Considering a '78 Wagon... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 08-17-2011, 09:02 AM

Can anyone give me a guess as to how prevalent parts (interior/exterior) are for a 1978 5spd Corona wagon? The guy wants to unload it quick, like today, and I don't want to end up with a third project that becomes a burden. I already have a '51 Chevy, a '74 Honda and a boosted 06 tC w/a persistent CEL. lol.

Ultimately it'd get gutted, caged, slammed and raced but to start, I'm buying it to cart my 100lb ridgeback/pit mix around because he doesn't fit in the Scion.

fastwithclass · 08-18-2011, 08:40 AM

Good little rigs, we raced one 5 years ago in auto cross. handled like a slammed wagon with slicks on it. They are a good shell for a race platform. you can get chassis parts easy and cheap, but interior and trim is unavailable unless you can find one in a junk yard. A guy once told me they only made 1000 of these wagons in 78, not sure how true that is but great little rigs. I drive one everyday to work.

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 08-18-2011, 10:00 AM

Very cool. Chassis, suspension and steering are what I'm worried about. The body on it looks good. Only a little rust bubbling up under the original paint in the usual spots. Ideally I'd drive it home, tune it up, clean it and use it for a couple years before getting crazy with it. Would probably drop it and throw a set of wheels on it asap.

Whats the aftermarket like for suspension and the 20R?

seaweedsl · 08-18-2011, 01:24 PM

Aftermarket for the 20R is good. Check toyhead http://www.toyheadauto.com/ for one.

I get my stock suspension parts at Rockauto. Most anything mechanical is available. It's the interior and body parts, as they say, that are difficult.

With a conventional coil front and leaf rear suspension, modding is pretty easy, I've lifted mine by installing alternate springs and adding leafs.

Check the stickies, eh?

Steve

***FlawedLegacy*** · 08-25-2011, 07:38 AM

so Eric.... you getting this beauty???

***BLUEMEANIE*** · 08-25-2011, 08:50 AM

I dunno. I'm nervous about having another project and zero garage space. Besides, I just dropped a couple hundred on a set of bumpers for the truck and I still need to get the engine rebuilt. If there's gonna be custom work involved I think I might just keep shopping around for maybe a 60-70's Volvo wagon or try and locate an old Datsun or something.

Think this... 1967 Volvo Amazon/122S