Build your own drift machine for under $3k. Ninja describes his buildup step by step.

Ninja's Under $3K Terror of the Twisties Buildup

It's been a while since I've attempted to tune a car. My one time love, my 240z, finally got to me and I had to sell it. After that all my inspiration was gone...my life no longer had any meaning. Until now.

Well recently I came across an awesome deal I just couldn't pass up. I picked up an '86 Corolla GTS coupe. The car was run down with 209k on the odometer, bone stock with problems and leaks everywhere you looked with lots of dings, dents and folds in the body. Many potential buyers passed it up after seeing it, but as I stood there looking at it, I could suddenly feel the passion I once had for cars. I didn't see a lemon parked in that driveway, all I could see was my next project car.

Usually the first thing I do after picking up a car is a tune up. Who knows what kind of negligent automotive psycho owned the car before you. No boggy, change the fluids, plugs and wires, cap and rotor, filters, belts, injector flush, but after opening the hood I found more problems that I wasn't expecting. Right off the back I discovered the front right of the car had been smashed before. They replaced the exterior but did nothing to fix what was under the hood. The radiator was bent, fan clutch was tweaked, It was literally running an open air intake. No filter no air box, nothing. Ok, the tune up shopping list just got longer.

So I headed over to Jack's Auto Parts in Oakland to see my buddy Joe and turn in my shopping list. $400 later I was out the door with my parts and ready to wrench away. Lo and behold, an evil demon was hiding under my distributor cap. Off came the cap and this thing was packed with so much oil and dirt I was in shock the car had made it to Oakland from Sac town.

*ring ring* Hello Joe, I need a distributor for my GTS. What? $120 for a rebuilt unit?, Ok, I need it ASAP.

So there I was, wrenching away under the hood. The sun was beating down on me, the boss was yelling at me to stop working on my own car, and I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing because all the hunnies kept walking by in their short shorts and mini skirts. Man this just was not going my way. Finally 2 hours later it was ready to smog. Fired that puppy up and goddamn if that demon didn't come back to torment me again.

RPM's were bouncing off the wall and nothing I did to adjust the timing worked. I could have sworn it was because I didn't clock the distributor right, but no matter how many times I redid it I just couldn't get it right.

So there I was, pulling my hair out, using every profane word I could find on dictionary.com, and ready to pick up my 5lbs. striker and start smashing things. So over walks this older mechanic with a DMM (digital multi meter) unplugs my Throttle positioning sensor, checks it and tells me to replace that. I was all like, whatever dude, you think your so smart, watch I'll prove you wrong. Luckily we had a dead first Gen MR2 sitting in the lot, so I grabbed the TPS when no one was looking and swapped it. Yeah well, the RPM's did settle down, but the timing mark was still bouncing around so I kind of bribed the other mechanic to come over and take a second look. He rolled the TPS a bit, flashed the gun, and then told me to replace the timing belt and tensioner.

*ring ring* Hello Joe.

Holy cow, I will never doubt this old timer again.

So there it was, purring away like a kitten and all ready to visit the big bad smog wolfs, or should I say vultures? Good thing I know those greedy bastards because my CAT was completely shot.

*ring ring * Hello again Joe.

Well, the good thing is the car passed smog and I now have a legit CAT and a hollow cat for race days.

So with a street legal car ready to go, it was time to start upgrading. The greatest thing about building cars in this day and time is the Internet. No more paying crazy marked up prices at so called "performance shops", no more stalking parts at pick and pull, well to an extent any ways. Now with the click of a button you can find discount parts or in this case used parts dirt cheap. So click click click I went.

The AE86 is not a fast car stock and I was very disappointed by the power output, but the handling is superb. Very responsive. And so that was the first place I wanted to focus on, the suspension. I wanted this to be a lowballer buildup; just to see if I could do it, not to mention I'm dead broke. Adjustable shocks and struts would have been awesome, but I couldn't find anything in my price range, so once again it was time to call Joe.

*ring ring* Hiya Joe Joe.

Out the door with some KYB GS-2's, and picked up some high-grade brake pads, all I needed to find was some springs. When you're looking for used performance parts, there is nowhere better to look then at message boards dedicated to your car. And Club4ag.com was just the place I needed to visit. With people like Max, Starshark, and Ta-Kun who keep the prices real and have a good selection of parts to choose from, finding what I needed was not a problem.

I found some Intrax lowering springs for sale for $150 and I jumped on it. Not only are the springs crap, but I found some shop on ebay selling Eibachs for $20 more for any car you want. I love the drop of the Intrax springs, but the handling is not up to the standards that I would expect. I couldn't find anyone selling RCA's (roll center adjusters) so I headed over to T3 (techno toy tuning) and ordered a set. Ok for all you 86, 510 and 240sx owners out there, T3 has an awesome selection of suspension parts at hard to beat prices. On top of that the customer service is unmatched by anyone IMO.

So it was time to slap it all together. The only thing missing were some cross drills, S/S brake lines and poly bushings. Those will have to wait for another day when I have more money, but for now the parts that I installed have proven to handle my abusive driving habits, even the Intrax springs.

Once again surfing club4ag I found someone selling a used T3 short throw for $80 shipped. "You got mail". Also found a good lowballer front strut bar for $41 online. But you know, the car was still gutless. Down hill it was fine, picked up speed with no problem and tackled those corners like a professional football player. But up hill was a whole nother story. Hmmmm what should I do next? I guess it was time to go back to the basics. I/H/E. In with the good air, out with the bad air. Remember, the engine is nothing but one big giant air pump, with a bunch of other crap thrown in.

It was finally time to hit up one of my sponsors =)

*ring ring* Hello, SRO? Can I speak with Ryan?

Ryan sold me a Max Speed muffler with silencer for way cheap! Now I will admit, I had many doubts about using some kind of N1 knock off type muffler. The last thing I wanted was a car that sounded like some kinda high-powered lawn mower. So I had the exhaust shop throw in a resonator to be on the safe side with 2 inch piping from the cat back. Well, it wasn't the Monza exhaust I had on my 240 with that deep power rumble, but it is a very quiet muffler until you hit about 4500rpm and the secondary butterfly's open up, then it has a nice tone to it. Now we needed more air!

After hitting up all the ricer shops in Oakland I came to the conclusion that no one made a short ram intake for the 86, so it was time to do the unmentionable and fabricate my own. I picked up a cone filter adaptor from where else, club4ag for $10 shipped. Called up Joe and asked him to find me a short K&N filter then headed over to my friends shop to see if he had any extra cold air tubing laying around his shop he didn't need. He gave me some scrap tube from a civic and I just trimmed it down to fit. I was about to start shopping around for some headers but I figure with smog testing and the fact that it's a basically stock engine; it would be a waste of money.

Now if you're anything like me, you cant drive without music, and I'm not talking stock stereo setups, it has to be crisp, it has to be clear, it has to pound! It also has to be lightweight. Time to start shopping around. Visiting all my friends I got some of them to donate to the "Ninja is Broke" foundation. A pair of pioneer tweets here, some Boston mids there, passive crossovers. And for $150 I picked up a nice alpine cd deck from the mobile audio store. Nice and clear, but something was missing. Oh yeah, that heavy shit in the trunk that weighs the car down. So I shot over to Good guys.

*Hi, I want something that is lightweight but still bangs*

Bitch tried to sell me some amplified JL or something unit for like $300+, screw you. So it was off to Best Buy. I told the guy the same thing, and the guy was all like, "you on a budget?" yup, ok this is for you. 10 inch Sony Xplode, in a Qlogic box, very light weight, and inexpensive, and they gave me a 4 year warranty too!!! Any time as many times as I can blow the sub they will replace it, and all for under $200. Man, consider it sold. Now if you haven't heard the xplode subs before, these things are banging, look good, and are very inexpensive. not to mention they weigh very little. Just one thing missing.

*ding dong* Hi, I'm collecting for the Ninja is Broke foundation.

One older model sound stream amp later I was all set. Picked up an alarm for $99 from the mobile audio store, and took a trip to Costco for a Redtop Optima, $99 each, they are going fast. =)

I am a very abusive driver, and all the cars I have owned have taken a beating (good thing i'm a mechanic). And the tires with the car were starting to show their age. The car also came with some very ugly rims. There is a company on the net that sells used Japanese parts, I can't remember the name, but you can find a link to them at Club4ag. Besides engine parts and such they sell used rims, and had a set of black racing (look like watanabe's sort of) for $400. I almost bought it until I looked over at my brothers 510 project and decided to jack his panasports. Phat phat!!! Now all I need is some rubber. I'm pretty sure all of you know, Tire Rack has to be one of the best places to order tires from. Their prices are hard to beat. So I ordered some Kuhmo 195/50/15s H rated tires for $33 each. No need for Z rated, I doubt the car will every hit anything over 135mph.

Woot, the car is done, now I just need to learn how to drift.

There are still a few things I would like to buy for the car, like an adjustable Panhard bar from T3, the crossdrills and S/S brake lines (which I must mention Max over at club4ag has some awesome deals for), MSD ignition, but I can survive without those for a while. Now it comes down to the bodywork. Some surfing on the net, weekend trips to pick and pull, networking with friends and about $150 in primer, bondo and sandpaper and the car is almost ready to take over to earl sheib for one of there special paint deals.

And so it's time to break it down. Here is a list of costs for the car, now remember, I'm a mechanic by profession so my price and your price may be two different things.

1986 Corolla GTS $700.00
KYB shocks and struts $161.92
Front & Rear Brake pads $67.40
Distributor $120.00
Intrax Springs $150.00
Air filter adaptor $10.00
Max Speed Muffler $65.00
Exhaust piping and resonator $160.00
T3 short throw $80.00
T3 RCA%u2019s $90.00
CAT $135.00
Front Strut tower bar $41.00
Optima red top $99.00
K&N filter $50.00
Tuneup parts $300.00
Stereo system $350.00
Alarm $99
Tires $132.00

Total cost $2,810.32