October 2006

Supercharged Corolla Update

I haven’t driven the Supercharged Corolla for a while. Took the charger for a spin last Saturday and what a revelation – smiling, giggling, laughing all the time I was driving it - just like the day I first picked it up after the engine transplant.  Had to be very careful with the throttle - talk about a point-and-shoot car ☺☺☺ But it has shown up the need for a new clutch – it bites at the top of the pedal travel. Also the gearbox is very noisy on overrun and crunchy engaging most gears. So I think that the next modification will include a new clutch and while the gearbox is out I’ll ask Kevin to get it rebuilt with new parts as required – synchromesh rings and thrust washers. Kevin says that when he has had this type of work done previously it comes in at about £350 for the rebuild, the clutch will be a couple hundred  and I’ll need to pay Kevin so I’m looking at a bill of about £1,000.

That will have to wait until after I’ve paid off the Christmas bills. Luckily It flew through it's MOT test last weekend so happily no unexpected costs there.