20v Blacktop swapped 95 Corolla Build Thread

Well it seems like I’m doing this a bit late but back when I was 21 and bought this thing I believed that this was a completed project car.. NOPE so I’m going to try my best and post everything I’ve fixed and upgraded with this car since 2016
List of upgrades done prior to my purchase (front to back)
5th gen Celica GT foglights
JDM fluted headlights (H4 Converted)
JDM silver "C" grille
Home Depot DIY lip
AVS tinted Hood shield
14x7 Riken Mesh wheels with Pirelli P4 All seasons :rolleyes:
4AGE Blacktop 20v with C160 transmission
HKS mushroom air filter
Tom's Super Air Intake piece that required a JDM battery (sold)
OBX "R" header 4-2-1
Some BS HKS "voltage regulator"
Carbing radiator cooling plate
Whiteline bushings
Ultra Racing lower strut bar
Aftermarket slotted front rotors with StopTech pads
KW K2 Coilovers
AE101 GT strut bar
AE111 BZ-R steering wheel
TRD AE111 quick shifter with spherical ball bearings
Sony head unit
Cruise control that didn't work
JDM power folding mirrors
AE101 GT driver seat
JDM door visors
OEM mudflaps
Ultra Racing chassis lower braces
TWIN CAM 20 decals
Ultra Racing Rear strut bar
Rear window visor wing
Ultra Racing thicker rear sway bar
ES300 rear brake conversion
M3 style rear trunk lip
Pre-facelift LE rear trunk garnish
JDM rear bumper

Almost forgot to mention it got featured on The Smoking Tire and Matt drove it...had to sprinkle some clout on top of all that

I will be pulling up pics from my old phone so I can make up a timeline of what I’ve done to my car since I bought it as thorough as possible so I can keep it as a true build thread

11/20/16: So the "mods" I've done shortly after purchase by order were a much needed oil change spark plug and wires that were arcing so bad that you can hear them over idling. Sourced cap and rotor from a dealer using part numbers (surprisingly was in stock) Also noticed how badly unfiltered air was getting into the plenum after taking apart this sketchy ass "intake". Detailed the engine bay and started undoing all the horrible wiring before any fun parts started getting installed.

12/22/16: Took apart intake plenum and for fun just drove with an open intake down the street. The little tuneup I did seemed to really wake this thing up. Seriously like when I first drove it I thought to myself, wait that's it?? Now it felt like a worthy swap over the 7A. AND THE SOUND... bruh I probably went through a few gallons of gas just stomping on the gas because it sounded so damn good. Granted no filter so i ordered a UNI foam sheet and oiled it as a temporary air filter over the plenum opening.
01/09/17: Had a friend come over and convinced me to paint my rims and strut bar gold to get a theme going. Strut bar came out decent but the rims were a half assed job to say the least. Also restored my headlights and resprayed my fading grille. Turned out nice for only spending $20.

02/03/17: Always wanted to try out anodized paint so I got to work with my badly scratched valve cover. Lots of prep work to get it to last. In between coats took half my dashboard apart because there was wiring literally falling into the footwells from behind the lower dash panel. Went all out after seeing how disgusting the wiring was but there was no going back. On the bright side my valve train gave me a good feeling of proper oil change intervals. Deleted the non-working cruise control and rewired my retractable mirrors so they finally worked!

Nice, thanks for sharing (not sure if you're done yet, I hope to see more!) Sounds like you bought the car with the 20v swap already done? Are the pics in the first post how it looked when you got it, or is that huge list of mods things you did?

gold94corolla wrote:

Nice, thanks for sharing (not sure if you're done yet, I hope to see more!)  Sounds like you bought the car with the 20v swap already done?  Are the pics in the first post how it looked when you got it, or is that huge list of mods things you did?

Yeah I’m still copying it from TN lol but yes I bought it pre-swapped with most of the jdm parts installed. I'll post more of what I’ve done and bring it up how the car is looking today

03/29/17: Seriously balled out and bought myself a set of SQ engineering 70mm billet velocity stacks. So beautiful and so pricey but worth every penny. This transformed my powerband. It almost felt like there's not a torque penalty after 2k rpm and pulled way harder besides sounding the bidnesss. @trife96 hooked it up with a Pipercross filter and backing plate

04/07/17: Fixed my rear brake drag (that probably helped accel too) did the shoes and hardware but found out that didn't fix it. Took it to a nearby shop by my dad's place and found out the hub assembly wasn't properly centered Got that taken care of and got to see all the upgrades the past owner did that I couldn't see from above

06/19/17: After starting my new job I bought a set of ebay replica BZ touring headlights as well as fake jdm rear taillights and garnish. Looked surprisingly good for the price as well as fit and finish. Fixed my clogged IACV so now it idled perfectly (especially after finding out the past owner used a washer to restrict airflow as a temp fix) Ordered a stock Blacktop airbox from NZ for the SoCal summer heat to get cool outside air as well.
07/14/17: Ordered a new ($500!) VVT pulley because it was making my engine sound like a diesel at idle. I wouldn't say worth it but idle was way quieter. New timing belt and tensioner too since I'm there. The tensioner is hydraulic and is probably the weak point of the Blacktop. They loose tension after 20 plus years and you risk bending valves from a loose belt and skipping teeth. New drive belts as well

09/03/17: So in May something cool and badass happened. I submitted my Wheelwell to Matt Farah from the Smoking Tire and he gave me a date of his next opening for a One Take. I've been watching his channel for years so this was amazing news. Also gave me an opportunity to represent the 7th gen community a bit since no one in the US knows about us. He drove it and to my surprise really enjoyed it but one thing I haven't really paid much attention to is tires and mine weren't up to the task for flying at 90 mph at the Azusa canyons. It seemed like a missed opportunity to get feedback of the AE101 chassis from a guy who drove nearly everything.. my fault so I went for the stickiest option for my 14" rims and ordered a set of Falken RT615k+ the same night

LINK:

09/15/17: New tires arrived and damn they looked hot. Took it my local tire shop and I had a crowd form around my car after popping my hood. Felt like O'Conner before racing his Eclipse:LOL: These tires are so damn stiff and made everything feel more immediate and sharp (as well as transmit any road imperfection directly to the chassis). Loved it and was tempted to email Matt and let him drive it for new feedback. To this day 4 years later I regret not doing so.

03/29/18: Started working at a dealership and racked up a decent amount of spending money so I went and ordered a brand new set of OEM BZ Touring headlights. Looked amazing and my ebay replicas did their job but side by side you can see the difference. Ebay ones aren't too far off though. New weighted shift knob and bought OEM spark plug wires since I wasn't feeling the blue. New IACV reusable breather filter too that can be taken apart and cleaned since this was my daily at the time. Ordered a factory Power steering return hose too since the generic one didn't have the right bends to wrap around the washer tank. Installed Ford Fusion washer nozzles as per @Haloruler64's thread. Now I had a very OEM looking engine bay, well if you ignore the engine;)

04/20/18: Started having a very consistent no start and random turning off while driving issue. Started taking the center part of the dash apart to find myself more spaghetti wiring that would get very hot while driving. Hot enough that it melted a few relays.. After a few days of having a gutted interior driving to and from work diagnosing this I cleaned things up and it seemed like this issue was taken care of.

06/15/18: The first day I started the ownership of a non-Corolla. After 4 faithful years to one model of car I came across a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage Coupe 5MT for $500. This has by far been the smartest purchase I have ever done. Started delivering food for a living and this thing kept the miles off the Corolla and had ice cold AC. I couldn't resist plus beating it to death was a blast.

10/12/18: Work has been great and I started changing focus onto buying myself a car I've always wanted to own. Had the beater and the project car but wanted something crazy so I went ahead and bought myself an 05 SL55 AMG:D Knowing well how quickly they can get expensive but I figured there's going to be a time in my life where I can't just splurge on a luxury car.
(the ebay garnish suck)
Not much happened to the Corolla aside from a new catch can and LED brake lights, not much happened until later on

05/22/19: Bought my first HoMoCo.. see what i did there;) to replace my Mirage after a year and 30k of delivery miles. She served me well but the oil burning was getting out of hand (the blue smoke screen behind me at every drive thru was getting old) Picked up a 95 Acura Intregra LS (auto) with 150k to see what the hype is about. It was decent but not noteworthy by any means. Literally just felt like a Corolla with maaaybe more top end. After all I did buy a Honda without vtec and missed out on the FWD shift-linkage manual experience. It was an upgrade nonetheless except for MPG. Went from 22 to 18! Lots of idling but still so I went on my search for a hybrid.
Golden valvetrain too

Rest of 2019: Bought A Chevy Volt for deliveries and a Celica GT-S 6MT with slight body damage for a flip. Corolla on standby but still being driven. This Celica is the only car I ever regretted selling..

04/19/20: Finally a Corolla update! Installed a full set of silicone hoses as well as redid my valve cover. Celica and SL55 got sold so I can focus back on my Corolla
It's always something smh

09/08/20: Took a few interior queues from my SL55 and sent the Corolla to a local upholstery shop and got my headliner and visors redone in black suede. This made the car feel overly premium inside. Had to balance that out with a 2.25 exhaust E cut-out wired it all up and it sounds WILD. Love the sleeper aspect and being able to retain my TRD catback. Feels good to be back working on the Corolla

10/02/20: Rewired my parking lights as turn signals from a DIY video i came across on Youtube. Man does this make the front end look great. More interior "restomods" Plus a TRD cluster that needed some help. Also was able to source an OEM shift boot with bezel [img]https://www.toyotanation.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.toyotanation.com/attachments/img_6954-jpg.353165/[/img]

12/12/20: Took my Corolla to a little 7 hour trip to the Bay Area and brought home her younger more luxurious twin home. Had a great time up there let Halo rip her around a bit with the open cutout opened. Driving the 96 brought back first car memories with its 7A goodness. Nice contrast between both
04/25/21: Ordered a ton of parts from Amayama to complete the car and get rid of my cheap washer tank that leaked. It's the little things

08/14/21: Been dealing with torn CV boots for awhile made a huge mess everywhere (all those digs man) and shortly after seeing how it affected my alignment I was like "might as well" and redid my whole front suspension. New control arms ball joints sway bar links tie rods, the whole bit. Painted my lower tie bar gold for fun. Rode way smoother and well worth the hours I put in. Took her to get aligned zeroed out the toe on all 4 corners and added 2 degrees of camber. Brake job too

08/30/21: Got a confirmation that I was chosen to be part of this year's JCCS in Anaheim! So excited but knowing I only had 2 months to get the car ready I started putting in work on my failed wheel painting attempts so shout out to the homie that helped me out. Redid my engine bay as well and swapped front bumpers to get the full JDM treatment. Crash bar behind rear JDM bumper installed too

Bit of an update. Looking for an OEM hood with scoop but I'm not too excited on spending $1k to get a hood shipped over. Also looking for some side skirts to mount before giving her a fresh paint job in the near future. Not much has happened but I did receive a stack of parts both spares and to stock up on before 25+ inventory dries up. From @trife96 and Amayama.
Found an OG 16v decal too!

Installed dual core radiator and repainted the fan shroud. Surprisingly it didn’t use much more coolant than stock but warm up time definitely is longer. Worth the performance upgrade tho

Nice build!

Loved the history bro!
Can you provide some links to where you bought your mods?
I have an AE101 and I really liked the look of yours.
Thanks!

Tsoras wrote:

Loved the history bro!
Can you provide some links to where you bought your mods?
I have an AE101 and I really liked the look of yours.
Thanks!

What mods in particular? Alot of them are used parts from sellers online

Bryan1 wrote:

Tsoras wrote:

Loved the history bro!
Can you provide some links to where you bought your mods?
I have an AE101 and I really liked the look of yours.
Thanks!

What mods in particular? Alot of them are used parts from sellers online

Those headlights, for example, look mint! Also, that spoiler and celica GT fog lights.
And the folding mirrors (do they work well?). Also, that rear bumper looks great.