TroysRollaSX

Yeah, I thought that figure was a bit too high, but was in a hurry and didn't have time to look up what the aus 4A-FE made. Oh well.

I wouldn't say so. The 4A-FE and the 7A-FE are very much alike, with the 7A having a larger stroke of 85.5 mm, instead of 77.0 mm (but the same bore of 81.0 mm) compared to the 4A, thus making it a 1.8L engine instead of 1.6L as all the 4A engines are. I suspect that the 5A or 6A engines were not as popular here because they were smaller (5A = 1.5L, 6A = 1.4L) and thus made less power then the 4A or 7A engines when fitted with the same air/fuel delivery systems and simular camshaft profiles. In the AE9x series, initially the engine options were all 4A or 6A based: in order of least to most power: 6A-FC = 61kw @ unknown rpm / 117Nm @ unknown rpm, 4A-FC = 71kw @ 6000rpm / 129Nm @ 3600 rpm, 4A-FE = 85kw @ 6000rpm / 137Nm @ 4800 rpm, 4A-GE = 100kw @ 7200rpm / 149Nm @ 4800 rpm, but with the 2nd series of the A9x series, the 7A-FE was introduced and the Carb engine options were removed, thus the options were: 4A-FE = 85kw @ 6000rpm / 137Nm @ 4800 rpm, 7A-FE = 86kw @ 5600rpm / 155Nm @ 4400rpm, 4A-GE = 100kw @ 7200rpm / 149Nm @ 4800 rpm Corollas with the 7A-FE can usually be spotted with the 1.8 badge or sticker. Of course, I could be wrong in some aspects, but the 7A wasn't as big a jump as you might think... :)

Hi mate. I got my AE93 (1992 Corolla SECA SX) jusssst over 2 years ago exactly now, and couldn't be happier with it. So I'd say consider something like it. Can get them for a reasonable price now, they're easy to work on, easy yo get parts for, there is still plenty of aftermarket support for them, and as long as it's been looked after fairly well shouldn't give you any real drama, also the paint seems to be of a higher quality then the older models and can still look good (again, as long as it's been looked after) - my car has had a few stone chips repaired on the bonnet, but asides from that still wears it's factory paint, and still looks good, even after all these years. Everything I'd had to do so far hasn't been too hard to do - asides from the timing belt at just over 200,000kms and replacing the distributor when required due to failure, where I cheated and got a mechanic to do, because I didn't have the required tools, knowledge of the 16v small port red top 4A-GE or time... ^ Great advice, there is even sometimes a 4A-GE FWD Corolla in the various wreckers, until it's eventually raided for parts, haha. Or you could organise to meet up with one of us that has one and we could show you our cars, take you for a little drive, etc. I'd be happy to meet up with you if that would be any help mate - would give me a good excuse to wash the car ;) I'd agree with that to a point. I owned Fords before I saw the light and got my Corolla, and the Mk II Escorts and the XF and XD Falcons I had before that were extremely easy to work on too. Mind you, I wish I'd never wasted my time on the Falcons, the Escorts however I'll always have a soft spot for, and if I had the money and space, I wouldn't hesitate to do up a 2 door Mk II Escort, with a worked 4A-GZE under the hood... *wanders off dreaming* Agreed, but as long as your hands aren't the size of dinner plates you shouldn't have too much trouble. You'll just hate changing the damn oil filter (tucked in behind the exhaust manifold). I agree about the SECA models being the best looking, they're also more practical then the hatches because the cargo area is nice and big. They're sorta like a cross between a sedan and a hatchback. And While I know what you're saying about torsional strength in the SECAs, in the 2 years that I have owned mine I have found that it handles very well, sure you can get it to understeer if you push way too hard when cornering (but you have to be going stupidly fast), and you can get it to oversteer with the old FWD lift-off power mid-corner trick (once again, you have to be going quite quickly), but asides from those two situations they have VERY neutral handling. Anyway, if you want to have a better look at my car, let me know mate.

If you're going to go to the trouble of pulling out the existing engine, why go for a 4A-GE? Why not go for a 4A-GZE instead? And why are you going to pull out the existing engine? And are you sure it's a 4A-FE? I thought the AE10x usually had either the 20v 4A-GE (1.6L) or the 7A-FE (1.8L), but I could be wrong.

Sounds to me like the timing is WAYY off. When I get a chance, I'll see if I can replicate the issue on the almost identical AE82 with 4A-C project here, and see if I can get it to act the same. My suggestion is to get yourself a timing light asap and see what the timing is currently at.

Hahaha, nah, it's staying stock for now, seeing as it will be a first car, so needs to stay P plater friendly. Although I might upgrade the brakes sometime, we'll see. Right now, the focus will be on getting it ready for a roadworthy and then getting it registered. Oh, I meant to ask, I started pulling the drivers door trim off to get to the drivers door handle and lock, and silly me, I can't see how to get the window winder handle off - it's the only thing left still holding the door trim on. Any help would be very much appreciated.

Nah, CSX I believe was mid-range, nice enough interior, power steering, air-con, tacho dash cluster, but not top of the range. Not exactly poverty spec either. Hahaha, yeah, steering wheel is a bit chunky. Feels good though, not too bus like, haha. Yeah, the 4A-C + 5 speed does go well for what it is. I drove it back home on a unreg vehicle permit, and my partner followed in her 2003 automatic Tarago. I put my foot down to get up to 110km/h for the freeway (speed limit on that section of the freeway), and left the Tarago far behind without meaning to. Felt pretty lively for something that has about half the kW of my AE93 SX, probably because it almost has as much torque, and it's peak torque is made much lower in the rev range. I agree, not a bad choice at all for a first car. I had a look and I think you're right about the irons being bent for the front bar. The rear bar has a bit more damage and will require either replacement or me being handy with some fibreglass. I'll take a photo of it to show you all what I mean, and so that when it's all done this thread can be a reminder of how it was when it was first picked up. I'll try that with the tail lights, thanks! Yup. Yeah? Cool. Yeah, it's pretty straight, you'll have to have a look at it once it's on the road mate, I'd be happy to take it to a meet instead of my AE93.

And another video, taken earlier today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL_kT_WElmg

Those black stripes are painted on, the red has the usual fade to it anyway, we'll look into re-spraying it... I hope there are no big nasty surprises when it comes time for RWC, I'll do some of the things I know it should fail on before it goes for the RWC, and leave a couple that are easily fixed. Here's a video of it being started today for the first time since we picked it up on cup day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPwVW7Z1bbg And a few more pictures of it I took today: Needs a GOOD clean... Fairly clean for a 1987 car... 6000 rpm? it might as well be a diesel, hahaha

Thanks mate! I figure cars are made to be driven, not hidden. Brake rotors rust up, moving parts seize, flexible parts such as hoses perish, batteries lose charge, so I think it's better to drive it then to let it just sit there. I like to think I keep it in reasonable condition for a 1992 vehicle, and I plan on hanging on to it for a while longer - the only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have cup holders, I even have a cruise control unit ready to install when I get a chance... I love how it looked for those pics, such a shame I can't have it that low all the time, it scraped a few times while driving. Other thing is, with that many people on board, a snail could out-run the poor thing! Yeah, next time I rely on the GPS, I will be having a good look at the intended directions and finding out where the petrol stations are! LOL. I was so lucky to not run out of fuel that day, I had 2 litres left in the tank when I filled up, as it took 48 litres to fill it again! Oops!

I've got one, a gunmetal grey AE93 SECA SX. Some ballpark specs (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm way off): 16v "red top" 4A-GE DOHC 1.6L 4 cylinder engine: 103kw at the flywheel. C52 gearbox: 4.44:1 final drive ratio. kerb weight: approx 900kg. 0-100km/h: approx 9 seconds. standing 400m (1/4 mile): a bit over 16 seconds. That's all stock from the factory, and figures may be a little off, it's all off the top of my head. You can pick them up for anything from $1000 to $4000, depending on condition and seller. Here's a video of mine in action, to give an idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiQU_aDbiSE

Hi everyone. My partner and I spotted this AE82 SECA at the side of the road for sale, and we both thought it would be a great first car for my step-daughter, who is 15 now, to learn in and drive once she gets her P plates. I went and talked about it to the owner, and took it for a test drive, and by the end of the day we had placed a deposit on it. It's a 1987 Corolla SECA CSX. 4A-C engine, done just over 300,000kms. 5 speed Manual. Power steering and air-conditioning. Alloy wheels. Drives very nicely. It's currently unregistered and did not come with a Roadworthy. Got to do a few things done before it will pass a Victorian Roadworthy. This is what I know will need to be done, it has not yet been taken to anywhere for a proper RWC inspection. Rear tyres, tread too low. Going to be replaced. Rear tail lights, lenses faded and not clear enough. Going to be replaced. Drivers outer door handle doesn't work. Probably slipped off the linkages. I'll look into this soon. Drivers door lock broken. A replacement lock and key was supplied with the vehicle. Passenger side front door window doesn't wind down. I'll look into it. Passenger side parking light and indicator repeaters swapped - ie the parking light flashes when you indicate left, and when you put the parking lights on, the left indicator comes on. This does not affect the indicator in the bumper bar. Should be easily fixed. High beams don't work. Will look into this. Not required, but will be done. Replace old CD player (removable face plate keeps falling off) Replace front and rear bumper bars. Tidy up paint, maybe respray. And because everyone loves pictures...

There is a story that goes with this pic about the GPS sending me down dirt roads in the middle of nowhere, with no petrol stations for hundreds of kms. I was scared sh*tless I was going to run out of fuel! Thankfully I didn't. I now have a project AE82 SECA CSX that I'm getting back on the road for someone else, it's been very interesting comparing the 4A-C to the 4A-GE and the AE82 to the AE93. The AE82 with 4A-C goes better then I expected it to, although it isn't as happy to rev, it's still very nice to drive. I think it's safe to say I have been bitten by the Corolla bug! Almost 2 years to the day now since I got my SECA, and I'm still happy with it, and have no plans to get rid of it.

Some more recent pictures, from when I drove from Melbourne to Brisbane and back... Odometer clocked over 250,000kms just north of Albury, so I pulled over to get a pic.

I added a rear louvre to cut the amount of sunlight getting in through the rear window...

I'm keen to see how little my redtop 4A-GE is putting to the road, lol

Thanks everyone who came along, was a fantastic day, and was great to meet a few more of you!

I'll be there in my SECA, are we meeting up towards the back of the car back (behind McDonalds?) or in front of McDonalds?

entire distributor has been replaced, anyway we checked for spark from the coil and there was none, so the carbon buttons in the dizzy cap were't getting anything to work with. Car is now running and I'll be picking it up in a few days...

Can I suggest handling and brakes in addition to performance and looks? New rotors, new brake pads, new fluids all through (brake fluid flush, clutch fluid flush, oil and oil filter, coolant, air filter), AE101 gear shifter stick, stiffer rear sway bar, slightly lower and stiffer suspension, new good tyres, maybe remove the pipe feeding air to the airbox from behind the headlight and use the correct size flexible tubing pipe to feed air into the air box from behind the front 1/4 by removing the baffle that is under there. Not much of that is particularly sexy (ok, asides from the suspension), but with all that done you're sure to notice improvements, and it will drive more like a new car. And a lot of it will be worth doing no matter what other plans you decide to do later down the track. Also, none of that is particularly expensive or hard to do...

It's my car we're talking about, and I just got he call from the mechanic to say that they got it running again. It turns out it was the sensor within the distributor that had died, replacement dizzy fitted and she fired up. Here's what happened, from start to finish. I was on my way from Naracoorte, South Australia (where I now live) to Melbourne to pick up a few things and sort out a few loose ends. I had driven 375kms, when driving between Ballarat and Melbourne on the freeway at 110km/h (legal limit on that stretch of road), and all of a sudden the engine revs dropped to 0. I pushed the clutch pedal and tried to re-start the engine with the starter, nothing. I then tried roll-starting it (seeing as I was now doing about 95km/h), and that didn't help either. So I put it into neutral, put the hazards on, and rolled to a halt at the side of the road. Called a good friend of mine who came up and between the two of us we tried to diagnose the problem - neither of us being particularly familiar with the 4A-GE. We checked all the fuses, which all seemed good, and the relays seemed to be ok too. We had the gregories manual, so we bridged the diagnostic pins and checked for a code, and got code 12 - engine RPM. We determined that there was no spark, and tried to jury rig a falcon coil, thinking the coil might have died. That didn't work, still no spark, so we went and hired a tandem trailer and towed it to a friends place in Melton South, then I went and stayed where I was planning on staying that night anyway. The next day, Onikage and I went and got a replacement coil and igniter module, fitted those, still no difference. Starter motor turned over the engine, but it wouldn't fire. Tested for spark, still no spark. We went back to Melbourne. The 3rd day, another friend of mine and I went up and totally removed the immobilizer so we could rule that out as an issue, and it still wouldn't start. We chased up a replacement distributor, and went and got that, but by the time we got back it was dark and neither of us felt comfortable with replacing the dizzy in the dark. My friend couldn't have the car there much longer, and I needed to get back home (only had enough medication which I need to live on me for another 18 hours or so), so when my brother suggested I join the RAA (well, RACV in Victoria), I decided it would be a good idea. The RACV mechanic came around, asked us what we'd already tried, and agreed it was probably the dizzy, which he couldn't change there, so he got it towed to a workshop. And I went back to where I was staying and organised for me to get the train and bus back home the next day (yesterday). Just before I caught the train, I got a phone call from the mechanic, they said they'd done diagnostics and determined that it was the hall effect sensor in the distributor, and asked my permission to replace the dizzy with the replacement I had purchased. They were sure it would start after that was done, so I told them to go ahead. I then got on the train and bus back home, just in time, because I needed my medication and it was only about an hour late when my girlfriend picked me up from Mt Gambier. Then this morning, they called to let me know they had replaced the distributor and the car had started, they had taken it on a test drive and it was running again, but the drive belt was cracked and they wouldn't trust it to make it back to SA, but it was up to me, also there is a leak from one of the cam cover gaskets and the oil needs a top up. Oil and cam cover gaskets I can do myself, but I decided to let them do the drive belt so I don't have to do that and don't have to worry about that for a while. So now I have a spare igniter module and coil, and if it does it again after swapping both of those for the spares, I'll know it'll be the dizzy, because it could only possibly be the dizzy, wiring or ECU if spark fails again like that.

Maybe save up for a 4A-GZE to drop in the engine bay to replace the 7A-FE? :cool:

Good to see you finally got around to putting up a thread about it mate! And even happier that you're happy with it, seeing as I helped out in a few small ways with it. It's a great example of an AE93 SX, goes REALLY well, is mechanically A1, and goes better then mine does! Great score! A lot of those are things that have been done to mine, or it came with when I got it, lol. I'm pretty sure the extension on the front bar that you speak of, you've already got, just some people paint it a different colour. Compared to my Series 2 front bar, yours does sit a fraction lower. You should come up here to Naracoorte S.A. for a decent run in it - mine went through less then 3/4 of a tank for the 468kms, I'm sure yours would do even better then that!

Damn, I only just saw this, as it's not far away I would have come along. Damn and blast! Oh well, hope you all had a great time!

Sounds good to me!