It's been a busy month
Tarox "Sport Japan" discs & "Strada" pads
Goodridge S/S braided brake hoses
TRD heavy duty front suspension top mounts
Powerflex polyurethane front suspension bump stops
I've been looking to upgrade the brakes on my Rolla for a while - but without going totally overboard and coughing up huge amounts of cash for a completely custom setup. The last time I took the car to Kev's he suggested that the front discs and pads they were in need of replacement (not bad as they were the originals from when I bought the car new in 1998 - 70,000 miles ago). Time then for an upgrade but it's difficult finding aftermarket brake stuff for the Rolla - I could have gone for EBC Greenstuff pads and Black Diamond discs but I've heard conflicting stories about the Greenstuff pads, so I wanted something different.
At last year's Japfest at Castle Combe I spoke to the Tarox rep who explained how they heat treat the discs before hand finishing them - sounded good to me, but they don't have any in their catalogue for the AE111 - now there's a surprise. After a bit of research I reckoned that the front discs from the AE101 should fit and also that the pads should also be OK. I ordered them from Need for Speed on the understanding that I could return them if they didn't fit (15% handling and re-stocking charge). I shouldn't have worried - good old Toyota - it appears that they used the same (or very similar) discs, callipers, pads for both versions -I hope the same applies for the flexible brake hoses as well. The discs and pads both fit perfectly and look very pretty too! Pictures here
I just need to give them a gentle bedding in period and then see just how good they are.
Time to get the Rolla serviced again so while I'm at Kevin's I get him to do a few other bits and pieces for me.
When I bought the Tarox stuff I also got a set of Goodridge stainless steel braided brake hoses - again from Need for Speed and again for the AE101 Corolla. I'd seen on a website (in Germany or Belgium perhaps) that they sold exactly the same hoses for both models so it was worth giving it a go. As the car is over six years old it was worth changing the brake fluid too so bought some DOT 5.1 by way of an upgrade. The swap went quite straightforwardly the only slight problem being the clips that locate the ends had to be squeezed tighter to fit the smaller hoses ends. These will be replaced later with smaller clips - the ones for the clutch hose fit exactly - when I get them ordered from Toyota. The new hoses give a much better feel to the brake pedal - there's no softness/mushiness at all now and the higher spec brake fluid will come into it's own under heavy braking as it has a higher boiling point.
I was lucky enough to have a pair of top mounts donated to me by Nad Parvez from his AE92 Corolla, they had only done about 6,000 miles so they were in pretty good condition. I decided that while they were being fitted I would also upgrade the bump stops so ordered theses from Peter Lloyd Rallying The ones I ended up with are universal ones that come complete with gaiters and cable ties. Pictures here
While Kevin was removing the passenger side strut to replace the top mount and bump stop he spotted that the rubber boot was ripped on the CV joint at wheel end of the drive shaft. Luckily he had a spare in stock and was able to swap that for me too.
I constructed my last air box, in October 2003, from 0.5mm alloy sheet which was very flimsy but easy to work with as I was able to cut it with a sturdy pair of scissors. I found that it marked easily and looked shabby quickly so I removed it within a month or two of fitting it.
I later moved the battery to the boot and was able to locate the air filter directly behind the head light. The previous air box had covered the battery and fuse boxes making it a chore to check the electrolyte levels in the battery and to reset the ECU by removing the EFI fuse and now with an oil catch tank and battery cut out switch in that area as well I decided to make a smaller version. At the Rally Supercar Day at Castle Combe last year I saw a few smaller air boxes and decided to have another go myself.
I had a couple of small sheets of 3mm aluminium alloy salvaged from a scrap bin at a sign shop and put them to good use.
As before I made a good fitting cardboard template and transferred the shape to the alloy sheet. I used a jig saw to cut the shapes and finished the edges with a file to remove burrs and roughness from the saw blade. I didn't want to have any joins in the side walls of the box so I made it from a single sheet and bent it to shape by holding the alloy in the jaws of a workmate and applying some body weight in the correct direction. It took several goes to get the angles right but it looks much better than having joints at the corners. Cutting the circular hole for the intake pipe was a real pain as I didn't have a hole saw the correct size. I used the largest one I had and then brought the jigsaw into use again chopping out bits until it was nearly the right shape and size. I deburred the edges again but found that the Samco hose was too tight a fit. The edge of the hole was going to be covered with a split rubber tube to tidy up the looks and protect the Samco from the hole edge and it needed to be a bit bigger than the hose so out came the big half-round file and I gave it some serious elbow grease.
Having got the right shape and size I then had to think about fixing it to the body work to prevent it moving around. This was achieved by making brackets from some to the waste alloy and bolting them to the box and the body. The lid was straightforward - just had to cut it to size and drill holes for fixing it down. I cut sections of alloy angle and pop riveted them to the top edges of the box and used self tapping screws through holes drilled in the lid. It was effective but not exactly pretty and I looked at other methods of fixing the lid.
I went to Merlin Motorsport at Castle Combe (I was there for Japfest 2005 with the Toyota Owners Club) and after I had explained what I wanted to do they came up with these - 3/16" anchor nuts. I've since seen them described as anchor plates and found they are also available in equivalent metric sizes.
I had to decide what surface finish to use. The original surface was marked so that stopped me from trying to polish it; I tried a brushed finish but couldn't produce a consistent result so that really left me with just painting it. I flatted it back as best I could and then applied lots of coats of filler/primer to get the surface as good as possible. Several costs of aluminium top coat later I was a happy chappie and in it went.
Now I have a nice flat surface where I can put some stickers.