Paddy The Corolla - 1998 1.3 E11 3-Door

[mickburkesnr]

Rear rubber bushes arrived today! The poly bushes should be here tomorrow (according to UPS at least).

Managed to sort out the brake nut and bolt, was quite easy once I found the hammer that the fiancee had "put away". Hammered the socket on to the nut and it turned freely enough.

I had a quick look under the car at the rear and I can see there is a flexible bit of hosing connecting the two pipes? I didn't think that'd be the case at all, I thought it'd be one straight metal run. The clips on the hose look identical to the clips used in the engine. Thinking about it now, I may be looking at the wrong pipe. But it's dark now so I won't be able to look until tomorrow evening again.

The brake lines won't be touched until Saturday, as I want to spend the full day doing it so I don't start a job and then leave it half done until the next day. Thats how mistakes are made, and with something like brake lines I don't want to make any mistakes!

Did take a photo of the front hubs, and the black plate which you can see in the photo is rusted good and proper. On the drivers side it's starting to eat through the steel, the other side isn't too bad. Thing is, I have no idea what these bits are called? Anyone know the proper term so I can source a replacement?

[Agent Orange]

Hi Michael,

That's the front disc heat shield, isn't it?

You really are doing a great job on Paddy, thanks for keeping us up to date and I'm looking forward to the next installment!

Keep up the good work, Mate.

All the best.

P.S....Orange Gloves?....You've not kidnapped Edd China have you?

[mickburkesnr]

I have absolutely no idea. I can leave it as is, it's not hurting anything. It's just it looks shabby and I'd like to clean it up. But I don't want to paint that only for it to fall apart because of the corrosion.

Well, funny you should mention the gloves!

Because I've got hand like shovels, it's really hard to find gloves that fit. The orange ones are XL, and even then they're a bit on the tight side so they break all the time. Mr.China is also a chap with big hands, but the gloves seem to fit his hands better.

Ergo, I've got bigger hands than Edd China!

[Agent Orange]

You know what they say about blokes with big hands, Michael!!!!!! 

Anyway, moving on, quickly....The heat shields on the front discs are only about as thick as a couple of sheets of Andrex and do corrode.  Whilst you are doing all this work, a can of this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hycote-Extreme-Heat-Black-400ml/dp/B000LDA3Q2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497947492&sr=8-1&keywords=very+high+temperature+paint

Will paint the rear drums and the front calipers....It should also be good enough, with a couple of coats to protect those heat shields.....or even just tart them up a bit if you don't replace them.

I used the stuff on the drums and calipers on my Aygo and after 18 months, it's not flaking and they still look as good as new.

I hope that helps....even though it's more expense!

Take care. 

[mickburkesnr]

Yep I heard - they spend more money on bigger latex gloves!

Funny you should mention the Hycote paint, I bought a can from The Range on Sunday for the scuttle. They also sell the high temp paint there as well, at least they do at my one. Think they charge £5 for a can as well, so it might be worth you popping down there and saving yourself a few quid.

[Agent Orange]

That's a good price,Michael...Good stuff too, it'll bring the wiper scuttle up a treat.

Back to your Gloves, I don't know how much you are paying for a box of them, but these are the ones that Edd uses, direct from his own website.  They're not cheap but if they last a bit longer they might (Pinch of salt time, I know!!) just be worth it.....Do I hear cries of "HOW MUCH!!!!!" drifting up from the West Midlands? 

https://www.greasejunkie.com/extra-length-gloves/

[mickburkesnr]

21 minutes ago, Agent Orange said:

Do I hear cries of "HOW MUCH!!!!!" drifting up from the West Midlands?

Too right you do! £11.94?!?!

There's a Peugeot Citroen parts distributor that I went to when I needed some air con cleaning stuff. They sold a can of it for £2.50, and I just so happened to see they were selling latex gloves for £3 for a box. Brilliant I thought, except those are for people with tiny hands. To get gloves to fit me cost me £8 for a box of 75?

I'm halfway through the box now, so I'll stock up. But who knows the prices might have gone up since the last time I bought them.

[mickburkesnr]

Ok so, didn't do much on the car Saturday as I decided I needed a proper bench. So I spent Saturday building one.

Today though I started to clean the calipers. I've decided not to change the brake lines as all the bits I've seen look alright actually. Some, the tiniest bit, of rust on a little bit of the line but it'll be fine I think. I had visions of chunks of the line being corroded but I'm happy enough with them. They'll be changed when I "upgrade" the brake hoses to the steel braided ones. I will be changing the brake hoses though.

Anyway, I took a wire brush to the caliper, and here's the result of the clean. On the right is how it came off the car, the one on the left is how they scrubbed up. Not brand new looking, but look much better.

Sprayed it all in brake cleaner, and took the brake caliper paint to it. Got it a bit wrong, ended up with the full can going on these parts!

I taped up the piston side, the bleed valve and the nut where the hose connects to it. I'm going to my dealership tomorrow or Tuesday to order new valves and nuts though as I stripped one of each taking them off.

But yeah, here's what they look like with a like of the finest red caliper paint - excuse the dumping ground which is my garage.

Hung them up by some fishing line, I think it's a bit problematic to do it this way. So if I do this again I'll either do them on the car or on a desk.

While I was at it, I took the Hycote Gloss Black paint I picked up from The Range on the scuttle. Quite impressed with how they've turned out.

I am going to give the calipers a rub with some 800/1200 grit paper tomorrow ready for a second coat of the paint. Hopefully tomorrow I'll also take the drum brakes off and give them a run of the wire brush too. But the primary task for Monday evening (weather permitting) is to take a power washer to the underside of the car, let it dry off so I can tackle the underseal when I've taken the suspension off.

Should get to the suspension by at least Friday, changing shocks, springs, bushes etc.

[oldcodger]

Paintwork looking good

As you are going to such length to refurbish the car, think I would not like to be using 20 year old rubber brake hoses, they may look sound but cannot honestly believe they are still 100%

What about the brake cylinder pistons / seals and rubbers covers, are you going to renew them, again your whole brakes relying of 20 year bits of rubber ..?

A small cost compared to all the other stuff you are fitting, though appreciate getting the hoses off  the metal pipe connectors could be a problem.

[mickburkesnr]

I have the replacement brake hoses so those are getting replaced anyway. I was on about the brake lines themselves. I have the copper lines to replace them, but when I was looking at them they looked in surprisingly good shape so I thought that job could be postponed for a bit. Especially as I've half a tank of petrol that I'd need to drop in order to get to the brake lines I think?

Didn't think of the brake cylinder pistons etc. Again, I did check them and they seemed to be OK (no cracks etc). But from looking at the cost of them on eBay they are fairly cheap. It's something I could/should do.

I'll see how much the dealership sell the bits for, as I remembered this morning I need to get seals for the gearbox when I change the clutch. 

[mickburkesnr]

New bleed valves and brake hose nut ordered, along with a driveshaft seal for the gearbox for when I change the clutch. I'm hoping that's the last time I have to go to Toyota this side of the first phase of the project being completed. I've got all my bits together, except for the brake caliper rubber replacements. The guy at Toyota said they didn't sell them separately, which is fair enough. I'm going to go on eBay when I get home and have a proper look.

This Corolla is one of those built in Japan, and from what I can see this matters a little bit in terms of parts the car uses. Fairly sure the calipers on this car won't be the same as those used on the UK built versions of the car.

Also, something that slipped my mind. This Corolla's 4E-FE engine uses distributorless ignition, which is annoying as I was hoping to fiddle a bit with the timing of the engine (for a little bit more power). For me to do this on that engine, it would involve chipping the ECU wouldn't it? If that's the case I won't bother with it as I don't want to fool about with ECU's.

[mickburkesnr]

OK, so I've a small problem.

On the back of what @oldcodger suggested I've been looking to get a repair/refurb kit for the calipers (which have had their second coat of paint, looking lush). The problem is that I think the calipers on these Corolla's aren't all the same. My Corolla was assembled in Japan while others were built in the UK. Going by various motor factor websites you need to know whether your car is a "JT" or the other UK designation when it comes to buying brake pads and/or shoes. This, to me, indicates that the braking systems are going to be different.

But how do I find out what braking system I have? These are the ones that keep coming up for my car:

• Akebono
• Sumitomo
• Lucas/TRW

I'm going through the list of the brake pads (this is all based on the Online Car Parts website) and it states the country of origin, and the braking system. Most of the Japanese cars flip between Akebono and Sumitomo, all the GB cars use Lucas/TRW BUT there are some GB cars with the Sumitomo listed!

I'm probably reading way too much in to this, but because I know these sites are stating different braking systems, that these sites might not always be 100% right, I don't know if I buy a repair kit for a Lucas caliper it's going to be the same dimensions etc for my calipers if they end up being Sumitomo or Akebono or U2's Bono. 

So if anyone could help me with this bit I'd appreciate it!

Also, for the record, the car needs new brake shoes which have been ordered and to be collected Thursday.

[oldcodger]

On the later uk models is a case of Lucas or Asin, and generally they have there name stamped on the caliper, but looks like you just have  Toyota and some numbers on yours.

Again on my model you can buy the rubber piston seals from Mr T , but only as a full kit of rubbers, think it was about £60 for just the fronts

As they said they cannot help you ?  I would read them off those caliper numbers and along with your VIN have a word with these guy if you cannot see them in their online shop. Have been over to their trade counter and brakes is what they are all about.

https://brakeparts.co.uk/

[mickburkesnr]

Yeah I asked if they did the kits and he said no, just the caliper. So I'd have to buy it as one unit, which is overkill when I know I can get the rubbers etc separately.

I'll give them a tinkle tomorrow. Thanks bud!

[mickburkesnr]

Well another weekend gone and I've made some good progress, peppered with a few D'oh moments and semi-expensive mistakes.

While I wait to get hold of the caliper replacement rubbers I decided to crack on with the suspension bushes. This quickly turned in to a weekend of teaching my neighbours new swear words and teaching myself how to apply plasters!

I started by wire brushing the rear brake drums and using the last of the red caliper paint on them. Annoyingly I need another can I think, as the sides of the drums haven't been covered properly. Highly annoyed as it's not going to need a full can of Halfords paint but it'll annoy me if I don't do it. But I'm going to sit on it until they're on the car and I can see if they need them or not.

Generally speaking, removing the bushes from the control arms wasn't all that difficult. The fact the rubbers were near perished and brittle made the job a bit easier.

This is one bush that came off one of the control arms, you can see it's just well on it's way to being knackered.

I did, however, manage to break 3 6" G-Clamps (two of which were brand new and going straight back to B&Q!) trying to remove the bushes from one arm. I then ended up bending the control arm while trying to get one bush from it. Safe to say it's not going to go back on to the car! The arm on the right is the one I took off from the nearside, the one on the left is the one I broke.

I found a replacement fairly quickly on eBay, they'll do for the time being as the rear will be replaced with polyurathene bushes when I get the cash together in the future. The arms cost about £30 each and the bushes come pre-installed. Should be with me before 13th July.

Moving on from the bushes, I started to strip down the rest of the suspension. I've taken off the trailing arms and removed a bush from there, the stabiliser link turned out to be a complete pain! I'm there for 10 minutes with my ratchet taking the nut off, then wondering why it wasn't budging. Turns out you need to hold an allen key in the middle of the nut and hold it while you turn the nut. Managed to get it off with no issue on the nearside rear, but the offside needs to be cut off (which I'll do tonight). The hex socket managed to strip itself.

To finish up, the nearside rear shock absorber is now off the vehicle! 

The offside one is still attached to the car until tonight, but that should come off fairly easily once the stabiliser link is removed.

Over the week I'm going to start stripping the shock aborbers down and giving the springs a bit of a paint as the powder coating they have is peeling off. The springs themselves look OK. They're not broken, so they can go back on.

Ignore the positioning of the compressors on the above photo. I've put them on 3 times and each time the spring has become loose at the bottom but not at the top. So when I've come to try and loosen the nut the bottom of the spring moves but the nut stays put.

Also, hit a little trouble with the brake union on the nearside rear brake drum. Between the brake line on the vehicle and the rear brake drum there's a rubber hose. This is held by the shock absorber and obviously needs to be disconnected from the brake line on the drum as well as the car. Well the nut on the brake drum line got rounded off. So I need to replace that soon as well.

[mickburkesnr]

Calamity! 

Got to the car this evening, managed to get the offside rear shock absorber off (with a little help from my friend Mr.Angle-Grinder), leaving only the anti roll bar still attached. What I did was cut the stabiliser in half, leaving half on the old shock absorber and half attached to the anti roll bar, reasoning I could get it off better on the bench.

The nuts that hold the bush on to the frame (and the roll bar) on the offside came off fine. The near side bolts? HA!

They broke off in my hand. Both of them.

Both broken inside the frame, nothing standing proud. So I have to drill them out and get a tap and die set to re-do the holes. Amazing work I feel!

Anyway, on a brighter note my exhaust is ready and I will pick it up Saturday morning.

[oldcodger]

You sure sound busy !!

Not something I have ever used, but if you do not already have a suitable tap, would it be cheaper to use these removers ?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/screw-extractor-5-piece-set/18643?kpid=18643&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=CLS1rsL47dQCFUQ8GwodE_sJbw&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKWrxsL47dQCFZysUQodhtQJ7w

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/heres-how-you-remove-a-fractured-bolt-extractor-tip-fro-1746998630

 

[mickburkesnr]

Did think of that, and if it was anywhere else on the car I would go for it. But I'd rather do it via a drill and the tap/die set. Besides, these are the 2nd and 3rd bolts to break on me after the one on the alternator last year and I have the front shocks to do yet. So I may need to use this more than once before I'm finished!

Which reminds me, anyone got an idea of a better place to get replacement bolts from? Dont want to keep going back and forth to Toyota every time a bolt breaks.

[oldcodger]

2 hours ago, mickburkesnr said:

 

Which reminds me, anyone got an idea of a better place to get replacement bolts from? Dont want to keep going back and forth to Toyota every time a bolt breaks.

 

While its a pain going to get them from Toyota at least you know its made of the right metal and to the correct parameters such as tensile strength etc.

Perhaps you might be able to tell what those parameters are from the bolt head markings, but get it wrong and it could lead to serious failure at the wrong time !

[tooSavvy]

Hi

 

My Carina 2 needed all new dampers (from Micks too) + Droplinks + ARB Bushes. I got it done as the MOT was sorted, in my tame garage 

I think this site link will give you all the components on your SPECIFIC car >> from the VIN.

http://toyota.epc-data.com/

brakes and other bits...

 

cheers

2sav

[mickburkesnr]

2 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

Hi

 

My Carina 2 needed all new dampers (from Micks too) + Droplinks + ARB Bushes. I got it done as the MOT was sorted, in my tame garage 

I think this site link will give you all the components on your SPECIFIC car >> from the VIN.

http://toyota.epc-data.com/

brakes and other bits...

 

cheers

2sav

Tame garage? I have you know my garage isn't a mess but it's creatively organised!  In fairness though I need to clear it out as I've just been working and dropping things in situ.

I got the dampers from Online Car Parts, I got the bushes from Micks Garage. Prefer the service of Micks Garage at the moment if I'm honest!

Thanks for the link to the site I'll check it out.

[mickburkesnr]

Well after much faffing about from DHL, the new control arms arrived. They're from a company called Febest, and it wasn't until after I bought them I read reviews. I think they're very mixed, however (as with everything) for every one bad review there'll be one good review, and you'll know there'll be one person who has them who's that content with them they'll never talk about them.

From generally looking at them and comparing them to the ones that came off the car, they feel alright. Weight wise they're the same, the welds seem on a par with the arm that came off the car. The bushes I'm not sure of, and I would suspect that if anything was to go wrong with these it'll be the bushes to go first. But we'll see how they go! Here they are in comparison to the control arm that I didn't damage at the weekend.

Anyway, I started to strip down the rear shocks last night, taking the springs off and seeing what condition they were in. Plesantly surprised as I don't think these shocks have ever been replaced, so for 19 year old springs they're not half bad. Some of the powder coating has chipped away, most of it has stayed intact though.

However, I can't say the same for the dampner itself and the stops. I could compress and extend the shock absorber with ease, something which I know I shouldn't be able to do. You can see though at the bottom of the shock that there is (or has been) a build up of oil from it.

And the stops look absolutely knackered too. But I knew they were gone just by the way the car would react to going over bumps. So no surprises here!

I gave the exposed metal parts a blast with the wire brush, and followed it by rubbing the sandpaper along the whole coil. After which I sprayed with etch primer.

Didn't look too bad, and excitment got the better of me. I had bought two cans of Ford Red (forgot the name at the moment) produced by Hycote and purchased from The Range. It's a near match (I think) to the caliper paint I used on the brake calipers and drum. But I gave it a quite spray last night and I think they're going to turn out very well.

Obviously over time the paint is going to crack due to the springs flexing. But for the time being it's going to give the springs some protection from the elements and if they last 12 months then that's all that matters really.

I'm going to finish giving it a coat of red paint tonight, and do the same for the other shock absorber. Friday I will take the anti roll bar off and give that a good clean and paint (like I have with the other components), all ready for Sunday when I can throw all of these bits and pieces back on to the car!

[tooSavvy]

How have you sorted out the sheared bolts...?? 

Lots of 'hotup' forum types go Stainless... bit much, perhaps, but they are the correct spec for the job.

.... my eyes hurt - SPRINGS!!

'what has been seen >> cannot be unseen' 

 

2sav

[mickburkesnr]

I have bought some cobalt steel drill bits for my drill and I'm picking up a tap and die set on Saturday. So in that respect the removal of sheered bolts are sorted - nearly. To replace them? Haven't thought about it at the moment. Didn't think of stainless bolts so I'll definately think about it.

And come on you know as well as I do given the chance you'd paint your springs blue to match your Carina 

[tooSavvy]

ha! Looks like the guys at the garage just swapped them over, across the dampers, without even rubbing them with an oily rag 

 

2sav