Hmmmm... DeadSkunk's Challenge Corolla... may need flares

So, what did I get for $250? The car came with everything but a motor and radiator. The rest of the stock drive train was in it. It had a full cage of very questionable quality. See the following cage photos.......

That last pic is the driver's side door bar ! I broke that free with three whacks of a 2 lb hammer.

If you look at how all the bars of the cage are scabbed onto the main hoop, which was quite narrow, it suggests that the car was a race car back in the days when IMSA and SCCA allowed showroom stock types of cars to race with a roll bar only. To me, it certainly looks like the whole front part of the cage was a later addition. How it ever got past an SCCA tech inspector is beyond me. So it had to come out. At this point in time I was still thinking I could add a turbo four  cylinder to the car and run it at the Challenge on the race suspension, possibly without the extra weight of a sketchy cage.

I had been reading the threads about Mazda F2T engines and turbocharging, so I was looking for a 1st generation Kia Sportage, manual trans, 2wd to yank a motor from. There were plenty of 4wd, auto trans vehicles around, but few of what I wanted at acceptable prices.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Very cool!

Are you still in Challenge budget?

72 Corolla... that's what I was driving when  I met my wife!

The car was equipped with a fire suppression bottle and plumbing, a brake bias valve mounted to the transmission tunnel, an ATL fuel cell, front and rear torsion bar style sway bars, an Accusump style oil accumulator, all the right kind of stuff, just some of the execution was pretty iffy. It wasn't the seller that did it either. He had purchased another later model Corolla from a divorcee and had to take the entire lot, so he was just dumping this car as excess to his needs. His other car was a very nicely done piece.

So, I'm looking around for a suitable Sportage when this pops up on a local Miata group Facebook page....

A 1999 Miata with a Jackson Racing supercharger and a blown radiator. I saw the ad and responded within 4 minutes of it being posted. Within 15 minutes there was a lineup of buyers offering to buy it sight unseen. Seller swore up and down it ran fine, it had just blown the radiator sitting in commute traffic. I didn't really believe it was fine, but "Hey!", it was only $1000, so I couldn't really lose anything but a little time. And it came home on the trailer the next day. At that point I was viewing it as an engine swap donor with plenty of recoup potential.

The Corolla occupied one bay of the garage and the Miata the other, so it was easy to go back and forth measuring things up for the anticipated swap, except it turns out it wasn't going to be so easy. Miatas are front steer cars and Corollas are rear steer, so the oil pans and cross members came into play, and didn't want tp play nicely. The final blow came when I realized the Miata motor was too long to simply drop into the nice, short Corolla engine bay. I could have put the radiator in front of the rad support and maybe made it fit. I chose not to because these Corollas were nose heavy with the original 2TC engines and putting an iron block Miata engine even further forward assured the car would plow like a John Deere. So, back to the drawing board for what to do with the Corolla.

In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :

Paul, I'm currently some place between $1000 and $1200 on budget. I need to carefully measure how much tubing I used in the chassis from my total stash. As I write this up I'll layout what I paid for stuff. I have found some tremendous bargains and lucked into some stuff. For example, my entire budget for two sets of wheels and tires  currently sits at $50, and I have the two rear tires on the car that could be sold off against that amount.

So, while I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what the next steps are for the Toyota I decided to enter the Miata in the 2017 Challenge. On the drive down to Gainesville I mentioned that I'd be quite happy to make into the top ten with the car. The soft top was crappy, so I removed it. Added some $40 Ebay Chinesium coil overs, a Ranger front sway bar, a race seat, some home brewed aero , a Craiglist radiator and some free Hoosier SM7s from the scrap pile at Waterford Hills.

Side note: I showed up at the house where the radiator was for sale and there were a couple of young lads working on a Miata and I'm wearing a GRM Challenge T-shirt, which I normally do on any parts pickup. We get to talking about why I need the rad and the seller knows about the Challenge. The $20 radiator turns into a free part. So, the lesson is always wear your GRM gear and talk up the Challenge,even to vendors who have never heard of it. Prices will change fairly frequently if you do.

We ended up 2nd fastest on the autocross course (an tied with Ed Malle's Mustang !!), and 4th overall on dynamic score. That was much better than we had expected and lead me to rethink the Corolla build. On the return trip we had lots of time to discuss what to do and I set some rough goals...

1) handle like a Miata

2) go faster than the 14.72 the Miata turned in the drags

3) make more Concours points that the 14.25 we got

So, a lot of what you have seen in the current photos of the Corolla was driven by how well the Miata did. More to come.

The first thing I tackled was working on finding Miata parts to put a better suspension in the Toyota and I found an ad for a complete subframe dropout on the west side of the state for $100 !   I drove out to pick up the parts and wore the appropriate shirt and lo and behold , the seller turns out to be one of our own, Klodkrawler. So, for my $100 I got this pile of stuff.....

Differential, axles, subframes, suspension arms, two sets of pedals, all the steering rack and steering column, and importantly, that rear bumper cover. I immediately advertised the bumper cover and sold it for $75 of the $100 I had advertised. In hindsight, I should have asked $150 and taken $100 to get to zero budget on the whole pile. Eventually I sold the differential and axles, but at the time I picked this lot up I was entertaining thoughts of put both subframes into the Corolla. But reality intervened again.

The stuff was pretty rusty and I couldn't get some of it apart. Additionally, I started looking closely at where to cut the firewall because I knew any engine was going to have to be set back. Looking closely in the engine compartment , I realized the front frame rails were bent, rusty and in an entirely wrong spot to be modified to accept a Miata front subframe. What to do?

About the time I was struggling with figuring out what to do for suspension  a thread appeared on the forums. It was copied from several other websites and was little more than an advertisement for the poster's business, which was building front clips and entire chassis for various muscle cars........ and the thread had a lot of detailed photos of his products. I looked at the front clips he sold and thought "I can do that! How hard can it be?" So, off to Craiglist to find rectangular steel tube and a used chop saw to build this.......

I mimicked what I saw in the thread as best I could. The dimensions were all driven by the suspension mounting points on the rusty Miata subframe, with slight adjustments to allow for a little more camber and caster. Here it is with suspension bits attached......

And, of course, another dose of reality reared its head for the umpteenth time. I had intended to weld this clip into the base of the A-pillars at the inner rocker panel and run tubes down from the upper chassis rail stubs to the front of the clip for support. The pillars and rockers were pretty rotten and would take a bunch of work to repair. More to come.....

Great stuff here!

Ahh.... Scope creep. I know you well. 

Looking great Warren. I look forward to the rest of the story.

At some point in all of this ( my timeline is kinda fuzzy) I decided that the Miata was too nice to make into a donor because it was in about the same condition as my street Miata, but with a supercharger. I took it off death row and sold the street car. I had run the car at the Challenge, 8 or 10 autocross runs, 11 drag passes in quick succession , and it was behaving normally. The seller's assertion that there was nothing wrong ,other than a blown radiator, seemed to be true. It's been in regular street use since the 2017 Challenge with no issues.

So what to do? I've got a Corolla tub that I can't clip. I still have no engine, but I know nothing will fit without cutting out the firewall and setting it back several inches. I stumbled on another track car build at Vorshlag Motorsports and printed off a picture of the '69 Camaro they had built. If you wear bifocals, are 68 years old and squint enough a '73 Corolla does look kinda, sorta like a '69 Camaro, and they had all kinds of pictures of the build. I already had a chop saw, a welder and I had managed to create a front clip that was approximately square. So how hard could a complete chassis really be? This IS GRM and no one will stop you, right?

And, if you're going to have to chop the firewall anyway, why bother with a 180ish HP Miata motor when the world is awash in LS engines. Enter this.......

A 2003 LM4 from a Trailblazer EXT. So a garden variety, truck LS rated at 290 horse, but with an aluminum block. The lighter weight appealed to me because my knowledge of turbos is limited to picking Calvin's brain on occasion, and I had visions of a post Challenge life for it in a Miata. All that, and is was $300, which was really the best reason. Deciding on a V8 meant that the rear end would have to be looked at. Since putting a live axle in where one already existed seemed easier than trying to fortify the Miata IRS and create rear mounting points for it, I went shopping for a rear end to take the torque. Initially, I looked at S10 rears because they're about the narrowest around, but some online research showed that a Fox Mustang axle is almost the same width as an NB Miata. More hunting ensued and I bought this......... 

It's a Fox Mustang from the early 80s, I think. LSD, 4 lug axles and a 2.73 ratio.....so basically, unsellable. I got it for $80. I also bought a jig to redrill the axle flanges and drums for a 4x100 bolt circle to keep this simpler for wheel availability. More to come.

Glad to know that I'm not the only one to buy several donor vehicles as my "research".

Very cool front clip!

In my searching for "steel tubing" I turned up this device......

It's made from 2x4x1/4 tube and is 152" long and 40" wide. I forget what the seller called it, but I saw a perfect surface to fabricate a chassis on. It turns out the guy had bought it to exactly the same thing, except he had built a gasser/altered type car from a 1937 Dodge sedan and he was done with it and needed it gone. So, $100 later it was on my trailer. It was nice and flat and square, so it made my chassis build a lot easier than doing on the floor, especially since the floor in this garage isn't flat or level. It has four casters and leveling screws and worked perfectly.

It was handy for measuring stuff. I treated the top surface as the bottom plane of the car and the bottom side represented the ground plane since I was targetting a ride height of 4 inches , or slightly less.

Some chassis construction pics......

If you look closely at this front clip photo you'll notice that the cross member is different from the previous photo of the clip and a couple of diagonals are missing. Once I decided on the engine and accompanying oil pan I had to make some changes to fit. The bottom of the pan is flush with the bottom of the chassis for clearance issues at the cowl and the diagonal took up a valuable inch of height.

I built the chassis by measuring points and distances off the empty shell, which was sitting in the other bay of the garage. I never actually test fit anything until this week. Luckily, I measured accurately enough that I only made one error. I cut along the middle of the inner rockers so I'd have a straight edge to set on the 2x2 rocker tubes of the chassis. The error is in the distance from that mating surface to the high point of the main hoop of the cage. It's an inch too high, so the roof contacts the cage before the rockers contact the square tubes. It changes little, but I'll have to do some sheet metal work to fill the gap.

TRADING FOR WHEELS

I said in an earlier post that my total wheel and tire budget for this build will be only $50 or less. This is how I did it.

I bought set of of Enkei rims for the 2017 Challenge Miata for $50. These ones.....

I also picked up a set of Center-Line wheels for $80........

I was holding both sets "in reserve" in case I couldn't find a wider set. I wanted wider (like 10" wide) so I can run some serious meat under the Corolla, 275 or 295 Hohos. I have purchased two different sets of 15x10 wheels, one set of Ford pattern chrome wheels that weigh a ton, and a set of Wide-5 circle track rims. In both cases my hope had been that I could cut the centers away from the hoops and weld in some standard steelie centers from a set of 15x6 wheels I picked up free. I used to do this kind of thing 30 years ago to get cheap autocross wheels, Chrysler K-car centers welded to GM 14x7 hoops . They worked well on my VW GTI.

However (reality intervention again) what I didn't know is that wide steel wheels have a greater drop in the middle to aid tire installation and the 15x6 centers are too large a diameter for the 15x10 hoops. So, those sets of 15x10s got sold on to others.

One night I'm searching FB Marketplace for "slicks" and an ad pops up for a young fellow selling four Diamond Racing 15x8 steelies with two street tires and two M&H Racemaster 24x8x15 slicks for $400. Not Challenge friendly, but he did say "or trade for some street rims". I immediately look at his profile and he's a 20ish young man with a flat brim cap and a Honda Civic. So I stereotype the guy and start looking for cheap 17x8s to possibly buy and trade him. Then I message and ask if he's looking for 17s. No, Michigan roads being what they are, he wanted 15s to have some tire sidewall for protection from the potholes. Well, those I have and I send him pictures of both sets. I'm gently trying to steer him to the Enkeis as $50 budget hits are better than $80 hits, but either would be good deal. He tells me he has an offer of some Rotas (no model given) and I suggest a three way trade if I can't get the slicks. It's my bedtime, so I tell him to think on it and I'm going to bed. The next morning there's a reply, he doesn't want to get involved in a three way deal, he wants the Center-Lines and then he adds "I can sweeten the deal with a little cash". I have no idea why he offered that, unless he happened to look up the price of current forged Center-Lines and realized how pricey a new set is. So a deal was made and he traded the Diamonds and slicks,plus $100 for the set of wheels I had bought for $80. I got these...

plus the M&Hs for a budget hit of zero dollars and the $80 recoup.

A few weeks later , another ad pops up while searching for "15x10". Young fellow has 5 Bassett 15x10 steel wheels, two with some Maxxis 245/45/15 tires for $400 or trade for street wheels. He ends up taking the Enkeis to use on his NA Miata. He didn't like how it rode , given the weight of the tire and wheel combo and the fact that it was lowered with only 1.5 inches of ground clearance. So that set is what is in the pictures of the Corolla (on the rear) and are $50 for a set of five wheels, less whatever I might be able to sell the Maxxis tires for.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

New favorite thread, love it!

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In my searching for "steel tubing" I turned up this device......

It's made from 2x4x1/4 tube and is 152" long and 40" wide. I forget what the seller called it, but I saw a perfect surface to fabricate a chassis on. It turns out the guy had bought it to exactly the same thing, except he had built a gasser/altered type car from a 1937 Dodge sedan and he was done with it and needed it gone. So, $100 later it was on my trailer. It was nice and flat and square, so it made my chassis build a lot easier than doing on the floor, especially since the floor in this garage isn't flat or level. It has four casters and leveling screws and worked perfectly.

It was handy for measuring stuff. I treated the top surface as the bottom plane of the car and the bottom side represented the ground plane since I was targetting a ride height of 4 inches , or slightly less.

Any time you decide, like the p.o., that your done with it, and ready to move it on, I'll have $100 waiting. Just let me know! Great score!

In reply to 03Panther :

It's already left my garage and you can buy it from John Brown as part of a package that includes a Panhard Dyna !

I've been to the Challenge 8 times, but only once have I entered a vehicle. It has become an annual trip for my son and I and it's great fun. It's an opportunity to watch, listen and learn from the other competitors. One tidbit I picked up (from Andrew Nelson) went something like this......"it's not just a $20 part, it's 1% of your total budget". That recurring thought drives a lot of the planning and parts negotiating for me. Case in point....

The car utilizes Miata front suspension bits, except for the shocks. The shocks from the subframe dropout I bought were shot, so what to do? I searched for some used stuff but nothing worthwhile showed up at anything  like Challenge friendly pricing. Enter the word "Bilstein" and an ad shows up for a pair for $20 (see above pic). That's a strut from a Toyota Tundra TRD from 2003 I think. Using the Monroe website allows you to get dimensions for any shock they make and you can use it to compare the Tundra dimensions to a Miata shock, and they are very close. The only real difference is the size of the mounting eye, it's just a little too large to go into the pocket on a Miata lower control arm. I bought them and then had to decide how to mount them. I could pretty easily create a modified pocket to weld to the A-arm or weld the eyes from the knackered Miata shocks to the Tacoma bodies. I chose the latter.

You'll note that this picture doesn't have the new eyes, because I can't find a picture from after I tried this version in the suspension and realized the eyes were too big. Trust me, it worked.  The coil over sleeves came as a package of 4 sleeves and 4 coil springs from China for $40 and they had been used on the Miata in 2017. So, at 8 pieces for $40 I have two coil over sleeves in my budget for $5 each, plus the Tundra shocks at $10 each. There was no way I could find a Miata part for that little. I would have used the Tundra springs because they are around 600#/in , but one of the springs was broken. I've already purchased front and rear springs in the rates I think I'll need and you can see them in the pictures of the rolling chassis. I'm hoping the Tundra valving works better with 650# springs than a set of Miata Bilsteins that are designed for 210# would. We shall see.

Edit: The shocks will be slightly recouped by getting 4 cents/pound for the broken springs at the scrapper. Yes, every penny counts !

Found a picture of the finished shock and spring assembly......

Also, if you look at this photo and compare the frame to the earlier photo of the front clip you'll see that I changed it to allow the sway bar to pass through the green tube. Space is tight on a small car like this and you may as well have one piece of steel do two functions rather than add more brackets to hold the sway bar. I had to reduce the diameter of the Delrin bushings to fit in the end of the tube , but I don't have a lathe to turn them on, soooooo......

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to 03Panther :

It's already left my garage and you can buy it from John Brown as part of a package that includes a Panhard Dyna !

That comes with the Panhard..  Now I'm having a REAL crisis.  It was hard to resist the Panhard before it came with a chassis table.  I feel bad about hoarding something for the 2-3 years it would take before I got to the Panhard though..

In reply to nocones :

2-3 years? Is that all, Man? I've had the Corolla for 6 and there's a GTI in the other garage that's been there for 15. You KNOW you want that Panhard.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

I do and I want to put a Miata under it and keep it 4 seater and tow it behind my RV and Daily Drive it. 

Lowered on 245 15x9's