1972 Toyota Corolla: Creating a Daily Driver

Instagram: joellaurino

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In this series I plan to restore my 1972 Toyota Corolla into a daily driver. This episode will show you the history, and my plans for the car.

[sidgb]

This guy is a 100% Toyota guy. “I want a reliable car that’s quiet enough so I can listen to my music”

[otahu]

Toyota Should Build that again with a Modern Engine but all that old School. Low tech. Function and driver's car. Not what we have today.

[michaelflanagan]

My very first car was a 72 Corolla, so your video got my attention. Thanks for including the interior shots, brought back nice memories - it was a great car. My second vehicle was exactly your truck - year, color, standard cab, and long bed! I'll be interested to see how your project progresses, good luck!

[DirtyDan]

I actually love videos from people who aren't experts. I want to see how this journey unfolds!

[adamjohn]

2:55 man's out here taking a right at a stop sign like it's a yield.😂 Corolla looks so good.

[rodneynoriel]

Truly a survivor classic. A total exotic you can’t, even if you had the money, buy cause there are not many around. Simple and easy to understand and fix. I don’t know about this Corrolla but for my old Audi parts are cheap cause there’s NOS that no one needs or they are expensive cause again there is little supply left. Sadly some of the newer enthusiast will not appreciate the connection you get driving an older car like this. Will be a great daily once you cover all the restoration mechanical points.

[craigcarpenter]

if you can get the 2T-G back to stock cams they are a good street engine. I had a 2T-G swapped in my 78 Corolla Coupe back in the 1980s. With the EFI setup you should be able to tune it to run well for street use if the cams aren't too aggressive. Hope you have a good time with this one. They are fun small cars with a lot of character and fun to drive. My 2T-G had the stock Mikuni-Solex carbs and it was fine for street driving slow or fast

[seanfrank]

Wow. What a cool car. I hope you go through with your plans and turn her into a reliable daily. That would be pretty awesome IMO.

[danielvillarreal]

Looks epic. Definitely got that old school muscle car look.

[Ozzypup]

Man thats a sharp little car. Always liked some of the old Japanese cars like these.

[lopantolulu]

Leave it black thats why I clicked on the vid

[thasanroy]

One of the best Toyota cars design I have ever seen. 🖤

[goblinphreak]

Back when cars were works of art. Fucking gorgeous car.

I agree with hearing your music over the engine/exhaust. This idea that you need open pipe exhaust to get power is nonsense. All you have to do is upsize the pipe/muffler to retain the power that smaller straight pipe/no muffler is. So if you run 3" straight pipe, just run 4" normal exhaust. Same power, but much quieter. My 05 stock STI oem exhaust is 2.38" internal diameter. People will generally do 3" exhaust + intake and tune as a starter upgrade. I simply did 3" stainless pipe to a cherry bomb vortex muffler (no, not the glasspack) and it made the same power as super loud ricer exhausts but was dead silent when cruising and only growled at full throttle. No loud screaming exhaust. It was heaven to drive. So i understand you 100%. You can still make power just upsize. My buddy had a honda he was racing at the drag. He ended up going from 3" straight pipe to 4" with muffler, it was more quiet and he made the exact same power. And now he runs all his drag cars like that. Sure you could argue "the muffler adds weight" but lets be honest here, its too little to notice a change on your 1/4 mile. People chasing pounds are assholes anyway, just get more power from the motor.... A 900hp d16z6 civic with 4" exhaust is pretty insane as is....

If I ever recover from my spinal cord injury, I want to find an older honda/toyota/mazda from the 70's or 80's to restore and build....

On the note of the engine, those cams are clearly setup for racing, staying in high rpm at all times. So yeah a cam swap would really help reign it in for daily driving. For EFI system, I would go with Haltec ECU's. They can do all that shit and you wire it right in. You said the wiring as is was pretty bad. Great reason to snag a haltec and make your own harness.... they even sell blank wireharness kits so you can just pin out what you need and make it yourself. Its pretty sweet.

[technologyreboot]

Super glad to see another first gen corolla owner. I have a 1971 corolla wagon that’s in much rougher shape than yours. Hope it sees the road again soon, it’s been off it and in a junkyard since 1987. Good luck on the project, and can’t wait to see more!

[carllinden]

Because this video is so professional you automatically sound like you know what you're doing :) I cannot explain how much more I like the original looking wheels though.

[matty]

What a great looking Toyota, love it in black.

[keithreynolds]

My Dad had this exact car in Ireland. Think it was a '74. Orange. It got totalled not long after when some guy crash into him. Luckily he came out ok. Then he got the KE30. I learned to drive it in as a kid. 4 gear shift. Loved that car. We had 2 over the years. My Dad is almost 80 now and still will only drive a Corolla.
I've been looking out for one of these though for years. I just love em. I live on continental Europe these days. Hard to come by.
Good luck brother!

[christopherjongte]

The simplistic beauty and elegance of this particular car is just so mesmerizing ❤

[GMCTIM]

My wife & my mom had a Toyota corina years ago, they only made those cars 71 & 72, you couldn't get no parts to fix any problems so they pretty much Got junked ! Good little cars !

[tradewreck]

“Just enough problems that I could fix and learn how to work on cars myself” is a super underrated quality for a daily driver, especially for someone’s first vehicle. A+ vehicle choice and video 👌🏼