After about 6 years since my last corolla, I finally pulled the trigger and bought one! My main goal right now is to just get it more civilized since i plan to daily it.






I was told it has JIC front coilovers (blown), rear TRD springs (not sure about shocks probably also blown), some trd Pinion and i think stock lsd. then some cusco struts braces front and rear.

came with mostly all of the interior panels including freshly re done seats. No carpet though.

218k on the bluetop.

besides some basic maintenance that needs to be done, i think the first order of business will be to get eh suspension sorted out. I would love to keep the JIC coilovers, but everything i'm reading so far is making me think they may not be the best choice for a daily car.(need to rebuild every 30k or so) I'll just have to see whats out there and see what makes more sense financially.

Well here we go! feels good to be back in an 86

Nice! Clean exterior. And those seats look comfy. Keep us updated on the progress.

Seats look so comfortable

Thanks guys, ya the main thing it has going for it is a pretty strait body. The motor smokes and stinks alot(maybe exhaust leak), but it still runs surprisingly smooth. Feels like it builds good power, i'm hoping the compression is still good so i can just rebuild the head and get a decent amount more miles out of the bottom end.
On the way to work today started hearing some concerning noises from the rear, kind of a metal sliding on metal. it was intermittent, but when i did hear it, it sounded rotational. Heard it the most when i was coming to a stop or taking off. So I just turned around and parked it back home and switched to the wife's car. Will have to get it all up on stands this weekend and give the whole thing a good once over, lots of popping and creaking coming from the rear in general.

Also I am unsure of the model of JIC coilovers I have, or if they even offered more than one model for the 86. I snapped a couple pictures, maybe some one can ID and give me an idea of quality/ value:




I'll post more pics of what my inspection reveals this weekend.

So I didnt take any pictures this weekend, but i think my mystery sound is coming from the diff. when in 4th or 5th gear and engine braking there is a definite howling from the rear. And it seems to be more rough sounding now. I'm guessing its cause the car is pretty low and its putting stress on the pinion angle. I would prefer getting a less aggressive suspension set up to help cure this, but may end up just getting a set of adjustable links. depends on what deals i can come across. hope it hasnt done too much damage yet!

Went to change out my rear springs and noticed that the bottom rubbers for the springs were basically not there anymore, i'm thinking that was the noise I was hearing. Since it was mainly on deceleration, the springs were probably having trouble staying in place when the weight was shifting forward. gotta find me some cheap short strokes for the time being...

slow progress, a lot of regular maintenance to adress. pulled out PS pump and lines, looped rack back into itself. pulled off AC compressor and that loop line, dont know if i want ot keep AC yet, so I'll "put a cork in it" for now. Now to deal with leaky clutch master, valve cover, dist. o-ring, and oil pan. Fun fun.


Also as you can see in the picture above the intake is totally some spare parts hack job. I had an intake sitting around that came off my bro's IS300, so I figured i should try to use it some how. I had our machinist make this adapter plate to mount this intake ring on the AFM. He got a little excited and made the hole too big on the AFM side though. I think i'll just add in one more thin plate to close the circular opening into a squared opening. then to the junk yard to find a good intake hose. here's pic of what the plate looks like so far:

Also got some un identified plugs and leads. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but if anyone wants to save me some time I would apreciate it

top one is oil switch, middle one is the a/c.

nice, thanks. so the AC I wont worry about.

then there's still those loose wires that are twisted together...

Got all the pieces for the intake, now I gotta make a trip to the hardware store to bolt it all together. Oh ya and get some rubber for gaskets. I know it's a bit crude and overdone but it was free so I cant complain.

great build! if you ever need rear plastic side panels for the hatch lmk...I got some and speak pods too......

im in oc too

Cool, good to know! I'll keep you in mind.

Cleaned up the battery setup. Previous owner hackjob'd it just so he could use an optima battery. i did my own hack job . I plan to relocate the battery eventually, so I set it up with a distribution block. Got it off a junkyard bmw, which was an idea I stole from the 4ag forum archives.

progress is still pretty slow, I have just really been trying to get it back to normal and not so drift beater looking. Most of my work has been done under the hood, re did the intake with my own bits, installed a iacv block off plate to fix the idle. i also pulled out the radiator and gave the cooling system a little flush, painted the shroud and radiator while they were off. then some fresh hoses and and a belt. doesnt look a whole lot different, but I spent a decent amount of time getting it straitened and cleaned.



And went with some really mild springs and shocks for a daily set up. Tanabe gf210 and KYB excel G, seems very comfy for daily driving, which is the goal...



Also i am still hearing noise from what sounds like the rear end, was hoping that raising the ride height might help some, but it didnt. I changed the fluid for for the rear as well as the transmission, but it had little to no effect on the sound. It seems to only be there after I have driven for a few minutes, I mainly hear it when letting off the gas while in gear, like down shifting, but I thought I've also heard it when I brake hard enough to get the front to dip/ rear to raise, also you can here it while cruising in 4th and 5th gear and momentarily when letting off the gas to clutch and shift. Noise is not there or atleast WAY quieter when its accelerating or coasting in neutral. Not just your standard whine, but a more deep tone. Didnt want to have to pull the 3rd member just to see IF it needed work/ repair...

I hate pulling the pumpkin. Good luck with finding your problem noise and with your build.

Swapped out the loud muffler that came with the car for a regular quiet one. I feel slightly less ridiculous when getting on the gas now and turns out the old muffler wasn't secure and hitting the bumper a little, that was the mystery noise that I was hearing from the rear end! Glad it was just some thing stupid.

Getting my interior ready for install, looks like I'm missing some of the interior plastics, seat belts, and the rear center bracket for the back seats... probably some other things too. Man this is getting expensive! not that I've spent a whole lot but almost all of it has been to get the car back to normal, as oppose to spending on some cool parts to hop it up here and there. but that is the idea, i hate the thought of having a fresh new set of JDM bumpers or something and then the car taking a dump from some maintenance related issue that could have been easily avoided. So for now I'm continuing my quest to get back to square one! maybe in a year or so I will get to the fun stuff...

Got the front section in finally! The in some heat insulation while I was at it.

Good work mideng!

wow nicely done!

Thanks guys! Got a set of front seatbelt bolt covers, and an oh **** handle from the junkyard too. Bit by bit its coming together. Its not going to be even close to pristine when I'm done, but its going to feel like a real complete car again for sure.

pulled the back seats out of storage, it will be time soon! I have most of the parts already, just need to run by the junkyard again for some more bolts. I wish the seats were done closer to original with the 2 tone cloth lower section, it'll get sticky for sure in the summer, but I'm sure not going to get them redone.

Rear seats installed with a layer of insulation under. Makes a pretty big difference in sound, even though this insulation stuff is more meant as a heat insulator, it still had some bit of sound reduction. Last area to get to is the trunk, I still need trunk carpet and a privacy cover. I have the main plastics for the trunk but they are missing a couple panels. The quest continues...



Gave her a wash so thought I'd snap a quick picture, also my neighbor was about to wash his Z across the way.

Slow progress, but it's getting there. Got some new (to me ) tires and a much needed alignment. Also got a new battery from costco, and I'm now in the middle of doing my clutch. I had bought an extra t50 a while back and was hoping to swap it out while doing my clutch, but turns out Its not the same spline count (less splines . I'm guessing it came out of a TE or something...? Oh well that'll go up for sale I guess, I dont feel like messing with it. Wish I would have counted BEFORE i pulled the bellhousing lol. Oh well it'll be a good chance to clean stuff off a bit and be more thurough.

Noticing too that my driveshaft center support bearing is a bit worn, the middle U joint is pretty smooth. But the two end joints have a small bit of resistance at certain points when I move the joint through its motion. When I do a search on this topic, main solution seems to be going with a one piece DS. From what I read, the main issue with this is that correct pinion angle is a bit more critical, which means you should also consider at the very least upper adjustable links. I was thinking about just replacing the center bearing so to help smooth things out for now, but it seems like a waste to replace that when i know the U joints are on the way out.

Since I want this as a daily oriented car, I feel hesitant to get things like a one piece DS, and adjustable links. I'll think on it some more...

The one piece drive shafts can be a can of worms on a live axle car for the reasons you mentioned. Lots of people get one and end up selling because of that (myself included). IMO it's not worth the hassle. Have you looked into getting the 2 piece rebuilt?

I was reading that getting the shaft machined to accept serviceable U joints is quite pricey, but no I have not actually called a local shop yet and asked. I would love to go that route most, I'll see about the cost of that service locally and report back.

That's my understanding as well...

It's possible to buy a rebuilt one (possibly new aftermarket) but it can be pricey. I searched around online a while back and could only find one place listing prices (not cheap!): http://www.wholesaleimportparts.com/dri ... oCO2Xw_wcB (I assume it's for a GTS but never checked).

That's a big part of the allure with the 1 piece units since they're less than half the cost (+ lighter weight and being more direct). The cost evens out if one considers the need to also get adjustable links, and an alignment. But many want the adjustable links anyway so it depends on how one looks at it I guess.

There seems to be quite a few people that have had their OEM Ujoints replaced before. I'm guessing some shops are used to seeing these types of things and know how to workaround "non serviceable" U joints. I wont have time till the weekend to actually walk in to a shop, but I'll try some Emailing in the mean time. Nice actually having my own workspace for once, and not having to scramble to get it finished immeadiately.

So got it all buttoned up with new oem toyota rear main, trans input, and trans output shaft seals. New exedy clutchpack (with all the correct bearings ), and a flywheel installed, plus new Toyota oem transmission mount.

Replacing all the stuff I did helped alot and feels smoother over all. The bearings were a little gritty feeling, the clutch disk was pretty grungy looking, and trans mount was pretty much collapsed. I have been trying to get all the noises quieted down since I bought this thing! And I'm not even close to done, the struggle is real! lol

Still getting a thud when shifting though. It is a bit of a thud with the accel/ decel depending on how smooth i can rev match (but I just clutch and brake to avoid this as often as I can), however I notice a more definite thud when I shift, even with the clutch still pressed in. And it seems to be coming more from the rear. The U joints aren't that bad, they have zero twisting play, and they move somewhat freely with only one spot or so of slightly more resistance (but easy to articulate by hand). I am just going through the car and replacing what I think should be replaced anyway, but also directing it at trying to eliminate all the drivetrain noise right now. The center support bearing has some definite play to it, but wasn't super blown out or anything. But that being the next easiest/ cheapest piece to replace that actually seems to need replacing, thinking it will be next.


This transmission is definitely quite worn out as well, I was hearing what sounded like bearing noise at around 3500 RPM (it goes away abruptly as you keep accelerating) This noise comes right from the trans area, near the shifter or more forward. I was hoping that it was either the TOB or the PB, that was part of my motivation for doing the clutch. But after the clutch job, the noise sounds identical still. Also put in new gear oil.

Any guesses or similar experiences?

I know a lot of you guys know the feeling, so much wrench time and money and so little driving. So hard to stay motivated, but I'm not giving up just yet, gotta keep on keepin on!