(AE86) Found the needle in the haystack

[OldSkoolToys]

I decided to make this thread here (I posted last year about this purchase on the typical ae86 club sites) because of Dave-ROR's recent acquisition of a rare breed amongst the remaining SW20 turbos. Check it out here! http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90089 quite the score! Though the blue interior is 'ugly' apparently (I like it!).

Anyways, back in March '14 an old redneck lady decided to pull out RIGHT as I was coming down the road, leaving me little choice but to hit her. Had I veered right, I would've completely destroyed the car by t-boning into the Expedition. Had I veered further to the left, I would've nose dived into a median that probably wouldn't have made the situation much better (and injured me more than likely).


Car is obviously out of commission but repairable; so she now sits in my garage awaiting that fateful day.

About a week after (a long dispute with the insurance company) getting my settlement check I finally found myself going in the same direction of a particular AE86 I had seen in the past only in passing and for brief moments. I had seen this car 3 times since moving to where I was, and could only tell it was "pretty clean". It was more than that. It was easily the cleanest all factory AE86 I had ever seen in person. And it was the original owner driving it as well! I was lucky that he and his wife were actually planning on selling it, so a few weeks later this is what I got:









Ugly blue interior? I wish! I wish it was blue! But Toyota didn't offer the blue in '87 on the white coupes. Nope. Behold: (RON) Burgundy!







Ok, so its an original owner '87 SR-5 coupe with 88k miles upon my purchase. Unfortunately its not a GT-S, but honestly, I didn't give one single damn about that.

Went from that to


To how it sits now:




Despite my better judgment, she will probably not stay much more factory after this. The desire and absolute need for a 4AG is burning hot.

But yeah, Dave....blue aint so bad now is it? (I actually like the burgundy too)

[Packofcrows]

Dang old skool, you still alive? Haven't seen ya in like 5yrs. Bummer on your hatch, hope you find another soon.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by Packofcrows

Dang old skool, you still alive? Haven't seen ya in like 5yrs. Bummer on your hatch, hope you find another soon.

Somehow I'm still here!

Hahaha, don't worry about the hatch. She is a phoenix; to be reborn a track monster to skew the eyebrow of many an observer. If anything the wreck re-affirmed what I SHOULD have tried to be doing along with it: making it a monster.

From that disaster I was able to afford to buy this amazingly well kept example of an AE86 from its original owners (about in their 60's). Without that check, that had only arrived in my account not 5 days earlier from talking with the husband of the owner (was actually the wife's car), I would not have been able to buy the car. It's ridiculously clean: no rust on the body nor chassis. The only rust is right above the battery on the underside of the hood, from where an old battery apparently spewed some acid out. Surface only and not a big deal.

When I mean NO rust on the body nor chassis I absolutely mean it. There is NO rust. I had crack-addict shakes from looking at this car when I first saw it. Could not believe what I had stumbled upon. In fact the wheel-wells are so clean you can see the factory white paint over-spray in them.

I've wrestled as much with it as I can, but an SR-5 is an SR-5 is an SR-5. An AE86 is nothing (to me) without the 4AG, and so even as clean as this car is, it'll eventually get a 4AG swap. And no: not a hum-drum regular ole blue-top swap. Something special. Something that will be just as out of the ordinary as the car is itself (still 16v btw).

[chaoskaze]

Wow xD That's such a nice find, the luck u have. lol Ever consider buying some lotto?


*& yes good to see you around still

[cdrazic93]

20v all the things!!!

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

Wow xD That's such a nice find, the luck u have. lol Ever consider buying some lotto?

I think I'm currently still in the red with the lotto. Nothing from the powerplays, and have spent more on scratch-offs than I've earned back.

No. This was something beyond that. Would say divine in nature. My hatchback was my life; my passion, and it was destroyed before my very eyes. As soon as I let go of trying to get more money from the insurance company, not even a week passes, and I stumble upon this? I'm the second owner of an AE86 thats as clean as most 4-5 year old cars.

Originally Posted by cdraczic93

20v all the things!!!

the 20v passed my mind easily. Its one of the best upgrades to any AE86 ( GT-S or SR-5), but I WANT to keep this car as true to its roots as possible. Trust me when I say that you can build a 16v to out perform a stock 20v swap. And it'll be easier to find parts for/replace down the line.

My hatch? Maybe...was leaning more towards BEAMS 3S-GE.

[dem00n]

How much more are we talking for a blue interior conversion?

I'm thinking it would decrease the value but increase aesthetic mind set by an easy 20%.

Congrats on the car, i have yet to drive one of these...

[malave7567]

Awesome SR5! Very clean.

I'm really wanting to get back into an old Toy after getting rid of all of mine when I moved. I spotted a '89 GT-S (I know they are FWD, but it's my favorite 2-door Corolla body) last week, but after moving into a house, cash is not exactly at hand right now. I miss my old TE72 as well, but those are even harder to find now...

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by malave7567

Awesome SR5! Very clean.

I'm really wanting to get back into an old Toy after getting rid of all of mine when I moved. I spotted a '89 GT-S (I know they are FWD, but it's my favorite 2-door Corolla body) last week, but after moving into a house, cash is not exactly at hand right now. I miss my old TE72 as well, but those are even harder to find now...

Funny enough there seems to be a good amount of E70 and E50 corollas here in the southeast. AE92's are cool for being FF. Always wanted to do a Levin GTZ conversion on one. They look amazing!

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolToys

My hatch? Maybe...was leaning more towards BEAMS 3S-GE.

How hard is it to put a 2ZZ-GE in there?

3S-GE is nice but the 2ZZ would make the car even more of a featherweight.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

How hard is it to put a 2ZZ-GE in there?

3S-GE is nice but the 2ZZ would make the car even more of a featherweight.

If anyone has done that swap I've never seen it documented. If you ask me there's far too many expensive hurdles to jump to turn that engine longitudinally, unlike the FWD 20vs 4AGs, for the power gain. By the end of the day you could've taken that extra money on custom fabrication and made a 20v make near the same power.

The 3S-GE is a documented swap and is a beast right out of the box. You also get a 6spd.
Just my $0.02

[swarb]

Wow nice find. TOO CLEAN.
Love the ssr mesh
What's that in the back? A corona?

[OldSkoolToys]

Good eye! That is my friend's '78 Corona Deluxe 5spd.

[ichitaka05]

Good find!

I would make white 86 into 4AG swap and red into 3S swap... or F20. 3S or F20 either way, it'll be a beast!