Corolla Levin/sprinter Trueno Ae85/86

[JadeyBlitzen]

Hi guys! I always had a soft spot for the Ae86 and it got worse after I watched the Initial D movie coupla weeks back.

I always wanted to buy one in whatever condition, sort everything out in my spare time, lower it. add a 20v blacktop engine and RS watanabes, and give it the panda paintjob.

So I went to have a look at this Trueno coupe today, Which I saw on the road once and appeared to be in good nick.

It turned out to be an 1984 (pre facelift) Ae85 (non sporty model) with the 3A-U engine and the small headrests.

The best bits about the car were its Body (-hood and trim), engine and the A/C. as for the rest I'm not too sure.

It seemed I'll probably be spending the best part of this year walking from parts shop to parts shop trying to find all the missing bits.

However he seemed happy to part with it for around 450k.

Is it worth going through the trouble of redoing the whole car and then adding the ae86 bits to an ae85, which will always be a cheap ae85 on the papers? or is doing up a well kept ae86 the more sensible option?

On a side note, how many of these cars do we actually have in SL? I've seen that bloggers white coupe and a red and black 16- hatch going up n down the baseline.

Any AE86 related discussion is also welcome

[Devinda_Z]

hardly any original AE86's in town so your probably better off working with an AE85, as even those aren't really thick on the ground anymore

If that white coupe is the one that was in a sale on Hill St in Dehiwala a while back, then it isn't a genuine AE86 either!

[shanX]

Din't watch Intial D, but that is some car I always wanted. But the sensible option of getting an original AE86 in SL, i have heard that there aren't much of those cars here. And saw one or two moderate condition AE85s for sale for like 3.50-4.50 about a year back. That AE86 owner told me once that a friend of his is doing an AE85 to 86 conversion, no idea how it went. Anyway whats the good and bad about AE85s? Has anyone used these?

[JadeyBlitzen]

I visited a few other forums after I posted this and from what I gather AE85s have weaker chassis compared to the 86. The reason being smaller welds between joints making it cheaper to construct according to them. Hope someone here can verify this. That said it is lighter than the more expensive model but the handling suffers for sure. In my short drive i noticed nothing spectacular about it over a 20+ year old jap car.

What other cars have u guys seen?

@Dev I'm referring to the 17- white Coupe. Other one I saw was a red hatch (16- if I recall right)

@Shan any more info on the 2 cars you saw?

[shanX]

I visited a few other forums after I posted this and from what I gather AE85s have weaker chassis compared to the 86. The reason being smaller welds between joints making it cheaper to construct according to them. Hope someone here can verify this. That said it is lighter than the more expensive model but the handling suffers for sure. In my short drive i noticed nothing spectacular about it over a 20+ year old jap car.

What other cars have u guys seen?

@Dev I'm referring to the 17- white Coupe. Other one I saw was a red hatch (16- if I recall right)

@Shan any more info on the 2 cars you saw?

Yup, that's what I have also read on the web. Once I saw on a forum, on an ae86 conversion build thread, the guy welded some chassis braces and as i remember he also added Hilux lsd + suspension parts along with other common Ae86 stuff. And about the handling, maybe you could upgrade the suspension.

Oh the cars, one i saw one at some sale a year back, now it's gone. The other was on paper about 6 months back. I checked them, just coz I was curious about them being the rarer model, not that i was serious about buying any

Edited May 30, 2010 by shanX

[JadeyBlitzen]

The handling problems are due to chassis flex. So to match the rigidity of the ae86 the frame will need stiffening all around. However the coupe is more rigid than the more popular hatchback. and Shan, You are right. the suspension needs to be changed, the rear axle (cos there's no lsd and disk brakes) then the firewall needs to be modified to accommodate the hydraulic clutch, and to make room for the ecu Then there's wiring and changing interior trim so all in all its a massive project. will definitely have to kill a trueno apex in Japan to get the parts for this, which I don't think will come cheap.

@Shan Can you tell me what colour those 2 cars were. and If u can remember their regs. I'm trying to form a database of all the ae86s in SL. So I appreciate anybody's input

The car I looked at was 15- and wine red and it was apparently bought from young fellah in kirulapone. Any history on this car?

These cars being rare and interesting I believe most people have kept track of them.

in this regard I remember a shabby red trueno hatch being converted to a diesel 10 or 15 years ago in a garage a few doors down. That was pure sacrilege. If I wasnt so small I'd have done my best to rescue it.

[racerx]

I saw a Hachi-Roku towards kalutara 3 weeks ago. It was a purple hatch-back. Cant remember the the plate. Looked very nice. It is my fav as well but parts are expensive and examples are so rare.

[jehan80]

The handling problems are due to chassis flex. So to match the rigidity of the ae86 the frame will need stiffening all around. However the coupe is more rigid than the more popular hatchback. and Shan, You are right. the suspension needs to be changed, the rear axle (cos there's no lsd and disk brakes) then the firewall needs to be modified to accommodate the hydraulic clutch, and to make room for the ecu Then there's wiring and changing interior trim so all in all its a massive project. will definitely have to kill a trueno apex in Japan to get the parts for this, which I don't think will come cheap.

@Shan Can you tell me what colour those 2 cars were. and If u can remember their regs. I'm trying to form a database of all the ae86s in SL. So I appreciate anybody's input

The car I looked at was 15- and wine red and it was apparently bought from young fellah in kirulapone. Any history on this car?

These cars being rare and interesting I believe most people have kept track of them.

in this regard I remember a shabby red trueno hatch being converted to a diesel 10 or 15 years ago in a garage a few doors down. That was pure sacrilege. If I wasnt so small I'd have done my best to rescue it.

OK...i tried to swat the 'fly' on your image.... and not for the first time either!!!

[Chooti Putha]

I saw a Hachi-Roku towards kalutara 3 weeks ago. It was a purple hatch-back. Cant remember the the plate. Looked very nice. It is my fav as well but parts are expensive and examples are so rare.

it cant be a hachi roku man its almost impossible to find one in SL. im sure what u saw is an AE85

[hashanfernando]

thrs wz a red 1989 AE86 in yakkala for about 780000.if u wnt il find out the no n gv u.

[JadeyBlitzen]

I saw a Hachi-Roku towards kalutara 3 weeks ago. It was a purple hatch-back. Cant remember the the plate. Looked very nice. It is my fav as well but parts are expensive and examples are so rare.

Well I suppose the parts unique to the AE86s are pretty hard to find, though not that expensive. The rest is just corolla bits which is why one should be confident about restoring a wreck.

it cant be a hachi roku man its almost impossible to find one in SL. im sure what u saw is an AE85

Are you suggesting most of these cars in sl were 85s and not 86s?

On the Subject of 86s I saw some pics on a friends phone. It was a red and black example on 15- plates and I was told it had digital instruments. the badge at the back said sports gt or something. I'll upload the pics if i can get them off his phone. This is probably the car I see on baseline every now and then. It was captured at auto mir*j some time back and was driven by a middle aged block apparently.

[shanX]

Are you suggesting most of these cars in sl were 85s and not 86s?

On the Subject of 86s I saw some pics on a friends phone. It was a red and black example on 15- plates and I was told it had digital instruments. the badge at the back said sports gt or something. I'll upload the pics if i can get them off his phone. This is probably the car I see on baseline every now and then. It was captured at auto mir*j some time back and was driven by a middle aged block apparently.

Yeah, most are AE85s and some Ae85s were even manufactured in 1986-87

The badge, Levin\Trueno GT-S?

[luqy]

Guyz,

I think I saw one AE86, pretty much good looking (well from de outside). I was driving my way from Kandy town towards Katugastota (Matale road). Just opposite DPMC, is a garage of some sort, and there it was. . man. . my eyes fell off. . an AE86. .

I dunno anything else abt the ride. . well it was Yellow in color. And the plates...well it read 16- or 18 (sorry I was driving). That Garage had been there well afaik. . n it does antique cars only. . most of the fleet there are Morris, Austins, classic Toyo's, Mitsu's, Nissan's and so on (correct me).

One thing happy was that this car was not ripped off. . and was shining in the bright sun (but heavily raining in Colombo @ that time ). . .

[shanX]

^^ I think I have seen that car on a car sale sometime back, was a different color earlier, painted yellow recently. And it's an AE85

[Chooti Putha]

^^ I think I have seen that car on a car sale sometime back, was a different color earlier, painted yellow recently. And it's an AE85

yup u r correct it was in a sale in kandy & was red

[KLM]

Hi guys! I always had a soft spot for the Ae86 and it got worse after I watched the Initial D movie coupla weeks back.

I always wanted to buy one in whatever condition, sort everything out in my spare time, lower it. add a 20v blacktop engine and RS watanabes, and give it the panda paintjob.

So I went to have a look at this Trueno coupe today, Which I saw on the road once and appeared to be in good nick.

You'll be like Itsuki then. If you enjoyed the movie you really should watch the entire Initial D anime series. I never thought I'd enjoy something like that but I really did.

+1 to this project. Go for it! The hachiroku is a great all-round car and I can't understand why the AE85 and AE86 chassis would be different. I'm sure they would have come off the same production line and the naming convention only differs because Toyota bases its chassis numbers on the engines destined for them. If you're still concerned about chassis flex, a nice Tokimo welded-in cage will help you a little bit.

[JadeyBlitzen]

pics coutesy of akila_9692

Edited June 3, 2010 by JadeyBlitzen

[shanX]

^^ looks cool & neat

[JadeyBlitzen]

thrs wz a red 1989 AE86 in yakkala for about 780000.if u wnt il find out the no n gv u.

Thanks mate. Any more info on this car? pics? My priorities have changed slightly since the prices went down. lets talk about this car purely for information.

^^ I think I have seen that car on a car sale sometime back, was a different color earlier, painted yellow recently. And it's an AE85

corolla or sprinter? hatch or coupe?

You'll be like Itsuki then. If you enjoyed the movie you really should watch the entire Initial D anime series. I never thought I'd enjoy something like that but I really did.

+1 to this project. Go for it! The hachiroku is a great all-round car and I can't understand why the AE85 and AE86 chassis would be different. I'm sure they would have come off the same production line and the naming convention only differs because Toyota bases its chassis numbers on the engines destined for them. If you're still concerned about chassis flex, a nice Tokimo welded-in cage will help you a little bit.

I'll watch some episodes soon

as for the car the differences between an 85 and 86 are pretty unclear at the moment. So far I've only seen people discuss this on forums. Hope someone will find something more accurate soon.

and if im going to do this so big why not start with an original hachiroku? it'll be a more fitting conversion

[shanX]

[JadeyBlitzen]

any info on this car?

[shanX]

Painted yellow, and is an AE85. Was quoted 4.5lakhs at that time (though am sure, the real price was around 3.5 or lesser at that time), was at a car sale.

[4age]

[4age]

[JadeyBlitzen]

argh! must have one