Started on May 22 by ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)

Toyota Corolla GT-S

31

This is my low and stiff Corolla for trackdays, autocross, and paved backroads fun. I have put a lot of effort and aftermarket parts into suspension work, and a few bolt-ons for the engine. It is lightweight, responsive, and loves to hassle bigger cars through the twisties! My goal has been to enhance the performance envelope a bit without losing out on driveability or streetability too much. I want light weight and a simple aesthetic with a spectacular overall driving experience and I am pleased with the results so far. Highlights include: -TRD Japan fiberglass hatch and spoiler with lexan window for weight savings -Carbon fiber hood and Japanese bumpers (not pictured) for further weight savings -Lightweight battery for weight savings -Adjustable aluminum suspension arms, heim-jointed one end, hard bushing at the other end for weight savings and handling response without rattling loose any fillings -Homemade short shifter and various body braces -TRD Japan roadrace shocks and springs -Traction brackets to relocate the rear lower control arms and roll center adjusters to relocate the front control arms after lowering -TRD hard bushings wherever there aren’t heim joints -A small dose of negative camber up front and zero toe for great turn-in -Braided brake lines and high performance pads -4-2-1 header, exhaust, Injen intake, and power steering delete to wake the engine up a little bit and further shave the weight -Nardi deep-dish steering wheel for a bit of interior dress-up and a better driving position

Latest updates
Dec. 22
Aero mirrors-exterior aesthetics

The other bit of progress is the acquisition of a pair of used aero mirrors …

Dec. 22
New transmission mount

Next I got the old sloppy stock mount replaced with a TRD hard rubber mount. …

Dec. 22
Transmission cleaning

My long term plan is still to rebuild a T-50 or two, but since I …

Dec. 22
Another view of gear deburr

Here is another view of the final drive after hours with a tiny grinding bit …

Dec. 22
Prepping new diff and final drive

Here is my new Toyota OE 4.3 final drive with a my gear deburring going …

Dec. 22
Yikes! Ancient alarm wiring nightmare!

I have always wanted to remove it, but figured that the car worked, and the …

Dec. 22
Small interior updates

Looking inside we can see the new manual steering column which I swapped over, as …

Dec. 22
More steering

Here’s a peek at the underside, showing the new outer tie rods, adjustable at the …

Dec. 22
Another view of engine/steering

Here’s the other side of the engine mockup and steering/crossmember install. There are a lot …

Dec. 22
Engine and steering finally in

Here you can see the engine has been dropped in for mockup and detail work …

Feb. 04
Alternator and thermostat housing

I traded in my old crusty and oil-soaked alternator for a Toyota remanufactured unit, which …

Jan. 14
Making ITB gaskets

The final bit of progress is on the intake side of things. With help from …

Jan. 14
Oil temp sensor finds a home

I also found a spot to put my new smaller oil temp sensor which will …

Jan. 14
Another pic of the intake spacer

A peek at the inside; you can just see the port-match…sort of…:)

Jan. 08
Intake spacer completed

I finished the plywood intake spacer/heat insulator. It is fully port-matched on both the manifold …

Jan. 01
Intake thoughts and oil plumbing fixes

After some more reading and thinking, I am going to make my own airbox over …

Dec. 21
Port matching the intake side

I’ve been working on getting the ITB->intake manifold->spacer->cylinder head doweled to keep everything lined up …

Dec. 17
Slowly but surely...

Long time, no update! I have been chipping away at a little work here and …

Sept. 14
Going overboard on the details?

I’ve made some more progress with another round of detail work on the engine. As …

Sept. 14
Plumbing; mostly oil

A lot of the rest of my work lately has been on plumbing. Thankfully, a …

Sept. 14
Plywood (!) intake spacer

I really like the idea of insulating the intake manifold and ITBs from the heat …

July 29
Details, details...

Down to the detail work on engine assembly, AKA the fun stuff! :D The backing …

July 16
Degreeing the cams

I got the new camshaft oil seals installed, as well as the back timing belt …

May 01
Cams back in the head

It feels good to see it starting to come together after taking it apart for …

April 24
Engine reassembly in progress

The oil pump is back on, the sump and windage tray are back on, the …

April 16
Management has arrived

I know have a huge box full of wiring harness, ECU, ignition coils, injector drivers, …

March 22
Aesthetic upgrade as well

I don’t just want to get the mechanical stuff in order with this new engine; …

March 22
And the high-comp

Here is a look at the top of the rotating assembly. The high-compression forged pistons …

March 22
A peek at the bottom end

Here’s the bottom end…I opened it up just out of curiousity. Everything looks great and …

March 22
Head reassembly started

Since the engine was rebuilt only a couple thousand miles ago, there isn’t much that …

March 19
Oil pump back together

I started re-assembly of the engine today…I had it stripped down to a shortblock just …

March 12
New engine in the works

Well, I no longer have the patience and funds for my rally car project, or …

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Comments
fiat22turbo
May 30, 2008, 2:41 p.m.

How can an AE86 not get more votes? Especially one as nice as this one?

Stuc
July 17, 2008, 4:45 p.m.

Cool! (Check mine out haha) Where'd you get the 4-2-1 header? Update the pic with the new bumpers too

ae86andkp61
Aug. 27, 2008, 5:11 p.m.

I got the header from a company called KBD, and sadly they are now discontinued. I think at one point they were known as Dobi, and made the headers back when the car was fairly new. These days they do mostly bodykits, but several years ago we got a couple dozen Corolla owners together and had them do one last run. Apparently they got rid of the tooling after that last batch. :( It is a nice street header because it enhances and smooths all of the powerband over stock, and saves a nice bit of weight. Unlike most of the other offerings on the market, it is designed first and foremost for LHD cars, so it fits, and the primaries are a good size for a stock head with other breathing upgrades (mild tune.) Most others on the market are good for heavier mods or racecars, but give up some bottom/mid range on the street. I will have to take some pics when I get the bumper back on. I took it off again to tidy up wiring for the lights and so my buddy could copy the Japanese bumper brackets.

wheelsmithy
Nov. 5, 2009, 8:48 a.m.

Man, beautiful ride. Great to read @ your engine builkd up. My 4age is going together much milder-webbers, stock cams, timing pulleys, on a 120K engine. Good to get ideas for that inevitable first rebuild.

Spinout007
Dec. 6, 2009, 10:34 a.m.

NICE car! I've always wanted one, even before the drift craze hit, I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for one after new years, gotta finish my rx7 first. Again, NICE!

ae86andkp61
Dec. 18, 2009, 12:29 a.m.

Thanks for the comments, guys! I am always flattered when someone else finds my efforts inspirational. I am getting excited to drop the engine in and get it wired and fired this winter in anticipation of driving it next spring and summer. My buddy I've been helping is nearing completion on his similar build right now, so we should be able to focus on my car soon; keep your eyes peeled for updates!

sal713
Jan. 5, 2010, 12:57 p.m.

Awesome HachiRoku!

KasSasaki555
June 10, 2010, 11:28 a.m.

Wow awesome Hatchi dude! The engine work is super clean! The wheels are xxr 513 in gunmetal =] they look great on corollas!

fabron
Aug. 28, 2010, 5:04 a.m.

I like the red wrinkle paint on the valve covers. Those aluminum pulleys (free horsepower) look good too. Reminds me of rebuilding my 4AGE on lunch breaks at my job. Good times. What kind of cams are you using?

ae86andkp61
Dec. 22, 2011, 9:23 p.m.

Thanks guys...sorry I have been so-so about updates. The camshafts are older HKS 272's (both intake and exhaust.) They are 272 degrees advertised duration with 8.35mm of lift. I was going to use HKS 288's with 8.35mm of lift, but the bottom end wasn't built for enough revs (or at least not reliably) to get the most of the 288's, so I downsized, and I think I will be happy with a big midrange-top end power boost. I am planning on an 8300rpm rev-limiter.

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