Toyota Corona engine conversion, axle swap?

[mt2man]

Hey all, just got my hands on a 1977 Toyota Corona, its the 2.0 5speed manual, its a lovely drive, but its extremely slow! I'm looking at possible engine conversions when the MOT is up (end of November) I'm probably going to buy an entire donor vehicle to make sure i get all the loom i need etc.

Looking at Lexus's, theres a few cheap IS200's, 6 speed, 3s ge engine (only 155 bhp as standard but should be much better) if i do this conversion i think the rear axle will be absoultely fine with the power.

But id love a v8, so looking at LS400s and getting a 4.0 V8! Its a nice 250+bhp so would be ideal, but I'm worried the standard rear axle might not be upto the task? And theres the problem that they are usually only automatics!

Id love to stick to Toyota/Lexus engine wise, but I'm open to other Japanese options! SR20's might be an option but donor vehicles hold there value, where as lexus's are usually under £800.

The Corona is leaf sprung in the back, so any ideas on possible rear axles that are an easy fit? I really want to avoid IVA etc so want to keep within the points system, so fitting the lexus rear subframe, suspension and diff isnt really an option.

Jack

[skylinedave]

From ease and price wise . probably a Volvo axle . A Ford would be harder to find for reasonable money .

[jikovron]

Any live axle is a fairly straightforward conversion to leaf springs, the basic considerations would be:
the weight of the axle as effected upon unsprung weight
width between wheel mounting faces
propshaft flange compatibility (some can be cross-pollinated over if they are old imperial sized spiders)
extra nose length of the diff
an allowance for running extra diff nose angle to the propshaft as greater power will torque react the diff nose up further
possible handbrake adaption carry on
wheel PCD
and diff ratio to suite the gearbox top ratio for cruising rpm

for a lightish car like a corona and if it was myself I would look into MGB axles as they are really cheap to buy, same pcd, narrow enough to run deep dish wheels @51" width and are known to handle very hard usage however massively common if one happens to break
3.9 and 3.08 ratios available
but sadly no easy LSD
HTH

[mt2man]

MGB axles are a very good idea actually! Some come with V8 as standard so should be okay for reasonanable power, makes life easier with PCD's.

LSD would be nice, trying to avoid welding the diff, it wont be a drift car but i do enjoy being able to play with the back end. But again its just added strain on the half shafts etc so not the best plan, i will probably run the standard toyota axle untill i break it!

MGB axles are most likely alot cheaper than trying to source another toyota axle!

[RetroMat]

I would take a look at www.toymods.org.au/forums/forum.php

Lots of 70'a toyotas with engine swaps on there. I'd guess the Corona shares just about every thing mechanical with a Celica of similar vintage I was always under the impression these axles were pretty strong!