Kiwi-Corolla

I added another item to my TRD collection this weekend by installing a TRD quick shifter. It was specifically designed to fit the AE101 series 5-speed Corollas and was discontinued quite a while ago, but thankfully I managed to get my hands on one last week. The installation was relatively straight forward as it's a direct replacement for the factory shift lever, and I was finally able to use the OEM leather shift boot I've had sitting here for a while which came on the 6-speed models, as previously it would pop right out of the console every time I changed into 2nd, 4th or reverse as the factory throw was too long. Gear changes are now much quicker due to the reduced throw and the actual feel of the shifter is a lot better. Previously it would "slop" into gear, but now you can actually feel the gears engage. Admittedly it takes a little bit more effort to change gears but in my opinion it makes shifting feel more satisfying. The actual height of the lever is about the same as stock and it compliments the TRD leather shift knob I've been rocking for a while :)

Yep, I used the Celica ST202 (3S-GE version) carrier brackets which bolted perfectly to the AE101 twinpot calipers. I had to grind a little bit of metal away from the inside of the carrier brackets so that it didn't catch on the rotors but it didn't take much. It was essentially a bolt-on mod. The part number for the 275mm rotors is 43512-12411. That's the AE111 55mm centre hole type. You can't use the AE101 type as for some reason they have a 54mm centre hole (whereas all other AE101's have a 55mm centre hole). Here's some pics:

Ohh, haha, good spotting :)

I completed my brake set-up today by installing some braided brake lines. They're made by a company in Australia called Safebrake and are a direct replacement for the factory rubber brake lines. I originally ordered a set of Goodridge braided lines from the US but when they arrived they were for the rear drum brake model, and unfortunately Goodridge don't cater to models outside of the US so there was no rear disc brake version available. After a bit of research I found these Safebrake lines and got them sent over last week. The quality is superb and they meet/exceed all the necessary legal requirements. During my test drive after the install I noticed that the brakes were much more responsive when I stepped on the pedal. There's no lag or hesitation when braking any more, so I feel as though I can brake later and more aggressively if needs be. Definitely an improvement over the rubber brake lines, and one more thing to get added to my certification plate in the near future :)

It's been a while since I've taken a photo of my car so here's a random shot I took today:

I got the 240kph speedo from a locally produced model, NZDM I guess you could say, lol. Yeah that's exactly where I'm from. How'd you guess the exact location? :ninja: :laff:. Thanks for the compliment man :cool:

The Cusco coilovers were horrible. The ride was way too soft. Probably because they were old and worn, but the fact they didn't have adjustable damper and featured an older design to adjust ride height (the lower you went the less shock travel you had) certainly wouldn't have helped their cause. I removed them and installed BC Gold coilovers instead. Been happy ever since :cool: Haha thanks man. I've hit that replay button a fair few times myself too :D I added another rare optional extra to my collection today when I happened to come across an OEM factory option rubber moulded trunk organizer. I've seen this shown in the sales brochures but this is the first one I've ever seen in real-life. It is shaped perfectly for the sedan's trunk and has 3 separate partitions to ensure items don't slide around during transit, plus since it's made of rubber it's a breeze to clean :)

Thanks a lot for the compliment mate! Great to hear that you're a fan of my work so far :D. I have seen one rear window visor in the past which looked to be factory but it was pretty ugly. There are slim-line aftermarket ones available however which I looked into not so long ago. If I can find one in black that only slightly pokes out I think it would compliment the car nicely. The only downside is that I'd have to order one from overseas, so would have to to cross my fingers that it arrives in one piece :laff:

I came across some info online a couple of weeks ago about a few different people in Malaysia using a 6-speed ECU with their 5-speed Blacktops and noticing a slight increase in power/response, so when I stumbled across a 6-speed Blacktop ECU a few days ago for a good price I decided to test it out for myself. The 6-speed ECU is meant to have better fuel mapping, better engine response, a raised rev limiter and a safety function which makes the engine idle up for a second when changing up or down a gear at a certain rpm, which helps to protect the 6-speed's synchro's and reduces driveline lash. I swapped the ECU over today but before doing so took my car for a drive with the 5-speed ECU still fitted to see what my current rev limiter was before the engine would valve bounce. In 1st gear it was about 8,300rpm and in 2nd and 3rd gear it was 8,250rpm. After I installed the 6-speed ECU and went for a decent drive I tried it again and noticed that in all the gears I tested (1st, 2nd and 3rd) the rev limiter was now 8,500rpm. Prior to the swap I had heard that the 6-speed ECU would hit the limiter at 7,800rpm in 1st gear, but this wasn't the case in my experience (bearing in mind that I am however running the 5-speed C56 transmission). The engine response does seem slightly quicker but nothing mind blowing, however the slightly increased rev limiter comes in handy when changing gear at high rpm as every little bit helps to keep it within the power band after shifting. The 6-speed ECU is also meant to be a bit more economical on fuel but I haven't been able to test that as of yet. All in all it does have it's advantages over the 5-speed ECU and for the price I paid it was certainly worth it :) These are some photos I took before the swap, with the 5-speed ECU on the left and the 6-speed ECU on the right:

Cheers guys. Hoping to record more videos in the future :D

I bought a small external microphone for my camera a few weeks ago, purely so I can record the sound of the trumpets by placing the microphone under the hood, and today I decided to make a quick video to test it out. It definitely sounds better than previous in-car footage I've taken with the camera's built-in mic, but it's quite a cheap/budget product so I may look at investing in a better quality microphone so it can capture the true sound the trumpets make during full acceleration, but for now this will do :)

I decided to splash out and buy this genuine TRD oil cap today. It was something I had been wanting for a while but couldn't justify spending the money on since all it really does compared to the stock one is sit there looking pretty, but now that I finally have the engine bay looking the way I wanted I figured that the cap would be a nice finishing touch :)

:lovin: I know the feeling, such a difficult choice. Although after a day with them on I'm really liking them, no regrets as of yet :D Thanks! :thumbsup:

I fitted some facelift tail lights today....again. I think this is the 3rd time I've fitted a set and then changed my mind a few days later and gone back to the pre-facelift orange/red set, but this time I think I'm going to stick with them. Not sure what's changed but I really like how the facelift set makes the car look a lot more modern, so they're likely here to stay :)

I replaced my oxygen sensor today. There wasn't anything drastically wrong with my old one as far as I could tell, however every couple of weeks a random splutter would occur during light acceleration, but would disappear after a few minutes or when I put my foot to the floor, leading me to think that the oxygen sensor might be starting to wear out. My fuel economy seems to be on par with what other Blacktop owners are getting, but after 15-years of service I figured it would be a good idea to replace it, in the hope of getting better fuel economy and smoother power delivery. They're a pretty expensive thing to replace when buying a genuine Toyota/Denso one but should last a long time before I need to replace it again. I reset the ECU after the install and everything works as it should. Looking forward to seeing if my fuel economy increases over the coming weeks :)

I was finally able to get my hands on an OEM 9,000rpm tachometer from an AE101 Corolla GT sedan yesterday. I've been on the lookout for a GT sedan being wrecked for quite a while now but they're so hard to find, and when I do find them they're usually automatics and have a slightly earlier redline. Luckily this time I found a manual one, so the redline starts at 8,000rpm, with an early warning line just after 7,500rpm (my old one only went to 8,000rpm and redlined at 6,250rpm) and a max rpm of 9,000. I installed it today by simply taking apart the cluster and swapping them over, allowing me to still keep my 240kph speedometer that I fitted earlier this year. Looks a lot better now, and taking it to 8,000rpm is just that little bit more satisfying :)

Couple of small updates - I installed a Carbing front lower arm bar (also know as a tie bar) today. Carbing is a Japanese company that have been around since the late 70's, specializing in aftermarket suspension parts. The bar itself is surprisingly light and the installation only took about 15-minutes. It's designed to improve steering response and reduce chassis flex, however it's effectiveness is somewhat questionable as the subframe acts as a pretty decent brace on it's own, but after my initial test drive on the same stretches of roads I travel every day the steering response did seem a bit sharper and the cornering more stable. It bolts to the front of the lower control arm, which theoretically should help stop the joints flexing in their cradles when cornering. The other thing I installed today is a TRD radiator cap. I bought one a while ago but it was the S type, which was unfortunately too small for my aftermarket aluminium radiator. This one on the other hand is an N type, and fit perfectly. It has a higher boiling point than my previous cap (1.1 vs 1.3) and looks pretty sweet at the same time.

Ok guys, change of plans yet again.......After using the 60mm trumpets all day today I began to miss my old 110mm trumpets. Although the 60's are great up top, it just felt like there was nobody home whatsoever under 5,000rpm, and since 90% of my driving is in the city this started to get on my nerves...... So off came the plenum, along with the trumpets, and an idea popped into my head. Some of you may recall that I bought a splash guard from the US for the trumpets a while back. I used it for about a week and then took it off, but today I was thinking of ways to prevent heat from entering the trumpets if I reinstalled my 110's, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could try and flip the guard upside down, effectively turning it from a splash guard into a heat shield. To my surprise, everything lined up perfectly and it cleared the strut brace with no issues. Before going ahead with the install I removed the original 2-layer metal gasket from the stock plenum and put it between the ITB's and the shield. This not only allowed the holes to locate perfectly over the intake ports but should also help to act as a heat barrier between the ITB's and the actual trumpets. After bolting everything in place and redoing my air supply feed (removing the pod filter from the guard and replacing it with a huge bellmouth) I finished the set-up by applying a TRD sticker I've had lying around for a while. It seems to break up the grayness a bit, without looking out of place. The first drive was amazing - My mid-range power was back in full force and the induction noise was like music to my ears (I swear it has gotten even louder since fitting the shield). My original problem of having no filtration still remains, however the trumpets feel a lot cooler to touch after driving as the shield helps to deflect a lot of the heat away. It'll never be immune to engine bay heat without the use of a plenum, but with the help of this mod it should help to keep things in check :)

I've been toying around with the idea of shorter trumpets/ram tubes lately as the engine bay heat being sucked into my open 110mm tubes wasn't doing the performance any favors. I reverted back to the standard curved rubber trumpets for a few weeks and even though the car felt a little more sluggish, the engine much preferred the nice cold air it was ingesting from the cold air intake. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to remove the rubber trumpets and run no trumpets whatsoever inside the plenum for just one day. The result was that the engine didn't really have any power down low, but as soon as it hit 5,500rpm the needle rocketed to redline, as expected. One thing I noticed with the factory rubber trumpets is that they're good for mid-range power, but once you get higher up in the rev range the power starts backing off a bit. To cut a long story short (no pun intended), I decided to get a set of 60mm trumpets custom made which will fit perfectly in the standard plenum. You can actually fit as large as 70mm inside the plenum but it starts getting pretty cramped, so I decided that 60mm would be a nice compromise. They arrived today and I was quick to install them. Upon my 20-minute test drive I noticed that the power down low had dropped off a bit, but up high it was all guns blazing. The full power band comes on from about 5,000rpm, all the way to 8,000rpm, which I discovered ends up being a good place to be as the engine is constantly in it's power band for the next gear when shifting at the 8,000rpm redline. It's certainly going to take a bit of getting used to, but so far so good. I'm going to miss the sound my 110's made, and the torquey-ness of the standard trumpets, but when driving the engine at it's full potential the 60's seem to be a good choice :) As always, here's some pics. The first 4 show the comparison between the old 110's and the new 60's, and the very last photo was taken by the metal spinner who made my trumpets, showing the clearance of a 50mm trumpet inside the stock plenum (essentially the same sort of clearance as my 60mm ones) -

I installed this sweet looking Tomei fuel pressure regulator today. I had always assumed that fuel pressure regulators were only beneficial for turbocharged engines, until I came across a post online about a fellow Blacktop owner who had installed a FPR, played around with the pressure setting and had great results. The factory fuel pressure for a Blacktop is 40psi at full throttle, and raising it to 44psi seems to be the sweet spot for the ECU as it doesn't affect the top end performance and doesn't seem to affect the fuel economy. After my first initial drive once I had finished the installation I was very impressed at how much of a difference the additional 4psi of fuel pressure had made. The sluggishness down low had gone and the throttle response had increased dramatically. The engine now responds when I want it to, instead of having to wind itself up from low to mid rpm like it used to. All in all it has definitely made the engine rev more freely and respond a lot quicker. It's now a lot more fun to drive, especially around town. Proved to be a very worthwhile upgrade :) The set-up consists of: * Genuine Tomei Type S fuel pressure regulator. * Genuine Tomei liquid filled gauge. * Genuine Tomei fuel rail adapter. * Goodyear fuel hose & 4mm silicone vacuum hose. * 2x 90-degree brass elbow fittings, 1x straight fitting.

I did the 275mm rotor upgrade and twinpot caliper swap yesterday :D. Everything went to plan and the braking performance is phenomenal. It comes to a dead stop within a matter of seconds and literally throws you forward in the seat. I can brake a lot later into corners and don't have to push anywhere near as hard on the pedal for the same effect. It was definitely a worthwhile upgrade and they've been a lot of fun to drive with so far :) Here's some pics (they're a lot shinier in real-life but you get the idea) -

Another day, another delivery :D. These arrived a few minutes ago - My 275mm front rotors and a set of new brake pads that I ordered from Toyota. Got my set of AE101 twinpot calipers and ST202 Celica carrier brackets sitting here already waiting so I'm looking forward to putting everything on :)

The Silvertop and Blacktop covers use the same mounting points as far as I know. This is the first set I've ever seen where the 'TWINCAM 20' lettering has been incorporated. All of the other ones I've seen have been solid and flat, which look a bit boring in my opinion. I bought these secondhand off a guy over here who never ended up using them and I have no idea where he bought them from but I'm sure you'll be able to find another set if you look hard enough though :) I decided to take some better/wider shots of the carbon covers today: I also received some more goodies in the mail today - An Exedy heavy duty clutch and pressure plate and an Exedy lightweight chromoly flywheel (both made in Japan). The flywheel weighs 4.9kg, which is exactly 1kg less than the stock Blacktop flywheel. Should make a noticeable difference in acceleration:

I received and installed these sweet looking carbon fiber cam/spark plug covers today. The quality really impressed me, especially how it still features the 'TWINCAM 20' lettering found on the original plastic cover:

I got this in the mail yesterday - A custom personalized plate keyring. Thought it was a pretty cool idea as it's made from acrylic and the lettering is raised/painted like my real plate. Just something a little bit different :)