BACKGROUND:
Long story short, a friend and me decided we wanted a new project car. We decided to try our hand at a rally build due to our proximity to The FIRM rally school and track. We grew up in rural north Florida so dirt road racing is second nature. We wanted to make sure we would like it, so we opted to do a cheap FWD build vs a Subie or other AWD build. We searched and settled on a AE101 94 Corolla for $500. It was a bone stock 4afe 5spd with a nasty oil leak somewhere on the front. And thus the Corally is born.
THE PLAN:
The plan is to build up the chassis and focus on horsepower later. We want to build it to FIA253 spec so it can compete in any stage rally event. If we decide to sell it and build an AWD it will give us a larger market to sell to. For each area of the car I will give the short term build goals, and long term build goals.
THE CHASSIS:
The short term and long term are one in the same here. The interior is currently stripped and the roll cage is being built. The cage is a FIA 253-3 spec. I can weld and fabricate but bending tube is a different ball game. So I mocked up the cage with 1/2" emt tubing. I then dropped off the 1/2" to the tube bender along with the 1.75" that the cage will be constructed of. They will then return the pieces ready for me to notch and weld in. This cage will be tied to each strut tower and the strut towers will be plated for extra strength. This should keep me from having a strut bust through the body when I send it over a jump. Roll cage will also tie into a new dash bar possibly new aluminum dash. I will also fab up a mount for a hydraulic e-brake, install FIA certified racing seats, and FIA certified 5 point harnesses.
THE POWERPLANT:
Since we are dumping our initial focus on the chassis, the motor will remain a stock 4AFE for the time being. We are however doing some low cost minor upgrades to the 4AFE. I'm building a custom intake that utilizes a 1uz-fe throttle body. I'm also putting in 1uz injectors and an exhaust header with a 2.5" straight pipe. My logic here is that the intake was made from scrap metal and junkyard parts. The header I can resale easily and the exhaust will work with the next motor.
Speaking of the next motor, we will be doing a higher horsepower swap at some point. This will sort of depend on how the 4afe feels on the stages. If it feels like we only need a minor bump in power (200hp or less) we will probably build a 7agte. If we think we will want way more power (250-300hp) we will swap in a 3sgte. Either way that is a ways down the road.
The current 5spd tranny will remain stock aside from welding the differential. The open diff on it would be horrible in the gravel. My thought is welding it will net maybe the biggest increase in performance of anything. Obviously down the road if we swap to a 3sgte, a tranny swap would be in order.
THE SUSPENSION:
The entire suspension is swapped out with a ES300. The ES300 uses nearly identical mounting points. The strut towers have to be redrilled to accept ES300 struts. The ES300 spindles are beefier. It also converts us to 5 lug hubs. Also gives us rear disk brakes for the hydraulic e-brake. I have all the parts for this conversion but need to get around to doing it. I will post updates here as well as make a specific thread for this as I was unable to get much info on a 5 lug conversion, but found many people interested.
This car previously had a power steering delete. I will improve on this by adding a catch can style oil feed for the power rack. I pulled a prius steering column with electric assist. I figure with the welded diff up front I will want power steering. I dont want to swap my rack and dont want to deal with a ps pump and possible leaks or damage with rally.
OTHER STUFF:
Gonna run the stock fuel tank for a short time, but I will fab up a fuel cell soon.
Gonna do a cheap rustoleum paint job with some custom livery. Want it to look good but not be a big deal when it gets messed up. Probably some nice depo lights, mesh grille, gc8 WRX mud flaps. All looks good but cheap to replace if broken.
Sort of undecided on wheels. Somewhere between 15-17 inch, and with a lot of material on the wheels. With street wheels the thinner spokes are fine, but on a rally car they become a weak point from all the abuse. Keeping an eye out for decent priced gravel rally tires, but they are pricey. I've researched it and I'm gonna run Sumitomo Ice Edge tires as they have an aggressive pattern and super soft compound.
Let me know what you guys think. Open to suggestions. I will post pics and updates as I progress on it. If I think one of the projects is worthy of it own write up, I will link it with the pics here.
Long story short, a friend and me decided we wanted a new project car. We decided to try our hand at a rally build due to our proximity to The FIRM rally school and track. We grew up in rural north Florida so dirt road racing is second nature. We wanted to make sure we would like it, so we opted to do a cheap FWD build vs a Subie or other AWD build. We searched and settled on a AE101 94 Corolla for $500. It was a bone stock 4afe 5spd with a nasty oil leak somewhere on the front. And thus the Corally is born.
THE PLAN:
The plan is to build up the chassis and focus on horsepower later. We want to build it to FIA253 spec so it can compete in any stage rally event. If we decide to sell it and build an AWD it will give us a larger market to sell to. For each area of the car I will give the short term build goals, and long term build goals.
THE CHASSIS:
The short term and long term are one in the same here. The interior is currently stripped and the roll cage is being built. The cage is a FIA 253-3 spec. I can weld and fabricate but bending tube is a different ball game. So I mocked up the cage with 1/2" emt tubing. I then dropped off the 1/2" to the tube bender along with the 1.75" that the cage will be constructed of. They will then return the pieces ready for me to notch and weld in. This cage will be tied to each strut tower and the strut towers will be plated for extra strength. This should keep me from having a strut bust through the body when I send it over a jump. Roll cage will also tie into a new dash bar possibly new aluminum dash. I will also fab up a mount for a hydraulic e-brake, install FIA certified racing seats, and FIA certified 5 point harnesses.
THE POWERPLANT:
Since we are dumping our initial focus on the chassis, the motor will remain a stock 4AFE for the time being. We are however doing some low cost minor upgrades to the 4AFE. I'm building a custom intake that utilizes a 1uz-fe throttle body. I'm also putting in 1uz injectors and an exhaust header with a 2.5" straight pipe. My logic here is that the intake was made from scrap metal and junkyard parts. The header I can resale easily and the exhaust will work with the next motor.
Speaking of the next motor, we will be doing a higher horsepower swap at some point. This will sort of depend on how the 4afe feels on the stages. If it feels like we only need a minor bump in power (200hp or less) we will probably build a 7agte. If we think we will want way more power (250-300hp) we will swap in a 3sgte. Either way that is a ways down the road.
The current 5spd tranny will remain stock aside from welding the differential. The open diff on it would be horrible in the gravel. My thought is welding it will net maybe the biggest increase in performance of anything. Obviously down the road if we swap to a 3sgte, a tranny swap would be in order.
THE SUSPENSION:
The entire suspension is swapped out with a ES300. The ES300 uses nearly identical mounting points. The strut towers have to be redrilled to accept ES300 struts. The ES300 spindles are beefier. It also converts us to 5 lug hubs. Also gives us rear disk brakes for the hydraulic e-brake. I have all the parts for this conversion but need to get around to doing it. I will post updates here as well as make a specific thread for this as I was unable to get much info on a 5 lug conversion, but found many people interested.
This car previously had a power steering delete. I will improve on this by adding a catch can style oil feed for the power rack. I pulled a prius steering column with electric assist. I figure with the welded diff up front I will want power steering. I dont want to swap my rack and dont want to deal with a ps pump and possible leaks or damage with rally.
OTHER STUFF:
Gonna run the stock fuel tank for a short time, but I will fab up a fuel cell soon.
Gonna do a cheap rustoleum paint job with some custom livery. Want it to look good but not be a big deal when it gets messed up. Probably some nice depo lights, mesh grille, gc8 WRX mud flaps. All looks good but cheap to replace if broken.
Sort of undecided on wheels. Somewhere between 15-17 inch, and with a lot of material on the wheels. With street wheels the thinner spokes are fine, but on a rally car they become a weak point from all the abuse. Keeping an eye out for decent priced gravel rally tires, but they are pricey. I've researched it and I'm gonna run Sumitomo Ice Edge tires as they have an aggressive pattern and super soft compound.
Let me know what you guys think. Open to suggestions. I will post pics and updates as I progress on it. If I think one of the projects is worthy of it own write up, I will link it with the pics here.
