I've had an idea floating around in my head.
I've been thinking about finding a beat one of these:
Or one of these:
Giving it one of these (With 5/6 speed and an LSD):
I know nothing of the later Corolla's suspension design and if it's worth a damn, but they certainly seem to be overlooked. They're cheap, the parts are cheap, they look pretty good, and are seemingly easy to modify.
What do y'all think?
I think it's a great idea. How about in a Tercel? Even lighter.
Something in me gets the giggles at doing that to a corolla, especially a wagon. 
In reply to Graefin10:
Thought about a Tercel. With the Rolla, I'm pretty sure it would be a bolt-in affair other than the wiring. Plus I want a wagon.
I put a 20V in a '88 AE92. It was quite fast. Not supercar fast, but fast enough to beat anything short of a supercar. Put some Koni's on with some GC coilovers.
What's the LSD availability like for those transmissions? That particular combo is on the table for a project that I'm tangentially involved in.
They are out there. The big names in LSD like Quaife make one. The C series transmission is still around. The Elise uses one, for instance. I think there was an OEM option as well.
Its a pretty strong multilink (nice solid links, all pivots are rubber bushings, IDK on poly availability) in the back and struts up front, koni makes struts for them last I checked. They handle nicer than you would expect a Toyota econocan to handle.
I should keep an eye on this thread, have Corolla (albeit with GEO badges) and unless I find a way to poop cash, I may be stuck with it for a while.
I've really been wanting to do a FWD project. Mostly because I don't know that much about the platform, not having owned any. Is the diff housed within the transmission like a transaxle, or is it an isolated part?
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
Do these come with a beam axle or IRS?
Its a transaxle... the auto boxes where problomatic... wife had a 92 prizm when we married... even with the under powered 4afe and slushbox it could be fun... know there was aftermarket suspension options for them 10 years ago... haven't looked recently
That being said.... the hatchversion of the prizm or the wagon and a 20v would be sooooo fun
In reply to RoughandReady:
IRS, typical FWD multi link setup.
In reply to Kenny_McCormic:
Very nice. My Camry had IRS, but I didn't know if the lowly Corolla might have a beam axle like (I think?) the old CRX's.
I've been driving the Prism for a couple months now, but never bothered to check out the rear suspension.
Welp, time to start the hunt. I'm going to look for something cheap. Blown up tranny, engine, or both.
Any opinions on the e90 vs the e100? Weight looks about the same.
Let this Levin GTZ be your inspiration. http://www.mrpltd.co.nz/sponsoredcars.html
that particular car has a 7AGE which is a 7AFE 4AGE hybrid which is a 1.8l engine. If you can do a project like that it might be a good idea. I've seen claims of 220whp NA with a build like that and 7AFE engines are inexpensive.
are there no '83 and older wagons left?
i'd hold out for one of those.
So you are hoping to be able to hop up a Corolla.
If you could keep it looking totally plain jane like the first wagon pic, that would be the kicker. Especially with the plastic rim covers! Even the pea-shooter exhaust hanging off the back, and terminate a larger, better exhaust somewhere forward of that.
I drive a 90 Prizm lift back as my appliance. I was able to find Suspension Techniques front springs and KYB GR2 struts 10 years ago, modified a front strut bar for a Corolla GTS and modified a Tepid air intake with cone filter designed for a Tercel. I used to run wider summer tires on 14" wheels but eventually went back to the Factory 13" steelies with all seasons for winter duty and never took them back off. It is fun enough to drive but nothing spectacular. Granted it replaced my 89 Civic Si as my daily so it never had a chance. With a little or a lot more power it could be a really fun.
belteshazzar wrote: are there no '83 and older wagons left? i'd hold out for one of those.
Not around here. I had one back in like 2009, and have only seen a few since then. There's one for sale right now, but the bottom half of the car is pretty much rusted away. There's a guy in town that parts out Toyotas and buys all the semi-good ones. He won't even sell the shells. He's got a first gen Cressida and a couple 70s Celicas, destined for the scrap heap.
I see it as my punishment for all the rare Volvos I've parted and crushed.
Really though, I'm wanting to do something FWD and work with a chassis that pretty much no one cares about.
hmmmmmmm
http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4330143367.html
I think I found a Blacktop about an hour away. Anyone know anything about a 7f hybrid set up? Would it require custom pistons or a custom EMS? I was kind of thinking about a 4agze bottom end with the black top pistons, as I think the rods are beefier and the block has oil squirters.
RoughandReady wrote: Really though, I'm wanting to do something FWD and work with a chassis that pretty much no one cares about.
If that's all you want, you can snag a Saturn wagon that weighs less, has more power, and is in better condition for about half the price of a same-year Corolla.
Its definitely a chassis pretty much nobody cares about.
The Corolla is much easier to motor-swap though.
In reply to ProDarwin:
Having crawled under both, I'd expect the Corolla chassis to hold up a lot better and control the wheels more effectively under the loads of big sticky tires. Especially in the rear. Saturns have a habit of breaking their tubular trailing links, with stock soft rubber bushings and stock springs and shocks, and the lateral links are flimsy sheet metal U channel. Corolla has solid trialing links and tubular toe links with threaded toe adjusters. A Saturn is more or less a plastic bodied cheapened corolla knockoff.
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