So a lot of you know I bought a Corolla to drift this season. I wasn't planning a build thread since it's already built but it's going to take a lot of work and I figure I'll share and post the discoveries so far.

In short... I was told there was a GZE powered coupe with levin front, suspension, diff, and all sorts of goodies for sale CHEAP in NC. Alex and Eugene helped me go pick it up last Saturday and I snatched it up without even driving it, given the cold and rain, no wipers, way too big tires/rubbing, and price. Behold!
FOERST discovery was the Admiral Ackbar Lego keychain which is perfect for a betrayal car. "It's a trap!" This will be passed around the group as cars fail. Eugene noticed the car was dynomatted. We didn't know to what extent until I got home and inspected it. This had to have been an audio competition car previously. There is hundreds of dollars and 30-50lbs of the stuff. So thorough they removed the dash to cover the firewall. Even wasted their time covering the a pillars! I was told the car had no heater core or AC, but was pleasantly surprised to find the blower and ventilation all works. This piece doesn't seem factory but fits so well. There's no radio but there is a Creative Labs pc speaker here for the passenger. Duct tape is not good for holding carpet. But does ok on power cables when expertly applied. And that's a front lip on the left.

Rock on. Can't wait to see red mist jr. tearing it up.

I knew the car had no wipers or motor, but I was glad to find the linkage was still in place in the cowl so I went to pull-a-part. I found a fwd sedan and bought wiper arms that fit and a motor that looks like it will work (connector cut off my harness), as well as some license plate lights and a few other random bits. Then I vacuumed most the leaves out of the car.

Tuesday I put a dislodged hose clamp back on it's coupler and snugged up the others. I noticed the custom welded pipe exiting the supercharger is slathered in JB weld, so I figure it broke off or cracked previously. It doesn't idle right, even after connecting an electrical thing near the throttle body. FOERST drive I found it scrubs everywhere all the time unless going dead straight... it's slammed and tires too big. It came with 4 unmounted smaller tires, but turns out they are two different profiles. More disappointing is the fact it totally doesn't run right. It's in limp mode, can't go more than half throttle or over.. guessing 4000 rpm most of the time.

The electric fans and their temp sensor/relay do work though, as well as the stock temp gauge and fuel gauge (if you count reading 3/4 at 4/4). Most the other stuff doesn't... speedo and tach out, aftermarket tach reads half (despite being set to 4cyl), boost gauge plumbed wrong, and none of them illuminate despite the capability. The turn signals blinked once... think it was a fluke. Power mirrors not working due to wires snipped when doors removed.

The car ran so cold once the fans came on I wonder if the thermostat is there/working right. Car does have a muffler/resonator thing and at part throttle at least will not get me pulled over. The LSD seems stock and wore out. Lifting a tire entering my driveway it just spins, but on jack stands I can tell it's working, just takes a lot to engage. Actually, I don't know what to expect of a factory GTS diff.

I looked at the ECU to confirm it's for the GZE. Next will be pulling its codes, hooking up my wideband, checking the fuel pressure, and connecting the boost gauge post throttle body to discover why it runs so bad. It seems a sensor/vacuum type problem. Mechanically it feels/sounds good but I'll do a compression test out of curiosity. Oh, I need to check the AFM too.

bummer on the motor being in limp mode

dammit. so much money spent on dynamat, but skimped on the motor and electrical. that piece between the blower motor and the big hvac vent is an a/c delete pipe. actually rather sought after. wish i knew more about 4agze

revel wrote: that piece between the blower motor and the big hvac vent is an a/c delete pipe. actually rather sought after. wish i knew more about 4agze

Same on the miata, seen them go for $100 before. I have one.

Greg wrote:

revel wrote: that piece between the blower motor and the big hvac vent is an a/c delete pipe. actually rather sought after. wish i knew more about 4agze

Same on the miata, seen them go for $100 before. I have one.

King of the pointies.

hope you get it sorted soon.

Tony your post count is HELL in calculator 1337.

I love those spokes! This car rules.

wait, what?

7734

I hear a Corolla in distress... my hands are tingling to work on it for some reason. DAMNIT.

Greg wrote:wait, what?

7734

Ahhh. I'm dyslexic. Or I just read it fast and wanted it to be that.

Boring discoveries from last night, and no pictures. It sucks without pictures huh? Mostly vacuum line issues. Found a check valve hanging out with the other end free so it would have been a boost leak. I pulled that off and relocated the boost gauge line to that port to read vacuum. There was a large nipple "plugged" with a small bolt so I sealed that off. I knew the brake booster line was suspect when I FOERST inspected the car because it had no clamps. The booster side was "ok" but the engine side was worse than expected. I tried the pull the hose off to clamp it and the whole steel nipple came out of the manifold. It was pretty bent up and the aluminum hole wallowed out so I found a spare one sitting around from a KA and helped it out with a little permatex.

There is a blue 3 port vacuum solenoid with no hoses attached. Checked online and found it's common to do that to keep the ECU from limiting boost. Most the other lines seemed pretty good so I fired it up and it idled much better and the gauge said it's pulling decent vacuum. I tried to read the diagnostic codes but it said there were none. I may have accidentally reset them if it works the same as a NISSAN... either that or it there is a speed sensor/temp signal not getting the ECU so it's never ready to check.

foilman wrote:I tried to read the diagnostic codes but it said there were none. I may have accidentally reset them if it works the same as a NISSAN... either that or it there is a speed sensor/temp signal not getting the ECU so it's never ready to check.

Are you using a scanner (and is it for OBD1) or jumping pins on the connector? Might try both just to see what happens. I don't believe that OBD1 has a "ready" mode like OBD2, it should just throw codes if there's a sensor problem.