Photos Of My 93' Corolla

[Kiwi-Corolla]

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 :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

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 :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I fitted some facelift tail lights today....again. I think this is the 3rd time I've fitted a set and then changed my mind a few days later and gone back to the pre-facelift orange/red set, but this time I think I'm going to stick with them. Not sure what's changed but I really like how the facelift set makes the car look a lot more modern, so they're likely here to stay :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I decided to splash out and buy this genuine TRD oil cap today. It was something I had been wanting for a while but couldn't justify spending the money on since all it really does compared to the stock one is sit there looking pretty, but now that I finally have the engine bay looking the way I wanted I figured that the cap would be a nice finishing touch :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I bought a small external microphone for my camera a few weeks ago, purely so I can record the sound of the trumpets by placing the microphone under the hood, and today I decided to make a quick video to test it out. It definitely sounds better than previous in-car footage I've taken with the camera's built-in mic, but it's quite a cheap/budget product so I may look at investing in a better quality microphone so it can capture the true sound the trumpets make during full acceleration, but for now this will do :)

4A-GE 20v Blacktop - Full Throttle @ 190kph with 110mm Trumpets - YouTube

 

[LeslieGonzales]

Old and nice Corolla you have out there..looks awesome..

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Thanks! :)


I came across some info online a couple of weeks ago about a few different people in Malaysia using a 6-speed ECU with their 5-speed Blacktops and noticing a slight increase in power/response, so when I stumbled across a 6-speed Blacktop ECU a few days ago for a good price I decided to test it out for myself.

The 6-speed ECU is meant to have better fuel mapping, better engine response, a raised rev limiter and a safety function which makes the engine idle up for a second when changing up or down a gear at a certain rpm, which helps to protect the 6-speed's synchro's and reduces driveline lash.

I swapped the ECU over today but before doing so took my car for a drive with the 5-speed ECU still fitted to see what my current rev limiter was before the engine would valve bounce. In 1st gear it was about 8,300rpm and in 2nd and 3rd gear it was 8,250rpm. After I installed the 6-speed ECU and went for a decent drive I tried it again and noticed that in all the gears I tested (1st, 2nd and 3rd) the rev limiter was now 8,500rpm. Prior to the swap I had heard that the 6-speed ECU would hit the limiter at 7,800rpm in 1st gear, but this wasn't the case in my experience (bearing in mind that I am however running the 5-speed C56 transmission).

The engine response does seem slightly quicker but nothing mind blowing, however the slightly increased rev limiter comes in handy when changing gear at high rpm as every little bit helps to keep it within the power band after shifting. The 6-speed ECU is also meant to be a bit more economical on fuel but I haven't been able to test that as of yet.

All in all it does have it's advantages over the 5-speed ECU and for the price I paid it was certainly worth it :)

These are some photos I took before the swap, with the 5-speed ECU on the left and the 6-speed ECU on the right:

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I added another rare optional extra to my collection today when I happened to come across an OEM factory option rubber moulded trunk organizer. I've seen this shown in the sales brochures but this is the first one I've ever seen in real-life. It is shaped perfectly for the sedan's trunk and has 3 separate partitions to ensure items don't slide around during transit, plus since it's made of rubber it's a breeze to clean :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

It's been a while since I've taken a photo of my car so here's a random shot I took today:

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I completed my brake set-up today by installing some braided brake lines. They're made by a company in Australia called Safebrake and are a direct replacement for the factory rubber brake lines. I originally ordered a set of Goodridge braided lines from the US but when they arrived they were for the rear drum brake model, and unfortunately Goodridge don't cater to models outside of the US so there was no rear disc brake version available.

After a bit of research I found these Safebrake lines and got them sent over last week. The quality is superb and they meet/exceed all the necessary legal requirements. During my test drive after the install I noticed that the brakes were much more responsive when I stepped on the pedal. There's no lag or hesitation when braking any more, so I feel as though I can brake later and more aggressively if needs be. Definitely an improvement over the rubber brake lines, and one more thing to get added to my certification plate in the near future :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

I added another item to my TRD collection this weekend by installing a TRD quick shifter. It was specifically designed to fit the AE101 series 5-speed Corollas and was discontinued quite a while ago, but thankfully I managed to get my hands on one last week.

The installation was relatively straight forward as it's a direct replacement for the factory shift lever, and I was finally able to use the OEM leather shift boot I've had sitting here for a while which came on the 6-speed models, as previously it would pop right out of the console every time I changed into 2nd, 4th or reverse as the factory throw was too long.

Gear changes are now much quicker due to the reduced throw and the actual feel of the shifter is a lot better. Previously it would "slop" into gear, but now you can actually feel the gears engage. Admittedly it takes a little bit more effort to change gears but in my opinion it makes shifting feel more satisfying. The actual height of the lever is about the same as stock and it compliments the TRD leather shift knob I've been rocking for a while :)

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

A couple of small updates on the sedan - I fitted this a roof spoiler and a larger ducktail spoiler a couple of days ago. They're both quite subtle enhancements but seems to work well with the rest of the lip kit:

 

[D7zul]

About ur short shifter.. Does trd come out with a 6speed short shifter?

Or it's already a short 1.. ? Since d boot is short

 

[Kiwi-Corolla]

About ur short shifter.. Does trd come out with a 6speed short shifter?

Or it's already a short 1.. ? Since d boot is short

Yes, TRD also makes a short shifter for the 6-speed. The factory 6-speed shifter is shorter than the factory 5-speed shifter from factory, but the TRD version is even shorter again.