It's somewhat of a funny story how I came across Angelo's AE86. I was on Craigslist looking for a clean classic Toyota Corolla and had no luck. So what I usually do is track forward year by year. Starting with 1975 Corolla, then 76, then 77 and so on. Well I finally came to 1985... and there was this Toyota AE86 Corolla GTS. I was going to shoot an email to this guy but noticed there was a phone number. Went to call it and it turned out Angelo was already in my contacts.
I met him at a car meet sometime last year. He had a different AE86 at that time and we were suppose to do a photo shoot with Enkei's classic series wheel line. Somehow, we lost touch and never got it done. Angelo has been working on these cars for several years; this one is his fifth AE86. He's selling this one to begin on his 6th as he is also planning his move to Japan. It's good to see a young guy like Angelo so passionate about these classic Corollas. Check out the pics, tell us what you think in the comments section. We shot the car in three spots so a big thank you to Angelo for letting me take up his Friday afternoon!
Angelo did all the body work excluding paint which was done at Maaco for about $400. Turned out rather good. If you have the talent, do the body work yourself then use a inexpensive place like Maaco for paint.
The Trueno emblem. One of the differences from the Levin and Trueno versions of the AE86 is the Trueno has retractable headlights and the Levin has fixed headlights. In Japan, the AE86 was known as the Hachi-Roku which stands for the numbers eight-six.
Here's a shot of those retractable headlights along with a peak at the engine. Also, check the neatly crossed zip ties. Details.
Angelo did a great job at tucking the fuel, brake lines and wiring for a clean and show quality finish. The gold pulleys are a nice cosmetic touch as well.
Can't say I would have gone with Rota's (nothing personal) but I guess if your in a tight budget situation and don't have the $2500 to spend on a set of SSR MKII's... nah, have to keep it real - still wouldn't have gone with these. Maybe I'm being bias but I would have gone for an Enkei Apache even if I had to sacrifice an inch in width on the rears and used a good size spacer. The fronts here are 15x8 zero offset.
That being said, they don't look bad... the struggle continues. Rears are 15x9 -15. What do you think?
Had a great time shooting this AE86 and hanging out with Angelo. Good luck to him on his next build and on his move to Japan. Thanks again for letting me shoot the car! Specs and photo gallery below. - Alex
SPECS:
motor:
- hks intake w/ blue 45 degree coupler
- hks timing belt
- trd header w/ heat shield bracket grinded off, egr hole closed and smoothened, and header rapped with titanum header rap
- blue ngk spark plug wires
- new ngk platinum plugs
- custom exhaust (sounds deep, not ricey)
- hks style smoke oil cap
- aluminum twin core radiator w/ flush fan
- battery relocation
- valve cover letters shaved off, and painted fire proof flat black
- intake letters shaved
- wire tucked like crazy
- fuel line tuck
- brake line tuck
- freshly rebuilt motor
- pulleys sand blasted and painted gold
wheels and foot work:
- rota shokotan 15x8 fronts -0 and 15x9 rears -15
- fronts 155/60/15 conti and rears 175/55/15 conti
- megan coilovers
- tein camber plates
- battle version negative center roll adjusters
- performance option brake booster eliminator
- jdm rhd silvia s13 brake master cylinder
interior exterior:
- jdm kouki trueno front bumper
- extremely rolled front fenders (flattened)
- origin rear flares
- sprinter taillights
- shaved rear quarter panel lights and antenna
- fresh new paint job, less then a month old
- power moon roof
- power mirrors
- deep dish steering wheel with hub
- koso multi function gauge (turn signals, high beam, low beam, gas level, tach, time, hazard)
- custom fiberglass dash
- oil pressure gauge
- water temp gauge
- jdm crystal shift knob
- full int ( i have the passenger seat, just havent installed it)
I met him at a car meet sometime last year. He had a different AE86 at that time and we were suppose to do a photo shoot with Enkei's classic series wheel line. Somehow, we lost touch and never got it done. Angelo has been working on these cars for several years; this one is his fifth AE86. He's selling this one to begin on his 6th as he is also planning his move to Japan. It's good to see a young guy like Angelo so passionate about these classic Corollas. Check out the pics, tell us what you think in the comments section. We shot the car in three spots so a big thank you to Angelo for letting me take up his Friday afternoon!
Angelo did all the body work excluding paint which was done at Maaco for about $400. Turned out rather good. If you have the talent, do the body work yourself then use a inexpensive place like Maaco for paint.
The Trueno emblem. One of the differences from the Levin and Trueno versions of the AE86 is the Trueno has retractable headlights and the Levin has fixed headlights. In Japan, the AE86 was known as the Hachi-Roku which stands for the numbers eight-six.
Here's a shot of those retractable headlights along with a peak at the engine. Also, check the neatly crossed zip ties. Details.
Angelo did a great job at tucking the fuel, brake lines and wiring for a clean and show quality finish. The gold pulleys are a nice cosmetic touch as well.
Can't say I would have gone with Rota's (nothing personal) but I guess if your in a tight budget situation and don't have the $2500 to spend on a set of SSR MKII's... nah, have to keep it real - still wouldn't have gone with these. Maybe I'm being bias but I would have gone for an Enkei Apache even if I had to sacrifice an inch in width on the rears and used a good size spacer. The fronts here are 15x8 zero offset.
That being said, they don't look bad... the struggle continues. Rears are 15x9 -15. What do you think?
Had a great time shooting this AE86 and hanging out with Angelo. Good luck to him on his next build and on his move to Japan. Thanks again for letting me shoot the car! Specs and photo gallery below. - Alex
SPECS:
motor:
- hks intake w/ blue 45 degree coupler
- hks timing belt
- trd header w/ heat shield bracket grinded off, egr hole closed and smoothened, and header rapped with titanum header rap
- blue ngk spark plug wires
- new ngk platinum plugs
- custom exhaust (sounds deep, not ricey)
- hks style smoke oil cap
- aluminum twin core radiator w/ flush fan
- battery relocation
- valve cover letters shaved off, and painted fire proof flat black
- intake letters shaved
- wire tucked like crazy
- fuel line tuck
- brake line tuck
- freshly rebuilt motor
- pulleys sand blasted and painted gold
wheels and foot work:
- rota shokotan 15x8 fronts -0 and 15x9 rears -15
- fronts 155/60/15 conti and rears 175/55/15 conti
- megan coilovers
- tein camber plates
- battle version negative center roll adjusters
- performance option brake booster eliminator
- jdm rhd silvia s13 brake master cylinder
interior exterior:
- jdm kouki trueno front bumper
- extremely rolled front fenders (flattened)
- origin rear flares
- sprinter taillights
- shaved rear quarter panel lights and antenna
- fresh new paint job, less then a month old
- power moon roof
- power mirrors
- deep dish steering wheel with hub
- koso multi function gauge (turn signals, high beam, low beam, gas level, tach, time, hazard)
- custom fiberglass dash
- oil pressure gauge
- water temp gauge
- jdm crystal shift knob
- full int ( i have the passenger seat, just havent installed it)