Last year I came across this KE10, freshly pulled from the bushes, for $200.
The car was a mess. It ran, barely. Too much throttle and the car choked itself out on oil and took ages to start again. The car literally didnt have enough power to overcome a garden hose it snagged on the lawn!
The shell was structurally sound in the floors and rockers but just about everything else was garbage. Using parts from the green car shown above, I swapped out the very tired 1100cc motor and 2spd automatic for a 1200cc and 4spd, and replaced the brakes, steering, and gas tank. The plan was to just drop it as low as possible on the steelies and make a ratty cruiser. Unfortunately, the motor had been sitting through the winter in the parts car without antifreeze, and after all that work I discovered the block was cracked.
The project was stalled until after I was rear ended in my KE17 Sprinter. Then, I decided that while the Sprinter gets a body shell restoration, all the goodies would go into the KE10 for drifting!! Yay!
Concept sketch of final product:
Flares may be provided by sheet plastic or plastic rain barrels cut and molded with the heat gun.
As for actual progress:
Cuz the steering box is from a collapsible column te27, it doesn't fit with the stuff for a non collapsible KE10 dash mount and such. So I rigged this up right onto the steering shaft itself with a plastic bushing and a little grease. No signal stalk, so I guess maybe I'll put some toggle switches on the dash at some point. Maybe. I like the simplicity.
Pulled a late-nighter in my workshop, and got the car to the track for the first event of the season. I was just doing practice laps, I'm too much of a novice to compete and the car is still way too twitchy to drift properly. Hell of a lot of fun though, and the 3TC makes plenty of power for a 1500lb car!
Photos by
http://speedhero.wordpress.com/2011/04/24/gettin-casual/ Check out his other photos. Plenty of 86s
http://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130778.jpghttp://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130768.jpghttp://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130751.jpghttp://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130754.jpghttp://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130758.jpghttp://speedhero.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/p1130762.jpgThings to work on for the next event:
Better rear shocks, a panhard bar, cut the tunnel for driveshaft clearance.
Build firewall between me and gas tank.
Increase steering caster and fit some wider tires on.
Stronger e-brake system. Homebrew hydraulic maybe?
Remove even more weight. Rear window will be gone, trunk floor, maybe some speed holes ahead of the strut towers. The car is already under 1500, I want it at 1400!
. Car looks awesome! Not sure how I feel about the hood, but I've heard that said countless times about my car, so I'm the last person in the world to be able to pass judgement 
