Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Hey guys, I'm pretty new to the forums, only made a couple of posts so far....thought I might share my rolla with everyone and see if anyone has any "cheap" suggestions on what I could do to improve the look of her :cool: Nothing too costly, I've intentionally avoided replacing the wheels because I don't want to over-invest on the car, I just want to make it look as good as it can for a reasonable price. I mean, if someones got some alloys to suit with decent rubber they'd like to get rid of under $100 I'm interested but I doubt thats gonna happen right :lol: Atm I'm looking at getting new wiper arms as one needs replacing anyway....otherwise its pretty stock, only real change to the exterior recently is the paint, which was recently resprayed but still the original blue :P Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat out Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 keep her clean man and chuck some tasteful 15"s on it and lower it abit, ae82 parts can be found very cheap as every one robs them for there 4AGE's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Nice one... :cool: Go hunting at your local wrecker and see if you can find a cs-x model... grab yourself a tacho dash and clock and a few other flash bits. Other than that, a nice set of wheels is always one of the first enhancements you can make... no need to go spending up big, AE82's have the same stud pattern as most other small cars from that era onwards (4x100) so you'll be able to whack on some factory alloys from a newer corolla or pulsar or something... 15" is a good size, very common, and 100 bucks would probably get you a set. Tyres are cheap too. When the budget allows... a set of lowered springs, tint the windows, colour code the bumpers and your car will be transformed :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 (edited) keep her clean man and chuck some tasteful 15"s on it and lower it abit, ae82 parts can be found very cheap as every one robs them for there 4AGE's Clean is a priority, I take great pride in my rolla and its gotta look good, why have near new paint on it otherwise, speaking of which I might give her a polish soon since the weathers finally fining up here in Melb :cool: Lowering is pricey, as much as I'd like to get some stiffer suspension on it and get it a little lower to the ground we're talking into the hundreds and I just don't want to spend that much on it, just as I don't know how much longer I'll have her....could be months, could be years, but we're probably talking months (as in, maybe June/July next year). Any suggestions on where to go to look for some alloy's? I don't mind if they're 14's or 15's, just as long as they don't exceed $100 and I'd prefer that to be with rubber, obviously not new, I don't expect too much, just hoping someone might be throwing out a set from the garage at a cheap price ;) Nice one... :) Go hunting at your local wrecker and see if you can find a cs-x model... grab yourself a tacho dash and clock and a few other flash bits. Other than that, a nice set of wheels is always one of the first enhancements you can make... no need to go spending up big, AE82's have the same stud pattern as most other small cars from that era onwards (4x100) so you'll be able to whack on some factory alloys from a newer corolla or pulsar or something... 15" is a good size, very common, and 100 bucks would probably get you a set. Tyres are cheap too. When the budget allows... a set of lowered springs, tint the windows, colour code the bumpers and your car will be transformed :D I like the idea of the digital clock, and the tacho would be nice, any idea how difficult these things are to fit though? I wouldn't be looking at much for a CS-X dash would I? $20 from the wreckers or something? As far as the budget allows section goes, lowering sounds too costly for what I'm willing to spend (don't think I can do it myself :lol:), the windows are actually tinted although not much, easy to tell when shes parked next to another AE80/82 though hehe. How would I go about colour coding the bumpers? Spray it myself? How hard would it be to get an exact colour match ready to spray? I like the idea of colour coding the bumpers :P Keep em coming guys! Thanks for those so far :) Edit: BTW, just to add a little more Rolla to my life when I'm not around the rolla, who likes my new keyring! (Replaced that keycase you can see in the above pic which was from the previous owner, my grandpa) :) Oh and guys regarding wheels, whats the stud pattern and offset required for a AE82? I'm presuming its 4x100 PCD? But offset? (I want to email a guy whos got some nice 15's for sale with good rubber cheap, but I need to know what to ask) Edited August 31, 2007 by Lugo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Ae82 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 nice key ring mate :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 (edited) nice key ring mate :cool: Not bad for $7 aye! Genuine leather too! :lol: Can someone please get back to me on the wheel Offset? I really need to know, and I've tried googling but I don't know where to look :P The wheels in question apparently have two different 4 stud patterns, but were fitted to a Saab 900 which as far as I can tell has a PCD of 4x108, so unless the other pattern is different (ie. 4x100), they're not going to fit right? Edited August 31, 2007 by Lugo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7shades Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 ae82 is definately 4x100 mate. Clock and dash are easy to fit... all the wiring is already there, you just have to take the old one out, and plug the new one in. easy as. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 (edited) ae82 is definately 4x100 mate. I know that much, but the offset? Is it +30? +35? etc... I suppose I'll know if I go round a try them on the wheels rub on full lock or stick out from the guard if the offset is right or not. These are what they look like: Suitable for a AE82? They're 15's. Clock and dash are easy to fit... all the wiring is already there, you just have to take the old one out, and plug the new one in. easy as. So even though its a CS without those features stock, they leave the wiring behind the dash? Thats perfect! So I presume that includes the wiring for the tacho and stuff is there? Makes me wonder why it just wasn't standard....hmm. As long as your sure, I might pop past a local wreckers tomorrow and see what I can find. Edited August 31, 2007 by Lugo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit6 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 mate, i suggest if ur on a budget, cut ur spring, it will make it look nice lowered, spray ur bumpers in body colour, tint ur tail lights and side indicators, the paint is like 9bucks. its special tinting paint form peps auto spares. and then a set of alloys, like 15s. if u wanna spend 150 bucks or so, get a sports exhaust. hope that gave u sum ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 (edited) mate, i suggest if ur on a budget, cut ur spring, it will make it look nice lowered, spray ur bumpers in body colour, tint ur tail lights and side indicators, the paint is like 9bucks. its special tinting paint form peps auto spares. and then a set of alloys, like 15s. if u wanna spend 150 bucks or so, get a sports exhaust. hope that gave u sum ideas. I do want the car to be roadworthy. If I cut the springs its unroadworthy so I'm not doing it, also sacrifices handling big time. That taillight tinting paint, is there any legal issues with that, in Victoria specifically? I've seen plenty of cars with it, but would it prevent a roadworthy? Oh and is it hard to get an even coating? I don't mind spending $10 here $20 there on little things to improve it, $100 or so for wheels because they will improve handling and grip (the 13's on it aren't the best in that department, especially the wet) but no more. Doesn't need a sports exhaust. I'm interested in colour coded bumpers, but I'm too worried I'd screw that up and it'd turn out crappy in the long run, so I probably won't do that. Atm, the things I want to do, thanks partly to you guys with your great suggestions is, wheels (which I've wanted for a while), instrument cluster with tacho, digital clock and maybe tint the rear lights if its legal. I reckon that'd be a improvement :cool: Edited August 31, 2007 by Lugo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat out Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 if you know who painted the car they should be abel to do it, also while ur at the wreckers look for ae82's and suck and if they have colored springs big chances they are lowered ones, you could grab them and keep your standards if you got defected or was selling the car to some one that wanted it standard height, i would recommend against tinting the tail lights, in my opinion it looks cheap and easily detectable, just polish all your lights up and it will look overrated. also you could just get some springs and cut them and keep the ones in it in case you need to go back, i like cuttys and theres nothing wrong with them imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 if you know who painted the car they should be abel to do it, also while ur at the wreckers look for ae82's and suck and if they have colored springs big chances they are lowered ones, you could grab them and keep your standards if you got defected or was selling the car to some one that wanted it standard height, i would recommend against tinting the tail lights, in my opinion it looks cheap and easily detectable, just polish all your lights up and it will look overrated. also you could just get some springs and cut them and keep the ones in it in case you need to go back, i like cuttys and theres nothing wrong with them imo I just don't want to meddle with the springs....I'm not going to cut them because they are unroadworthy cut, and it affects handling. If I could change them myself I might have considered it, but I'm not game, so it can stay the standard height me thinks. I was looking around at tinted lights on AE82's and have decided against that anyway, to me it doesn't look like it'll suit the colour of the car. As for paint, I know who sprayed it, because it was my grandpa who got it done. I'll look into the paint but I dunno where I'll go with it. I'm going to go looking for digital clocks and instrument clusters today if I get some spare time, so I'll let you guys know what I find later tonight should I find anything :cool: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleRedSpirit Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 That car looks so well cared for, its a shame he didnt get a ke70!! Grandpa really knew how to keep her overrated!! Anyhow, might I agree with the wheels suggestion and suggest some color coding for the black front end. Personally, if I was going to go for the clean look then I'd remove the black rubber strip on the side too. I reckon cars look lighter and cleaner without them, unless you want to keep her 100% dent free of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lugo Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 That car looks so well cared for, its a shame he didnt get a ke70!! Grandpa really knew how to keep her overrated!! Anyhow, might I agree with the wheels suggestion and suggest some color coding for the black front end. Personally, if I was going to go for the clean look then I'd remove the black rubber strip on the side too. I reckon cars look lighter and cleaner without them, unless you want to keep her 100% dent free of course. Well he paid a bit to get it the way it is now, had it resprayed, removed any rust, and the interior needed a good workout to get clean. I know the person who owner it before my pa, and when he had it the car was one of the worst AE82's on the road, the boot for instance resembled sand paper more than paint. Its now one of the best AE82's on the road IMO. I'm not sure what a KE70 is, but his got 2 1983 Model Corolla's, a pale blue one which is a auto like mine, and a white manual, both in similar but not as fantastic a condition. I've had her for 5 or 6 months now, I've lost count. I'd like to keep her dent free, so if its going to require body work I'd rather leave the strips there. Probably better to have them anyway, because I park hard up against the wall at home and if I ever bump the wall opening the door its that black rubber strip that makes contact, so its saving the paint, like its supposed to :cool: Hopefully I can find a clock and cluster for it today, might give the guy with those wheels a call, see what we can do with them :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleRedSpirit Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Fantastic news about Grandpas fleet of rollas!! I suggest you have a little read through some of the threads in rides and projects. There are some really fun times to be had in the rwd corollas which were the majority of cars sold in 1983. If you are really lucky then pops will have a 1.6 litre 4a powered rwd ae71 for you to swap the fwd one for. Then you are about 1000 dollars away from 4age rwd bliss!!! Well thats what I would do. I totally understand if you are into fwding. Each to their own. Please take the time to have a good long search through the forums on this site and read about 4ages and ae82s and ae86s and ae71s and ke70s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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