Hi guys.
After selling my AE86 drifter back in 2005 and not really had a proper drifter since then, I decided it was time to get back on the horse. After thinking long and hard about what kind of project I was looking for, I decided to go old school and build Norways first proper old school shakotan drifter.
I've always loved vintage cars. My daily driver for the last two summers has been a 1965 VW beetle, and I've owned several vintage cars over the years. Mostly aircooled, but also an '81 Cressida wagon, and a '76 Crown 2600. As I'm not a mechanic, I find modern cars too annoying to work on. There are just too many stupid solutions and no room to work. I can change the engine in my Beetle in less than half an hour, but when it comes to anything made after 1990, I usually get frustrated and give up.
So the first criteria for my new project was that it had to be simple and old school (just like me). As I hate it when my cars brake down it also had to be reliable. So when I came across a solid '77 Cressida RX30 with only one previous owner I didn't even bother to negotiate the price. And boy was I lucky. Apart from the occational dent and scratch, it's as good as new. The car has done 156 000km, and been serviced every 20k. Basically it's the best possible base for a nice project. Not mint, but really, really solid.
I only have this one picture for now, but will try to take some better ones tomorrow.
Besides being a solid car to begin with, it's also very light, and has plenty of room for a straight 1JZ swap. It will also allow me to run 15" wheels, saving me some money on tyres. Finally, it will stand out! I'm sick of all the Soarers and Supras and S-bodies. Time to bring some style to the norwegian drift scene!
My plans for the car (besides the 1JZ/R154 swap) is to fit coilover suspension, Soarer/SC300 brakes and steering rack, and strippe out the interior and fit a proper cage. All while keeping the modifications to a minimum. Every modification will be for handling or reliability. If it ain't broken etc...
I'm really looking forward to this project and I hope it will be a fun one for you guys to follow as well. This thread will hopefully work as both a motivator and a resource for me! I'm pretty sure I need all the help I can get. In fact, I have a few questions right away:
1. What size wheels will fit under the stock arches? I'm willing to roll them, but I don't want to fit wider overfenders or anything like that. I'm looking at the Rota Shakotan (Hayashi Street replicas) in 15x9" ET0. Will that work with slammed suspension?
2. What's the best base for a coilover setup? AE86? Celica/Celica Supra? MX73? From what I've been able to figure out, there's no straight fit, but the less work needed, the better
That's it for now. Will post more pics of the car in it's current state very soon!
Regards,
Fredrik Sørlie
Norway
). I also fitted the Nardi steering wheel and the huge, blue dildo shifter that came in the mail today. We planned a proper photoshoot today, but due to the rain we only had time for a snapshot.
