87 Corolla FX16 GTS Track Toy Build

[MR2_FTW]

"And you may ask yourself 'Well, how did I get here?'"

-Talking Heads

Let's go back, shall we?





For the past month I've been in a scramble to get some safety projects wrapped up on the Corolla. The new-to-me driver's seat was in and finally got its cover installed. With a little addition of foam in certain places, it was as comfy as ever.





The cooler for the CoolShirt needed some proper mounting points for the ratchet strap, so some eye bolts were welded in place.





Speaking of the CoolShirt, I noticed when I tested it that priming the system was difficult with the dry-break fittings. The addition of an inline primer bulb solved that issue.





The hastily-scrawled Sharpie label was replaced with an actual printed label for bonus legitimacy points.





Another issue that needed sorting out was the wheel studs. As you can see, the factory studs are quite short and do not fully engage the lug nut. While they do have 7 full threads of engagement and has never given me problems, it does look a little sketchy. ARP studs went in extremely smoothly on 3/4 corners. Remember the hub and bearing I had to replace on the right front after the axle exploded at Dominion a few years back? Turns out the aftermarket hub flange is significantly thicker and it makes installing these a huge pain.





In the end they all found their home and definitely add a sense of security. I also installed wheel hub rings for the first time, as I had been just using the lug nuts and a careful installation each time to make sure everything was seated properly. However this is the correct way to do it, and the peace of mind is very nice. Little did I know that all this reinforcement to the hub area would come in extra handy very soon...





Thursday afternoon I met up with my friend Steve and we started our journey to New Jersey Motorsports Park for GridLife. We ended up hitting some pretty solid traffic and somehow got split up about 30 minutes from our destination. With the traffic delay, we were both absolutely flogging it to make it to the gates before they closed at 11pm. Steve beat me by about 5 minutes and I rolled through the gates at precisely 10:58pm - way too close for comfort. We set up camp, had a celebratory beer, and went to bed.





When the sun came up over the paddock Friday morning we heard from the announcements that there were not many people signed up for the Intermediate or Advanced HPDE run groups so there would be a lot of track time. Steve and I were both only signed up for Saturday/Sunday but we both decided that since we were already here we may as well sign up for Friday too. When in Rome, am I right?

A few laps into the second session on Friday, I turned into turn 1, then all of the sudden the rear end of the car snapped out. I caught it but applied too much steering angle which sent me sliding off the outside of the turn through the dirt passenger-door first. The dip in the dirt caught the inside edge of the LH tires, lifting it up into the air. The outside edge of the RH tires dug into the ground and very nearly rolled the car. Thankfully it stayed shiny-side up and I sat facing the track waiting for the dust to clear so I could get my bearings. I tried to limp the car but clearly something was wrong. I barely managed to get the car through the grass up to the flag station so I was out of the way and the session could continue. Once the session ended and the tow truck came, I was able to get out and see the damage. Both RH tires were off the bead and flat. The RH side skirt was bent under the car but somehow still attached.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Yvgml7BGgDo

After a ride back to the paddock in the tow truck, I spent the next hour or two trying to re-seat the bead and get the tires inflated. Once that was done I quickly realized that the left rear tire was rubbing on the strut. The clearance there was always very close, but now it was bent just enough to be a problem.

[MR2_FTW]

I then spent the next few hours trying to cross-reference vehicles that share this knuckle and find a replacement as quickly as possible. The only place I could find was Albert's Auto Parts in Thomaston, Connecticut - roughly four hours away. The guys at Albert's were super helpful and agreed to leave the part out in a safe location so I could come pick it up after hours.





Steve, being the amazing friend he is, offered to swap back to his street tires after his last session of the day so we could take his ND Miata which gets roughly double the fuel economy of my 4Runner. So around 4pm we left NJMP. With traffic it took us around 4.5 hours to get to the Albert's, but the knuckle was right where they said it would be. Mercifully the traffic was better on the way back so we made it in a little under 4 hours, pulling back into our camp site around 12:30AM. I then spent the next two hours swapping the knuckle out, as well as switching out the rear brake pads for some cheap Centric pads to reduce rear lockup. With everything fixed and torqued, I went to bed around 2:45am, ready to get back on track for the rest of the weekend.





The rest of the weekend went very well with no more crashing or mechanical hiccups whatsoever, at least for us. There was a big food truck gathering on the property for dinner Saturday night which was very welcome after two days of pop tarts, Cliff bars and PB&J. We even made some new friends with our paddock neighbors who were gracious hosts for Sunday breakfast.

Unfortunately that luck did not hold true for everyone at the track. This weekend was the hottest on record for the last 10 years at NJMP, and the mechanical attrition rate was high. I've never seen so many sessions delayed due to oil on track. On Sunday the morning Intermediate DE session went out right after a cleanup in turn 3. Unfortunately the guy in the new-ish Corolla hatch in front of me went full send through the oil-dry and ended up flipping his car several times. Fortunately he walked away with minor bumps and bruises.





It was so nice to finally hang out again with our friend Ross who drives a Fit in Sundae Cup. It's been way too long and this weekend was a blast. You might not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.





The trip home was blissfully uneventful after such a hectic weekend. I absolutely loved this track and can't wait to make the trip back. I'm so glad I put the CoolShirt setup in the car, as it was absolutely necessary in this heat. We went through over 80lbs of ice over the weekend between the two coolers, the water jug, and the CoolShirt tank. Shout out to GridLife for putting on a really fun event and having such a great community. I think for me the rest of the year will just be the October NASA event at VIR, with maybe a Trackcross at Dominion with some co-workers somewhere in there as well.

[MR2_FTW]

This was the best lap I managed to capture with both camera and timing up and running

[MR2_FTW]

Nvus Images took some amazing pictures that weekend and I just had to grab a couple!

[MR2_FTW]

After the exhausting weekend at NJMP I needed a bit of a breather and the car needed some work before heading back out on track again.




First things first: the junkyard knuckle had to come back off and get cleaned up. A quick run through the sand blaster at work had the once-rusty lump of iron looking fresh, and a quick coat of paint will hopefully keep it that way. The polyurethane bushings from the old knuckle were swapped over, and back on the car it went.




While the car was on jackstands I decided to make little block-off plates out of coro-plast to keep air from going in places it shouldn't. Not sure if it will make a difference, but it was one of those "bugging you in the back of your head" things.




Once the car was back up and re-aligned, it was back out to an October VIR event. While VIR is usually my favorite place to be, I left that weekend feeling disappointed. With the combination of faster cars in DE3 and a big wide-open track like VIR, I don't think I received a single point-by all weekend. I also felt like I couldn't push the car as hard and I felt like I needed to, like perhaps some trust had been broken after the off at NJMP.




I had intended for VIR to be the end of my season, but my co-workers had different plans. After getting them hooked on track driving at a Dominion trackcross, they pulled me back in for another go. I was reluctant to go back out after leaving VIR feeling bummed, but boy am I glad I did.




At this particular event I cared so little that I didn't even bother towing the car up, I just drove it straight to the track. You would think that would mean that I'd be easy on the car but something inside me just clicked. Maybe it's what happens when you go back to your roots at your "home" track, but I drove that car harder than I think I ever have, and it was the most rewarding event of the year. I felt completely rejuvenated and passionate about driving on track again, hyped for what was to come over the winter.




Just for fun, I put the car on the dyno at work just to see where it was compared to that first dyno session back in 2019. Back then it made 105 wheel horsepower. Now, after 4 seasons of track days and at least two money shifts, on a slightly different dyno under slightly different conditions it put down a mighty 102. Not bad for a 250k+ mile all-original 4AGE.




I also borrowed a co-workers scales and got some corner weights read. I'm not 100% sure how to interpret this data yet, but it should help with this winter's big project, which will start in detail in the next post.




While we wait on the big Corolla project, I also did a few other things in the meantime. Firstly was re-applying FluidFilm to the frame on the 2Runner. Frame rot is the Achilles Heel for these trucks, and I intend to keep my minty fresh Texas frame as nice as can be. Pro tip: soak the cans in warm water before applying, it really helps with smoother application.




A friend of mine is looking to start tracking his FC RX7 next year and had purchased a weld-it-yourself roll bar from CageKits.org and we decided to give it a go. These kits are really cool, featuring pre-bent and pre-notched tubing with laser etching to show where things need to attach.





There aren't really any instructions, but once you figure out the best order of operations, it really is an extremely well-designed and tight-fitting kit.





I'm extremely happy with how this turned out and couldn't recommend this kit more as long as you feel comfortable welding it up.

Next time - the Corolla's suspension goes Super Saiyan

[MR2_FTW]

This project has always operated on a shoestring budget, and honestly I've been massively impressed with how the home-made, thrown-together, frankenstein suspension has worked thus far.





However the lack of travel necessitating the near-stock ride height combined with some less than ideal creaks and clunks have been an ever-present reminder of its humble roots.





The stars aligned and I was able to score a set of AE92 Fortune Auto 500-series coilovers on Black Friday scratch-and-dent for a good deal. This is the first set of off-the-shelf coilovers I've ever bought, and true to form they are going to need some modification to fit. Warranties are for the weak.





My first concern was fitment for the rear, starting at the knuckle mounting. The bolt holes are one size too large, but Fortune includes reducer spacers to adapt down to the stock 12mm bolt sizing.





The AE82 rear knuckle bolt hole spacing (inner edge to inner edge) is a hair over 2-1/16"





The AE92 spacing (center to center) is just under 2-1/2", so the upper hole will be slotted down to fit. I may actually slot it down and "in" a little bit for a touch of camber gain because...





The Fortunes do not include camber plates for the rear. Instead they use an angled static mount. I think this will be ok, as I don't run a ton of camber in the back (usually around 2* - 2.5*).





Speaking of rear upper mounts, I think the inner two bolt holes will be fairly close and just require a little bit of slotting in the strut tower, maybe tilted a hair in to aid in camber gain. AE92 inner bolt spacing is 3-5/16" center to center. The third stud will just be a simple matter of drilling the hole.





AE82 inner bolt spacing is 3-1/8" center to center. Not too far off. Yes the camber plates say "AW11" on them, as the AE82 Corolla and AW11 MR2 use the same part.





To make up for the lack of camber adjustment in the rear, these cam bolts will be used to fine-tune the alignment.





The other big concern was over-all shock body length. With the Fortunes extended out a bit, they should be spot-on. Check out the improvement in travel too!





Up front, the AE82 coilover mounts up to the AE82 knuckle perfectly. However I may lock out the upper slotted bolt hole, as the factory cam bolt and camber plate allow for plenty of adjustment as-is.





Up top we run into a little bit of an issue. The AE92 camber plates just don't have good bolt locations to accommodate the factory strut tower brace. There are ways around this, but I think I can get away with a different solution.





The Fortune Auto camber plates are slightly wider compared to the T3's in the middle around the bearing housing, yet thinner in the adjustment bolt channels. However the adjustment channels are equally spaced. Very slight clearancing of the Fortune's upper bearing housing would allow the T3 plates to work and be a direct bolt-in solution. Though that may compromise the integrity of that bearing housing which is technically taking the weight of the car. However if I clearance the T3 plate that makes those slots awfully thin. And if I try to make the Fortune upper hats work, not much of the plate actually contacts the strut tower as the opening is fairly large. I'll have to think on this one.

Next time: we actually try and implement some of these changes and see if I can't get these things mounted up on the car - only to be taken off and sent back for upgrading to 510-series spec. Like I said, Super Saiyan mode.

[MR2_FTW]

When we last left off, I was still trying to figure out how to make the AE92 Fortune Auto 500's fit on the AE82 chassis.




One of the biggest differences is the bolt spacing at the rear knuckle. The upper bolt on the coilovers needed to be slotted down by around 10mm. A bit of additional work was required after this picture, as this placement did not allow enough negative static camber.




Up front, appropriately sized washers were welded to hold the upper bolts in place. The Fortunes come with slotted upper holes, but on track these are known to allow for slip. After this picture was taken, the washers were welded all the way around for extra strength. A similar process was followed on the rear coilovers as well once the correct bolt position was found.




Here's the initial test fit with everything bolted up. Clearly the alignment and ride height need some adjustment, but at least we know it all fits!





As soon as fitment was confirmed, everything came right back off and we re-engaged hover mode.




The coilovers were then torn down to the bare shock bodies to be sent in for some extra special sauce.




Around 8 weeks later I got the email from Fortune that the 510's were ready for pickup. We adjusted the spring rate slightly so the car is now running 10k front and 6k rear springs. The fancy blue hardware is the only visual difference between the 500 and 510 series.





The real magic is the valving. The 510's use an upgraded valve as well as more track-oriented setup with stiffer compression than the 500 series. I'm no shock engineer, but look at the consistency between pairs, as well as the width of the rebound adjustment and lack of cross-talk between compression and rebound. Very nice.




And here's the unholy monstrosity installed on the car! It looks so pretty!




For the front upper mounts, I did end up modifying the T3 plates to work with the Fortune shock bodies. Don't worry, those undersized washers were replaced with appropriately sized hardware after this picture was taken. The rears are a bit different, using the Fortune upper spring hat with some tapered spacers to adapt to the T3 complete camber plate assembly.




As I was taking the wheels on and off to dial in ride height, I happened to notice two of the wheels were starting to form cracks in the "V" of the spokes near the hub. On one I counted six cracks! I purchased these third-hand and I'm pretty sure the original owner ran these on a spec Miata, so the wear and tear wasn't unexpected. Two new replacements were immediately ordered, as this is definitely not safe! At least they are pretty cheap! TR Motorsports C1 in 15x7 +25, in case anyone was wondering.



I also removed the left front knuckle to check the wheel bearing as I had been hearing a strange speed-dependent groaning sound from that corner at Dominion last year. I initially assumed it was the axle, but as soon as the knuckle was loose it was extremely obvious that the bearing was completely shot. I took the whole thing to a machine shop for them to press out as I didn't feel like doing it with a hammer again, and they informed me that the hub was also toast. Fortunately replacements are available on RockAuto, so once I got that the studs were removed and it was taken to the shop for them to install.

That's where we leave off for now, hopefully this weekend I'll have everything back together and be 100% caught up on maintenance once an oil change and front brakes are finished. Then it's corner balance and alignment time. With only three weeks until Summit Point the clock is definitely ticking!

[MR2_FTW]

Once the new hub was pressed in, the knuckle was re-installed and I set preliminary ride height. Man this thing looks good! I was never able to drop much lower than stock height without running out of shock travel on my old setup.



I borrowed some Paco Motorsports hub stands from a friend, and used a co-worker's scales again to properly corner-balance the car.

These stands are so awesome that I got a few friends together and we all chipped in and bought them! This video by Flyin' Miata helps show how to use the features built into the hub stands to do your own alignments as well!

[MR2_FTW]

Here's how the car was set up on the old suspension. I was told to think of it like a table with uneven legs. Find the short leg and lengthen it, or the long leg and shorten it, to keep the table from wobbling.

This video by Flyin' Miata is super helpful showing how to approach corner-balance.



Here it is after corner-balancing: a massive improvement in cross weight with nearly perfect 50-50. These weights are with me sitting in the driver's seat. After that, I did my first DIY alignment and was ready to take on Summit Point Shenandoah Circuit!

Alignment specs: Front camber -3*, Front toe 0, Rear camber -2*, Rear toe 1/16" in

Shock settings: 3 clicks from full soft on all corners



Looking at the forecast I knew that it was going to poor weather most of the day Saturday. Fortunately the actual precipitation mostly stopped right after the morning driver's meeting, but the track was absolutely drenched for half the day, with parts of it starting to dry by the last couple sessions after the sun finally came out around 3pm.



After the last session was finished, we headed out to walk the track. I've only ever had the opportunity to walk NJMP, so I was eager to do the same here. Shenandoah is basically a gigantic go-kart track with tons of road crown and road camber change, so walking it is pretty darn helpful.



Of course the most notable feature of this track is the scale replica of the Nurburgring's famous Karussell turn - a banked concrete left-hander. Getting the entry drop-in on this turn is tricky!

[MR2_FTW]

Saturday ended on a much brighter note than it began. What started out as a freezing, rainy mess turned into quite a nice day at the very end. It was also quite a day of firsts for me - first time on Shenandoah, first time on track in the rain, and first time driving on the new Fortune Auto 510's. I think the slower pace for the rain ended up being quite helpful, as it helped me learn the track and the handling characteristics of the new suspension at a much lower speed.



Sunday was a stark contrast to the previous day, with bright sunny conditions allowing for fun all day. I was able to apply everything I'd learned in the wet slippery sessions and dial up the speed, which was very fun.



The Karussell - or Carousel, depending on how pedantic you feel like being - presented a unique challenge as the bumpy surface would certainly let you know if you didn't have something in your suspension torqued to 110% of spec. At one point both RH strut bolts and the height adjuster collars for the coilovers started to loosen and required some extra torque to make sure everything stayed tight.



The Fortune 510's feel absolutely fantastic, and were worth every penny. I really feel like the car responds in a much more predictable way now, especially under breaking. With my old setup, the car always felt like it was sitting on top of the springs, rather than actually using them, if that makes sense. The 510's make it feel like an actual car, not something that was cobbled together from scraps.

In all, it was an absolutely fantastic way to start the season. There was one session in particular that had some of the most fun laps I've ever had on track, chasing a Fit and a Miata. I have to give a shoutout to the Washington DC Region SCCA folks for throwing a great event. This was my first time running with them and it certainly will not be the last!

[MR2_FTW]

Here's my fastest lap from the weekend, a 1:52.4, not too bad! The next event up will likely be either a trackcross or DE at Dominion in April, followed by Hyperfest at VIR in May. Hope to see you out there!

[19birel]

Love the build! The car looks like a blast on track and its been neat seeing it develop!

How did you like the Grid Life HPDE? Depending on how things go this summer I think it'd be fun to run their NJMP event. Maybe next year once I have some more events under my belt I'll try to make it out to the festival.

[MR2_FTW]

How did you like the Grid Life HPDE? Depending on how things go this summer I think it'd be fun to run their NJMP event. Maybe next year once I have some more events under my belt I'll try to make it out to the festival.

It was really fun, I'm trying to make it out to that same event again this year. I'm skipping out on the Festival events as they only do DE on Sundays for those, and for me it's not worth the trip for a single day of driving.