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87 Corolla FX16 GTS Track Toy Build

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  • #31
    I am very impressed how that splitter turned out. Good work
    Also, great idea for the MC stopper. Can I steal it?
    "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
    Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

    3.0 L e30 ground up build

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    • #32
      Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
      Also, great idea for the MC stopper. Can I steal it?
      I kinda stole it from one I saw on a Miata once. They just drilled a hole in the bracket for the strut tower bar and used that for the door stopper. I didn't have that option, so I just used the two existing bolt holes in the strut tower to make my own bracket.
      @thedailydownshift

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      • #33
        had doubts about the splitter, but looks great mounted on the car. good stuff!

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        • #34



          With the splitter now sitting several inches lower, the old Longacre struts were barely holding on to a couple threads. New ones are expensive at like $35 a piece, so I took a inspiration from my friend Adam's CRV track 'car' and spent less than $20 on some hardware from Lowes to make my own.





          The upper mounts were welded to the metal bumper cover retainer strip.





          This strip is held to the bumper bar by several bolts and is pretty solid.


          [IMG]https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TX87FFD3-**/XQJGvV1OFkI/AAAAAAAABjE/8WLb3N5ZbaUIlfYoCq5eCs157tavYxRMwCEwYBhgL/s1600/4.jpg[/IMG]


          After some mixing and matching of turnbuckle parts, I finally had something that was cheap, strong, and easy to disconnect with minimal tools. This also passes the "stand" test much more securely than before.





          I also installed the diffusers cut from the Chrysler 300 splash shield. They aren't perfectly flat so on each, one side slots under the splitter while the other sits on top. These are held in with more rivets. I left the strip behind them intact to keep the splitter more rigid.





          And that's just about it for the splitter. I do plan on adding another bar of angle aluminum for extra rigidity, but as it sits now the thing is 95% done.
          @thedailydownshift

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          • #35
            With funds running low this year, I've been pretty selective about what events to attend. Thus far I'd only done one HPDE back in April, but when I found out a bunch of friends were going to the July trackcross I couldn't say no.





            There was, however a problem. The last HPDE completely toasted my front brakes. Having run Porterfield's street and autocross HP-R4S pads for almost a decade on other cars, that's what I put on the Corolla as well. While they perform flawlessly on the street and even at trackcross events, the temperatures generated during HPDE are just too intense. The pads glazed and basically melted to the rotors, leaving deposits causing a vibration. Also the pad material had lost most of its friction, requiring much harder pedal pressure to slow the car.





            With only a few days to spare, a new set of rotors (whopping $13 a piece!) were installed, along with a set of pads that should be able to handle the heat. These R4 pads are rated for track use and are supposedly not very street friendly.





            Another issue that had popped up was air in the brake system. After installing the proportioning valve, I'd had trouble getting all the air out of the system by traditional two-person means. I've never been a huge fan of vacuum-based bleeders, so I picked up a pressure bleeder and proper master cylinder adapter off Amazon. After a.... somewhat messy learning phase, all the air was removed and a solid pedal returned.





            With the work done just in time, trackcross was a great way to test out the new splitter and brake system.





            With the heat index hovering close to 100*F, conditions were good for a heat stress test on every component (check out those blued rotors!), including the nut behind the wheel. I almost tapped out of the last run of the day due to the heat, but luckily I didn't as it ended up being my fastest run!





            Fortunately everything held together well and, with some adjustments, the new brake system performed flawlessly.





            Next up: two-day HPDE weekend in September!





            Miscellaneous non-Corolla stuff - I had to do the oil pan seal on my daily driver Matrix XRS and found something kinda interesting.





            The Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine has exactly zero baffling in the oil pan. No wonder they have slosh/starvation issues. Apparently the lame 1ZZ even has a factory baffle. Why Toyota would omit that from the high performance version is completely.....baffling.





            Supposedly a 1ZZ oil pan will fit with minor modification and only cost like $25 on RockAuto so next oil change I might swap pans. Seriously though, WTF Toyota?





            And since I don't know how to finish this up, here's a picture from the last Cars and Coffee of my MR2 with its Italian uncle.
            @thedailydownshift

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            • #36
              Not a whole lot has been done on the Corolla this summer, as it's mostly just been sitting waiting for the event this past weekend - my first two-day HPDE weekend, at Dominion Raceway. This one was a bit of a rollercoaster so beware - wall-o'-text incoming.

              Friday:
              Since it was a two day event and I anticipated that the likelihood of mechanical malady to be high, I went ahead and rented a tow dolly from Uhaul. Last Monday, 5 days in advance, I had to go to two separate locations to place a reservation because the first didn't have one on hand. The second one did so I reserved it for Friday evening through the weekend. Friday rolls around and suddenly they don't have it even though I reserved one. So I have to go all the way across town to pick one up, and they tell me that as long as I return it before open of business Monday morning I will only be charged two days' rental. Whatever.





              Saturday:
              I rolled up to Dominion nice and early, got all set up and ready to go. First few sessions went well, classroom times were interesting and informative, things went smoothly on track. With a lot of first-timers in HPDE1 this time around, traffic was the worst I'd yet encountered so learning to deal with that was a good experience for sure. On session 2 the car started to get much louder, so over the lunch break I determined one of the exhaust hangers had broken, causing the flex pipe to start leaking. After a trip up the road to NAPA, the exhaust was secured with a few big metal hose clamps. Still loud, but at least it wouldn't potentially crack and fall down. Session 3 came around and all seemed well until around lap 8 or so when the car started to develop a bit of a shimmy at high speeds.





              We finished the session and put the car up on jack stands to have a look around. We found the right front ball joint was a little loose, so I started calling around to find parts. No AE82 parts were around, but there were some nearly-bolt-on AE92 ball joints back in Richmond. Deciding to skip the last session, I instead packed up and took the car back home to fix that evening, so I could get back out the next day.





              Of course nothing ever goes smoothly, and such was the case with these ball joints. There are supposed to be two pressed-in studs in each joint, but these were loose in a bag. When I went to go press the first one in by tightening the nut to draw the stud into the flange, the threads on the stud stripped clean and the nut just spun. I ended up using a bolt and nut instead, and using the bench vice with a socket to press in the rest of the studs. I also took a page out of Eric Kutil's book and wrapped each joint in heat reflective tape. I feel that the half inch clearance between the joint and the hot rotor may have lead to its premature wear.





              Sunday:
              Back at the track nice and early, I was excited to see how the car would feel with the new ball joints. First session starts off well, but after a few laps, the shimmy comes bad harder than ever and seems to be getting worse by the lap. I pulled into the pits, jacked up the front, put the car in gear, and let the wheels spin to see if there was something wrong with the wheel, tire or axle.





              Right away the problem was obvious - a huge tumorous bulge in the right front tire, caused by a broken belt inside. Being the awesome friend he is, my instructor Eric offered to let me use his Miata's rain tire setup to finish out the day. So off came the shaved RA1's and on went some fresh-ish RA1's just in time for second session.





              Things went well for most of session 2 until right at the very end when the mechanical bug bit again. This time, while at high speed in the uphill esses I heard a faint "pop" and suddenly the car was very unstable and the brake pedal was very very soft. Limping to the pits once again, we jacked up the car and that right front wheel/rotor had a ton of play, while the caliper remained still. The toasted wheel bearing would signal the end of the Corolla's weekend at the track. However, determined to not miss out on the two remaining sessions, I packed up everything as fast as possible and towed the crippled Corolla home. Running in the house long enough to pick up the keys, I hopped in the trusty MR2 and flew back to the track with only a few minutes to spare before session 3.





              With approval from the track day director, Eric and I went out for session 3 in the MR2. While on similar suspension as the Corolla, the MR2 is on 400tw staggered 195/205 tires and street/autox brake pads, all while being 400lbs heavier and with 50% more power. This was quite the change in driving style for sure, being basically the complete reverse of the FWD FX16.
              Eric was so impressed with my improvement over the weekend, plus my existing familiarity with the track and how I was able to adapt to driving two completely different cars, he gave his blessing for me to go out solo for the last session. All of the struggles and frustration of the weekend up to that point were immediately forgotten as soon as went out on the track by myself that first time. It was absolutely sublime, even in an under-prepared car. Not wanting to push my mechanical luck any further, I pulled in after 5-6 laps and called it a day, with a huge smile on my face.

              End tally for the weekend: 1 trailer misadventure, 3 mechanical failures, 2 cars driven on track, 1 session solo.
              @thedailydownshift

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              • #37
                Great stuff, happy for you that despite all the setbacks you had a good time. Keep it up, I love this little FX16
                "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                3.0 L e30 ground up build

                Comment


                • #38
                  Originally posted by gnmzl View Post
                  Great stuff, happy for you that despite all the setbacks you had a good time. Keep it up, I love this little FX16
                  Thanks for the kind words!

                  Here's video of when the wheel bearing/axle failed, plus a closer look at HOW it failed.

                  @thedailydownshift

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                  • #39
                    That's weird AF! Was the axle new-ish?

                    FB: @DumbassCarCrew - IG: @fruttolo_dumbasscrew

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                    • #40
                      I'm sure the previous owner had changed it at some point, but in the two ish years I've owned this car I've never touched it.
                      @thedailydownshift

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                      • #41
                        Here's my best lap of the weekend. First session Sunday morning, a few laps before the RF tire broke a belt internally, one session before the axle stub snapped.

                        @thedailydownshift

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                        • #42
                          Man, this is all so cool. I love your level-headed approach to everything and making due with what you got. Such a rad little car too, I love it. Really enjoyed reading through this thread tonight, keep it up man!


                          --Golden Boy E30 Build--

                          --My Shop: Where Passion Meets Livelihood (or tries to)--

                          --Etsy Shop--

                          --@ayyyitsmikey--

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                          • #43



                            Have you ever just completely run out of motivation for a project, only to have a sudden deadline creep up, and have to kick it in high gear to just barely make it by the skin of your teeth? That was what the last month was like.





                            Since I had no more events planned for the Corolla, with only our annual fall cruise left in my automotive calendar for the year - an event for which I prefer driving the MR2 - I didn't really think about much wrenching in the weeks after HPDE. We even took a day trip down to VIR to watch some SCCA Runoffs practice sessions and record a podcast episode while we were there.





                            The Monday before the cruise, I went to flush the MR2's old brake fluid (now spongy from unexpected HPDE use) and immediately snapped a bleeder valve on one of the rear calipers. After failing to extract or drill out the remains, the only solution was to replace the caliper. Unfortunately these calipers are not available any more from anywhere I could find, so it was time to scramble and get the Corolla ready instead.





                            I had already gotten the new bearing and hub pressed into the knuckle, it was mostly a matter of assembling everything at this point, with only a couple evenings to finish in time. First thing to go in was the axle. The old axle had a M19 or M20 thread, where the new axle has an M22 thread. Hopefully this will prevent it from shearing in the same way.





                            Not a bad way to spend an evening, honestly.





                            Friday night - the night before the cruise - everything had been assembled, with only lubricating the brake slide pins left to do. I had been using Permatex ceramic-based lubricant, but it seems like over time/heat cycles this stuff can't take it. It basically turns into cement which literally the opposite of what you want.





                            I took everything apart, cleaned it, and re-lubricated it all with this rubber-safe silicone lubricant. Hopefully this will do a better job.





                            With a wonky alignment (so much toe out) and the MR2 wheels put on, the Corolla made it out to the mountains just fine.





                            There were absolutely zero mechanical problems all day. The car did feel quite twitchy with the crazy toe up front, but overall it felt perfectly solid as far as the bearing/ball joint/axle was concerned.





                            We had a great crowd with some really cool cars. The weather could not have been better either. Overall it was a great day, and the little FX16 held up like a champ.

                            Next project: hopefully a bigger-brake swap with factory components on the MR2. Something cheap, off-the-shelf, and readily available. That's if it all fits!
                            @thedailydownshift

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                            • #44
                              This is magnificent! The shots are great
                              Interesting they changed the thread to M22, hopefully it holds up better indeed.
                              "You could roll an E30 in a BMW showroom today and people would think:
                              Well, they finally got the 1 series right!"

                              3.0 L e30 ground up build

                              Comment


                              • #45



                                This winter there hasn't been much in the way of major work done to the FX16, but there's been a bunch of smaller projects on all my vehicles I felt like sharing. A while back I borrowed a pair of EG Civic hatch wing mounts from a friend, just to test fit and see if that's an option for the future. With some very minimal modification they could work out really well!





                                After the fall cruise, the Corolla basically sat for a while. The alignment was way out after all the repairs from the last HPDE with massive toe out up front, causing very unpredictable handling. After few hours in the garage with the proper tools and a lot of patience, the car drives much better with the tires pointed in the right direction.





                                Next up was a mod I'd wanted to do for a while, ever since I changed my fuel tank evap hose layout. After reading some info on the Lemons forums, it seems what those guys do is direct the hose up from the tank, then loop it several times before terminating at a safe low point. This, in combination with a check valve, ensures that fuel doesn't start a siphon effect under fuel slosh or if the car flips upside-down.





                                This $30 ball valve from Pegasus Racing seems to be the popular solution with the Lemons crowd. The ball inside is free-floating, and closes when upside down. This means that the tank will be able to vent pressure, but if a large volume of fuel tries to go through, or if the car is upside-down, the ball will close.





                                With a couple adapters to make the 3/8 valve fit up to my 1/4 fuel line, the tank vent is now safe.





                                I also took the time to remove the OE seatbelts, as well as the passenger seat, to make it easier on the guy who will be fabricating a four-point roll bar. This will not only make the car safer in event of a rollover, but also bring the harness attachment points much closer to the seats. While they are technically within SFI spec as it is, the long reach for the shoulder straps is far from ideal, as they can stretch in a crash.





                                Over on the 4Runner side of things, something that's bugged me since I bought the truck has been lack of rear visibility at night. The stock reverse lights are so puny you can't see anything!





                                An easy/inexpensive solution was a pair of LED lamps from Amazon, mounted to tabs I welded on the inside of the trailer hitch.





                                As with most things electrical, running the wiring through the interior and making the relay wiring took the most time.





                                However I think the results speak for themselves. I also upgraded the stock reverse bulbs to LEDs and now I may as well have headlights back there!





                                Here in central VA we don't get a lot of snow, but considering that this truck is 2WD I figured it could be a little fun to slide around in the event we do see some white stuff. According to people on the forums, the VSC and TRAC systems on these trucks can be very intrusive in low-grip situations - sometimes to the point of being downright dangerous. With no way of defeating these safety systems from the factory, you have to DIY a solution.





                                The common way to do this is to interrupt the signal from the brake master cylinder pressure sensor. Simply wire in a switch so when it's "on" the system functions as normal, but when the switch is turned "off", it cuts all ABS, VSC, and TRAC functions.





                                To turn the nannies back on, simply hit the switch again and restart the truck.





                                Of course with the threat of snow in VA comes salt - lots and lots of salt. 4th-gen 4Runners are known for frame rust problems, but this particular truck spent most of its life in Texas so the frame is completely rust-free. To keep it that way, I coated the inside of the frame with Fluid Film. This stuff is insanely nasty, but from everything I've read it works great.





                                After emergency use for the last two HPDE sessions last event, the MR2's brakes were on their last legs. After snapping off bleeder valves when trying to flush the fluid, I decided to upgrade the system with some 5th-gen Celica GTS front brakes.





                                Not only are the rotors a larger diameter, but they are also much thicker. They just need to be re-drilled for 4x100 to fit. Even the hub bore is the same.





                                The pads are significantly beefier as well. Since the MR2 is a street car that only sees track time if the Corolla breaks down, it's getting the Porterfield HP R4S street/autocross pads I've been running for years.





                                After raiding my local hardware store for parts, I made a power bleeder adapter for the MR2's master cylinder. No more air in the system!





                                After driving around with the larger brakes, it does feel like there is a slight increase in pedal travel, but it works well. Perhaps one day a larger master cylinder is in the cards, but it's good enough for now.





                                While this wasn't on any of my vehicles, this was one of the crazier things I've seen in a while. My grandfather wanted me to look at his car because his power steering stopped working. When I got under it, this is what I found. The rack housing had split in half, breaking the bracket on the passenger side end as well. He swears he didn't hit anything but I can't imagine how else something like this happens.

                                Anyways, that's all for now. Hopefully there will be more Corolla content coming up here soon!
                                @thedailydownshift

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