Rally noob - advice on ae82 corolla!

[Shadoxity]

Hey everyone...

I did a khanacross on sunday in my WRX and had lots of fun, but quickly discovered that it is not something i would like to continue doing in my WRX (to much cost in that one )

So it seems to be fate that it just so happened some people had put up an AE82 corolla twin cam up for sale.

My dad and i went to look at it (im 18) and we got the AE82 corolla with a twin cam engine.

has practically brand new rally tyres, 1/2 roll cage, 2 new bucket seats, and converted to a rally car.
also has all 4 disk brakes.

Came with an extra set of 14" alloy wheels, and a spare motor (has done a big end bearing...)
We got this for $1400 (originally asking $1600) which in our eyes was a perfect start to get into rallying, (well starting with khana crosses and motokhanas and at a great price.

so my question to all of you experts is...

Seeing as though it still has the stock suspension on it, my dad thinks it would be a good idea to replace the shocks...

Just wondering if there is any advice you could all give as to anything we should do or what type of shocks to use???

Also if you could give me an idea of what the costs would be to get it ready for rallying. i.e. i would need one of those phone systems (terraphone i think its called) what is a general price for them?

as far as i know it should be fine to enter into a rally but i dont know what specs you actually have to do.

Cheers

[tortfeaser]

It will be eligible for khanacrosses and introductory rallies that don't require a proper cage, just have to add a first aid kit, triangles, mud flaps etc.

Probably best to get a CAMS manual and read Sched R which explains the basics for a rally car.

If you want to enter full special stage rallies then it'll need to have a full roll cage.

As for shocks, the best are big $ (Proflex, Ohlins, STA, Reiger etc), you may be able to find some Bilstein to fit the Toyota strut tube. There's one other AE82 prepared for rallying going around, he entered one of the last khanas but I don't recall his name. Contact him and see what's what maybe.

I've got AE82 Twin Cam bits for sale if you need them - one complete car for $2k, the other complete except for RF guard, R door and RF strut and driveshaft. Engine is good, $400.

[Shadoxity]

Thanks for that!
Will see if i can find some bilstein ones.

Cheers

[Damo]

With suspension, there isnt alot around that will bolt-in and cope in a rally situation. I recently did some digging around for shocks for my AE92 (same struts) - Bilstien dont do a drop in shock for these models, so I really only found 2 worthwhile options;

1) 40mm DMS - $1750 per pair, but is a complete strut inc springs, top hats etc.

2) Heasmans in Sydney will do a custom cut & shut to fit some 40mm Billies to your struts for around $1100 a pair, you'll then need to add springs etc. (they wouldnt tell me what part numbers they were going to use...)

The 50mm DMS were around $2500 for the pair. If it is to just be used for khana's & stuff, I'd just go for some new Corolla spec KYB's/Monroe's/something else, which should be better than the 200+kms old stuff that is in there at the moment.

[Iplen]

When I started off it was with a Camira, it was running some custom built pedders front struts, and some pedders 4WD shocks in the back all with pedders springs all up it cost about $1200 six years ago, going from that to Proflex (In an AE101 Levin) blew me away... but for starting off the Camira was always well balanced and handled pretty well. Call Gavin at Pedders in Penrith I am not sure if they do much but it may be possible to.

[Ric Cary]

I have never seen a Corolla strut but if its the same ID as a sigma or Galant one then commodore billies fit inside if anybody has access to both struts a quick measure up would soon let you know whats what

[Damo]

I have never seen a Corolla strut but if its the same ID as a sigma or Galant one then commodore billies fit inside if anybody has access to both struts a quick measure up would soon let you know whats what

Unfortunately not, thats why Heasmans/Syd Shocks need to do a cut & shut.
The front strut is also quite short, so a Commo shock is too long as well.

[Ben Wilson]

If I remember correctly, the AE82 which was running at the 'kahana last year was using modified VR4 struts (I know EVO struts are surprisingly short).

[Bede]

You can get a PDF version of Bilstein’s full catalogue here http://www2.bilstein.de/en/katalog/ (about half way down – both English and German) approx. 34MB though…

You could find a shock that has the travel you want (closest to standard or a bit more) and then see what diameters they are. Then find some strut tubes that fit the shocks you have picked (Sigma, Commodore, VR4, etc). Order the shocks through Sydney Shocks or Quadrant in Melbourne. Then get someone who is good with a welder and struts (Rod Kilby, Phil Donohue, etc) to transplant the tube to your Corolla hubs, put in the shocks and away you go. It might pay to check that the shock tops will match up to the Corolla strut tops.

[Spac]

Originally Posted by tortfeaser

There's one other AE82 prepared for rallying going around, he entered one of the last khanas but I don't recall his name. Contact him and see what's what maybe.

Evan Vale. Nice bloke.

The investigation I did when I was loooking at Damo's AE92* suggests that either an AE82 or 92 would be a very good rally car.

*Yeah Damo, I suck...

[Friz]

Hi,
I have an AE92, I think the struts are the same for an AE 82. My advice is to steer clear of Bilstein, especially in the rear. I ran then and found them to bend. I actually went through two sets with the same bending result. I now have Pedders, and they have not bent.

[dysolve]

for your first few years just get something a little better then standard, If it was me i would get some thing cheapish and easily replaceable at least for your first few year. People my pull faces at me for saying this but buy some King springs off e-bay and some mid priced shockies. I dont see the point in spending $1000's on a car if you are only going to be doing khana's. but thats just me..

[Davo]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I'm looking at going down the same road.

Did anything eventuate from this chin wagging? If so, what kind of issues am I looking at?

[Guy27]

Hi just spotted this, im the bloke who bought Damo's 92. As we rushed the build of the car we had to do the AHTR with standard suspention which gave the inside rear some serious air time but wasnt too bad for tarmac. Fortunately a mate had some 50mm Billsteins that were meant for a civic or somthing (were not really sure) but had blank bottoms so in the last couple of weeks we got an engineer to make up bottom plates and we did an event last weekend and they were great! As for rears ive just put some replacement Kings in for now until someone wants to sell me some rear coilovers.

So thats my budget approach will be interesting to see how it goes on a rally

[DAT610_WA]

Tend to agree with dysolves's reply.
I got an AE92 really cheap, with ALOT of issues. First to be addressed was the springs and shocks. Talked to my mechanic mate and the local suspension guru. Monroe GT gas (complete leg) and a set of king springs (heavy duty's in the front). I got a good price on it all and there's still ~$700 worth of suspension (more than twice what I paid for the car !).
The complete leg had the advantage of, not knowing the history of the car, I now know all strut housings are straight. The thing with the AE92 (and possibly the AE82), they were a crimped assembly, so there's usually no big nut and a replaceable insert. Though apparently some jap spec models did come out that way.
Monroe GT gas, best of a bad bunch. I originally wanted KYB's in there, but was told that the build quality has been degraded to fit in the lower price bracket, so no better than the rest.
Next step up would have been the Koni's, which for my budget were too exxy and meant I had to use my strut legs, which I weren't sure were straight, so forget about that for now, Koni's maybe in the future. This is a Khana/Autocross after all.
To fit the Koni's you've gotta chop off the top of the strut housing and drill a holle for mounting them in the bottom. Because of the mounting arrangement it means you're also limited to 1 way adjustable's as well, though that's maybe not a bad thing for a noob.
Thus have been my findings and decisions on the matter so far. Bit different if I intended to rally it, I'd be having a closer look at DMS, or buying a car that had all those good bits already.

Edit: Price for shocks as I recall was ~$142/complete leg. ~$120 an end for springs. I re-used the existing bump stops, so got away with out those.