1983 Corolla aka Surreptitious

oldeskewltoy wrote: so well that during the test... the cooling fan came on... and she not only didn't stall, she still passed emissions even with the fan on Took her out and enjoyed the nice sunny day... on our way home we encountered an AMG C36... he went home less happy.......

I wonder if the car did better because it was running hot and burning up more of the fuel. Love this car btw.

crankwalk wrote: I wonder if the car did better because it was running hot and burning up more of the fuel. Love this car btw.

Thanks.......

How it was explained to me... IF you can move timing closer to TDC, the burn gets far cleaner.

A bit of an update....

ost said: If you remember my threads on "tuning" to be able to drive around town... well, she no longer needs a special knowledge of her quirks to drive her normally. There are a few things still needing some adjustment. 1) occasionally she gets hung up on engine decel @ a light. She'll get "stuck" around 1800 rpm or so... funny thing is a tap of the accelerator or two and the idle will come down :confused: 2) idle was purposely set a touch high(about 1200) to try and remove some of the overlap, I'd like it reset around 1000 or so. 3) Cooling fans still draw enough to make the engine stumble and almost stall. I think for the cooling fans, a VSV will need to be installed so that the VSV activates similtaniously with the cooling fans

Over the past 2 years I've driven Surreptitious less than 1500 miles... alot of this was because a certain tuning shop had no idea how to properly set and program the FJO system. Shortly after I swapped in the 6 speed she went back for a "final" adjustment.

LONG STORY short.... once I got it back the last time.... I had to "fix" cam timing, and swap in the earlier tune :cry:

Move ahead 2 years... Surreptitious goes to Loynings, and is tuned on their steady state dyno. She is "tuned" in each rpm band for power. Off to DEQ(emissions testing) and fails.... 1100 HC, 5.0 CO.

I bring her back in, they make a few adjustments, I go back to DEQ... 214 HC, 0.447 CO - She passes :mrgreen:

and no new cat required this time.... :)

Now as far as performance.... She idles...(between 1000 and 1100) she idles and doesn't stall when coming to a stop... she idles with all the installed electrical draws on (lights, wipers, heater fan, 100 watt fog lamps) she even idled with the cooling fan on @ the inspection station without stalling or stumbling while the test was being performed...

This tune is only a few days old... but so far it has inspired some new confidence...

from another forum said: so uhh...after the new tune....whats the power look like :) ?

WOT was never a problem... she always (with one exception) planted great power...

What is odd... I'm only running 2 BTDC degrees of ignition timing... :eek:

OPINION: They did the reverse of what I thought to be needed..... I figured more timing (not less) would make it want to idle up.... What they did was feed in the less timing and they opened up the throttle plate a touch. With the throttle plate open, this lowers the pressure in the manifold... and so when there is a change like vacuum being drawn to run the brakes... or a alternator puts a load on the system there is less pressure change in the manifold... less pressure change, less unstable idle.... and so it idles pretty well under loads now.

The above is the change after the failed inspection....

BEFORE the failed inspection... They did a lot of changes in the map... the fuel map especially. If you remember Bob had set the original fuel map as best he could... but with a 6mm hole in the manifold he did the best he could. Once i found the hole, and fixed it I DEPENDED on the self learning feature to "fix" the fuel map. Well... now she has a dedicated fuel map built on a steady state dyno to keep AFRs(between 12.5 and 13) in the peak range to make power, and protect the "fragile" OEM cast pistons from detonation.

So, back to the car.... with my new found trust in her overall character... and to signify her change from temperamental toy :( ... into reliable, dependable toy :)

She gets her first new set of wipers in over 5 years a set of Anco Aero Advantage..... Why??

Now that she runs well besides wipers working, I felt it is time to finish up the parking brake.

ost said: The emergency brake cables need a fabricated bracket on the driverside(thank you Jesse), and a zip tie around the axle hop line mount to secure the passenger side cable.

Back almost a year ago when the GTS diff went in we had been successful in finding mounting points for the heavy cables... but the small bracket inside the trans tunnel used to support the front where they come together was about 1" too far forward to actually be useful...

so today we (Jesse and I) removed the bracket from its original location, reversed its position - to make mounting in the new location easier...

Now that the cables are supported front and rear, I can finish up with the handle. Anyone have a spare GTS parking brake handle? Josh informs me the GTS has a different fulcrum shape for the cable to ride in... and MAY be required to use GTS calipers and cables...

OR... I can figure a way to lengthen the single cable about 3/4" to fit.

I should have kept the lengthening to 3/4", I did about 1 1/4"(length of threads) and although it now works, I have little room left for further adjustment...

If/when that time occurs that it is out of adjustment, I'll cut off the bindings and place the two sections a bit tighter together...

but for now... we have a working parking brake.....

NOW... maybe I can think about carpeting, and the remainder of the interior....

... and so now begins the beginning of the end of this build...

- A short ride around the block....

Awesome to see it up and running!!!

More exterior shots, please...

another short ride....

I have always been envious of this car. Great work! It sounds amazing...

Awesome sounds from that 4age! Thanks for posting. Love watching the build coming together!

Excuse me, I need to hop into the FX16 and go for a ride. Something about a 4age winding out in second gear.................

Very cool car! Great build quality and nice parts selection.

thanks... too much $$ invested good thing I wear

OST said: NOW... maybe I can think about carpeting, and the remainder of the interior....

So... carpet is on order from Stock Interiors.

Royal blue - the molded carpet, and 2 running yards (72" square) so that I can finish off the new rear space. Along with carpet, I ordered Dynamat - 36 square foot kit - since this is new for me I don't know if that's enough... but it should be more than enough to do the passenger compartment - under the molded carpet.

More to come....

Love the build! Have you done anything to stiffen up the unibody?

MichaelYount wrote: Love the build! Have you done anything to stiffen up the unibody?

ANYTHING.... yes a strut bar

but in reality very little.

Part of the reason I went "soft" on the spring rates, 290#(5.3kg/mm) springs up front, and 193#(3.5kg/mm) springs in the rear, was because the chassis isn't the stoutest... It is outfitted with a 1" hollow bar up front with the stock 15mm GTS bar in the back to help me get her around corners swiftly....

I could have gone stiffer... and parameter weld/stitch weld the chassis, and add a cage... but that wasn't what I was after... this is more touring car then race car.

I want this car so much it kind of hurts.

Surreptitious gets christened...

sorry no pics of this

Joanne and I took a little 2 day vacation down to Newport Oregon.

We loaded up Surreptitious with our stuff, and the two dogs. We dropped the "girls" off at doggy day camp (Tail Wag Inn), and then proceeded down 18 to 101, and then down to Newport.

Joanne was sent a groupon for a 2 day stay in a jacuzzi equipped condo with private access to the beach (access was private, not the beach).

The place is called the Starfish Point Motel - http://www.starfishpoint.com/

"Our" condo as viewed from the beach..

and the view from the condo's lower deck out to the beach... the lower deck is semi- enclosed in the trees so the effect is of being surrounded

I spent about 50% of my time sitting on this deck... just enjoying the sounds of the wind, the ocean, the babbling brook (can be seen emptying into "little creek" in above pic), and the birds and "assorted" additional sounds of nature

WE had a wonderful time... WE had a chance to relax...

So... what does all of this have to do with Surreptitious being "christened"??? While down there we enjoyed some modified Mimosa's (mango juice, orange juice, and champagne).... see where this is heading????

We didn't finish all of the champagne, and although only 1/3 full and partially corked... the top popped inside the small compartment letting loose about 2 or 3 shots worth... gently "christening" one side of the interior compartment without doing damage...

oldeskewltoy - from another thread said: I recently went past 200k

Wow... going past 200k miles on the odometer means I've clocked about 11,000 miles on her so far

So its time to begin maintenance... first things first... I've ordered her a K&N panel filter... 33-2002

The applications are VAST.... from as small as a 1.5 liter Audi to numerous 3.0 liter applications - http://www.knfilters.com/search/applications.aspx?prod=33-2002

On order... I'll replace it next week. Fuel filter should be good for at least another 19,000 miles before it needs to be replaced, the plugs should be good for a long time.

I'm not sure if this would be something equally applicable to your rig, but my 80 Corolla really seemed to like some rake in the suspension. I may have an ulterior motive in suggesting this, since I think it would also look rad.

DaewooOfDeath wrote: I'm not sure if this would be something equally applicable to your rig, but my 80 Corolla really seemed to like some rake in the suspension. I may have an ulterior motive in suggesting this, since I think it would also look rad.

Odd you say that... I've got more rake then some.....

No mirrors... a friend (guy in sunglasses) and I went for a tuning cruise the other day and we saw this, and had to get a photo....

So on to what we were doing. The Winter Loynings tune (2 degrees of timing @ idle) has been simply wonderful. She handles all kinds of different loads wonderfully... FAR better then any tune so far, and easily making this totally daily-able! BUT..... as I noted in our trip to Newport Oregon, the fuel mileage is only fair to good(27mpg), so it would be useful to see if the map can be adjusted to deliver better fuel mileage.

Before we touched anything we plotted the rpm "cloud" (blocks of cells) so we knew where we wanted to adjust. We found that there is similar rpm ranges for around town (moderately high vacuum - MAP) and highway cruise(moderately high vacuum - MAP). We also found that the AFRs in that range varied from low 13s to mid 14s. We then adjusted the AFRs in those cells to mid/upper 15s, we then let the FJO adjust the fuel map accordingly....

Just in case... the new program has a new name so I can always fall back to the old one if things go awry....

oldeskewltoy wrote: as I noted in our trip to Newport Oregon, the fuel mileage is only fair to good(27mpg), so it would be useful to see if the map can be adjusted to deliver better fuel mileage. Before we touched anything we plotted the rpm "cloud" (blocks of cells) so we knew where we wanted to adjust. We found that there is similar rpm ranges for around town (moderately high vacuum - MAP) and highway cruise(moderately high vacuum - MAP). We also found that the AFRs in that range varied from low 13s to mid 14s. We then adjusted the AFRs in those cells to mid/upper 15s, we then let the FJO adjust the fuel map accordingly.... Just in case... the new program has a new name so I can always fall back to the old one if things go awry....

After a bit more tuning on the fuel side... I just did a 143 mile test loop. 100 miles of interstate 5, (65-75), 6 miles in town(25 - 30), and 37 miles of rural road (45-55) on 4.5 gallons of fuel... So she provides an unregulated highway mpg of 31.77. If I were to focus more, drive closer to 55, and be more focused maintaining speed, she might deliver 35mpg...

I've been really unhappy with the out of round General Exclaim UHPs(Made by berkeleying Continental Tire) I bought for her a long time ago....

They have to go....

on order 4 BFG Comp2 in 195/55/15. They were a bit less $ they their smaller cousin - 195/50/15, and they should help a wee bit with the speedo error (about 9%) with the J160 and the 3.9 final drive... As to any chance of hitting, they are about 3/4" taller, but that is under .4" in radius... my adjustable lower suspension's extra 19mm of front track should be enough to provide a rub free environment.

oldeskewltoy wrote: I've been really unhappy with the out of round General Exclaim UHPs(Made by berkeleying Continental Tire) I bought for her a long time ago.... They have to go.... on order 4 BFG Comp2 in 195/55/15. They were a bit less $ they their smaller cousin - 195/50/15, and they should help a wee bit with the speedo error (about 9%) with the J160 and the 3.9 final drive... As to any chance of hitting, they are about 3/4" taller, but that is under .4" in radius... my adjustable lower suspension's extra 19mm of front track should be enough to provide a rub free environment.

I "chickened out" I waited and got the 195/50/15 instead. I REALLY enjoy driving my car and I was a tiny bit worried the 3/4" inch taller tire might take some of that away....

Now to get them mounted and balanced.....

Cool car, looks fun.

doh...zombie.

I thought there was an update...

4cylndrfury wrote: doh...zombie. I thought there was an update...

nothing exciting... its emissions time once again... she failed but this time no where nearly as "gross polluter" as she was 2 years ago... going to be fiddling a bit with timing and fuel this weekend to see if I can get her through....

2 years ago she was 1100 HC, and about 5 CO, spec is 220HC 1.0 CO, by dialing back ignition timing to 2 degrees, they managed to get her though with a 214 HC and .455 CO. This year I began @ 470HC and a CO of 1.2 so at least this time I'm in the ballpark......

more to come over the weekend... hopefully good news.....

4cylndrfury wrote: doh...zombie. I thought there was an update...

Hmmmm, can't recall how I came across this thread. Must have been a link back from some other thread, dream car or something now that I think about it.

oldeskewltoy wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: doh...zombie. I thought there was an update...

nothing exciting... its emissions time once again... she failed but this time no where nearly as "gross polluter" as she was 2 years ago... going to be fiddling a bit with timing and fuel this weekend to see if I can get her through.... 2 years ago she was 1100 HC, and about 5 CO, spec is 220HC 1.0 CO, by dialing back ignition timing to 2 degrees, they managed to get her though with a 214 HC and .455 CO. This year I began @ 470HC and a CO of 1.2 so at least this time I'm in the ballpark...... more to come over the weekend... hopefully good news.....

Damn its nice now knowing something about my management system.....

adjusted "idle injector time" down from 2.37msec to 2.22 msec and then went back through emissions...

She passed... her new #s.... 110 HC, .0556 CO Both well under their respective specs....