Over the last few years, drifting has become the victim of its own success. Often described as the figure skating of the automotive world, drifting started off as a relatively cheap sport. But as more and more people started turning their tyres, that once cheap and enjoyable sport has become far less accessible and, for some, far less friendly. Those at the competitive end can no longer lock a diff, fit some adjustable suspension and have a good day battling their mates. The sponsorship dollars now mean those friends are fierce rivals, and the championship points ensure a healthy battle.

Behind all that seriousness there is still a small group of people who have continued with what they originally set out to do: have fun. While the majority of these guys no longer attend competitive events, a handful do. One such driver is Garage Dori’s Karl Skewes.

Karl has been competing in the D1NZ drift championship since 2003, always with the intent of having a good time, rather than trying to take the title. His original vehicle of choice was a very well-used (and abused) AA60 Toyota Carina. In its competition days the Carina went through a variety of set-ups, including no less than five separate engine combinations. Undertaking pretty much everything himself, the car was built and run on a tiny budget, allowing Karl the freedom to not worry about how many times he spun out and ate the kitty litter at Pukekohe Park Raceway’s sweeper.

Two seasons of going sideways over ripple strips and diff heads smacking the floor eventually saw the retirement of the vehicle. Instead of following everyone else and joining the Nissan bandwagon, Karl wanted to keep it old school and stay true to the Toyota brand.

Despite knowing a naturally aspirated engine would never be truly competitive, a hard-hitting 4A-GE was the engine Karl wanted to run with. So the search began for a suitable vehicle to drop one into. With AE86s and 85s holding their values, Karl chose to take the path less trodden: he bought himself a 1985 AE70 Corolla DX.

Finding a suitable shell proved to be a harder task than anticipated, and resulted in one being “plucked from the bosom of the South Island,” as Karl puts it. On its way up to Auckland the car was dropped in to Tim Lloyd of Octane Automotive who fitted it with a strut tower to strut tower roll cage. The cage itself was constructed with rallying in mind, in case Karl ever decided to try his hand at gravel bashing. Once caged, the Corolla went into West Auckland’s Tama Autos, which was to become the vehicle’s spiritual home from here on in. Tama Autos is an automotive and panelbeating shop by day, and a Toyota modder’s heaven by night, so it wasn’t long before the shell was painted and awaiting assembly. During the panel beating, twin round headlights from an earlier DX were fitted. You would think that fitting them would have been a simple job, but in fact, two new guards, a bonnet and grill, all from the twin headlight model, were required for the job. To fit decent rubber under the car all four guards were lipped and the metal stretched outwards as far as possible.

Having spent a fair amount of time in Japan over the last few years, Karl had managed to pick up all sorts of interesting bits and pieces not available locally. Most other parts were sourced locally, the majority from various Toyota wrecking friends around the country.

Knowing full well the car was going to be underpowered, suspension set-up was the key to getting the vehicle into a decent slide. KYB Super Circuit shocks destined for the rear end of an MR-2 were bolted to the front of the Corolla and modified to take AA63 front stub axles residing on Revolver adapters. The adapters allowed the vehicle to sit low and have an extensive steering lock. Using the Carina hubs meant the vented discs and callipers from the same model could also be fitted. Attached to the top of the coil-over adjustable shocks are Cusco pillow ball mounts originally destined for an AE86. Down the back, the setup is not as adjustable — but it’s certainly indestructible. A Toyota Hilux was robbed of its diff, which was then shortened to suit the narrower vehicle. Holding the diff in place are KYB shocks and 7kg springs. A Nite Parts adjustable panhard bar was fitted to ensure the diff remained centralised through the full extent of suspension travel. Also fitted to the suspension were a full set of Noltec/Nolathane suspension bushes and a rear sway bar from an AE85. As the diff was originally supplied with drum brakes, Karl has adapted AE92 Corolla callipers and S13 rotors to suit. As yet, a custom handbrake cable hasn’t been constructed, which makes Karl’s drifting ability in the vehicle even more impressive.

Once the suspension was sorted, a bunch of engine parts were dropped to Glendene Engine Reconditioners (GER), in the hope they could make some sense of it all. Among the parts were a 7-rib 16-valve 4A-GE block, 1mm oversized AE92 pistons, 20-valve 4A-GE rods and a modified 20-valve oil pump. These were pieced together around a balanced crankshaft with ACL race bearings and ARP rod bolts. Sandwiched between the block and 0.3mm decked 16-valve small port head is a 0.8mm TRD head gasket. As with the bottom end, the head has been well thought out and extensively modified. All valves have been angle cut and ports have been opened up. The task of controlling the valve train is left to Toda 304/288-degree 8.5mm lift camshafts, Toda valve springs and Toda adjustable cam gears. Keeping the 4A-GE true to its naturally aspirated roots, Karl decided the only induction should be by way of 20-valve sourced quad throttle bodies, fitted to a manifold he knocked up himself. For good, low down torque, the runners are just 70mm long.

With such a set up, a stock 4A-GE computer was never going to cut it. Rather than spending the big bucks, Karl, along with the rest of the Garage Dori boys, built and installed a Megasquirt V3 ECU. The easily tuneable ECU allowed for fitment of VR-4 4G63 coil packs, rather than the standard distributor arrangement, for a healthy spark. The resulting gas is sent south through equal length extractors and a 2.25-inch exhaust. Eagle-eyed readers may wonder where the fuel comes from. Instead of messing around with welding a fuel return into the stock fuel tank, an AE86 tank was sourced and installed, along with the corresponding fuel pump.

In the grand scheme of things, the 105kW produced by the setup isn’t earth shattering, but the engine’s willingness to rev, and the sound produced by the quad throttle bodies, ensure Karl always has a smile on his face. With constant clutch kicks required to get the ass-end out, a strong W-series gearbox was bolted to the engine. Fitting this, however, required a W-A-series adapter from Brendan at Nite Parts. Inside the handcrafted bellhousing are a Goodworks SPL 3.7kg AE86 flywheel and a Glenn Parts 4-puck custom clutch. These feed power into a Drive Inn heavy-duty single universal drive shaft and out to the locked diff.

To accommodate the 14×7-inch 0-offset Work Equip alloy wheels Karl wanted, the rear axles required re-drilling. This small amount of effort was well worth it, though; the black-faced rims suit the period of the vehicle superbly. Setting off the look are custom graphics from West Auckland’s Brave design that include Brave’s own Indian mascot.

To save weight, the vehicle’s interior was left relatively bare, so it was coated in the same custom orange hue as the exterior. The only comforts Karl now has are a Sparco driver’s seat, Nardi steering wheel and standard Toyota gear knob. Keeping his eyes busy, though, are Omori oil pressure, water temperature and oil temperature gauges.

At the Final round of D1NZ 2006, just days before Karl relocated to Japan “until further notice” and the car was parted out, he achieved his best result yet — fourth place. While the guys who take it seriously were choking up with nerves, Karl was out there doing it for the right reasons — to have fun and do a few skids. A result like that, from an underpowered, short-wheelbase car, makes me think he was onto something something a few of the more serious guys should consider.

1985 Toyota Corolla AE70 (DX) – Specifications

Engine: Toyota 4A-GE 1600cc DOHC 16V, 1mm oversize AE92 pistons, ACL race main and big end bearings, shot peened 20V rods, modified 20V oil pump, ARP rod bolts, alloy single row crank pulley, TRD 0.8mm head gasket, ported small-port head, Toda 304/288 8.5mm lift cams, Toda valve springs, Toda cam gears, angle valve cut, 0.3mm head skim, custom manifold, 20V quad throttle bodies, 70mm trumpets, AE86 fuel tank, small port injectors, 4G63 quad coil pack, extractors, 2.25-inch exhaust, 2-core radiator, electric fan, Megasquirt V3 ECU, solid engine mounts

Driveline: W55 5-speed gearbox, Nite Parts A-W-series bell housing, Goodworks-SPL 3.7kg AE86 Flywheel, Glenn Parts 4-puck custom clutch, Lance Parts Toyota Hilux Diff, 4.3:1 locked head, custom drive shaft

Suspension: Front — modified AA60 coil-over struts, KYB Super Circuit shocks, 10kg springs, Revolver GX adapters, Cusco pillow ball upper mounts. Rear — KYB Gas shocks, 7kg springs, Nite Parts adjustable panhard rod, Whiteline traction brackets, Noltec/Nolathane bushes, AE85 rear sway bar

Brakes: Carina AA63 front discs and callipers, AE92 rear callipers, S13 discs

Wheels/Tyres: 14×7-inch 0-offset Work Equip alloys, 185/55R14 Bridgestone Potenza Grid-III  tyres

Exterior: Custom orange paint, GT headlight conversion, widened front guards, custom graphics

Interior: Sparco driver’s seat, Nardi steering wheel, Omori oil pressure, water temp, oil temp gauges, 4-point harness, 8-point rally cage

Performance: Dyno Power — 105kW @ wheels

Driver Profile – Karl Skewes

Age: 23

Occupation: Former e-geek, now mechanic/translator.

Previously Owned Cars: AA60 Carina, 3x KE35 Corolla

Dream Car: TE37 for daily, with AE86 N/A and FC3S turbo for drift.

Why the AE70? I like old school, lightweight, small Toyotas, but team mate Matt Gill is the original NZ AE86 drifter, so I wanted something different. I had a high-power 4A-GE turbo set up in the Carina, but wanted to re-live the 4A-GE N/A racing heritage.

Build time: 18 months

Length of ownership: 2 years

Karl Thanks: The whole Garage Dori team, Matt Gill, Mark Harrison, Will Cook, Keith Pun, Reo Yoshimizu, Reo, Nao, Shinsan and Mamasan @ Tama Autos, Brendan @ Nite Parts, Mum & Dad, Ben & Nicole, friends, Lance, Glenn, Stu, Clinton, Nick, Tim, Dion, Masato, Chris @ Shorerentals.co.nz, Sampson and crew @ Glendene Engine Reconditioners, Rod @ Brave Design, Paint @ Goodworks-SPL, Aiden @ Drive Inn, 3 One 0 Alarms, Outwest Auto Tinting, Thomas Chen @ D1NZ, Daisuke @ Tanuki Cave, Andy & Emily @ Power Vehicles, Kazama @ Kazama Autos

Words: Todd Wylie, Photos: Clutch