1990 corolla vs. 1985 celica?

[lamchop]

i currently own a 1990 corolla sr5 coupe... wondering if the celica is easier to work on? i have very limited space to do any mechanical work, and the corolla is having... issues. essentially, as soon as it moves forward under it's own power, i'm selling it. i have a 1985 celica available to me for free and wondering about their reliability/ease of repair. it apparently has a r22 engine in it?

[Pineapple]

I'll say they're about the same. Corolla parts may be easier to come by.
What kind of issue does you Corolla have?

[DougDangger]

I'd go for the 85 Celica. Those rwd gems are great cars. Parts for them should also be cheap.

[Pineapple]

Not sure about that in Canada. Don't see any of those around. 4th gen and up, yes. Corolla, got tons.

I wrecked my red 4dr Corolla and it still follow me to every parking lot

[Unco]

you're looking to get an older car, so expect it to be just as bad or possibly worse than your current car.

based on your original post, i don't think you would gain any advantage in regards to space. what issues is your corolla having? why don't you just fix it and keep it? a car can only have ongoing issues when it's not fixed properly in the first place.

unless of course, you just don't like your corolla for its looks or whatever other reason.

[lamchop]

truth is, i love my corolla, i've named it the romeromobile, those of you who fark know what that means :P i did a bit more research, and as far as i can tell, the 22-r is fuel injected, i was hoping it was carburated, as i have lots of experience fixing carburated engines, big american ones, but the romeromobile is scary, tiny japanese fuel injected engine, my hands have trouble fitting anywhere in the engine, i'm having ignition problems and have traced it back to the ignitor and/or ignition coil and don't have the 300 bucks to buy a new one so i get to go scavenge one or two, or honestly as many as i can stick in my pockets, from the junkyard on wednesday in between moving, hopefully i can get it up and running so i don't have to pay to get it towed from my current house to my sister's house 'cause i'm moving downtown and don't want to put out the 30 bucks for a parking pass if it's not running.

wow. that is a textbook example of a run-on sentence.

if the corolla gets up and running, i'm just gonna keep it running, i think, just have to start setting aside money a bit more often and going to the junkyard a bit more often. all my problems could have been avoided if i'd replaced my distributor cap 3 months ago when it started having problems, but i kept thinking "next paycheque, i'll do it." mechanically, it's in great shape. a wee bit of body rust tho.

[EverAE]

a couple months back i thought about a '85 celica gt-s liftback. Was 500$, decent condition, new clutch and gas tank, he was selling it for the price he payed for the new tires he put on. Theres a couple nice body kits for them. The 22re is the same engine used in the toyota pickups and there tons of aftermarket support for those engines (wouldnt be to hard to mod a turbo kit onto it). I like the look of them. You can fit alot of supra suspension parts and such on them, and the supra lsd rear end. I kinda wish i bought it...but i'm poor and i also have no room for another car. Corolla will always be easier to find parts though.

[stepho]

The '85 Celica is a simpler car to work on - mainly by virtue of RWD and North-South engines not having every mechanical item in the car crammed into that same engine bay.
But the parts availability is drying up
and age (rust, etc) is never kind.

The '90 corolla is still okay for parts and I believe it can interchange many parts with later models (engine upgrades anyone?)

The 22R came in both EFI and carb versions.
The '82 Celica is essentially the same as the '85 but has carbs.
But EFI isn't so hard to work on once you get used to it.

Don't forget that RWD cars are so much more rewarding to drive than FWD.

If the '85 Celica is too hard to find parts for, consider either a late 80's/early 90's Supra or a similar year Cressida.
Think of them as 6 cylinder Celicas.
My wife's '87 Cressida (2.8 litres) easily keeps up with the latest 4 litre cars.

The Corolla makes more economic sense.

I'm happy quite with my 77 Celica liftback but I don't mind scavenger hunts in wrecking yards and the occasional roadside repair to failing mechanicals.

Follow your heart because your wallet takes you to places you didn't really want to go to.

- Stepho
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stepho/celprod.htm#cel64pr

[Pineapple]

Coil is easy. Go aftermarket. You can convert it to external and use any MSD coil. For ignitor, junkyard is the only way. I don't think there is an ignitor for the 4A-FE. Its internal coil. I've converted mine to use external coil.