trife's AE102 - complete build & more to come!

This is my Toyota Corolla bought in 2007 with under 100K miles.  Currently it has approx 145K miles and sits under my shed begging to be driven.  Currently a 6-SPD C60 swap is in progress since my C56 that came with the 20V took a dump after only 10K miles.  So I will be sharing some progress pics about that soon.  But for now, here's a big collection of what was done so far....

SPECS:
VIN #2T1BB02E0VC193422 (TMMC Canadian Built)
Chassis Code AE102
Year Model: 1997
Trim: DX
1.8L 7AFE ATM
Curb Weight: 2543


MODIFICATIONS

4AGE 20V Blacktop 1.6L engine swap
C60 MTM 6-SPD conversion *IN PROGRESS*
Velocity Stacks 75MM
Isis Aluminum Radiator
D2 Coilovers
XXR 006 17" Wheels
Nankang Tires 205/40/17 offset 40
Magnaflow 2-1/4" Muffler
Magnaflow 2-1/4" Cat
TRD “style” shift knob
Toyota OEM Spoiler
Toyota Sprinter “style” Seats (LE Model)
Toyota JDM tail lights and center garnish
BZ Touring “style” headlights
Rotors (slotted & drilled)
Moog ball joints, tie rod ends, and sway bar links
Pioneer DEH-B4200UB receiver
Kicker 10" subs
Pioneer GM5300T amp
Optima “Red Top” battery
Wrapped Exhaust Header
Sylvania Silverstar bulbs
Window tint
TRD emblem
CCC decals


How it used to look...






Swapped Headlights








New Wheels
















Tach Guage Cluster




TRD Emblem




Factory Spoiler


















Black Bumper Lights




"C" Grill
















Swapped Interior








Painted Valve Cover










Engine Swap - 4AGE 20V Blacktop






Tear Down
























Refreshed 20V






New Timing Belt










New Rotor, Cap, Wires, Plugs










Refreshing C56 Transmission















New Toyota Mounts












MT Conversion














New Suspension Parts














INSTALL!!!!


















Velocity Stacks
















New Brakes
















Drive Axles & Hubs










Finishing Touches
















Exhaust
















Somewhat Finished Product








Rear JDM Rear Lights






TRD "style" Shift Knob




Swapped Steering Wheel




Sprinter "style" Seats














Wrapped Exhaust Header






A/C












Aluminum Radiator








Another "C" Grill








Recent

Nice car man, im looking at doing the a/t - m/t swap soon, did you have any major complication doing it.?

^ thanks, the hardest part was drilling the holes for the master cylinder and getting the pedals installed. One major delay was finding the m/t bracket for the rear motor mount. Manual Corollas are already hard to find in the junk yard. Then, when you do find one, the rear mount is a pain to remove.

I still haven't wired up my clutch safety switch so I have to remember to be in neutral every time I start my car right now. One day I will get that fixed.

Ah thats too bad then, im thinking of hiyong a whole second car, that way ill have all the bits i need right there.

Whays the safety switch, and what way do you have to wire that up. Also does the wiring need modding for the reverse light.?

Well, I'm not trying to steer you away from doing the swap. It was well worth it. Just collect your parts, then, once you have everything, your good to go.

The safety switch is located on your clutch pedal. This prevents the car being started unless the clutch pedal is pushed all the way in. My reverse lights worked with no issues. I didn't have to do any re-wiring for that.

it's about time you posted it here haha! I still hope to see it in person one day

Definitely, glad to share, especially to a site dedicated to AE101's.  Don't know why I waited so long honestly.

So, about the C60 swap.  To be clear, this IS NOT a C160 that was originally sold with the Blacktops.  This is the C60 which is found on the 2003-06 US spec Matrix XRS, Celica, Corolla XRS, and even the Lotus Elise.  Through extensive research, I found where some had chosen this transmission for an MR2 project with a 4AGE 16V, which got me to scratching my head.  And then I realized how possible this swap was...

The great thing about this transmission is the ratios are identical to the C160.  So it basically has all of it's strengths and none of it's weaknesses.  Which by the way, the C160 does have some weaknesses.


So, here's where it all began....

First I kept hearing a loud "click" noise upon acceleration or deceleration.  Thought was the CV axle, then to my surprise, I found grease everywhere, so I was sure this was the problem.





So Since it was brand new, I got it replaced at no charge.  But that didn't fix it either   

So, I did more checking and found the inboard shaft had a lot of slack.  This meant there was something wrong with the diff.  And since replacement on the diff. meant the whole transmission needed to be removed, I decided now was the time to upgrade to the 6 spd.

So I started my removal.

You have good taste in parts! Looking forward to seeing more progress   

Thanks man, I appreciate the comment.  

Actually I do have more updates to post.  So I got the old 5 speed removed, and by the way, this is not the proper way to disassemble the transmission.  I was just anxious to see what was wrong with this one and since I wasn't planning on reusing it, I took the shortest route possible.  Sorry for the crappy phone pics.









Findings were really not bad, of course I stopped driving it before it completely disintegrated, but basically, the bearings all looked ok, and I didn't take it completely apart, but it basically led me to believe the pinion gear bushings were worn and/or the shims were out of tolerance.

So my search for the 6 spd began.  I found a junk yard with a 6 spd from a Matrix with 88K miles for $250.  Finding these are kind of rare so I had to have one shipped to me for another $100.







Definitely not pretty, but don't judge a book by it's cover  .  the car obviously took a hard hit in the front which broke the bell housing motor mount bolt holes.  But to make this swap possible, I have to use the bell housing from the C56 so no worries.  This is why I was able to get the 6 speed for cheap! 

Good comparison photo





So, to tear them down properly, you start with the small end of the transmission, not the bell housing.  This is the 6 speed tail housing removed.



Then the center housing from the 6 speed



These inside of the bell housings are very much the same except for the roller bearings pressed in the housings.

Notice the amount of rollers in the bearings

6 speed


5 speed


Take all the 6 speed guts (main shaft, gears, diff, etc.) and set assembly into the 5 speed bell housing like so...



Re-install center housing and tail housing and voila...  





I had to modify the shifter linkage bracket and shave off a little metal for the AE101 motor mount bracket to bolt on bu that was no big deal.



Now it's ready to bolt up to any "A" series engine

Wel bud,i just had a quick read on the swap you did on toyotanation, its levin you used as a donor right.? Im maimly interested in the a/t - m/t does everything needed bolt straight on from the levin or were so
some parts sorced elsewhere.?

Yes, the engine and transmission came from a Levin. The a/t to m/t swap does require some parts to install the m/t into the car. But the parts can be easily sourced from a M/T Corolla. The AE101 sedan/saloon came with the C52 transmission. The transmission that came with my 20v was a C56. These manual transmissions are essentially the same and side by side, you would not see a difference. Basically any C5X transmission will bolt right in.

The parts you need to start collecting are the parts necessary to do the swap (i.e. shifter, cables, master cylinder, pedals etc.)

Hope this helps

Got some more goodies before I install the rebuilt transmission. I got the Exedy clutch kit and a lightweight Fidanza aluminum flywheel which saves about 4 lb. compared to the stock blacktop flywheel. Doesn't sound like much, but this will help a lot with the revs.





If all goes well, hopefully I will spend some time this weekend installing the transmission.

What a car and build    love ur car dude

^ Thanks man, eventually i will outfit it with some more JDM parts, but right now, I'm more concerned with speed

loving all the hard work and dedication you have put into this

^ thank you sir

Wanted to share comparison of the old and new.  Sorry for the crappy phone pics

Old clutch, only 10K miles but it was a cheap aftermarket on eBay


Flywheels


New vs Old - notice the Exedy clutch disc has springs instead of rubber springs in the old cheap piece of crap

Began installing the 6 speed today.  First I ordered some new flywheel bolts since the originals were removed twice and I really didn't want to torque them down again.  So sprang for some new bolts for less than $25



Installed the new flywheel...purrrty    



Then the clutch





Then the fun part, the gearbox.  I was by myself so it was a bit of a pain.  But with the help of the hoist, and some ingenuity with the chains, I got it lined up pretty damn close.  





Once installed, I started with the remaining bits.  Then, I got the shift cables on and noticed something is not going to work, I couldn't shift thru all the gears and the shifter was kicked over hard towards the left.  I kind of knew there would be this issue there, but unfortunately, not sure what to do yet to fix it.  I'm actually thinking I will need the C60 shift cables, and possibly modify my shifter still, but I will cross that road later.

to bad on that problem with the shifter :S from what I have read you shoul'nt have any problem with that, hopefully it's some overlooked thing

trufauru wrote:

to bad on that problem with the shifter :S from what I have read you shoul'nt have any problem with that, hopefully it's some overlooked thing

I actually suspected it would be an issue. I noticed the links for the cables on the transmission side were not positioned exactly the same plus the travel on the cables is not the same. It's mainly the cable that moves the shifter left to right. I'm going to have to spend some time at the local salvage yards to find either a cable, or shifter, or modify the existing linkage to make it work.

So just a longer cable, not to bad. But find the right length could be an issue.
What if you did a temp fix by welding two together?

^ yes, the cable travel is not right. But after studying further I found this pic of the two transmissions side by side, then I realized the brass bracket that the cables are locked into position on was different



This actually could make a big difference. Bellow is a picture of the one that came with the C60 and in the background, you see the original 5 speed one is "taller". So I swapped them. This improved things but still not perfect



I will get it sorted out eventually, it's just uncharted territory...

Some pics I took tonight of the other bracket installed. You can see the way the cables are lining up. It was very hard to get them connected. In fact, I wasn't, able to get them on all the way

Where did you get the brass shifter bushes, i've been looking but cant find any anywhere

From a company call Speed Source. They sell the bushings...along with some nice polyurethane motor mount bushings I been thinking about getting

http://speed-source.net/?wpsc-product=toyota-engine-mounts