Noob, just bought a 1983 ae71 SR5 LB

[Wild Apache]

Some of you may remember me from about 10 yrs ago. I have had a few ae86, but never an e7 car...
I just bought a stock 1983 ae71 sr5 lb and I want to make it better using ae86 parts. I have been researching this for a while now and have found very conflicting info as to what parts I need. Please don't flame me too bad. I don't have an ae86 right now to compare my car to, so I cant tell which parts, if any, are the same as an ae86. My car has a 4ac so I think it has a t50, but with the wrong bell housing. I think my cross member is OK for a 4ag. It has a manual steering rack, but I am not sure if the column and rack are the same as a gts. I also dont know if my front suspension, such as strut casings and brakes, are the same as a gts or if I need to find a gts front end, as well as a rear end. To complicate matters, I found a silver top for cheap. I Think I want to build a 4ag with my silver top bottom end, a 16 valve head, silver top itb's, and maybe coil on plug ignition. So at this point I am not as concerned about the engine as that part of my build is a little ways off. I am more concerned at this point with converting the chassis to ae86 spec. Am I on the right track? Am I an idiot? Am I missing something? Will someone who knows 1983 ae7x cars educate me?

[oldeskewltoy]

Some of you may remember me from about 10 yrs ago. I have had a few ae86, but never an e7 car...
I just bought a stock 1983 ae71 sr5 lb and I want to make it better using ae86 parts. I have been researching this for a while now and have found very conflicting info as to what parts I need. Please don't flame me too bad. I don't have an ae86 right now to compare my car to, so I cant tell which parts, if any, are the same as an ae86. My car has a 4ac so I think it has a t50, but with the wrong bell housing. I think my cross member is OK for a 4ag. It has a manual steering rack, but I am not sure if the column and rack are the same as a gts. I also dont know if my front suspension, such as strut casings and brakes, are the same as a gts or if I need to find a gts front end, as well as a rear end. To complicate matters, I found a silver top for cheap. I Think I want to build a 4ag with my silver top bottom end, a 16 valve head, silver top itb's, and maybe coil on plug ignition. So at this point I am not as concerned about the engine as that part of my build is a little ways off. I am more concerned at this point with converting the chassis to ae86 spec. Am I on the right track? Am I an idiot? Am I missing something? Will someone who knows 1983 ae7x cars educate me?

welcome back..... been there... done that... how can I help??

cross member and manual rack are both great. In my car I used the "wrong" bellhousing, I just changed the clutch plumbing. I did this because on my build, a major ground point is in the vicinity of the stock AE86 clutch hydraulics.

The front suspension is slightly different (strut tubes angles). You can keep the E7 strut tubes and modify the brake mount to accept larger brakes (requires fab skills), or you can run AE86 strut tubes, but you will need to have adjustable suspension for using stock AE86 struts on an AE71 results in STEEP positive camber (not the good kind)

[Wild Apache]

Thank you OST! Is there a thread about your build? I have a lot more research to do.
By "wrong" bell housing I take it you mean you used an ae86 sr5 bell housing? The same bell housing in my car?
As far as front suspension goes, the adjustments I will need to make are for negative camber, correct? Lower control arms? Camber plates?

[oldeskewltoy]

Thank you OST! Is there a thread about your build? I have a lot more research to do.
By "wrong" bell housing I take it you mean you used an ae86 sr5 bell housing? The same bell housing in my car?
As far as front suspension goes, the adjustments I will need to make are for negative camber, correct? Lower control arms? Camber plates?

+

http://www.hachiroku.net/forums/forum/m ... reptitious - 44 pages....