ae71 sprinter rack and power into ra28

[takai]

There were a number of corolla badges around, which have been around since the XE1X series. These include the Sprinter, Trueno and Levin... not all of which made it to aus in all series. AE86 is the well known one where the Sprinter came to aus, and the Levin and Trueno were the JDMs. TE27 Levins are popular with hillclimbs with the 2TG and farkall weight the go up quick.

SBS was making the point that there was never an AE71 Sprinter. The model which is closest is the AE71 Sprint, which was the upper model in the range and came with power steering (first corolla ever to have it).

obviously the rack needs to be cut. new mounts and mounting holes done. new column and surrounds. did you dock tihis? is it on the forum somewhere?

If you use the AE71/KE70 rack it doesnt need to be cut down, from memory it is the correct width for the suspension geometry. Also, if you use the Corolla crossmember as well you get appropriate ackerman angles. Check BigWorms thread in Members Rides for details on how its done.

KE70 and AE71 racks and xmembers are the same.. The only difference is the engine mounts which unless you are planning on using a 4A engine will be cut off.

As BigPerm has found out, you cannot bolt the 4A to the AE71 crossmember anwyay (in a RA23 that is), as the engine will sit too high in the engine bay and the bellhousing/gearbox will foul on the chassis. Definately needs to be a custom engine mount whatever you do.

[Jonny Rochester]

If you look closely at the headlights of a AE71 Corolla sedan, you will see a "S" logo in the glass which is a Sprinter "S" used on... Sprinters! The S shows up on keys and steering wheels and badges etc. The AE71 sedan we have must have been sold as a "Sprinter" somewhere. Also note the large range of Sprinter/Corollas of the TE71 shape, both liftback, coupe and hardtop and sedan. The Levin/Trueno had 2T-GEU, but some had a 4A. See below:

[Jonny Rochester]

takai: The Ackermann angles are only changed by the forged steering knuckle itself, and very few people are going to cut and weld that, (except for myself).

The main issue with a AE71/KE70 rack in a 70's Corolla/Celica is this: While the overall width of the whole rack and arms are similar to what you need, the steering tie rods are alot shorter than the old Celica ones. This is also because the Celica lower control arms are longer than the AE71 control arms. The result is a fair bit of bump steer. You may want to shorten the Celica lower control arms and move the pivot in the crossmember further out. You may also want to shorten the rack itself so the steering tie rods can be made longer. On a KE10 you definently have to chop the rack housing in half to shorten it and weld up again. And you machine the rack shorter on a lathe and rethread one end. At the same time, you want the lower control arms and steering tie rods roughly parallel.

[takai]

You are thinking that the rack is fixed in position. However, in a conversion like this, you have more scope for movement. In this case by using the original KE70/AE71 xmember you can bring the rack closer to the pivot points (in a N-S locational position) and closer to the xmember itself thereby affecting ackermann angles.

Also i sincerely doubt that the AE71 LCAs are any shorter than the Celica ones. Both are 300mm. Slightly longer are the XT130 LCAs at 310mm, and the MX32 LCAs at 320mm. See here for more details: http://www.toymods.net/forums/showth...ength+database

[TurboRA28]

Hey Takai, is that correct MX32 are 320mm? Our control arm database thread doesn't have them listed.

[takai]

Im 90% sure that they are 320mm. gearb0x has some, and im waiting on measurements from him.