1999 Toyota Corolla - The unlikely candidate...

[Amphoteric88]

It has now been a year since I started Autocross with FAST, and what a year it has been! Just over one year ago I was so worried about everything that could go wrong, and now here I am, enjoying every run I can get. With college out of the way and a job that pays truly useable money up next, it is time to do what any (ir)rational person would do: start planning out the project car build. Enter, my current grocery getter; the 1999 Toyota Corolla that ends up at Brooksville every month or so. Being that I will be getting something equally reliable and newer for my daily commute, and that this car is worthless to anybody but me, I want to make something out of it. Maybe something a la FASTiva, except with less competitive potential. Now, I could (read: should) be putting money into the Mr. that currently sits in the garage. However, this car I can drive on the roads and I am comfortable with it.

So, what have I done/had done to it?
Primewell Valera Tires Dec 2014 (Replaced)
Rebuilt the engine to stop a massive oil burning issue Summer 2015
Inner and Outer Tie Rods, Alignment, Motor Mounts Sept 2015
EBC Greenstuff Front Pads, new rotors, drums and hardware Nov 2015
Exedy OE Replacement Clutch Dec 2015
Brass Shifter Bushing Ends, MWR Short Shifter, Shifter Base Bushings Dec 2015
2006 Corolla Steering Wheel, Aluminum Pedals Feb 2016
LED Light Bar and Chrome Bull Bar May 2016
General Altimax RT43 Tires Oct 2016

What needs to be done? Or, what has gone wrong?
Shock absorbers need to be replaced (passenger rear has failed completely)
Power Steering leaks onto exhaust (noticed 20ish Apr 2017)
Occasional P0420 code... possibly a failing cat
Assorted bushings need replacement (ex. sway bar end links)
Light bar hardware needs replacement (cheap metal has rusted past usability)
Rear brakes could use servicing... again...

Currently, I have a few things I'd like to get around to putting on the car. I bought a set of 15 by 5.5 in wheels that are waiting to be wrapped in grippy rubber. I also scored a set of KSport coilovers off ebay; they need work before they can be mounted. One of the pillowball mounts needs to be replaced and they all need adjustments to be even. I have a racing seat I thought of putting in the Mr., but I'll consider mounting it in here. Depends on how much use this car will see outside of racing.
In any case, these are just ideas. The only things I will be doing soon are sorting out what needs to be done. Everything else, is on project car time.

Near Future Plans/Ideas:
195/55ish/15 tires
Properly dialed in coilovers
Sway Bar(s)
Racing Seat and Harness (seriously, these seats might as well be ironing boards)
Mild Cam
Exhaust work (long flow header, hi flow cat, enough muffling to not disturb the peace at idle, etc.)
Straightening out the rear end (literally)

Distant Future/Musings:
Turbo and/or Supercharger
2ZZ/Other sub 2.0L engine swap
Light Flywheel
LSD
Larger front brakes/rear disc conversion
Shell swap (use a donor Corolla and swap the good/undamaged parts into a straight shell)

Like I said above, this car is of no value to anyone but myself. It has taught me how to drive on the roads and in autocross. It served as a foundation for my mechanical know-how. I want to try things out with it, learn as much as I can with this car. Though as much as I do to the car, I know that the screw behind the wheel will always need the most work.

[Amphoteric88]

So... anybody want to help me work these adjustable coilovers? Besides sticking the little hex key in to adjust damping, I haven't had much luck in changing the supposed ride height. And attempting to change the mount left me

[Loren]

Photos would help.

I had a set of K-Sports once, and really liked them. But, yours may be different. Need to see what we're talking about.

[Native]

Power Steering leaks onto exhaust (noticed 20ish Apr 2017)

Fix that. If tech at an event finds it, they'll fail your car...

The rest is gonna be fun!

[Amphoteric88]

Fix that.

I was planning on coming this saturday, but given the leak I decided against it.

Photos would help.

Like these here? Two of them seem fine. One rear needs the spring seat adjusted, as to not have a loose spring. The other one is the front that needs the mount replaced. Pictured, I have the hardware.

[Loren]

Okay, cool. Pretty much the same kit I had on my Yaris. You've got adjustable length shock bodies and adjustable spring perch height. Lots of adjustability. Lots of room for error.

I would fit them to the car before getting too worked up about adjusting anything. As installed on the car, that spring droop might disappear.

If it's in the front, it won't really matter (you're not likely to unload the full weight off of a front corner). In the rear of a FWD car, yeah, you don't want the spring to go slack to where it could fall out of its perch.

What you DO want to do before you install them is be sure that the adjusters can be adjusted. My K-Sports were bad about coming loose, so I got them to where I wanted them, and put Loc-Tite on the adjuster rings. I pity the fool who tried to adjust them later, but it solved MY problem. So, be sure nobody's done that to you. Your lock rings can be loosened, your adjustment rings can move freely. Everything is clean and moves easily. Do that. You'll be glad you did.

Then install on the car!

Generally, you want to adjust the "spring preload" so that it's not going to go slack. And then adjust the shock body to get the ride height. BUT, if your springs are too short, or you otherwise jack up the adjustment, you could end up with almost no TRAVEL. So, think about how much space your shock shaft has to move. Tweak your adjustments accordingly.

Too long shock body, and then using the spring perch height to bring it back down is the usual cause of "not enough travel".

Get 'em on the car. Come talk to me.

[ImpostorDan]

Let the railroad track jumping begin...

[CaptainSquirts]

Cool project! Will be interesting to see how this journey goes for the Corolla. Makes me one to make a little diary on my car but would be boring compared. e.g. I changed the spark plugs, did an oil change, replaced the brakes.. Don't forget pics!

[mymomswagon]

I've been browsing that 195/55r15 tire size myself. Seems like there are.some decent and affordable choices for summer tires out there:
bfg sport comp2 on amazon
dunlop direzza dz102 at tirerack
toyo t1r at tirerack
federal 595 evo at amazon

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[Loren]

dunlop direzza dz102 at tirerack

No. Just no.

[Amphoteric88]

No. Just no.

Not a good tire? I think the MR2 has them on the front actually... not that fact says much about them...

[Loren]

Not even in the same league as the other tires you mentioned. Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec is the one you want. DZ102 is the new revision of the DZ101, which also sucked. So bad in the wet that my wife complained when they got to half tread. I think Philip or somebody has had a set of DZ102's.

Now, if they're super cheap, and you're just looking for something "better than 6-year-old all-season tires", they might be okay.

[jbrannon7]

These are supposed to be the hot new budget tire, reportedly nearly as good as the top 4 street race tires. I don't know how they compare in price to your budget tires. Limited sizes though.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... FERA+SUR4G

[Amphoteric88]

The Nexen N FERA comes in at 225/45/15 at its smallest, so that might work... My next modification would be tires, to be able to fully appreciate the coilovers. Pics and progress update coming soon.

[CaptainSquirts]

With new coilovers and tires, the car won't be as much fun to watch when it was bouncing all over the course. D:

[mymomswagon]

good to know about the dz102 Loren.
my list has been uhp level focus, does leave something on the table.
one thing I noticed searching is that tirerack claims the bfg sport comp2 in 195 has an actual tread width of 7.7". I've driving on 5.5" mostly and 6.0" recently.

Edit: in my search, I've kinda ignored wet traction thinking they'd be autox only. The federals also have buyer reviews that complain about wet traction. Price wise all were.below $80, free ship on the amazon tires.


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[Carracer]

Avoid the dZ102 at all cost, a terrible tire. Not good for daily driving with the shocking low wet grip traction the provide. Not fun for driving fast. Terrible grip, peaky and greasy all at the same time. I like a good low grip tire for autocross, this is not one of them, cheap Walmart specials will offer better driving dynamics.

With new coilovers and tires, the car won't be as much fun to watch when it was bouncing all over the course. D:

Sad really, that Corolla is my favorite car to take pictures of.

[Rpwolf]

Avoid the dZ102 at all cost, a terrible tire. Not good for daily driving with the shocking low wet grip traction the provide. Not fun for driving fast. Terrible grip, peaky and greasy all at the same time. I like a good low grip tire for autocross, this is not one of them, cheap Walmart specials will offer better...

I have a set in stock ap1 size, they do sucks but I've had worse. ok dry grip (at first), feed back is minimal. not a quiet tire and the wet grip sucks. at least I can do donuts and not feel bad for the tires, doesn't seem to wear fast. I can't imagine how bad the dz101 was.

[Amphoteric88]

Sad really, that Corolla is my favorite car to take pictures of.

The bull bar isn't going anywhere, so there's that lol
Speaking of the bar, I spent a bit of time today remounting it, so the hardware issue is solved!
And over this weekend past, I did this:

It may not look like much, but the coilovers are in! Big thanks to my brother Ed for replacing the top coilover mount.
The car feels... lower and stiffer. Maybe not sporty, not yet. The steering is definitely lighter. And the bad bushings are very obvious; there is now a definite dead zone in the center of the steering wheel. Now, time for an alignment. Thankfully I don't do much driving now, so I'm not afraid to drive the car around without destroying my tires.
Less fun to watch, but much more fun to drive, with regard to control. It is a different type of fun to drive a car that has three or four wheels on the street at any moment, versus a car on coils

[Loren]

Fix your front toe immediately! Anytime you lower a car that much, toe goes drastically in or out. Like an inch or more! The rest can wait, but if you're driving it at all, you need to fix that right away. Will likely also help with that on-center feel.

The bull bar... at least drill some speed holes in it!