ok continuing on............
when you start doing the first basic maintence items there are a few things to look for. always buy a new starter, not a remanufactured one. the starter is under the exhaust so it gets kinda hot. the only ones that last worth a damn are new one's. and when putting on an aftermarket header always wrap it with header wrap. this will help extend the starter's and the distributer's life span.
some other things to know about ae86's is that they were never designed to take the loads of aftermarket suspensions. i think the most important part of preparing a corolla for any kind of spirted driving is making sure the chassis is in good condition. these cars have been known to tear themselves apart at the seems. a full on cage is the best way to go cause it will tie the whole car together. but if its a daily driver then taking the car down to nothing and having it seem welded would be a good idea.
ok, now for the good stuff. basically why everyone loves the ae86 in the first place is cause of how the car handles and fun it is to drive. even being underpowered its still a blast to drive stock. but everyone needs more power and thats where the corolla can go many differet ways. you have to decide what you want and what you like. the common swaps are the 4agze and the 20v 4age. you can't go wrong with either one, but those aren't your only options, you have lots of different motors to chose from
18rg
2tg
3tg
3tgte
1ggze
1ggte
3sge
3sgte
22rte
20r,22r
you could prolly even get a v6 in there too like the 1mzfe. but basically any A series motor will fit. then there are the 4agte, 7age hybrids. i say this cause there never was either motor form toyota. if you plan on turboing a 4ag make sure you have a red hat bottom end due to it having better ristpins, rod and main journal sizes and oil cooled pistons.
in the us you had 3 versions of the 4age.
Blue Hat: 85 to 87 corolla GT-S, 85 to 87 aw11 mr2,87 corolla fx16 GT-S.
early Red Hat: 88 to 89- MR2 n/a and s/c, FWD corolla GT-S, FX-16 GT-S.
and i believe the only 4age after 89 was the small port Red Hat found in the 90 to 92 Geo Prizm Gsi's.
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