After the sudden death of my T18 last year, I was left with a void in my life and a brown spot in my lawn that could only be filled by another corolla. I wanted a car to compete in khanacross events that could make use of our stockpile of surplus ae86 and te72 parts. Then this showed up. Perfect!

 

 

It started life as an "S" spec auto ke70 and was converted to 5 speed manual at some stage. It had lain dormant for a while after its duties as a daily driver ended. It was rudely reawakened late last year when a temporary rego permit was slapped on the windscreen and Mr Yoda drove it on one last epic road trip from Brisbane to Cairns.

 

 

It was revolting, but it made it!

 

Its days on the road now officially over, I set about getting it race ready. Virtually all of the interior went in the bin and we put in some cheap seats, plywood door trim and Italian leather (and electrical tape) steering wheel. A 12v fan on the dash is the only concession to driver comfort.

 

 

The stock ke70 suspension all went in the bin too.

 

Up front it now has sigma lower control arms and t18 front struts with rebuilt brakes (larger than ke70 ones). Rear end is a t18 t-series with TRD 2 way lsd, gas struts, TRD ae86 lowering springs and no swaybar.

 

For off road grip, we used some studded ice tyres on the front and some normal snow tyres on the rear.

 

 

We then took it racing and did a bit of this

 

 

and the exhaust did a bit of this

 

 

and we did some more of this

 

 

and this

 

 

and the car came back looking like this

 

 

It handled really well. Brakes were savage, steering was sharp and the rear slid very predictably. However, it was pathetically slow. We soon found the problem

 

 

A filthy 4k! No worries, that's easily fixed.

 

 

Now, on the front verandah, we had a car containing much of the driveline out of this

 

 

So we set about removing all the useful parts

 

 

and as of this evening, our ke70 is now looking like this

 

 

Just the wiring and fuel tank left to complete. Shouldn't have any problems spinning the tyres on dirt now.

Edited May 30, 201214 yr by swampgarage

I should also point out, this fine vehicle previously served duty as our supreme overlord Irokin's daily driver.

 

 

We hope to do him proud :P

 

 

 

 

 

This gives me a sad.

 

The 70 looks like a bit 'o the old fun though.

Should be interesting to come out to an event and have a watch Steve :)

Man, seing how quick you're doing that conversion makes me want to :bash:

 

LOVE that 86 up top :D

And keen to see more rally action!!

Edited May 30, 201214 yr by Willis

What springs do you have on the front struts? My '72 struts seem waaaay higher (bad)!

Stock t18 springs as far as I know. Front does sit fairly high and has heaps of travel for soaking up the bumps.

 

Here's a couple of videos. More on youtube.

 

http://youtu.be/TqhL_gKyT-Q

 

http://youtu.be/J5Vkw2BMLsc

Looks tough, those rally tyres are bosssss!

We hope to do him proud :P

 

Can't do any worse than I did :P

It runs...

 

 

Stupid insignificant wires that prevent the entire thing working. Next time I do one of these things I'll remember you little black wire, I'll remember you...

http://youtu.be/hMiy5MM4wNM

 

 

 

Running and drivable. Just the dash and front bumper to finish now, and maybe some sort of cold air intake.

Edited June 3, 201214 yr by swampgarage

VN stance!