My Corolla Story

This is a story in two parts. I detail my times with 4AC powered Corollas therein.

Part one:
The first car I ever rode in after being born was a dark blue 1984 Corolla LE (with cruise control). My parents had purchased it in the expectation of their newborn son and the fact that the car seat wouldn't fit in anything they already owned, plus at the time the Corolla had a pretty impressive safety ranking. So the '84 Corolla was the first car I ever rode in.

Flash forward 16 years to the teenage experience - learning to drive. Again, the Corolla was on the scene, at this point terminally rusty from the years of Michigan winters and the salt they use on the roads. The "Blue Car" had rust in places one didn't know sheet metal even could exist. The Corolla needed a lot of work, but still ran. Getting up early to go to the mall to learn to drive a stick and log hours for the graduated licensing program was an exhilarating experience. The old Corolla was the first car I ever rode in, and the first car I ever drove. In addition, learning to do things like replace transmission seals with little more knowledge than that afforded by a Haynes manual and some hand-me-down knowledge from my dad teaches volumes about cars (it was either learn to work on the Corolla or walk - guess which one I chose).

Eventually the Corolla couldn't be patched together anymore; the rust finally got it. With 225k on the clock (and the engine still sounding as great as always) a sad farewell was said as the junkyard wrecker took the car away.

Part Two:
Flash forward to after college to a trip out west to visit the parents. There was a light blue '85 Corolla for sale, rust free, with 58k original miles (and looked the part). I bought it, with basically no tools or means of working on it, drove it 2,000 miles cross country from Oregon to Illinois (the post-college landing spot) in a 3 day blitz trip. Now the car sits in my garage waiting for summer. I am slowly working on it, doing simple things like getting the gunk out of the windshield washer fluid tank, doing a coolant flush and exchange, replacing the ATF, replacing vacuum lines (I have gotten through most lines, except for those under the air cleaner, 10+ feet and counting), and some new tires. The car is immaculate inside and out, just like it must have looked in December of '84 when it rolled off the line. If the first car is any indication, I should be able to drive it for a long time to come.

Gonna need some pics! Sounds like a time capsule.

Gotta get some better pictures, but here it is:

Wow, thats one clean AE82! Makes me glad I didn't sell mine.

Fuck thats a epic grill I need one bad!

It is a gangster grill, I'm glad I have 1. Nice car 2 by the way I wish mine was that clean, Those low miles scare me though damn rolla did alot of sittin just like my 87

friend who tuna cobreastcollar that you bought ace, I only have one equal, difference in the nose lights and front mask, but your car this like new, I am recovering mine it little by little, over there you create q sells the 2 mirrors, is that those that I have estan in very badly been, you think that you can secure pieces and send them to me to Peru,… a question but there, if I bought an equal car to yours, it is possible to be sent to Peru? … and whichever hill a car thus there….thanks to respond… bye.

porfavor, some lover of these cars who wants to help to secure pieces to me for my cobreastcollar AE81, I want to recover it and to leave it yet original….breadfruit in my country is very difficult to obtain spare parts, for that reason I resort to this forum hoping to find to which it feels the same passion that I by these cars… hopefully somebody can help… thanks me. ...... they excuse if this bad writing in English but is that English and I am not translated all it in a page.


amigo que bonito corolla que te as comprado, yo tengo uno igual, solo se diferencia en los faros delanteros y mascara delantera, pero tu carro esta como nuevo, el mio lo estoy restaurando poco a poco, por alla crees q vendan los 2 espejos, es que los que tengo estan en muy mal estado, crees que me puedas conseguir piezas y mandarlas a Peru,...una pregunta mas, si yo comprara un carro igual al tuyo alla, se puede enviar a Peru?? ...y cuanto cuesta un auto asi alla....gracias por responder...chao.

porfavor, algun amante de estos autos que me quiera ayudar a conseguir piezas para mi corolla AE81, quiero restaurarlo y dejarlo con todo original....aca en mi pais es muy dificil conseguir repuestos, por eso recurro a este foro esperando encontrar a alguien que sienta la misma pasion que yo por estos autos...ojala alguien me pueda ayudar...gracias. ......disculpen si esta mal escrito en ingles pero es que no se ingles y todo lo traduzco en una pagina.