a different brand, but they don't fit (spring hits the body). My guess is that group-d uses a narrower spring to avoid this. I have to get a new top spring holder, so I'd like to know what wide these can be

they looked to be approximately 67mm give or take. My digital caliper was acting up.

[Koen]

Thanks! Reiger offers longer 105mm springseats with a diameter of 59mm so that will probably work for me then.

How do the Advans look now?

[ondafly]

so its been awhile since my last update - but I think I'm progressing semi-ok with this car, and I've gotten alot done in the 8 months or so.

I spent a month away on the other side of Ireland - during this time the AE86 went to my Evo guy to get a few bits done. I provided the parts and he got stuck in. We ordered stuff from Flos.ie as he worked through, thankfully the fast deliveries were a great help.

So while I was here (Strandhill, Sligo)

messing on Spanish galleons

and replacing xenon headlight bulbs on my GTI; yes the whole bumper has to come off


The following was being done on the AE86
Mileage at this point was 186,000km
-Remove sump and fit new replacement ; I didn't like the look of the sump on the car since day one, its all crusty looking and a replacement is reasonable money.
-Remove oil pick up pipe, clean & replace new gasket
-Change engine oil
-Change oil filter
-Replace alternator belt
-Replace power steering/aircon belt
-Replace bearing on tensioner for above ; this was fun as it was a different bearing to OEM, however we were able to source a replacement bearing locally
-Replace front crank shaft oil seal
-Replace inlet cam oil seal
-Replace exahaust cam seal
-Replace cam belt
-Replace cam belt tensioner and spring
-Replace inlet & exhaust cam pulley bolts
-Replace timing belt guide on crankshaft
-Replace viscous coupling on water pump
-Replace 4 x spark plugs ; funnily enough the old ones that came out were race spec, so I've hung onto them
-Remove 4 broken studs from bottom of block and rethread for new sump bols
-Replace all sump bolts with Evo sump bolts ; yes he replaced them with Evo 8 sump bolts
-Loosen and retighten steering rack connection
-Top up coolant
-Clean and renew protection tubing on starter wire ; This had been wrapped in a sort of asbestos wrap (see vid!)
-Front wheel alignment abd cgecj canmber and tracking front/rear ; this was my original job for him but the work grew legs !!!
-Clean up earth connection on gearbox and tighten.
-Fit new adjustable panhard rod and re-align ; this was my bad ! I should have provided this at the start, but while the car was on the ramp I ordered it from Flos for next day delivery

So enough words - here are some pictures and videos of the before and afters

Crusty belts, crusty oily buildup, all needing a tidy


Old pan removed; pickup looking fairly healthy


Video of the parts

Video of the belts all working !

Panhard rod installed


All buttoned up


Overhead - looking at this picture though, makes me feel there is so much more to do.