Corolla Sound's 97 DX AE101 On-Going Project

I received my calendar today. I am quite impressed by the quality of it and am amazed at how awesome all the pics look in person. Now I just have to wait for 2013 (October in particular )





and it was nice and sunny out today so I took a bunch of pics in a bunch of locations. Wish my car wasn't so dirty but it was too cold to wash it. (all pics unedited)


















Then I took a couple pics while at work of my car parked beside another rolla. Looks just like mine (except he has the extended radio antennae).



Then I took some pics after I was done to show how cold it was


(flash on)

hmmm, now I need to decide which one to pick to enter in the pic of the month contest.

I like the ones by the "Christmas trees" the best I tried editing one by the water with the sun blinding the camera, but it didn't work.

And was that frost/ice formed on your car, or snow?

i kind of like the last one before the pics of me parked beside the other rolla. The one of me parked just outside the shade at a park with a bunch of x-mas decorations.

and yes, that was just frost forming on the car.

Looks like you live in a well nice area mate.

Thanks, though its not very nice right now, everything is covered in frost and it is -10 out

LONG POST: Another quick weather report from Ontario Canada: F@c%ed UP!!! Was +5 Celsius on average last Thurs and Friday chilling to -10 on average for Saturday and Sunday (even colder at night). and Today it was cloudy with light rain and an average of +6 Celisus (for anyone interested)

So I washed my car (not for doomsday lol) because it was very dirty and hadn't been washed in almost a month.

But first, thought I'd share a pic of the camera I use (which I am starting to learn more about):


I just noticed today it has a sunset function (which could of been perfect for those "facing the sun" pics I took earlier. hmmm, maybe Ill make a separate thread and give a review and specs on my camera in the photo section

...Back on topic...PICS: (Car before wash)



Yes, it is slightly raining out, but I proceeded to wash: (Car washed (getting rained on))



hmm, I must have some heavy dirt build up there, I washed every part of the car? Guess im just notorious for missing spots





Then from a window from the top floor of my house (first pic in "auto" mode, second with the sunset mode applied:



Then it was time to embrace the dirty wet roads to town to do shopping then go to work (raining lightly the whole time). First stop, checking the air pressure. So far, Im not too dirty:

A closer look to the rear left wheel:

Yep, im dirty I set my tires for 34 psi in rear and 35 in front.

Then time for Petro: ($1.15 Canadian per Litre of regular fuel)



Took a while, but it finally rose to over 1/2 a tank.

Then it was time to go for work and I was out of daylight, so I tried my best to pics some spots to snap some pics and play with my camera:





Then I tried using my "night mode" but used it with a flash:





and this is without nightmode and a flash:


Then on a dark road on way home:


Layed a huge burnout:

hahaha kidding, smoky exhaust






So, in the end, was it worth it... not really lol. frickin weather

A huge burnout hahahaha... I was gonna say, that don't look like tire smoke! That's a lot of fumes though.

Looks good, nice and clean. Your house looks good as well.

And I've never seen a camera take "night mode" shots like that... you should use a tripod!

Thanks, my house is pretty old. and yes, I could def use a tripod. Im always kneeling and unsteady when I take my pics (I like the ground shots).

More Pics: (Ill just let the pics speak for them selves)






























Yay! My car stayed clean. I washed it again today and applied a good coat of wax.

Im thinking of using one of the sunset golf course pics for pic of the month. any suggestions?

I think those golf course pics would have been better if you were on the street correctly, not turned around... like if you had gotten the side profile silhouette.

So my fav of the bunch is this one.

Yea, I think your right about the golf course. I would of took more pics but I was kinda late for work.

Good choice, I totally just stopped in front of someones house to take the pic. Glad I did cause it does look nice (if only I shut the car off, exhaust smoke is in way).

Some really nice pictures in the bunch dude! And I lol'ed at the Timmies shots very Canadian of you.

lol, that was my first Timmies pic haha and we started to get snow tonight (thursday night). well, kind of... It was a combo of freezing rain/ sleet, and wet snow. Was very fun to drive in. Tested the e-brake

I also think I put my tires on backwards. I realized it too after I put all the tires on. I put the left front on the right front and same for the back. So the arrows are "aerodynamic" with the road, instead of "V shape" from the arrows biting in and providing traction. Never the less, I was still able to stop pretty decent in the wet freezing/melting snow/sleet. I think I will rotate them though to see if it helps any

SNOW!!!!!


Looks like so much fun

So I had to renew my Licence and Licence plate sticker, and the sticker is pink

So I painted my bolts again, but this time I bought some Purple Metal Flake paint, instead of making my own purple from blue and red.

E-brake ALL the corners.

and my sticker is orange I believe haha

Pink is coooooooool

Merry Christmas!

We really got dumped on last night. The radio said 15-20 cm of snow fell over night, but there were also really hard winds, so it made huge snow drifts. I shoveled out my drive way and found it to be 2 ft deep in some areas, then other areas only had a cm of snow. It seemed to pile up around my car the most though. Turned my sedan into a hatchback






I also left a near full pop in my cup holder which froze, expanded and erupted all over my cupholder and fell down into the tray all over my wallet. What a mess!!!!

Ewwwww! What a coincidence LOL! I never would have thought that it could have exploded like that. At least it was frozen mostly, right, so it didn't make such a huge mess?

Quick! Get the Fiberglass! Make it a hatchback haha. So were those two different sets of pics, since the snow looks even in the first pic?

I remember one year, we had like 3 ft of snow, and it was blowing really hard. The drifts were incredible lol.

hahah thats just soo cool, we havent had any snow yet

Quote :

I never would have thought that it could have exploded like that. At least it was frozen mostly, right, so it didn't make such a huge mess

Im not sure if it exploded or if it gradually erupted, but yes, there was a mess. Yes it was frozen, but it was still difficult to clean up. I tried picking up the frozen pop chunks with some papertowel and throwing it out the door, but the ice chunks broke apart when I was throwing it out and it fell on my carpet and broke up into little pieces. I think (hope) I got it all out though.

but then I just recently drove over a huge set of pot holes with 2 coffees in my cup holder and spilled coffee all over the place lol. The sad part was I knew about the pot holes, I was just preoccupied in a conversation and forgot to slow down. Surprised I didn`t blow a strut lol.

My car is also being a lot more noisier in the cold weather. My exhaust rattles a lot more when driving; door panels, dash and steering column all rattle when Im stopped. Plus it sounds like my pullies/ power steering belt are squeaking louder. Other than that, it is running like a champ. It could use a wash though.

So, we got more snow AGAIN!!










Looks like its finally starting to rust through slightly

So, yes, it was freezing out at -5 to 0 C, but it was sunny and snow was melting off my car, so I took the opportunity to wash it. I washed it with buckets lol but it worked ok, atleast I got all the salt off.
















Ill take some night pics later to see how my lights look shining on the snow bank.

Edit: The only part I didnt wash was the roof, windows and wheel wells.

Oh no! That's the rust of death!!!! Be very careful with it, that's all rust behind the paint and it will come off eventually.

How snow driving do you do with the rolla? Or you just try and stay in as much as possible.

And I love it, washing your car in the freezing snow!!! I used to do that also, to get the salt off. The water would freeze on the car. I think some of my early pics even have icicles on the bottom lol.

your car is definetly looking better than ever david..
love the oem lights

Quote :

Oh no! That's the rust of death!!!! Be very careful with it, that's all rust behind the paint and it will come off eventually.

I know, im depressed. but I think with some time, cash and some TLC I can clean it up again (properly by removing bumper and wheel well trip). Im actually quite surprised for how long it lasted.

My car handles pretty good in the snow I think compared to other FWD cars (especially with my tire tread backwards). A lot of understeer if you try to take a corner too fast, but if you just drive it works great. E-brake works good too

My car was covered in salt for about 2 weeks (ever since it started snowing and averaging temps of -10 C. Looks like the RustCheck oil spray I applied is working good, all the rusty metal I applied it to is still oily looking and not frozen, although it is attracting road salt in some spots.


and Thanks Ishaq, it really needed the wash and Im liking the OEM lights too, but my plans for next summer are to find a the plain Black Corolla center garnish to go with my Altezza style taillights.