two door hatch looks wicked cool!

two door hatch looks wicked cool!

 

Cheers! That's my daily driver when it's raining, which is almost every day at the moment, lol.

Leaf blower to dry car... mind blown!!

 

Never thought of this but will be trying it next time.

Leaf blower to dry car... mind blown!!

 

Never thought of this but will be trying it next time.

 

Haha yeah, definitely give it a shot. Just make sure it's an electric leaf blower and not a petrol one, as the petrol type usually vent their exhaust out the front so unless you want oily vapor all over your paint it's best to stick with the electric type ;). When I used the leaf blower the other day I hadn't waxed the car in about 4-months so the water didn't glide straight off but it was still nice and easy. I spent 3-hours yesterday polishing and waxing the car and now the water gets blown straight off, essentially making a quick job even quicker :D

 

Here's a video of someone on YouTube doing the exact same thing:

 

Edited August 4, 201412 yr by Kiwi-Corolla

I took the sedan for a bit of a drive today, before stopping off for a few obligatory photos on the way home:

This car is so hot. Its so damn clean I love looking at it. Its like the polar opposite of mine.

 

Mine looks like this now BTW

 

^ Damn, that's awesome man! Completely opposite direction to each other but that's definitely badass :thumbsup:

I love both cars... complete opposites!

I didn't have a whole lot to do today so when I realized that it had been 3-years since I had taken some actual interior photos I decided to whip out my camera and post a much needed update. It was quite tricky getting even lighting inside the cabin, without the use of any studio lighting etc, but these photos didn't come out too bad :)

 

 

 

 

Nice and tidy.

Daaayyyuummm, now that's a sweet interior!

Sucks that the GT interior is so hard to get here...

Cheers guys :). The GT interior is hard to get anywhere to be honest, lol, but I have shipped complete sets overseas before so if anyone needs anything just let me know ;)

 

I just finished installing these pillow ball spherical bearings into the stock shifter cables and after a road test, the difference is very noticeable. Previously the gears used to slop into place due to the factory rubber bushings, but now the gears have a much tighter feeling, clicking into place during each shift. The benefit of using spherical bearings over solid brass bushings or skateboard bearings is that the natural twist of the cable as it's going through the range of motion isn't lost, so you get the same effect as the solid bushings except without any of the additional effort required to change gears.

 

Earlier today I also removed the original rubber shifter base bushings from inside the car, along with the metal sleeves, and bolted the shifter housing directly to the floor. This also gave the gears more of a "snik-snik" feeling, with no more mushiness at the end of each shift or when hitting the shift gate to go into 1st or 2nd.

 

As a result of both modifications there is no longer a squishy, sloppy, floaty feeling when changing gears, but instead something that really makes you feel more connected to the car and improves the overall driving experience :)

 

 

After running 110mm velocity stacks (trumpets) for almost 2-years I decided it was time to try a set of 100mm stacks instead, in an effort to gain more clearance between the clutch master cylinder and gain slightly more top-end power. So after a short wait these shiny new billet velocity stacks arrived from Australia, made by SQ Engineering. Let me start by saying that the build quality of these are AMAZING. They're machined from a single piece of aluminum alloy and this set is designed especially for the 20v Blacktop. For anyone who'd like to watch a set getting made (50mm shown in the video) check out this YouTube video:

 

I now have more clearance between the #1 stack and the clutch master cylinder, the sound they emit doesn't sound so raspy like my old ones due to the much thicker alloy construction (spun vs billet) and the pull from 6,000rpm-8,500rpm is noticeable stronger than my previous 110's. You sacrifice a little bit of earlier/low-end power due to being 10mm shorter in length, but it more than makes up for it in the top-end. As an added bonus, these new stacks are incredibly shiny and resist scratches and fingerprints really well. If anybody wants a set, contact SQ Engineering on Facebook or through the website as they do a number of different sizes for both the Silvertop & Blacktop engines, and also offer an equally impressive spun/rolled type for slightly less $$$.

 

 

 

 

 

My latest additions - OEM metallic black stereo and driver's vent surrounds. These were only available in Japan for the late model facelift AE101 Corolla BZ Touring wagons from 1998-2001. They're not an overlay or sticker, but the effect is actually 'painted' onto the actual plastic, likely using a hydrographic printing process (the same process Toyota used to achieve the wood-grain effect on other models). I've wanted these for quite some time but it was only a couple of weeks ago that I had the chance to get my hands on a set in good condition. They were a direct swap with my existing flat black ones and look amazing in direct sunlight due to the metallic flecks underneath the clearcoat. They don't add functionality or anything like that, but it's the small details like this in the build which sometimes make the biggest difference :)