"aquila121" (aquila121)
09/26/2014 at 23:24 • Filed to: projectriceball
7
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"aquila121" (aquila121)
09/26/2014 at 23:24 • Filed to: projectriceball | 7
| 6 |
I finally got the Corolla back in my possession a couple months ago, and I quickly realized two important things: one, the pedal placement is worse than a Sherman tank (aside: do tanks have pedals similar to cars? I have no idea), and two, I didn't notice that second gear was on its way out when I purchased this heap. Joy. Both of these things amounted to me being irritated whenever I tried to hustle the car, so they had to be addressed. So the car went back to its second home to have work done. Let me tell you, there's good news, and you knew there was going to be bad news. But what would an update to Project Riceball without parts?
First, I took the slow demise of the transmission as an opportunity to roll the dice and convince myself the car needed more parts—since the shifter moved easily from 1st to 2nd gear, yet had issues with the 3-to-2 downshift, I hoped that the issue was related to the shifter assembly. Short answer, not a chance. I snagged Techno Toy Tuning's short-shift unit, and I was baffled by the difference from the stock shift lever.
The original piece might as well have come out of a Ford Ranger pickup, the throws were so long; however, the aftermarket shifter cuts those movements to something even shorter than my Integra. Not a bad thing, but the car still doesn't like to drop from third to second gear—I'm trying to overcome this issue by double-clutching that gearchange (insert "Fast and Furious" reference here). And yes, I spent a solid minute in the parking lot like an asshole doing this:
Also, a while back I saw an AE86 where someone had swapped in a pedal set from an IS300, and I thought that might help my issues with having to contort my right foot horizontally to heel-toe. A quick Ebay search later, and I had a gas pedal from a Toyota MR-S on the way. The pedal cover is largely similar in shape to the Lexus piece, and I figured it's the same manufacturer family, so it likely wouldn't be a massive headache to get it to fit. Also, we bent the brake pedal arm around a bit, and the result is serviceable. Success!
One complication I forgot to mention: now it seems the brake lights stay lit after I'm off of the pedal, so that killed the battery once already before I figured out the problem. Not sure how to best fix it, so for the moment, I look like I'm riding the middle pedal more than your granny. Whatever, at least now I can't heel-toe my brake and clutch . I imagine this would follow if I mashed things wrong:
Back in chapter 1 of this build, I made a terrible assumption—I figured that having harnesses in a drift car would be a smart nod toward the likelihood of crashing (especially with me behind the wheel), so I tossed the stock seatbelts and grabbed another set of G-force 5-point harnesses. I have these in my Prelude track car, and they work fine, so what's the problem here? The fact that the bucket seat in the Corolla is wedged into the cockpit tighter than sexed-up high-schoolers in a closet attempting a threesome—that's not cool.
This is one area where I can't just throw money at the problem, since the cage is already intruding on the seat's real-estate—I'm not sure what else would fit with these space constraints and the existing seat bracket. Sooooo, I'm officially on a diet to drop 10 pounds and get me back under 160. Is this what Colin Chapman meant when he said 'add lightness'?
Well, the engine bay already has something minuscule generating comparable noise to a hedge trimmer (only much louder) with half the power. Take note, I did not refer to the 4AG-E block as "lightweight," due to its iron construction (booo!) and the fact that I'm a weight-snob when it comes to cars.
I'd balance this out by saying that Paris Hilton needs to eat a sandwich, but she gains power in the tabloid-verse when someone addresses her. Also, that Pink Bentley violated the Geneva Convention.
I'm getting off topic—I threw a larger radiator up front, since I imagine that I'm going to be hammering on this car at WOT every second I can, and if the horsepower rain-dance I'm doing nightly actually works (fingers crossed), I'll need more cooling than the stock unit will ever dream of providing. Hey, if someone wants to donate a 1UZ engine, I'd be grateful. Hell, I'd take a 4AG-20 valve if the transmission works.
In the meantime, I took the car out a bit, and was disheartened by the current state of the ride; the car dipped and bounced like the approval rating of any politician you pick. After a few minutes of shouting to the heavens, "Coilovers should fix this, right? What do you want from me??" I remembered that I hadn't touched the dampening adjustment. After numerous clicks on all four corners, the bouncy-castle handling was banished.
Earlier this afternoon, I finally cleared out some space in the garage, bought a jack and a breaker bar, then swapped wheels. The bald rubber is no longer on the car, I have the front wheels moved to the rear axle, and they have decent tread left. But the new rims up front and their virgin rubber looks… really out of place on this car. Once they get some scuffs or curb rash, then it'll all look about right.
Now that I'm making use of a jack, I can say that if you're a performance enthusiast looking into aftermarket suspension, low-profile floor-jacks are your friend. But I didn't have any wheel chocks while I had the front/rear in the air, so I made use of some old parts. Turns out that front spindles and hubs are plenty heavy enough to keep a small car like this where you left it.
Speaking of that stuff, the new wheels are doing a great job hiding the big brake kit that's now on Project Riceball. When my mechanic finished straightening out the S13 front suspension debacle, he told me he could source some stock brakes from a junkyard, or I could just do the usual thing and roll some lemonade stands—I'm so lucky that four-year-olds don't know the word "extortion." On the up side, now the brake pedal is firmer than that vice-principal you hated in middle school.
As far as last details go, the dash is doing its damnedest to rattle itself free from the car, panel by panel. And the windshield wiper dial has likely been MIA ever since Clinton left office, so if it rains, I have to jam a finger in the gap and twist—I'm amazed that the wipers respond to such… prodding.
If you guessed that the sunroof leaks in said rain, you'd be incorrect; the flow of water is more akin to being thrown into a pool. But the tires spin when provoked (read: if the planets align), the car is loud, and the exhaust leak likely makes woodland creatures vomit as I pass by. I dare say—I'm enjoying this car. "So," you ask, "when will you be attempting some of this ?"
My response:
I'm going to try to limp the car to an autocross with a bunch of Miata-zealots at a local go-kart track on Sunday. Pray for me—mostly that the car holds together. Later, Opponauts.
(Images that aren't from my garage are whatever I could source from Google Image Search or some awesome .gifs I saw people post on Oppo. Search on there to find the "credit where credit is due portion.")
CaptDale - is secretly British
> aquila121
09/27/2014 at 13:12 |
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Sounds like your 2nd gear sychro is going.
ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> aquila121
09/27/2014 at 14:17 |
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How are you going to listen to you Zune wearing a helmet when you drive this?
Also, you front fenders have too much paint on them.
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aquila121
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
09/27/2014 at 21:26 |
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The CD player works, surprisingly. If I crack up the overfenders, I have a spare set of them in black.
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> aquila121
09/27/2014 at 22:02 |
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Lolz, everything is broken except the CD player!? Clearly the previous owner had their intentions correct...
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aquila121
> ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
09/28/2014 at 23:23 |
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I remembered the player worked, and mentioned that I need a CD to leave in the car—Tracey suggested the "Fast and the Furious" soundtrack. I amended that as the "Tokyo Drift" soundtrack, and this is totally happening .
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ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)
> aquila121
09/28/2014 at 23:26 |
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YES!