restoring my 1993 corolla le - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:36 AM

my corolla was a hand-me-down from my parents n this car has been through hell. its been in at least 5 accidents. 3 of them was in the front. and only one was from me :[ which was pretty recent. i got a big rust hole under my driver side door. and my paint is fading like no tomorrow. i was just gonna let it be and give it to my brother. but after my accident my friend told me about the Philippine corolla. so i looked it up. omg. my eyes lit up. the corollas over there are so sexy and i fell in love. so iv decided im gonna restore my corolla and make it my project car. now i need information on how to convert the usdm corolla front end to a Philippine front end. i mistakenly bought the right headlights and unfortunately the wrong grill. i was looking at pictures comparing both front ends and i think all i need is the headlights, grill and front bumper. please please please. i need help. any advice would be much appreciated. thank you for your time.

94PrizmDD · 09-26-2010, 11:54 AM

pics of it now

***Kiwi-Corolla*** · 09-26-2010, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xp0undcak3x

my corolla was a hand-me-down from my parents n this car has been through hell. its been in at least 5 accidents. 3 of them was in the front. and only one was from me :[ which was pretty recent. i got a big rust hole under my driver side door. and my paint is fading like no tomorrow. i was just gonna let it be and give it to my brother. but after my accident my friend told me about the Philippine corolla. so i looked it up. omg. my eyes lit up. the corollas over there are so sexy and i fell in love. so iv decided im gonna restore my corolla and make it my project car. now i need information on how to convert the usdm corolla front end to a Philippine front end. i mistakenly bought the right headlights and unfortunately the wrong grill. i was looking at pictures comparing both front ends and i think all i need is the headlights, grill and front bumper. please please please. i need help. any advice would be much appreciated. thank you for your time.

Welcome to the forums! The bumper, headlights and grille that you're referring to are from the Japanese Domestic Market (JDM). They can be found in the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, and a few other countries. Some European Corollas also share the same bumpers etc. Knowing that will help you find one easier as you can simply refer to it as a JDM bumper. As for installing the bumper onto your USDM Corolla, it's surprisingly easy. The bumper will bolt directly in place and utilises the same mounting points. The only thing you will have to remove is the safety crash bar as the JDM bumper doesn't protrude out like the USDM bumper. The headlights and corner lights will need to be changed to the JDM version if you want to use the JDM grille. You will need to modify the headlight wiring slightly for the JDM lights to work as the USDM headlights have two bulbs (one for high one for low) whereas the JDM lights only have one bulb for the high/low.

Here's a really good thread which shows the various different JDM bumpers you can use and what's involved to fit them:

AE101 JDM Conversions (Front and Rear)

Bear in mind that there's the facelift bumper and the non-facelift bumper. The non-facelift bumper is like mine (pics in the photo gallery or on CarDomain), and the facelift bumper has a gap between the indicators and has a slight curve down the bottom. Both will fit the same, it just depends on which look you like better. If you're having trouble finding the parts you're after (such as the grille or headlights), let me know and I can get them over here for you. I've actually got a spare JDM grille sitting next to me right now. Best of luck!

***PhatRoyale*** · 09-26-2010, 06:11 PM

You can start by posting detailed pics of the car.

Depending on how much and how bad the rust situation is, it might or might not be saveable.

In your case, I would repair and restore it first to near-factory condition before worrying about cosmetic aftermarket add-ons.

cipher93 · 09-26-2010, 08:53 PM

I would seriously consider just buying another Corolla and giving this one to your brother. Paint and rust repair alone will probably cost as much as or more than getting another. That is if you have high end paint... if you're only gonna own the car another year or two a Maaco job will be alright, but for a lasting finish be prepared to spend. I want a modded Corolla, but I think I'll just wait for mine to die and then get one with nice paint and body work, so I don't blow $1500 just getting presentable.

EDIT: Also make darn sure the body is straight before starting anything.

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 09:26 PM

thanks for your guys help. im uploading the pics as we speak. so be tuned. thanks again. looking forward to upcoming advice :]

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 09:58 PM

ok heres my corolla pics.

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:06 PM

now heres some detailed pics. my recent accident :[ ->

a pretty bad rust hole under front driver side door :[ ->

a cool decal i got on the gas door :] ->

the dash ->

the bay ->

and lastly. my interior after hours ;] ->

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:09 PM

those are my pics. wat u guys think? btw those are ep3 wheels that i got on right now. but thas only temporary because im getting my real rims repainted white with a thin red lip. i was also thinking of painting 1 spoke on each rim red. but that is probably gonna be too much work >.<

BoyYota · 09-26-2010, 10:13 PM

Decent. Obviously needs work but it's decent. Where did you get the intake?

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:15 PM

oh ya. and my recent accident bent my rad support. so im planning to replace the whole thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoyYota

Decent. Obviously needs work but it's decent. Where did you get the intake?

its a spectre intake short ram with apc filter. unfortunately the short ram that i ordered said it fit the corolla but it was too long. so i had to shave almost half off. then i also wanted to put a knn filter. but it didnt fit unless i shaved the ram more. so i just took a smaller filter for the time being. still sounds really nice n clean. so im fine with that.

EDIT: oh i forgot to tell u where i got it haha. i actually work at a parts store. n i ordered it. i was surprised when i found out that we carry it haha >.<

BoyYota · 09-26-2010, 10:38 PM

Cool. You should have moved your battery and kept it long, then lengthened it even more with additional piping so you could get it right behind the headlight.

I plan on making my own starting with the Spectre kit from Advance.

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:42 PM

OH thas where i work haha. thas the exact same short ram that i have. only its twice as long. i shouldve move my battery. it was kinda a rush job. so ya. sounds good though i gotta say.

***Kiwi-Corolla*** · 09-26-2010, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xp0undcak3x

those are my pics. wat u guys think? btw those are ep3 wheels that i got on right now. but thas only temporary because im getting my real rims repainted white with a thin red lip. i was also thinking of painting 1 spoke on each rim red. but that is probably gonna be too much work >.<

Looks good, aside from the rust and missing corner light. Not often that I see black ones. Not really keen on the headlights, but the wheels suit well. Definitely wouldn't paint one spoke red on each of your new wheels though. That would look weird.

P.S. The pictures were huge and took forever to load, so I resized and re-hosted them. Hope you don't mind

xp0undcak3x · 09-26-2010, 10:51 PM

oh i already bought the jdm headlights u were talking about. its the 1 bulb with black housing. and im sorry about the pictures. if u can tell me how do post it like u please do. and i definitly dont mind thank you. another question. will those jdm headlights fit the usdm hood and fenders?