AE92 Corolla SR5 - GTS goodies swap-in mini-build-thread

GameboyRMH wrote: Yarr mateys, behold the latest haul of booty!

6", must be for the front. 650# is quite stiff. What's the plan for the rear?

Actually those are for the rear, but the front rates are nearly the same. The coilovers came with 616lb/in rear and 644lb/in front springs. This is the closest rate I could get for the rear that isn't softer. The goal of installing them is to get the springs completely out of the way of the rear tires and finally end the clearance problems back there.

I'll do the same on the front later (there's no clearance problem now, but more room could allow wider tires), for rates I'll go with either the same as the rear or 700lb/in.

Good plan. The rears In the FX16 are 7". I'm running 440 front/750 rear. I could use it stiffer in front. I would suggest something in the range of 500-600 in front. 700 is a bit much and will reduce the corner rotation. Just my two cents.

I'll have to see how it handles before I choose the rate, an ideal autocross car is a tail-happy track car so I have to make a slight compromise to make the car good at both.

And now just for oldskewltoy the distributor hole plug:

Looks a lot like a bottlecap. The dealership had a spin-the-wheel discount where I got 15% off, so I got it for the equivalent of just over $3US.

I'm not going to install it yet, since we're still using the original ECU and ignition to putter the car around the shop.

Didn't get the starter back yesterday so now it has to wait until tomorrow.

GameboyRMH wrote: I'll have to see how it handles before I choose the rate, an ideal autocross car is a tail-happy track car so I have to make a slight compromise to make the car good at both.

I didn't realize it would be tracked and autocrossed. You have a good plan. You can disconnect the front sway bar for autocrossed to help with rotation. Reattach for stability on track. If you are trying front rates in the 600# range, you should be pleased with it.

I was actually thinking of doing the opposite with the front sway bar - many of the few other people racing AE9x's around the world have said that the front sway bar helps in autocross but isn't worth the loss in corner-exit traction around a track. The front sway bar had very little effect on rotation or handling balance but it did cut down body roll a good bit and made the front respond better (feel more "pointy.")

GameboyRMH wrote: I was actually thinking of doing the opposite with the front sway bar - many of the few other people racing AE9x's around the world have said that the front sway bar helps in autocross but isn't worth the loss in corner-exit traction around a track. The front sway bar had very little effect on rotation or handling balance but it did cut down body roll a good bit and made the front respond better (feel more "pointy.")

Easy to test!

Got the starter working, did a lot of math for the spring drop, and that's about it for 2014. The mechanic's pretty much closed for the holidays for the rest of this month.

The first autocross of next year is on Feb 15th, but the mechanic's going to be out of the island from Jan 16th so basically there are two weeks left to finish the car, if all the parts get through the Christmas customs glut in time...I'm getting that sinking feeling again

Well it's 2015 and work's started back on the car. The mechanic tried to take off the front bumper to mount the heat exchangers and was thwarted by rusty fasteners on the bumper, so that's gonna take some cutting & welding of the bumper mount brackets to fix.

Wiring work is underway to convert from a distributor to CoPs. No need for the stock ECU from here so it's open season for mods to the wiring harness, extra wires are also going in for some data logging stuff and an IAC valve for running ITBs in the future.

Yesterday I stopped by the shop and we were talking about ECUs and I mentioned that I might consider upgrading to an MS3 in the future, he said he has an MS3 at home and that another guy needs an MS2-Extra, and that I could upgrade for just the cost difference, and now is the perfect time to do it. So now the car's going to be running MS3.

Well today's the 15th so I should update, luckily the mechanic's not actually leaving until early February so I'm not screwed yet, but time is kinda short now. If the engine isn't running and the brake parts don't clear the Christmas customs glut before he leaves, those are total showstoppers. Beyond that it just needs some rear brake work, and changing the rear springs to dial in some negative rear camber would give a nice cornering improvement. If I can get enough money together I'll get another laser alignment done to perfect the rear camber and change the front to an unbiased setup.

The harness is still getting major mods, once that's done and the crank sensor is in place (bracket's already prototyped), the engine should fire right up with a setup from another 4AGE, and from there it's just fine-tuning with a wideband if there's time now.

I used 97 Camry waste spark coil packs. They are used in a lot of Toyotas. Triggered them off the MS2. Takes a little fiddling with some resistors to get them to fire, but once that's done, it's very reliable.

A long while back I bought 1NZ (Prius) coil-on-plug modules, they plug straight on and you can wire them straight up to the MS2x/MS3. Costs more but they eliminate the plug wires and fail more gracefully (if one goes out, you're on 3 cylinders instead of 2). You can see them being test-fitted with the prototype CoP deck near the end of the previous page.

On Saturday I got the front bumper off, lots of work wrenching out big ancient bolts and then cutting off the ones that hold the bumper mounts to the bumper (more like an air dam really, you can easily pick it up with your fingers even with the mounts attached). Originally the bolts went into square nuts that sit in a channel behind the bumper face, but when they seize to these, the bumper is flexible enough that they'll rotate inside the channel. I'll need to either get new square nuts made or turn a regular nut into a special wingnut to mount it back up - you can't get tools into where these things go.

There hasn't been much to take pics of lately, but here's the harness-less and bumper-less open hood shot:

Stuff that came off went here. The bumper mounts (on the floor between the engine hoist and the pallet) are rusty as all hell, they'll either need extensive repair or re-fabbing:

Also did this mod to my GoPro on the weekend, so the next video should have less whooshing noises:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCYTxt_HIco

Got the bumper mounts patched up, you can see the plating added where there were gaping rust-holes or simply rotted away edges:

Cost quite a bit but it was quite a bit of work, no money for another alignment before the event now, I still have to get the CoP deck made and renew my club membership.

Wiring mods are still in progress.

Wiring mods are almost done, I'm picking up some connectors today to make the new harness more modular. Yesterday the evil electromechanical squid was finally vanquished and its lair sealed off for good:

(Gotta replace the #1/#4 wrap due to oil contamination on #1 and fraying on #4).

Edit: BTW it turns out my car might have the first ever 4AGE to run a crank trigger wheel with an AC compressor and hydraulic PS pump in place. Gonna be a tight fit.

Did plenty of work this weekend, including picking up whatever front & rear brake slider parts I could find because I can't assume the ones in customs will get out in time anymore. The MS3 case was bare brushed aluminum, it had picked up some scratches and it might be mounted in a position in the car that could be visible from outside, so I plasti-dipped it black. If you're plasti-dipping reflective bare metal, you need to apply many thick layers:

Wiring's still finishing up:

I'm going to get the CoP plate fabbed locally before the end of this week when the car should be out of the shop. Looks like the first track day for the year will be on the same day as the first autocross so it's gonna be a busy day, and I don't think I can build a cool shirt system in time so I hope it's not too sunny...

Well the first attempt at a hall effect sensor bracket didn't fit so now it's gonna be tight. All immediate goals apart from getting the engine running will have to be abandoned, once the engine's running I can putter the car somewhere else to get the rest done while this mechanic's away.

I got those special wingnuts made for the front bumper so I should be able to mount that up on Saturday, I might have to suspend the heat exchangers in a spiderweb of zip ties temporarily.

Oh man it's gonna be right down to the wire, a real nail-biter. I'll update this evening on whether I have a chance at making it to this month's events or if the project will be on hold until around the end of the month.

Well first this this morning I was over there, the wiring's only slightly more done than in the last pic and the ECU is nowhere to be seen. Apparently the template for the hall effect sensor got lost somewhere yesterday. At first I did some work on the car...but then realized that I had a mountain of work ahead, much of which I don't really know how to do, just a matter of hours over the next week to do it in, and that I'd already expended all my money and willpower over the last few weeks. So I'm done. RIP 2015 AutoX championship hopes.

Well good news for me, the event's been postponed to the 28th, giving me a chance at getting this fixed, the mechanic's supposed to be back late next week. In the meantime I'll take care of the brakes and little stuff so that he only has to finish the wiring and hall effect sensor bracket (which might have to be prototyped from scratch). That way if he doesn't get it done it will be extremely humiliating.

I spent this whole weekend working on cars morning to night, about half on this car and half on my Samurai which seems to have turned into an Alfa Romeo a couple of weeks ago. Lots was done so I better break it into two posts.

On Saturday I put the front air dam back together with my new special wingnuts. Here you can see the factory mounting hardware, the ones that still held up on the left and the ones that didn't on the right:

And here are some of my new special wingnuts which worked very nicely (and most were welded much better than the one on the left here). I sprayed them black because I already have enough shiny stuff visible through the front grille:

Here's the CoP deck, which fit after having the edges trimmed with aircraft scissors and having bends put in with a ghetto sheet metal brake (table vice + block of wood):

Looks like the small holes were drilled and the big ones were made with either a plasma cutter or a lightsaber. Good thing I oversized the holes because they weren't located too precisely and every fraction of a millimeter was needed - I'll need to expand one of them just to get it to bolt up. Next I have to smooth the jagged edges and JB weld nuts to the deck which the CoPs will bolt to. Too bad the metal's all scarred up because I think it would look nice unpainted...I'll hit the top with the gray faux-galvanized paint I've used on some of the other mounting brackets.

Then I went to deal with my Samurai's nonstop parade of problems.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!! Not much to take pics of today. First thing in the morning (well, after buying more Samurai parts) I did some final fitment on the front bumper (which involved a little trimming on the mounts), making sure everything is adjusted so that the bumper with the mounts attached can be quickly bolted on at the last minute:

Then I did the front brake sliders. They were so stiff that they took a ton of hammering to remove, and to think the rears are far worse than this Luckily there's no uneven wear on the hard-to-get pads yet. I had another mechanic at the shop supervise since I'd never done this before, he's pretty old-school and recommended kerosene for degreasing the sliders and vaseline for lubricating them I still cleaned them with brake cleaner and used modern brake grease afterwards

Then I went to fix more Samurai problems. I think I'm fixing them faster than they're popping up now.

I'm gonna try to get at least one of the rear brake calipers done over the next few days (needs the sliders done + new piston seals), but I only have maybe 2 hours a day I can work on the car on weekdays.

Been working on the CoP plate, I should have it ready to go on by Saturday morning. Just stopped by the shop, the mechanic hasn't been back yet and is apparently still overseas, and nobody knows when he's coming back. He hasn't answered any phone calls or emails, although I'd have no problem with that if he'd finished my car before he left.

I've noticed that a recurring problem I have is that my worst-case scenario is never as bad as reality turns out to be, so now I'm going to work with the assumption that he won't be back in time. It's the smart thing to do.

It'll be hard to figure out where some of the loose wires go but I think it's doable. This weekend I'll have to finish the rear brakes and design the hall effect sensor bracket, at the least. Then on Monday I'll stop by his house and see if anyone there can get me my MS3X, from there I'll know whether to admit defeat or not.

So on Friday evening/early Saturday morning I worked on the CoP deck. Deburred, JB-welded the nuts on:

And later painted. Then I headed over to the shop and to my surprise, the mechanic was back! Working on some dude's pickup instead of my car, but being here was a good start, and he'd dropped off the template for the hall effect sensor bracket back at the machine shop already. "Great," I thought, "Now there's a real chance to get this finished" I thought. So I installed the CoP deck:

Then jacked up the rear of the car to get started on the brakes. Mechanic said he was going out to pick up some medication and would be back. No problem, I thought. I got so optimistic I pulled out the rear seats to get the springs swapped and sway bar mountpoints adjusted. But then he was out the rest of the day. Ok, maybe he's in line at the big hospital here, that happens. In the meantime I brushed the crud out of the coilover threads, cleaned up the inside of the car a bit and got started on rear brake removal.

Then on Sunday I head out to the shop, a bit late. Surely he'll already be there wondering why I took so long, I thought...nope, not there. I text him and apparently he's just not feeling like it today. He thinks he can get it done by Friday night. At this point I realize that he's worked on race cars before but probably never been responsible for getting a car ready for a race, because this is like saying "Hey Murphy, come at me bro, let's see what you got!" I think he may have been...intoxicated because he suggested that there was no reason to disassemble the rear brakes, after we've been having a ton of rear brake problems Now I'm no expert, but I don't think the piston seal is supposed to look like this:

The rear brakes are in really awful shape, the sliders are seized, pistons aren't much better, and there's some uneven wear on the RR corner. So I did what I could, which wasn't much. Getting the car ready is pretty much out of my hands now, I don't have much time to work on it during the week, especially a week leading to a 2-event weekend.

Time to update...on Friday I took the day off work to try to get the car finished. I had to take one of the calipers to a machine shop to get it pounded off of the bracket which ate up a good bit of time (this is after we tried DIYing it with a handheld propane torch and a more common-sized hammer). Meanwhile, the mechanic brought the hall effect sensor bracket to have its fitment adjusted.

Things were going pretty well until the evening when the mechanic said that now that the fitment was set, some part had to be welded to it. I was wet-sanding the brake pistons at the time and said maybe he should take it to the same machine shop I took the brakes to earlier in the day. Then he suddenly got fixated on installing the oil cooler which wasn't needed for the event and wanted me to go buy nuts and bolts to install it with (and some obscure electrical tie-down I'd never seen in a store before). I kept telling him to skip the oil cooler for now but he insisted, so to get him past this I went and got the bolts (and some zip ties as a quick fix option), came back aaand...he was gone and hasn't responded to a message since he forgot to take my safety glasses off his head when he cheesed it outta there too. So now there was no chance of getting the car ready in time.

On Saturday I went to the autocross looking to bum a seat in somebody else's car, driving my mom's autotragic 1.6L bugeye Impreza as a backup option, but a lot of people didn't have their usual cars there and had also brought 4-door automatic sadmobiles as a backup option. Other than that there were a couple of drift beaters and a Civic driven by a new guy. So me and 2 other regulars turned the event into the Battle of the Family Sedans. I think I got 2nd or 3rd behind a friend in a Mazda3 and possibly one of the drift beaters, I'll have to confirm when results are out.

On Sunday the offroad TSD was postponed because a lot of competitors were taking part in a search for a missing person on Saturday evening. So I went back to toil away on the brakes...eventually I got them done, except for one lost brake pad retaining clip which I'll have to import or fabricate a replacement for (I'll also check the machine shop, it's possible it fell out there...forgot to take them all off and put them aside first because I was in such a hurry).

Next event is a track day on March 22nd, I'll have to try to get a cool shirt built before then. When I put together a shopping list of parts to build an exact clone of the real thing...it costs just about as much. The DIY cool shirts are cheaper because they use less fittings, and as a result, have a big restriction in water flow. But they still work so I'm going to build myself one just like this:

http://www.miataturbo.net/race-prep-75/diy-cool-shirt-system-73268/

I've also decided that I should definitely go for a brake vent system now, since the track has 3x as many long straightaways as it did when this project started, and two of those require extremely heavy braking from high speed for a tight corner, when before the track only had 2 corners that required meaningful deceleration in a low-powered car.