Taking it apart again

Well I just found out that our painter at the shop is leaving after many years so I had to rush and get him to finish up a few knick knack things that were bugging me. The inside of the drivers fender was missing some paint and you could see the old color (not really a big deal, but I knew it was not right). I also didn't realize it until I installed them that the frames around the headlight housings needed to be painted body color too. So after thinking I was putting the car back together, I had to take it apart LOL. I'm gonna be busy for the next week, so most likely no updates until then.

A little cleaning on Fathers day

Well for Fathers day you'd think most fathers would want to veg out in front of the TV. Not me, I decided to clean out the Corolla. The interior was covered it what looked like mud. Basically it was bondo dust mixed with water and caked everywhere. So I cleaned that out and here's a before and after pics.
Before:

After:
Ok so it's not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was and I can actually work inside now.
I also changed out the heater core. The original was broken when they pulled the engine out. Since I have the parts car so close, I pulled the dash out and pulled the heater core...man what a pain in the ass. I did not install it in the car yet, but I will next week. Here's a pic of the heater cores with an arrow pointing out the broken one.

The Parts car is home

I picked this car up last year and have been using it for body parts. Since it was a pain to go back and forth to the body shop to pull parts, I decided to bring it home. This should make it easier to swap parts and go back together correctly on the new car. The only bad part is having to park the truck outside and living in Fontana aka "Fontucky" or "Fomton" that's not the safest thing to do. I gotta get one I need done quickly :) Hopefully the car being home will help move the project along quicker.

A couple knick knack things

Ok, I warned you, I'm going to post even the smallest updates. Tonight I swapped out the right side headlight assembly. Turns out the one that was on the car was from an 85 and the grille mounting tabs are different. So I swapped in the 87 assembly from the parts car and installed the "Kouki" grille (Kouki represents the later model Corollas 86-87). I also added a picture of the Solex lock that I installed on the trunk last week. These locks look similar to the type of locks you find on vending machines. I'm not sure how much tougher they are to pick, but I figure it couldn't hurt to add them.

Damn parts car

Unfortunately not much to share this week. I did get a chance to stop by the shop and pull the right headlight off the parts car. While doing that, I busted my middle finger knuckle open. So other than that, not much to show this weekend. Ouch!

Drilling some holes...yikes!!

I've been dreading mounting up the Toyota/TRD Coupe Rear wing on the car. This one requires drilling a crap load of holes and it does not come with a template. Luckily I have the trunk from my parts car to practice on. First I made a template using cardboard and then did a test run. The test run went pretty good and I made a few modifications to my template. It was scary as hell drilling into the trunk, but it turned out pretty good. It's off to the left by about 3/32". It's bugging me a little, but not enough yet to try and fix it... I'm worried that I might be "picking the fly shit out of the pepper". I'm going to think about it for a little before I decide to do anything if I do.Practice makes perfect?

The 16 holes I had to drill into the freshly painted trunk.
Ahh scary...drilling the holes. While we're at it, check out that paint finish...like a mirror :)
Temporarily mounted up, I still need to clean of the rubber along the edges.

Ok Finally caught up..todays work log

Now we are finally caught up to todays date. During this past week I picked up a Koyo Radiator and another pair of wheels from Kevin. These are black faced SSR Reverse mesh wheels with a +1 offset which will give it much more "lip" for the rear. I also picked up new "eye brows" for the headlights covers and mounted those up. I also drilled some holes in the trunk and added the garnish as well as the garnish that goes around the license plate.
I also went by the junk yard today for their special half off day and I got lucky and found a GTS Hatch. I scavenged a bunch of hardware, rear seat belts and other knick knack goodies. Here's some pictures from this past week and todays work.

Almost caught up...Finally the car is home!

I've almost got you up to date for this project. On May 13, 2007 I finally got the car home. It still has a long way to go, but in the mean time I had to start putting on parts. Here's how it sits as of last week (yes it sits high on the stock suspension with everything gutted). The next post will have you caught up to this weekend.

A year later...almost done at the body shop

Since I'm getting a great deal from Dad, they only work on the car when they have time between jobs. So a year later, here is what the car looks like. Unfortunately the color doesn't "pop" on cloudy days. Here's a few pics, including myself and the kids

Some goodies for the project

During the last year I have been buying parts for the car. I picked up JDM (Japanese Domestic Manufactured) parts that are different from the US parts. I got both front and rear bumpers, grille, side markers and taillights. Also picked up more misc parts like a JDM Digital gauge cluster, Optional trunk wing, Momo steering wheel, HKS Oil Cap, HKS Radiator cap and East Bear Aero Mirrors.


And the best score of all courtesy of Kevn...a Brand new set of SSR Mesh Wheels Brand New in the box!

We got Color!

I wasn't quite sure what color to paint the car, but then my buddy Kevin Serapion from Autolink Motorworks suggested the 2006 Lexus Desert Sage Metalic. Not your traditional color for a Corolla, but I think it looks great and with black accents it should really pop.

Straight to Daddy's body shop!

Ok the seat belt didn't work that great but I knotted it up and drove it the 30 miles to my Dad's body shop (Body Works Collision Center). I owe a lot to my dad as he helps out quite a bit with my projects and this one is no exception...thanks Dad! Here are some tear down pictures. Whoa...this was a sound car at one time in its life...the entire cab was covered in Dynamat!Lots of mysterious wires
Lots more tear down, gotta do it right

My cousin Manuel offered to help take out the engine...wow didn't think he was going to take the entire front end out at one time LOL!

The victim

Almost 20 years later and a few years after selling my 93 Civic project, I decided it was time to finally get that GTS Coupe I've always wanted. After a little searching, I found a candidate that wasn't to far from home. With my fiance Heather we took the drive to Victorville to pick it up. Here it is Day one Feb 26, 2006.

A little info on why I choose to build this car

Richard Trujillo 1987 GTS Coupe Project

Back when I was in High School, I got a ride from a friend in a fixed up 86 Toyota Corolla GTS Coupe. The car was slammed sitting on some sweet wheels and quick as hell. From that day I knew exactly what I wanted. 2 years later in 1988 my dad spotted an 87 Coupe on a dealer lot in Cerritos. It was only an SR5, but I couldn't afford the GTS, let alone the SR5 LOL. I droveA away from the lot that day and within weeks I had it lowered, tinted out with exhaust. It was a few months later when I discovered that TRD only made parts for the GTS and not the lowly SR5. Even with that I still did my best to fix it up, but no matter what I did I always wanted that GTS.