My 93' Corolla from New Zealand (JDM AE100)

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I am so jelly brah

Haha, thanks bro

bwuh wuh d bloodclot! where you finding these things????

I find them at local junkyards and wreckers . I send any double-ups of parts overseas all the time

i didn't even know corollas had all them options....

the dealers down here does want to buss yuh throat with high prices for them options yess.......

The 7th Gen Corollas literally had dozens of optional extras available. The list was huge, which makes finding all of them even more challenging . Even back in the 90's the prices for the options was very high, so they only increase in value these days, but only for those who know what they are


Today I installed a custom made bellmouth that I made by a metal spinner (the same person who made my trumpets). I also put the first half of the factory surge box/plenum back on so it's sandwiched between the trumpets. Should keep a bit more of the heat out and looks better at the same time.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I spent a couple of hours sound deadening both front doors yesterday. I bought four sheets of the stuff the other day and did the outer skin (door handle side) with just one sheet each side. Planning on putting some inside the actual door panels themselves and possibly on the inner skin of the door too.

Pulled the window regulators and glass out which made the job a lot easier. Amazing how much of a difference it has made, not just in music quality but the whole feel of the door. Feels much nicer to open and close now and should help drown out some of the road noise when driving.






And I just spent another 3-hours today sound deadening the inner skin and the door panel/card on each side. Also installed some new component speakers. Went from 6.5" 4-way speakers with 75w RMS each to 6.5" component speakers with 60w RMS each.

The old speakers sounded good but since I have 6.5" 90w RMS 3-way speakers in the rear deck and factory tweeters up front there was far too much treble, so the component speakers fixed that nicely. Kept the factory tweeters so I didn't have to make up a special mounting bracket for the new ones. Everything is being driven off my 444w 4-channel amplifier under my front passenger's seat.

Here's a comparison video between the front and rear doors I took once I finished:
1993 Toyota Corolla Sound Deadening Comparison - YouTube

And a whole bunch of photos I took during the process:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

My latest purchase - A brand new set of BC Gold coilovers. Ended up getting them for a really good price so grabbed them today. They have 30-way damper adjustability so my spine shouldn't shatter to pieces on long trips

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I installed the BC coilovers today. I've set the damper knobs to 5 clicks from fully soft on the fronts and 10 clicks from fully soft on the rear. The ride height has been adjusted to 300mm from the center of each wheel to the fender lip, which has the subframe sitting at bang on 100mm off the ground, the minimum height allowed by law here in New Zealand.

I must say that I'm VERY impressed with the ride quality of the BC's. When I first went for a test drive I honestly couldn't tell that I had installed coilovers as the ride comfort was virtually the same as my old spring/strut combo, however when going around corners you could definitely notice the difference in the handling performance as it stuck to the road as if it were on rails. I've booked my car in for a full wheel alignment tomorrow so once the toe is reset and everything else aligned I'm sure it'll handle even better. All in all I'm extremely happy with these coilovers so far and I look forward to putting them through their paces over the coming years.

Here's some pics I took after installing them, and a photo of a sticker that I bought on the way home from my test drive to finish the day nicely

[reddo_tuner]

*sobs in the corner as I no longer have my tercel*

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here's my latest mod - FGK 4-2-1 stainless steel extractors. Designed and built in Japan by Fujitsubo Giken Kogyo and are one of the best sets of extractors you can buy for the 4A-GE. Had them fitted today and I'm already noticing a power increase. It replaces the very restrictive factory squished pipe that goes over the front subframe, so there's no more flat spot in the rev range when accelerating at full throttle. The needle seems to sky rocket even faster to redline and doesn't feel so sluggish down low.

Also fitted an OEM 24mm front swaybar, although haven't had a chance to test out the new handling characteristics yet as I had the old factory extractors etc in the trunk on the way home so I didn't want everything sliding around and causing damage.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here's some new photos that I took today:

[Hook]

Very nice!

Talk to me about that arrangement with the PCV system though.
Your oil catch can is connected between the PCV valve and intake manifold, but the other vent on the cam cover goes where?
I'm just seeing a vacuum hose hanging down from the vent.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Very nice!

Talk to me about that arrangement with the PCV system though.
Your oil catch can is connected between the PCV valve and intake manifold, but the other vent on the cam cover goes where?
I'm just seeing a vacuum hose hanging down from the vent.

Yep, that's correct . The other hose coming off the right hand side of the valve cover goes to nowhere. It simply points down and acts as an air supply for the crankcase (like how it was when set up from factory except without the air intake hose). I see sooo many 4A-GE owners hooking up their oil catch cans completely wrong, so the more people who ask me about mine the better


Here's my latest mod that I decided to install today - 266mm rear disc brakes! I converted from the old drum brakes to these nice shiny discs from a JDM AE101 Levin GT Apex (same discs/calipers used on the JDM AE101 Corolla GT sedan, FX-GT hatchback and BZ Touring wagon models). The discs and pads are brand new so I had a bit of fun earlier bedding them in earlier . Took me half the day to install them as I had to run the new handbrake cables and painstakingly remove the long bolt that goes through the lateral arms but I got there in the end. Here's some photos of the finished job:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I received/installed this today - An Ultra Racing rear strut brace. Should help stiffen things up a little more

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Here are my two latest purchases - An Ultra Racing 29mm solid front swaybar and a Whiteline 18mm solid rear swaybar, both with polyurethane bushings. Should make a very noticeable difference to the handling compared to the original 24mm front and 14mm rear swaybars

[cressida_override]

op have you ever done a valuation after all the upgrades you've added to the car since it was purchased? cause when your done all you have to do is drive it into a museum for show!

[addie]

Beautiful ride its a treasure, I am looking to build an AE92 I love te look of the older Corolla's

Sent from my GT-N7100 using TriniTuner mobile app

[Kiwi-Corolla]

op have you ever done a valuation after all the upgrades you've added to the car since it was purchased? cause when your done all you have to do is drive it into a museum for show!

I did once, many years ago, and was quite shocked to say the least . If I added it up today I think I'd probably pass out , but I wouldn't have it any other way

Beautiful ride its a treasure, I am looking to build an AE92 I love te look of the older Corolla's

Thanks a lot! . The older Corollas have so much potential. Keep me posted if you go ahead with your AE92 build!


I installed my 18mm Whiteline rear swaybar today. I finished installing it quite late in the afternoon so haven't had a chance to go for a drive yet but I'm sure I'll have a bit of fun throwing the car around some corners to test it out

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I got this in the mail yesterday - A custom personalized plate keyring. Thought it was a pretty cool idea as it's made from acrylic and the lettering is raised/painted like my real plate. Just something a little bit different

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I received and installed these sweet looking carbon fiber cam/spark plug covers today. The quality really impressed me, especially how it still features the 'TWINCAM 20' lettering found on the original plastic cover:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I decided to take some better/wider shots of the carbon covers today:











I also received some more goodies in the mail today - An Exedy heavy duty clutch and pressure plate and an Exedy lightweight chromoly flywheel (both made in Japan).

The flywheel weighs 4.9kg, which is exactly 1kg less than the stock Blacktop flywheel. Should make a noticeable difference in acceleration:

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Another day, another delivery . These arrived a few minutes ago - My 275mm front rotors and a set of new brake pads that I ordered from Toyota. Got my set of AE101 twinpot calipers and ST202 Celica carrier brackets sitting here already waiting so I'm looking forward to putting everything on

[Ted_v2]

beautiful.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks!!

I did the 275mm rotor upgrade and twinpot caliper swap yesterday . Everything went to plan and the braking performance is phenomenal. It comes to a dead stop within a matter of seconds and literally throws you forward in the seat. I can brake a lot later into corners and don't have to push anywhere near as hard on the pedal for the same effect. It was definitely a worthwhile upgrade and they've been a lot of fun to drive with so far

Here's some pics (they're a lot shinier in real-life but you get the idea) -

[Ted_v2]

Stock booster and master Cylinder?

[trinimanic]

OEM ST215 Toyota Caldina custom fitted optional front lip.
OEM ST195 Toyota Caldina custom fitted optional rear lip.

what Year model does that come on

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Stock booster and master Cylinder?

Correct. Stock brake booster and master cylinder.

OEM ST215 Toyota Caldina custom fitted optional front lip.
OEM ST195 Toyota Caldina custom fitted optional rear lip.

what Year model does that come on

Front lip is off a 1998 and rear lip is off a 1996. Both rare Toyota optional extras however so incredibly hard to find.


I installed this sweet looking Tomei fuel pressure regulator today. I had always assumed that fuel pressure regulators were only beneficial for turbocharged engines, until I came across a post online about a fellow Blacktop owner who had installed a FPR, played around with the pressure setting and had great results.

The factory fuel pressure for a Blacktop is 40psi at full throttle, and raising it to 44psi seems to be the sweet spot for the ECU as it doesn't affect the top end performance and doesn't seem to affect the fuel economy. After my first initial drive once I had finished the installation I was very impressed at how much of a difference the additional 4psi of fuel pressure had made. The sluggishness down low had gone and the throttle response had increased dramatically. The engine now responds when I want it to, instead of having to wind itself up from low to mid rpm like it used to.

All in all it has definitely made the engine rev more freely and respond a lot quicker. It's now a lot more fun to drive, especially around town. Proved to be a very worthwhile upgrade

The set-up consists of:

* Genuine Tomei Type S fuel pressure regulator.
* Genuine Tomei liquid filled gauge.
* Genuine Tomei fuel rail adapter.
* Goodyear fuel hose & 4mm silicone vacuum hose.
* 2x 90-degree brass elbow fittings, 1x straight fitting.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I've been toying around with the idea of shorter trumpets/ram tubes lately as the engine bay heat being sucked into my open 110mm tubes wasn't doing the performance any favors. I reverted back to the standard curved rubber trumpets for a few weeks and even though the car felt a little more sluggish, the engine much preferred the nice cold air it was ingesting from the cold air intake.

Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to remove the rubber trumpets and run no trumpets whatsoever inside the plenum for just one day. The result was that the engine didn't really have any power down low, but as soon as it hit 5,500rpm the needle rocketed to redline, as expected. One thing I noticed with the factory rubber trumpets is that they're good for mid-range power, but once you get higher up in the rev range the power starts backing off a bit.

To cut a long story short (no pun intended), I decided to get a set of 60mm trumpets custom made which will fit perfectly in the standard plenum. You can actually fit as large as 70mm inside the plenum but it starts getting pretty cramped, so I decided that 60mm would be a nice compromise.

They arrived today and I was quick to install them. Upon my 20-minute test drive I noticed that the power down low had dropped off a bit, but up high it was all guns blazing. The full power band comes on from about 5,000rpm, all the way to 8,000rpm, which I discovered ends up being a good place to be as the engine is constantly in it's power band for the next gear when shifting at the 8,000rpm redline.

It's certainly going to take a bit of getting used to, but so far so good. I'm going to miss the sound my 110's made, and the torquey-ness of the standard trumpets, but when driving the engine at it's full potential the 60's seem to be a good choice

As always, here's some pics. The first 4 show the comparison between the old 110's and the new 60's, and the very last photo was taken by the metal spinner who made my trumpets, showing the clearance of a 50mm trumpet inside the stock plenum (essentially the same sort of clearance as my 60mm ones) -

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Ok guys, change of plans yet again.......After using the 60mm trumpets all day today I began to miss my old 110mm trumpets. Although the 60's are great up top, it just felt like there was nobody home whatsoever under 5,000rpm, and since 90% of my driving is in the city this started to get on my nerves......

So off came the plenum, along with the trumpets, and an idea popped into my head. Some of you may recall that I bought a splash guard from the US for the trumpets a while back. I used it for about a week and then took it off, but today I was thinking of ways to prevent heat from entering the trumpets if I reinstalled my 110's, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could try and flip the guard upside down, effectively turning it from a splash guard into a heat shield. To my surprise, everything lined up perfectly and it cleared the strut brace with no issues.

Before going ahead with the install I removed the original 2-layer metal gasket from the stock plenum and put it between the ITB's and the shield. This not only allowed the holes to locate perfectly over the intake ports but should also help to act as a heat barrier between the ITB's and the actual trumpets.

After bolting everything in place and redoing my air supply feed (removing the pod filter from the guard and replacing it with a huge bellmouth) I finished the set-up by applying a TRD sticker I've had lying around for a while. It seems to break up the grayness a bit, without looking out of place.

The first drive was amazing - My mid-range power was back in full force and the induction noise was like music to my ears (I swear it has gotten even louder since fitting the shield). My original problem of having no filtration still remains, however the trumpets feel a lot cooler to touch after driving as the shield helps to deflect a lot of the heat away. It'll never be immune to engine bay heat without the use of a plenum, but with the help of this mod it should help to keep things in check

[reddo_tuner]

nice making me feel to buy a lil toyota again and do a project

[Kiwi-Corolla]

nice making me feel to buy a lil toyota again and do a project

Thanks . I hope you end up buying another one


Couple of small updates - I installed a Carbing front lower arm bar (also know as a tie bar) today. Carbing is a Japanese company that have been around since the late 70's, specializing in aftermarket suspension parts. The bar itself is surprisingly light and the installation only took about 15-minutes.

It's designed to improve steering response and reduce chassis flex, however it's effectiveness is somewhat questionable as the subframe acts as a pretty decent brace on it's own, but after my initial test drive on the same stretches of roads I travel every day the steering response did seem a bit sharper and the cornering more stable. It bolts to the front of the lower control arm, which theoretically should help stop the joints flexing in their cradles when cornering.

The other thing I installed today is a TRD radiator cap. I bought one a while ago but it was the S type, which was unfortunately too small for my aftermarket aluminium radiator. This one on the other hand is an N type, and fit perfectly. It has a higher boiling point than my previous cap (1.1 vs 1.3) and looks pretty sweet at the same time.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I was finally able to get my hands on an OEM 9,000rpm tachometer from an AE101 Corolla GT sedan yesterday. I've been on the lookout for a GT sedan being wrecked for quite a while now but they're so hard to find, and when I do find them they're usually automatics and have a slightly earlier redline. Luckily this time I found a manual one, so the redline starts at 8,000rpm, with an early warning line just after 7,500rpm (my old one only went to 8,000rpm and redlined at 6,250rpm) and a max rpm of 9,000.

I installed it today by simply taking apart the cluster and swapping them over, allowing me to still keep my 240kph speedometer that I fitted earlier this year. Looks a lot better now, and taking it to 8,000rpm is just that little bit more satisfying

[reddo_tuner]

good to go

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Haha, so much nicer to look at


I replaced my oxygen sensor today. There wasn't anything drastically wrong with my old one as far as I could tell, however every couple of weeks a random splutter would occur during light acceleration, but would disappear after a few minutes or when I put my foot to the floor, leading me to think that the oxygen sensor might be starting to wear out. My fuel economy seems to be on par with what other Blacktop owners are getting, but after 15-years of service I figured it would be a good idea to replace it, in the hope of getting better fuel economy and smoother power delivery.

They're a pretty expensive thing to replace when buying a genuine Toyota/Denso one but should last a long time before I need to replace it again. I reset the ECU after the install and everything works as it should. Looking forward to seeing if my fuel economy increases over the coming weeks