Little introduction about myself, I'm Kodai, and I was originally born in Yokohama Japan, now living in Michigan, USA. My grandfather worked at the Kanto-Higashi Fuji facility of Kanto Auto Works, a subsidiary of Toyota that was responsible for developing and manufacturing some of the most well known Toyotas, such as the Cresta/Chaser/Mark II/Cressida (Many will know them as a "JZX") , the Toyota Century, and of course the AE86. Hearing his stories about the time when he worked there, paired with my parents' love for Toyotas and European rallying made me intrigued about AE86s more and more, paired with peer pressure from my friends to watch Initial D. I recall surfing craigslist in middle school looking for corollas, and I still wake up in cold sweat sometimes about all of the deals I "missed out" on.
Fast forward to my freshman year in high school circa 2021, me and my dad finally got an AE86.
It was honestly super disappointing when it first came. It was missing so much parts, it didn't actually drive like the seller claimed, it was disgusting, and not a single panel was straight. But alas, here is my new to me, 1986 Toyota Corolla SR5.
On the bright side though, it did have a 20v 4AG, albeit missing almost everything except for the engine.
But after lots of inspiration from Club4AG, I was eager to get into it!
The car came from Texas, and seems to have lived a fraction of its life in Mexico, as evident by the mexican license plate on the listing photo, the lack of rust (or so I thought), and mexican pesos under the carpet.
For the first 6 months of ownership, I was not concerned about the condition or the visuals of the car, I strictly wanted to function and drive down the road at a minimum. We put in a new clutch, found out the pilot bearing was not present, redid the clutch hydraulic system, put in AW11 MR2 seats (ugly, but anything was miles better than what was in there) fixed the rust under the windshield and replaced the glass, and replaced those god ugly 15x9 American racing wheels with some more modest, 15x7 panasports with new tires.
That's all it needed to be able to move under its own power. But to get it roadworthy, I ended up fixing some loose ends on the engine harness, putting new inner and outer tie rods, a new turn signal stalk, lights, and some fluids. Oh, and of course, a 360mm Nardi Classic!
I then got the headlights and running lights to work from a toggle switch, and it was ready for its maiden voyage.
I drove this car around with my dad and friends in this state for a couple months, going to car meets and such.
The ignition system eventually ended up quitting, and the car was put away for the cold Michigan winter, and a refresh along the way.
You look to be doing an excellent job on the refresh. I rarely see an AE86 in Michigan, let alone three at a time. Good luck on the build.
