1980 corona liftback build thread.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:01 pm

i would like to first off say hello. i am new to the forum and the owner of a 1980 corona liftback.

i purchased the car from an older gentleman. ive had it for about a week now. it has 125k original miles, all stock 20r, fairly mint interior, and most of all rust free! that is very unusal in my area of north carolina. it is in far better shape than the ae86 project i had last year. anyways...the man i bought it from tried to rebuild the oem aisin carb. he gets points for trying but it runs like complete crap, has a vacum leak somewhere that i cannot find, leaks fuel around the intake manifold, and just in general no matter how you try to tune it it runs the same. like crap.

so as my first purchase for the car ive bought some routine maintence items like: shocks, struts, plugs, wires, thermostat, gear oil to change the diff and trans, rear 4 link bushings, etc., but most of all a weber 32/36.

my future plans for the car are to give it a nice tune up, throw on the carb, cut the springs, get some wheels, and maybe add a header. then just rock it.

check back in for updates.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:02 pm

i apologize for the tiny pics. i will get some better ones soon.

errolae92 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:45 am

car looks in good condition, still posting photos, will be waiting.

I congratulate you by the car you have, and I like your ideas to modify it, go ahead with this project :twisted:

oldeskewltoy · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:41 am

Where are you?? I have a friend with the exact same car... he is looking to unload his, engine is stuffed, but the rest is in pretty good condition. He is in the Portland vicinity

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:57 am

errolae92 wrote:

car looks in good condition, still posting photos, will be waiting.

I congratulate you by the car you have, and I like your ideas to modify it, go ahead with this project :twisted:

Thanks. hopefully this weekend ill give it a full tune up. Put on the new shocks/struts and cut the springs. Remove the non working a/c and de smog the whole engine. Ill take plenty of pics.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 12:12 pm

oldeskewltoy wrote:

Where are you?? I have a friend with the exact same car... he is looking to unload his, engine is stuffed, but the rest is in pretty good condition. He is in the Portland vicinity

I live close to pilot mountain in surry county. im about 30 min from the virginia border.

schassisowner · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 12:49 pm

sweet corona....

I am looking at one this weekend; not that i need another project.

what do the Weber's usually run for?

definitely interested in this thread if i choose to pick the one up near me.

and cool to have another semi east coaster :tu:

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 1:19 pm

schassisowner wrote:

sweet corona....

I am looking at one this weekend; not that i need another project.

what do the Weber's usually run for?

definitely interested in this thread if i choose to pick the one up near me.

and cool to have another semi east coaster :tu:

the 32/36 weber conversion kit I bought was 255 shipped. That was the cheapest I had found.

Dave77 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 1:49 pm

Nice. These liftbacks always seemed a bit uncommon. There was one around here for years but got scrapped for some reason fairly recently.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 2:59 pm

Dave77 wrote:

Nice. These liftbacks always seemed a bit uncommon. There was one around here for years but got scrapped for some reason fairly recently.

mine is honestly the first one ive ever seen.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:32 pm

Worked on the car some today. Undercoated the car, tinted the high beams, installed my weber, and removed a crap ton of vacum hoses. Will post pics tomorrow.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 10:10 pm

thought i would post some pics of when i tinted my high beams and installed my weber 32/36 i have more but i just didnt have time to upload them.

lightly tinted the high beams

weber install pics

ill post more pics when i remove my reed valve, smog pump, a/c, and some other vacum crap i dont need.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Wed Jul 11, 2012 10:26 am

so i removed my smog pump and reed valve yesterday. i was going to remove the air injection and plug the holes on the manifold but of course two of the bolts are stripped. sooo.. guess im just getting a header.

my shocks and struts came in. im going to install those sometime tomorrow. i wish i could find some lowering springs for this instead of just cutting the springs. ive heard about suspension tech used to make springs for the celica but they apparently have been discontinued seeing as i cannot find them anywhere.

not_oldschool · **Posted:** Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:02 pm

update: well i havnt made much progress the last week or two. i had a charging problem that had me stumped for a couple of days. turned out to be a faulty ground. so i fixed that now it seems i have a blown headgasket. FML.

ive got tons of white smoke out of the tailpipe along with condensation. sweet smelling exhaust. loss of coolant. a constant miss that doesnt go away. last but not least a drop in compression in the number 4 cylinder with a slight dip in compression in the number 3. sooo... changing out the head gasket and all related gaskets and seals. would like to do a whole timing kit install as well. ive been looking at cams and a header but funds are tight so i probably wont be able to afford any goodies.

stay tuned. i will provide many pics in my changing of the head gasket.

Camshaft · **Posted:** Mon Jul 30, 2012 7:48 am

Great progress so far, sorry to hear about the head gasket but it sounds like you're staying positive and fixing it the right way. :tu:

I dig that "Luxury Edition" badge.

1980 corona liftback build thread.

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