Has anyone ever done a build/project on a 1996 Geo Prism (Corolla)?

If not, I may be the first...

... unless I return it for a 1997 Volvo 850 Wagon or 1986 Supra.

I owned a 1993 prisrolla in high school. It was a project inasmuch I crammed all the stereo I could into it and thought stickers were the jam. I have a 99 now. The 96 was the last gen of the a platform motors iirc. The 98 went to the zz family.... Hence the 99 I have possibly getting a 2zz 6sp swap. They're fairly boring in stock form but they're solid little cars. I pretty much will always have something like it as an appliance.

I have a couple ideas floating for it...

1. Rally. Lift it 1/2" front/3/4" rear, bolt on loads of fog/driving lights, stiffen the suspension, add some "lots of spoke" rims, and do mild bolt on bits under the hood, and replace any Geo or Prism badges with TRD stickers.

2. Sleeper. Leave the ugly cosmetics alone. Stock wheels, faded paint, ugly mismatched interior. Buy as much performance stuffs as I can for a Toyota 1.4L, throw on the fattest/stickiest set of tires that can fit the wheels, add sway bars and rear discs, and basically anything else I can possibly find at wrecking yards, swap meets and craig's lists.

We have a '96 Corolla for the boys with over a 1/4-million miles on it. It's an auto, but that doesn't really take anything away from the car. It's comfortable, economical, reliable and still going strong. I really think of these cars as "the answer" for non-car people.

Flyin Mikey J wrote: 2. Sleeper. Leave the ugly cosmetics alone. Stock wheels, faded paint, ugly mismatched interior. Buy as much performance stuffs as I can for a Toyota 1.4L, throw on the fattest/stickiest set of tires that can fit the wheels, add sway bars and rear discs, and basically anything else I can possibly find at wrecking yards, swap meets and craig's lists.

+1 to this!

I know lots of people by me who've done it.

sethmeister4 wrote:

Flyin Mikey J wrote: 2. Sleeper. Leave the ugly cosmetics alone. Stock wheels, faded paint, ugly mismatched interior. Buy as much performance stuffs as I can for a Toyota 1.4L, throw on the fattest/stickiest set of tires that can fit the wheels, add sway bars and rear discs, and basically anything else I can possibly find at wrecking yards, swap meets and craig's lists.

+1 to this!

I've seen this in person before. Rattiest Prism on earth, bent, rusty, the works. Open the hood... it's turbocharged and turns 13's on better tires.

So, the 2014 version of a hemi stuffed into a 63 Valiant four door?

Don't decent-hp (170ish) 4AGE motors drop right into these things?

^ Probably. But seeing as no amount of upgrades would improve the car's resale value, I want to do it on the cheap.

Flyin Mikey J wrote: So, the 2014 version of a hemi stuffed into a 63 Valiant four door?

Yeah that's the one. This thing looked like a pizza slut. The guy was acting all smug about this E36 M3box.... And i was clowning it right til the hood opened. Then we was friends.

A 4ag will drop in but its not worth it. There an eBay header for it.... I forget what the stock motor designation is. Sf1 will know if he pokes in. If you Google anything look for ae101.

Most of these came with a 4AFE (1.6) or 5AFE (1.5) stock. The 4AGE goes in place of the 4AFE without too much trouble but it's not worth it...only reason I did it on my AE92 is because I can't get a better chassis to work with and the old engine was trashed anyway. There was a JDM "GT" variant of the AE101 that came with the 4AGE.

Pacesetter and OBX make headers for the 4AFE.

Edit: Oh BTW, crazier swap options include the 3SG(T)E and 2ZZ-GE.

I warmed up a 95 4AFE with an ebay header, catback exhaust, warm air (short ram?) intake, iridium plugs and upgraded (cant remember the brand) wires, timing advance running 93 octane. I also was looking into compatability with 4AGE lightened flywheels, but cant remember if I came up with anything conclusive regarding that.(not a lot of info out there). Wider wheels with BF Goodrich G force Sport tires and full metallic brake pads made momentum driving a whole lotta fun.

It had 210k on the clock when the Ohio Saltworm got to the fuel lines and I decided it was time to move on. Sold it to my wifes uncle (Toyota master tech) who rebuilt the fuel system, and his son is still driving it today (I want to say ~270k 5 years later). Indestructable little cars.

Thanks. IF I keep it, I know where to start, well after straightening the radiator support so that the headlights point in proper directions and the hood gap is in check.