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Hello there im working on a project atm that involves a starlet engine but in a classic mini and in the process of trying to source the gearbox/transfer box off an ep85 or 95 but thats a separate problem.



My question is instead of getting a rear diff imported over is there any other more common cars with the same diff ratio? i know the rear diff ratio is 2.277:1.



Thanks


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What 4wd parts do you currently have ? Trying to get spares for these is a nightmare haha.

Think the same drivetrain was fitted to a few other Toyotas of the same era, like 4wd Toyota Corsa, Tercel, Corolla maybe a few more. But most will be JDM only and not many would have made it over here.

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Have got a 4efte engine in the mini atm and have been emailing around for the ep85 or 95 gearbox and transfer box but as you say i know there a nightmare to get hold of lol.



Drive shaft i will get made up as it will be a different length.



So was just looking for a solution for the rear diff, not sure if it would even be better using a different ratio as it will be on 13inch wheels. i dont completely understand diff ratios but understand that's a variable.


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If you were to get the EP*5 stuff then the rear diff ratio would have to match the front. Otherwise stuff is gonna blow up haha. The EP*5 uses a centre viscous coupling which takes up the difference between the front and rear, as there will always be a difference with outside wheels turning further etc. The front and rear are both open diffs. Its a fairly old design of 4wd tbh and there isnt a lot (if any) mods that can be easily done to the drivetrain.

That being said the 4paws do hook up nicely and put power down pretty well :)

A mini with the running gear would be savage lol.

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ok so im pretty much limited to the ep*5 diffs then?



And ye its going to be a little pocket rocket! ha just a bit concerned about putting the power down thats why im looking along this route


Edited by TurboTD04
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Well not limited as such, anything is possible so to speak, its just a really unexplored area tbh.

The gearbox is a C50F box, the front diff is specific to that box, maybe LSD internals can be fitted in it, who knows, i did read some old threads on UKSC about people in Japan trying to retro fit Cusco and OEM AE92 LSDs into them, pretty unclear if it worked.

As for the rear diff i dont think anything has been done to that apart from a couple lads in Ireland welding em up and making them RWD.

Ive heard of people in Japan swapping out the whole rear axle for a AE86 one instead, but thats on RWD converted ones. Which pretty much rules out AE86 diffs fitting in the rear axle as i reckon they'd have tried that first.

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If you spend a bit of time digging up the old threads in the 4wd section of this site theres lots of good info in there :)

And nah im afraid not, all this stuff (if theres any left) will be in Japan, so youd need to contact someone who knows someone over there haha.

I was speaking to a guy in Ireland recently about spare 4wd stuff he has that i was trying to buy, but he stopped replying and dropped off the map lol. Gutted.

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Ye will spend a bit of time looking through here



And there are still quite a few left in japan have been looking at jap auction sites and theres a steady supply of them going through, there is 4 due up for auction tomorrow one starting at £75!!!!!! and you know they will go ridiculously cheap just getting them/the bits back ha may have to combine a trip out to japan with that one day sure a few people on here would be interested lol



And if he gets back to you and has a few going wouldnt mind you dropping me a message lol


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What sites are you looking at ? I havent seen any for ages but just been looking at Trade Car View. That is bloody cheap, how much could you land that here for ? You could make a few quid importing 4paws man loads of folk were after them. And yeah man if i hear anything i'll let you know :)

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Ahh 5dr autos yeah not much of a market for them. Depends how much you want the running gear to justify importing the full car, then youd still have the issue of needing a manual gearbox and transfer box.

See something like this is near enough ideal for a donor.

https://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/toyota/corolla+sedan/15601036/

A 4wd Corolla, E55F gearbox, so youd get the running gear you need, gearbox, transfer box, rear axle etc. Only issue you might have is that because its mated to a 4AFE engine the bellhousing wont bolt up to the 4EFTE engine, but you could easily have an adapter plate made up.

Its something to consider anyway, starlet manual 4wd stuff is just so hard to get :/

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The cars i listed before like the Toyota Corsa and the Corolla 2 i think they are called, if you find one with 4wd, they can come in a 1.5L 5EFE engine then that should have the C50F gearbox and that will bolt straight onto a 4EFTE engine with no adapter plates needed.

May aswell hunt around for them, think the chassis code for them is an EL55. This is an auto version https://www.tradecarview.com/used_car/japan%20car/toyota/corsa/15600873/

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By the looks of it the 1.6 4wd with the E55F gearbox has a newer style 4wd system with a rear diff in a housing with a pair of driveshafts, all mounted to a rear subframe.

24_zpscrskyaek.jpg

Whereas the system in the starlets and the EL55 corsa is a older type system that uses a big rear axle with halfshafts.

This is the starlet system, pics from my EP85

20130826_162833_zps118a69ae.jpg

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20130826_162919_zps1fb7755a.jpg

20130826_162929_zps46c63d3a.jpg

20130826_162940_zpsdbfa853f.jpg

20130826_162122_zps25ff85f8.jpg

20130826_162106_zps7c85174f.jpg

Edited by daniel_g
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Ok I didn't really wanna travel to get it if it's not 4wd and don't wanna ask the guy as he might not know about them as he's a trader and had it in part ex 7DC4AE42-2BF1-4D57-B29F-CEF7868B9604_zps50D4D21E-2AF8-41D9-9233-F1314C8A0573_zps

I still cant quite make it out lol, ahh right haha yeah dont wanna inform him he might have a 4wd starlet haha. If you ask him for a pic of the vin number and if it reads EP95 then youre onto a winner :)

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Yeap that's right haha. I'm going to pick up tommorow , so hopefully it's a 4wd but shame it's a auto lol, for the price I'm having it I can sell the diff etc and make my money back , fingers crossed it's a 4wd :)

Possibly be interested in the rear diff if it is 4wd ;) I want to weld 1 up for drag racing

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