AE93 SX SECA - club motorsport

[craigb]

This is actually a recently purchased first car for my son Tom and needing a bit of work. I had a 1987 4age Seca when it was about 2 yrs old and then sold it to my dad a few years later, both of us cherished it and then sold in 2007 in pristine condition after my father died. So this 1989 one caught my eye when looking around at cars for him and I have a real soft spot for it. Fortunately Tom liked it too, but he is not into cars like i am. Still hoping to do work on it together and already spent a few hours together in a self serve wrecker finding common bits. 

I have been searching the internet for information and not doing so well, so hoping to pick up a bit more info here. The body and compliance plate both have AE 93 in the numbers and although some confusion in research, this seems to be all SX/GTI although very early ones could be AE92. Then I was trying to work out what is different apart from 4age - bigger brakes, strut brace and some extra gauges? Is gearbox same as others or specific to 4age and perhaps different ratios? Are the struts the same as say a normal AE92?  Lots of question and don't answer if I have put them in the wrong place and will ask them again in another post.

For two years I have been doing khanacross with both my 16yo and now 14yo. The 14yo (car crazy like me) now has a 'speed' licence so we are planning for all three of us to have a crack at some tarmac like hillclimb and supersprint. There is a big port Seca that does the khanacross too. Last year, trying to drum up interest in cars, I said to Tom had he thought about his first car. He said he didn't care, but it would be good to be able to drive a car on the road that he could then also use in khanacross, which is pretty easy on cars as long as you keep off the tyre barriers! So we had in mind to get a Hyundai Excel that are used a lot in motorsport on tarmac and off, but when I saw the Corolla, I think a bit more character. So getting to the point, I am also pondering if coilovers might be a good idea if they can be adjusted to maintain at least standard ride height and maybe get lowered a bit for tarmac. A bit more ride height wouldn't hurt on dirt. I enquired about fit for some perhaps 'too cheap' coil overs on ebay but while it said they fit AE92 and others, they said they didn't fit 93. But Tom is on a bit of a budget and throwing $4k at the units that the other khanacross seca is running is not an option. So any recommendations on that very welcome.

Jobs to do first though, clutch is almost fully out before it takes and without service records, will do cambelt and water pump. Gear lever is moving forward and back fairly dramatically with power on and off, and given it is a cable set up, I have some suspicion about the gearbox itself, although it changes pretty nicely otherwise. Previous owner changed engine mounts thinkin that would stop the lever movement but it didn't. And there is a fair bit of paint and body work to touch up, but good mentoring stuff and will get a spray gun in Tom's hands for the first time. 

I've spent many years building knowledge on old Mercedes and moderator on a couple of forum and always enjoy helping people, crossing my fingers I can find my Toyota equivalent here. Thanks in advance for any help and advice. Will have to get some photos up, but at the moment its looking a bit rough around the edges. 

 

[KAA]

Welcome to the forum Craig, I am sure the brains on here will help all they can with your Seca, they were an awesome car and still loved by many today

KAA

[craigb]

Thanks KAA.  In my searching for info I found an old 1989 advert of some 7 minutes.... love it a bit more after that - very funny!

Looking at posts in the past in general, it seems like in the Mercedes forums I am involved, that not as many people involved and not every day in recent times, but sounds like the brains will still check in at some point and that will be great. With Mercedes there is a lot more activity that moved to facebook but with a lot more 'noise', but I couldn't find anything active for these Corolla.... patience!

[campbeam]

5 hours ago, craigb said:

I couldn't find anything active for these Corolla.... patience!

I have not forgotten my Toyota Corolla Seca SX with its 100KW motor from the early 90's. 

Most recent activity is for the Corolla Sportivos.

Best to do Forum searches. I have found that doing Google searches gets good results. 

I also view a lot of YouTube videos for my specific vehicle.

Maybe this is one that you have already viewed for your Corolla. 

 

[craigb]

Thanks Campbeam - it does seem like people have 'moved on' with most searches in distant past material, most links don't work etc. - but will keep hunting. The main one on my mind is if the gearbox is the same or different ratios - plenty of gearboxes in self serve wreckers. And the other one is not finding any reference to these 'cheap' coilovers - I gather they weren't available back when people were active and most of what is referred to and links don't exist. I know I can get them from a company called Ceika, but at $4k plus, big difference to the $400 price tag on ebay - I know you get what you pay for normally, but I think that's a bit of overkill on a car worth not much more than that in good condition from what I can work out.