86 Corolla SR5 engine upgrade

[05m0515]

This info was taken from a HR.net post. The author is Marco...

Guess I'll help out. Here goes.

Before you start, you have to make one thing clear: Why are you doing this? Why are you going in the car scene? What part of the car scene are you going into (looks, drag, drift)? Why did you choose this generation Corolla? These are questions that will determine how you proceed or if you will even finish... Important things to consider: Will you need AC? Will you need PS? Will you need emissions? Do you plan to daily drive this car? Do you mind driving a car that looks like shit? How much money do you have? Will anyone else be riding with you? How important is a perfect exterior/interior? Do you have car shows in mind? As you can see these kinds of things will seperate someone who has shitty looking GTS with a perfect mechanical conversion with someone who has a phatty GTS with JDM bumpers, fuct up timing, oil burning problems, and cut springs.

For the record, if you are going for a full GTS conversion with no major drivetrain / induction upgrades, then I suggest buying a full GTS. Why (and I'll try and keep my analogies computer related just for you)? Price Watch for cars does not exist. It's like upgrading your rig; why go out and buy a new chipset, mobo, ps, serial hdd, etc seperatly when there is a box on ebay that has every and exact component you need? You WILL have a hard time locating every single peice and you WILL end up paying more. Second, and almost as important seeing as how you are new to the car scene, having both cars side by side WILL help you. You will know where it goes, how it fits, and you will really see the difference or lack there of between the two trim models. Imagine having no computer building experience and seeing a shit load of parts in front of you. Yes, you might figure it out, but how much easier will it be if there is a built box right by your side? Where do I mount this? How does this hold up? Cross member, WTF is that? The answers will be right by your side...

Next, important stuff you need (assuming you have a manual SR5 w/ PS and no AC):

4AGE engine (+ emission gear)
Engine Components (AFM, Intake and Exhaust Manifolds, Coil, Ignitor, etc)

ECU
Engine Wiring Harness
Main Harness
Rear Harness
Ground Lines
Fuse Box
Starter
Transmission Speedo Gear
Transmission Bell Housing
Brake Slave Cylinder (aka Brake proportioning Valve)
Clutch Slave Cylinder
Clutch Hard Line (Clutch body line)
Clutch Flex Hose
PS Hardlines
PS Flex Hoses
Fuel Hard + Soft (Flex)
Fuel Return Hard + Soft Line
Rear Brake Hard + Soft Line
E Brake Cables
In Tank Fuel Pump (tanks are the same, although the 86/87 years came with in tank fuel pick up baffles. All tank come with standard baffles)
Drive Shaft
Full Rear End (disks, calipers, soft lines included)
Rear Sway Bar
Guage Cluster

Suspension: I leave this category as separate because it is damned important. More than likely your suspension will be shit and need to be replaced anyway. Yes there is a suspension difference between the SR5 and the GTS, not in mechanical setup but in tuning. The GTS has stronger rated springs and shock/struts to match. After 20 years however, it will perform very badly. This category also depends strongly on your intentions for your car: ask anyone who is for real, suspension is what makes your breaks an AE86. If all you need is to look good and roll around town. Don't insult is by buying the best shit. Cut your springs and save yourself the trouble. If you intend do actually race your car, then make a seperate post regarding the topic on this board. The answers/rcomendations will vary greatly. For the purpose of just learning and or daily commute, using the GTS springs backed with factory level replacement shocks/struts will be plenty sufficient.

Basic guidelines go something like this: Replace what looks like shit, and a lot will (feel free to ask on the boards when thinking about replacing bigger items such as clutch master, etc a lot will look like crap but should still be fine. For this I am mostly referring to parts such as rubber hoses, belts, etc). Buy new bolts/screws/nuts if things look rusty (please use correct grade of bolt/nut). Use the correct torque specifications when tightening things (very important). Clean what you can.

For reference.

The front suspension/brakes of a GTS and SR5 are EXACTLY THE SAME minus the spring rate difference and damper rates. SAME BRAKES SAME CALIPERS. I have no idea what JTEK is referring to with beefier.

Fuel tanks are the same, see above.

You can use the SR5 speedo cable.

You will have to drill holes and or fabricate a mount for your coil/igniter set; SR5s do not have those welded in since they were carburated.

There is no mechanical difference between a GTS and SR5 transmission, they are both T50s with the same gear ratios. There is a bellhousing difference, the SR5 clutch slave is mounted on the left side, while the GTS on the right. This is the case because the Exhaust manifold on the different models are on different sides. Many will tell you that you can keep the SR5 housing on the GTS conversion and it will work. While this is true, I do not recomend that you keep the clutch on the left side of a GTS conversion because unless it is shielded the heat from the exhaust manifold will screw over your clutch slave. You will, however, need to change the speedo drive gear. The SR5 and GTS have different rear end final drives, so the difference in the gauge cluster reading is handled here.

The brake proportioning valve is very important. Keep in mind you are changing to rear disks, therefore your brake balance will change suffciently. Do not neglect changing this part. I know first hand...

That is all I have to say off the top of my head. Despite the fact that I am writing in a hurried pace, this took a bit longer and is a bit longer than I though. I have class in a couple hours and I have to study, so I will end here. I am sure I have overlooked many things, so do not take this as gospel, although it is a firsthand account. For many of these things, please refer the factory service manual (FSM) that I highly recomended earlier; it WILL save your ass.

For future notes to anyone. Please do not answer if you do not know the correct answer. "I think, LOL" does not cut it, cus if he is driving behind me in one of our meets and he thinks he can stop better cus he as beefier brakes and proceeds to hit me, I will LOL all over you face; if I am not dead. Secondly, if I were him and bought a whole bunch of shit that I did not need, I would be pissed. Are you gonna buy back the front mchperson sets he just paid for? People come to these boards for help, not heresay.