I Am Now A Corolla Owner!

[Humayun]

I need ur help guys, ive jus bought this corolla to run around in (described above). Can any1 please give me sum advise on general tuning, styling, and maintenace thats required wiv this car.

I may sell it in a month or two b4 insurance renewal, the car has had 2owners b4 me,'H' reg 107k on the clock, FTSH from new, 6 month intervals!! All receipts hav been kept, taxed till late summer, MOT'd till december.Interior is spotless wiv everyfin working and most importantly, theres no rust!!

Can any1 tell me how much i will b able to get for this car?

Thanx for any help.

P.S its a 1991 corolla by da way not 1992 as stated in topic

[Twincam.GTi]

Hi there,

Is that the one you asked about (1 month or so ago) that was advertised on Autotrader?

Advice fo running: When was the cambelt last changed? if don't know get it done because the older 1300 engine is not a 'Safe Engine' if it breaks...the valves and pistons will 'meet'!

Also you say no rust, very lucky with an AE92 (although it does appear that the 'standard variants' don't rust as bad as GTi versions), if that is the case get the Waxoil (& some old engine oil if you've recently changed the oil yourself) out and squirt it down the box sections (in side sills etc.) also squirt around shock absorber mounts (front and rear); it will al help to make the body Shell last a few more years longer and thus help future owners.

Other than that just maintain like any old car: change oil twice a year or every 3 miles, oil everthing that moves very regulary (i.e. door hinges etc.) drive carefully and listen for any creaks and groans.

[Humayun]

Thanx mate, the corolla i hav isnt the one i posted up, i hav one exactly the same in white! Thanx for the advice on maintenance.

Can any1 tell me what the tuning options are for my car? Its a carb engine , so what filter can i put on and where can i buy one!

[TOYMOTA]

Other than that just maintain like any old car: change oil twice a year or every 3 miles, oil everthing that moves very regulary (i.e. door hinges etc.) drive carefully and listen for any creaks and groans.

←

!Removed! hell. Change the oil every 3 miles. I'd have to change mine 20 times a day getting to work and back.

[Twincam.GTi]

TOYMOTA Posted Yesterday, 01:37 PM

  (Twincam.GTi @ Feb 13 2005, 01:21 PM)

Other than that just maintain like any old car: change oil twice a year or every 3 miles, oil everthing that moves very regulary (i.e. door hinges etc.) drive carefully and listen for any creaks and groans.

!Removed! hell. Change the oil every 3 miles. I'd have to change mine 20 times a day getting to work and back.

Oh NO, Sorry oops

I meant to say 'every 3000 miles' idiot me!

...then again ... :!Removed!:

[james_corolla_cuthbertson]

Humayun,

Excellent choice my friend! It's all about the E-series!

Performance parts are not something you'll find for the 2E. Everything you do will either have to be adapted from 4E parts or just go for universal bits. Depending on how far you want to go with performance you may be better off swapping in something from the A-series family.

Just to re-iterate what the other guys have said - really make sure the cambelt is serviceable and was changed recently - belt is £20ish from a motor factor it's not the hardest DIY job in the world but if you are unsure what you're doing, get a pro to take care of it.

But if you want to tune what you've got:

Basic tuning:

Step 1 is getting the engine back to stock!

Check change oil regularly and change filter evey other time

Check ignition timing and genreal condition of ignition system (lead resistance and dizzy cap etc)

Check, correctly gap and replace spark plugs as necessary

Check cooling system

Check compression

Check Carburettor mixture and idle settings

Decoke your cylinder head! Can be done by a competent DIYer. I picked up a head gasket set for £20 on eBay only last week (you'll need stretch bolts too, about £16 iirc) This can make bigger difference than any bolt-on mods in terms of power and throttle response, smoothness etc. While you're at it you can mildly port and polish the head! Your engine will thank you for it and it will allow you to make the most of future mods...

Intake:

Universal pod or cone filter (k&n, ram air etc), but to fit this you will have to butcher the original airbox and may have trouble with carb icing if you don't have some way of warming the intake air on cold days (done with a valve with a duct over the exhaust on the stock airbox). Having said that, you want to have the new filter sat somewhere where it can get nice cold air for the rest of the time!

Go for one of the bigger toyota carbs off a 3A or something? Bike carbs if you're adventurous! (Cheap initially, but gettting them tuned spot on means a LOT of messing with jet sizes on the rolling road)

Exhaust - Places like powerflow will make a larger diameter exhaust for you. I think your car has to have a CAT for emissions (any car 92 or after). You could replace or gut it for a sizable power gain, but you could well fail an MOT as a result!

Depending how tired your engine is, you could get a new set of piston rings which can make a massive difference! You actually compress the mixture rather than letting it all ***** through the piston-bore clearance, not to mention the oil consumption!

Another (cheaper!) way to go faster is to get lighter! Take out the back seats or something, maybe even the spare tyre?! Replace side glass with perspex (screen must be glass), drill hidden (non stressed!) panels and brackets, fibreglass panels (not always lighter though). Take out everything you can get away with in the engine bay, every little counts. Have a crap before you drive! Shave your head! Take your glasses off!

That's probably the extent of the mods that can be carried out easily but depending on how far you go with carbs and head work you could have a 30+bhp gain!

It all depends on how fast you actually want to go.

All the best!

Take it easy,

James

[Humayun]

James, thanx for the lengthy response dude! Much appreciated, i will consider the theings u have said, ive considered droppin a GTI lump in, that will b in the future tho,i will try fettling with the carb and am gna defnately get custom air intake made up by my mate.

Thanx again.

[Froston]

very nice car - seen it in the flesh!