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

nice trife looking good

Thanks man, I also removed the fuel pump and got all that old gas out the tank using a shop vac. It was almost 2 years old. Gotta get some gear oil for the transmission and some fresh gas. Should have all my polly mounts and bushings by the end of this year

great to hear that is running!

now sort all that little issues and you'll have a lovely ride

thanks, but I haven't cranked it yet The only issues I have is having more money and time to spend on it.

But...it was running fine before I parked so firing it up shouldn't be an issue. I definitely miss this little car.....My plan is to have it back on the road by April. My next purchase is some gear oil for the C60. I seen a lot of people had good things to say about Redline 75W90 GL4 gear oil. Anyone hear of it??

So some recent updates.  Not much been happening, mostly since I hate working outside in the cold.  

But I did order some Prothane polyurethane bushings for the front control arms.  Also I took this opportunity to paint the subframe which I'll get more pictures of the final product later.  





And the front sway bar bushings from Moog



Also, I got the CV shaft for the driver side from a 95 MR2 Turbo, but I forgot to get it with ABS.  But, this is the first opportunity I've had to compare the Corolla shaft with the MR2 shaft so overall length will be the same.  I think it will work just fine.  The shaft with the NAPA sticker is the Corolla shaft.



I also ordered some Polyurethane motor mounts so those should be here soon. I will get pictures once i get them.

nice trife loving the updates will def help on those curves

Thanks man, yea, I can't wait to feel the difference with these installed.

must be feeling alot of difference in ride comfort now

Yea, I'm sure it will make a big difference in the ride.  The coil overs already made a huge difference.  It's going to feel pretty solid now.  I thoroughly cleaned and finished painting everything this weekend.  Plan to get the bushings pressed in this week.

I wouldn't be able to drive it, those look too pretty to install lol

What part of Louisiana are you in?

I see your in Shreveport!  Cool man, so far you are the closest one to me besides my friend Marlon.  We're in Baton Rouge.

Some more updates, I got my Poly motor mounts in.  These will help a bunch to with putting every ounce of power to thee wheels.

wow nice upgrades

gold94corolla wrote:

I wouldn't be able to drive it, those look too pretty to install lol

Thanks, it was just a bit of spray paint. At least I can spot any leaks a lot quicker now

Yeah, and if it's good paint, it will be easy to clean!

Got my poly motor mounts and bushings pressed in.  The motor mounts wasn't too bad.  It takes a little while to cut out most of the rubber, then, sand blast the inside surface.  I pressed them in using a vise.  Then, the control arms, I had to knock out the sleeve in the arm using a hammer and punch.  Then again, used a vise to press them in.  All came out pretty good.  Ready to get it reassembled now.  Later I plan to upgrade the bushings for the rear links as well.  But I haven't bought them yet.  

Not much to report...But I will have some progress coming soon enough.  I have a lot of engine prep work to do still since my car has sat for the last two years.  I got some new gear oil for the 6 speed, Redline FTW!  Fuel treatment, and fogging oil to prep the engine before I crank it.



Also, a while ago, I found this GT label on Celica. I liked it so I decided I will be putting it on the trunk.  Also, I got more updates coming concerning the sub frame and the control arm bushings, but more on that later.

Got more goods in today.  This is for the rear trailing arms.  Since our cars already tend to under-steer, the better we tighten up the back, the better grip it improves for cornering up front.

If you may recall in my last post, I have been questioning the size of the larger bushings I installed in the front control arms, and once installed I realized, they don't fit right, even though after I've read many times they should fit.  The problem is; and again; this falls back on the notion that the 7th gen to 8th gen chassis are the same.  Let me say, they are very similar, and some parts will bolt up fine.  But not exact.  This being the case here.  So, I ended up getting the control arm bushings that the Hulk ordered for his car  (can't go wrong with that).  Not a total waste of money since the smaller bushings that I got the first time DO fit perfectly.  The Prothane kit was $45 so it's a matter of just having matching colors.  The SuperPro sells these bushings separately and not in a kit.  So the smaller bushings alone are around $40.  Anyways, here they are.  

I will finally get this all bolted up this Saturday and will post some more progress pics soon.

So major progress today...finally.  

Notice the differences.  The Superpro sleeves are made to fit the ring my finger is pointing at.  The Prothane kit does not.  This also causes it to sit to tall.  You can't squeeze the bracket down over that bushing.  There's no way.  Notice how flush the bracket is with the Superpro bushings installed.
















So after test fitting, I repainted the arms since they got a little messed up correcting the bushings and go the sub frame installed.  Also got those good motor mounts installed also.  All is looking good.






Rear motor mount



Front motor mount



Lower ball joints and sway bar links reinstalled.  Also installed those new sway bar bushings






Topped of the radiator with water for now, still have to flush everything.  Had to order the pass. side CV axle today since no one had it in stock.  It should be in Wednesday.  Then I can finally get the front end all buttoned up and add my transmission fluid.  I did however remove the valve cover and spark plugs and sprayed that fogging oil in the cylinders and on the cams.

Started the rear suspension link swap so I can have both links adjustable.  Also still have to remove the trailing arms to swap out those bushings.  All saved for another day.

 



And last, installed the GT emblem on the trunk

looking good, its coming along nicely

great info on the bushings

A+ work

Looking good, have you driven it since upgrading the front bushes? And also what is the superpro bush part number? I will be doing this to my dirty diesel soon. Although im not sure about the poly bushes for the engine mounts. Thinking the diesel knock would get old real quick.

Thanks sir, I haven't driven it yet, but getting close. The SuperPro number is SPF1900K.

More updates!

I spent this past Saturday working on the car.  Again, made a lot of progress.  Removed the valve cover and spark plugs. Prelubed the engine with the fogging oil.  Removed fuel pump and removed old gas from the tank using a wet/dry vac

Added a couple gallons of 93 octane and some Lucas injector cleaner.  Removed fuel inlet hose.  Removed ram tubes.  Cleaned carbs.  Got it all that back together.



Got the CV axles installed, added gear oil.  Just for the record,I will be willing to share which axles work once I get it rollin and I know exactly any issues...if any that I run into, but for now, just know it took forever to figure out which ones would work.







After a couple cranks, it popped right off and ran beautifully.  Put transmission in gear to test and noticed the engine wanting to die like it didn't have enough power to get it going.  Which I thought was odd since the car was off the ground, so gave it a little more gas and as I eased off the clutch, I heard the most terrible loud clunk sound.  :surprise: so I quickly shut it off.  After checking, I noticed the CV axle ABS rings were almost pressed into the axle hub on both sides

Oh well...this is what happens when you modify.  So, took it apart, saved most the gear oil, removed the weather shield rings for the ABS sensor on the back of the hubs.  Put it back together and they fit fine now.  Temporary fix but I probably will have ABS issues since the sensor doesn't quite line up with the toothed ring now.  Cranked it again and this time, perfect!!  Wheels are turning with no binding.  Went to second gear, still turning, turned the steering wheel back and forth.  All seemed good, then I noticed gear oil on the ground!  Somehow, driver side popped out of the transmission

Well, I didn't have time to fool with it anymore at this point and honestly wanted to move to the rear suspension and interior. So I got the interior mostly back together, got my shifter base bushings in and installed.







Also got the rear trailing arm bushings installed and the rear sway bar bushings installed.  My plan is to swap the rear drums for disc so I didn't bother to change the bushing on the wheel hubs.













And finally, since this will be driven more for daily use, I upgraded my filter without sacrificing my ram tubes.  Notice the old screen gaskets I made came off and were pretty worn, but served there purpose.  No need for them anymore













So, A/C compressor should be in tomorrow, and I will get some more pics of the interior, got some other surprises coming but this is all I want to reveal for now

So my to do list is quickly shrinking, but still feel like there is a lot more to be done.