[Armz]

I was just having abrowse on ebay and i noticed this front valance lip. It looks identical to the TTE one as far as i can see.

Item number: 200164715680

I can't post the direct link as the board keeps truncating the full url leading to a dead page.

I actually wouldn't mind saving some money and getting that instead of the TTE one as they look idenitcal. Unless anybody spots any differences?

It actaully works out to 74 delivered from Poland.

Anybody have any suggestions?

TTE would be a safer better buy?

Thanks

Armz.

[mac12]

I been looking at that for ages, comes up every time I search "Corolla Spoiler" hah.

Its a copy.

Its reinforced fibreglass. Im sure MiniMarc actually has this one fitted and sprayed which looks wicked!

I just dont like fibreglass at all as my area has dirty humps ready to do some damage.

Depends how fast you go over humps and parking technique as it may not last that long considering we live in London!

[MarcTS]

The reason it looks identical to the TTE one is because it is a remould of one - it even has a slight indentation in the middle where the TTE badge gets stuck on. I actually had one of these fitted to my car but when my front driver side wheel came off on the motorway, the front of the car hit the ground hard and tore the front to shreds. I then got an official TTE replacement whilst all of the repair work was carried out.

For information purposes I'll let you know how mine arrived from Poland..... For a start it was wrapped in about 5inches of bubble wrap so it toook me about 20 minutes to open it all up. I would have preferred the bubble wrap to have been complemented by a box as well for added safety but such is life. The edges are pretty uneven all along it, but as you don't see these once it is fitted it's not too much of an issue. What is an issue however is that the screw holes haven't been pre-drilled, so you will have to measure up and drill them yourself in order to fit it to the car.

I also noticed that on some of the corners and protrusions that the fibreglass was incredibly thin (this needed padding out at the body shop). Another problem was that it was actually cracked in 2 places and close to cracking in a 3rd place. These had to be repaired and then some filler added on the inside to give it all more strength. It then needed to be sanded and sprayed and then I got it fitted myself.

Hang on i'll try to find a picture of it fitted....

Right this one is the front lip from Poland





and this is the Official TTE one


Hope that helps


Oh and I just found this picture as well, it's how the Polish one looked after I had managed to get it out of the bubble wrap.

[Armz]

MiniMarc, on Oct 23 2007, 05:15 PM, said:

The reason it looks identical to the TTE one is because it is a remould of one - it even has a slight indentation in the middle where the TTE badge gets stuck on. I actually had one of these fitted to my car but when my front driver side wheel came off on the motorway, the front of the car hit the ground hard and tore the front to shreds. I then got an official TTE replacement whilst all of the repair work was carried out.

For information purposes I'll let you know how mine arrived from Poland..... For a start it was wrapped in about 5inches of bubble wrap so it toook me about 20 minutes to open it all up. I would have preferred the bubble wrap to have been complemented by a box as well for added safety but such is life. The edges are pretty uneven all along it, but as you don't see these once it is fitted it's not too much of an issue. What is an issue however is that the screw holes haven't been pre-drilled, so you will have to measure up and drill them yourself in order to fit it to the car.

I also noticed that on some of the corners and protrusions that the fibreglass was incredibly thin (this needed padding out at the body shop). Another problem was that it was actually cracked in 2 places and close to cracking in a 3rd place. These had to be repaired and then some filler added on the inside to give it all more strength. It then needed to be sanded and sprayed and then I got it fitted myself.

Hang on i'll try to find a picture of it fitted....

Right this one is the front lip from Poland





and this is the Official TTE one


Hope that helps


Oh and I just found this picture as well, it's how the Polish one looked after I had managed to get it out of the bubble wrap.

Wow! thanks for all the information, actually more than i was expecting. I didn't know you had bought one too. The price makes it hard to pick which one. As i want as close to original parts as possible, but i don't want a cheap copy. I have speed bumps round here and i rather perfer the lip to slightly bend then back into it's original shape if it touches anything, rather than a fiberglass copy completely ripping to shreds on any raised roads. It doesn't sound like it's very thick or rigid plastic.

I ended up paying 191 delivered for the TTE grill, on ebay copys starts from about $20 so was hoping to save some money as the TTE front lip is 170 delivered. I guess i may just go ahead and buy the TTE front lip in the next couple of days.

The more i search for parts the longer i'm delaying booking the car into the bodyshop. Plus i still have a damaged rear end from the drunk driver incident on Tuesday. I absolutely hate it when any of my cars have any damage to them, just can't live with it like that. A few scratches, a little trolley dent here and there are just about livable.

I've got a room here full of new parts which are going onto my car shortly, once my local bodyshop gives me a quote. Facelift sideskirts, facelift rear bumper etc. and tomorrow expecting my the facelift air diffuser spoilers at the rear, all fixings/bolts/washers/grommits for the diffusers, side skirts. The TTE grill i should get on friday which just leaves me to get the TTE backbox and TTE front lip.

I got my rear facelift bumper today and it was wrapped in a similar fashion to how you described your front lip arriving. It took me about 10mins to ripp off all the bubblewrap. It didnt seem very well protected though as i think one of the plastic holder clips has been slightly bent during shipping. It bends back but seems a little too loose. It's got to be prepped and painted so the bodyshop guys should sort that out. Nothing broken though, But a box would have been nice.

Am considering starting a thread with just part numbers, as it could be rather helpful to almost everyone on the board. Like a huge list of all part numbers for the T-sports and compressors. Maybe it can become a stickie later on. I will try to get it started by this weekend.

MiniMarc: I'm due the parts tomorrow that you asked me about, i will post up the parts numbers on the board. Keep your eyes peeled.


Thanks.

Armz.

edit: Out of curiosity which bodyshop did you use? I prefer to use one that is familiar with corolla t-sports so they can work accordingly. I'm not too far from herts so i may be tempted to ask your bodyshop for a quote aswell. It appears from the pics they did a nice clean tight fitting job.

Cheers
Armz.

[Armz]

MiniMarc:

Just noticed you have no mesh in that grill, was it just painted in the pic hence no mesh or thats how it arrived? I forgot to ask if a t-sport front grill badge comes supplied with the grill when i bought it earlier today. Did yours come with them?

If not then appears i have some more parts to order.

Thanks

Armz.

[MarcTS]

Armz, on Oct 23 2007, 06:12 PM, said:

MiniMarc:

Just noticed you have no mesh in that grill, was it just painted in the pic hence no mesh or thats how it arrived? I forgot to ask if a t-sport front grill badge comes supplied with the grill when i bought it earlier today. Did yours come with them?

If not then appears i have some more parts to order.

Thanks

Armz.

The grille is detachable and comes with about 6 fixing screws. This just makes painting a lot easier for the people who end up doing it. As for the TTE badge coming with it, they normally charge extra for those, but some dealers throw them in with the grille (only seems fair after the amount of money they cost).

And I'll find the name of the company who sprayed it all for me.

EDIT: They were called Bushey Hall Garage (postcode WD23 2QE). What I will say about them is that they did a very good job with the paint work and repairing the Polish front lip, but I did struggle to get them to do it as they initially claimed they had lost the paint code for my car and then other excuses as to why it was taking so long etc. I had to make 4 trips down there to get it all sorted in the end. So top quality work but a struggle to get them to do it....

EDIT2: Oh and that is the unpainted grille by the way. It comes in black but it is a matt black, so against the paint of the car it would have definitely stood out.

[MarcTS]

It's a good job I can predict the future and take the relevant pictures when i get the chance, isn't it? Here's a close-up of the unpainted grille.

[Armz]

Excellent, thanks for all the info,

Hopefully ChrisS has included a t-sport badge as i never asked him, when i purchased the grill.

Unless my current badge can come off and go on the new grill?

Argh, so many little pieces here and there, i just wish we had a mechanic/part/fitting guide/manual like the haynes style books.

So difficult to predict what other parts are needed without taking all the parts off the car to find out how the new parts go on. Tthe parts for the side skirts were alot, blanking peices here and there, nuts, bolts..

Wish there was some way to know all there is to know about the corolla, bodywork/interior etc..

Thank god we have this forum, otherwise i think every CTS and compressor owner would be completely stuck.


Thanks

Armz.

[MarcTS]

Armz, on Oct 23 2007, 07:13 PM, said:

Unless my current badge can come off and go on the new grill?

Argh, so many little pieces here and there, i just wish we had a mechanic/part/fitting guide/manual like the haynes style books.

The TS badge is removeable from the front iirc. But at least a missing badge won't stop yo fitting anything Plus the grille itself is pretty easy to fit. There is 1 screw and 2 clips I believe that does all the work of holding it in place. Getting to the screw was a very tight squeeze for my hand though, so I hope you don't have massive hands.

[Armz]

MiniMarc, on Oct 23 2007, 07:36 PM, said:

Armz, on Oct 23 2007, 07:13 PM, said:

Unless my current badge can come off and go on the new grill?

Argh, so many little pieces here and there, i just wish we had a mechanic/part/fitting guide/manual like the haynes style books.

The TS badge is removeable from the front iirc. But at least a missing badge won't stop yo fitting anything Plus the grille itself is pretty easy to fit. There is 1 screw and 2 clips I believe that does all the work of holding it in place. Getting to the screw was a very tight squeeze for my hand though, so I hope you don't have massive hands.

I work inside computers all the time, so i'm used to working inside tight cramped areas with my hands. 18 years of practice and it's easy to manipulate anything into place.

The badge won't hinder the fit, but it would have been the icing on the cake for it to come ready. So the bumper does not need to be removed to fit the grill?

Seems like a very easy fit then, just get it painted and i can fit myself and save some money, which i can put towards painting my engine cover and the big plastic thing under the hood right behind the grill area.

While i'm on the subject of upgrades, how are your brakes? Since i got my car i wasn't too happy with the feel of the brake pedal. The brakes work fine, but the pedal doesn't seem to give much feedback. I've heard of a bracket which attaches to the backend of the bulkhead brake pedal and stop its from flexing when brakes are applied leading to a better more solid feel of the pedal.

I wonder where i can get one of these and if it will help, or if anyone has fitted something similar?

Cheers

Armz.

[MarcTS]

Armz, on Oct 23 2007, 07:57 PM, said:

The badge won't hinder the fit, but it would have been the icing on the cake for it to come ready. So the bumper does not need to be removed to fit the grill?

Seems like a very easy fit then, just get it painted and i can fit myself and save some money, which i can put towards painting my engine cover and the big plastic thing under the hood right behind the grill area.

While i'm on the subject of upgrades, how are your brakes? Since i got my car i wasn't too happy with the feel of the brake pedal. The brakes work fine, but the pedal doesn't seem to give much feedback. I've heard of a bracket which attaches to the backend of the bulkhead brake pedal and stop its from flexing when brakes are applied leading to a better more solid feel of the pedal.

I wonder where i can get one of these and if it will help, or if anyone has fitted something similar?

Cheers

Armz.

You definitely won't need to remove the bumper to fit the grille. If you open up the bonnet and then remove the so called heatshield (the big plastic thingunder the hood as you describe it) - there are 2 screws for the heatshield (1 on either end) and then 4 pressure pins to pull up in order to remove it, then you will see the existing grille has a clip on either side holding it in place as well as a screw in the center at the bottom. As you said you work in computers, you'll have no problem with this one.

As for the brakes I have no idea about the bracket you mention, but the braking is very good on my car now I've upgraded the discs and pads, but I do agree, the pedal itself feels very soft and unresponsive when being depressed, and I'd welcome anything to tighten up the response a bit

[Armz]

MiniMarc, on Oct 23 2007, 09:54 PM, said:

Armz, on Oct 23 2007, 07:57 PM, said:

The badge won't hinder the fit, but it would have been the icing on the cake for it to come ready. So the bumper does not need to be removed to fit the grill?

Seems like a very easy fit then, just get it painted and i can fit myself and save some money, which i can put towards painting my engine cover and the big plastic thing under the hood right behind the grill area.

While i'm on the subject of upgrades, how are your brakes? Since i got my car i wasn't too happy with the feel of the brake pedal. The brakes work fine, but the pedal doesn't seem to give much feedback. I've heard of a bracket which attaches to the backend of the bulkhead brake pedal and stop its from flexing when brakes are applied leading to a better more solid feel of the pedal.

I wonder where i can get one of these and if it will help, or if anyone has fitted something similar?

Cheers

Armz.

You definitely won't need to remove the bumper to fit the grille. If you open up the bonnet and then remove the so called heatshield (the big plastic thingunder the hood as you describe it) - there are 2 screws for the heatshield (1 on either end) and then 4 pressure pins to pull up in order to remove it, then you will see the existing grille has a clip on either side holding it in place as well as a screw in the center at the bottom. As you said you work in computers, you'll have no problem with this one.

As for the brakes I have no idea about the bracket you mention, but the braking is very good on my car now I've upgraded the discs and pads, but I do agree, the pedal itself feels very soft and unresponsive when being depressed, and I'd welcome anything to tighten up the response a bit

ah ok, thanks for the helpful info.

I found what i was looking for it's called a Brake cylinder stopper. I'd seen loads somewhere but cant find the original site. They had TRD ones for all makes. Had nice diagrams aswell where they fit. Much cheaper aswell, i think about 10pounds.

Heres the cusco one, but none listed for corrola.

Cusco brake cylinder stopper.

also nice pics on this board.

TOC brake cylinder thread

Armz.

[MarcTS]

ooooh looks very interesting. I checked out the envy site and they haveone listed for a corolla @£80 but don't state what years/models..... I'll hit google tomorrow to see if I can find any one else who stocks them as I'm definitely interested in this one

[Armz]

MiniMarc, on Oct 23 2007, 11:17 PM, said:

ooooh looks very interesting. I checked out the envy site and they haveone listed for a corolla @£80 but don't state what years/models..... I'll hit google tomorrow to see if I can find any one else who stocks them as I'm definitely interested in this one

i did a quick google and couldnt come up with anything. I'd wager a bet the corolla one you saw listed was for AE86 same as on the nengun site.

There is a pic of a yaris having fitted one, so i hope there is one for the corolla too, but just cant find it anymore.

With the combination of your black diamond disks, ebc pads and a brake cylinder stopper i think it's safe to say you will have seriously good stopping power with minimal effort.

Armz.

[MarcTS]

I knew I remembered seeing those heat shields somewhere before. Just found a link to the c-one site (in Japanese) but they do sell a replacement part for the CTS if anyone wanted to replace the plastic one at the front of their engine bay. Here's a linky >>CLICK ME! CLICK ME! <<

Oh and Armz, if I can return back to your original question about the front spoiler, when I had the Polish one fitted I used to graze the bottom of one side on my driveway as I reversed out unless I had the wheel on a hard lock (very difficult with 2 other cars crammed onto the driveway and a wall on the otherside). And I also used to clip it coming out of a little fjord in my girlfriend's village too. With the official TTE one I've not had any issues like that so I guess the Polish one must sit a few mm closer to the ground. However I have had the car dropped 30mm, so if you are driving on OE springs then I should imagine you would be fine.