New Commuter / Project

[badquenga]

What up! I know this isn't the "Introduction Page", but those things are useless in big forums like this. This isn't my first car or forum, but I'll probably be more involved in the DIY of this car than any other. I currently drive a '99 M3, but picked this up for a commuter car and to save money while I finish school. I've switched my major so many times I'm about to begin my 4th year and I'm still in community college. Haha. Oops. But hey, I've got one life, might as well take my time figuring out what I want to do.

Anyways, here's the beater...but not for long. You'll see a lot of DIY from me. I love hard work and I hate handing over money. Check out my YouTube page if you're curious. I've only got 1, lost a bunch when my laptop crashed and burned. A few other random vids, haha. I'll do better for the Corolla...I actually got a real camcorder now .

[PhatRoyale]

Welcome to TN!

You'll find a lot of useful information on the sticky threads at the top.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

[96coroll]

Ugh going from an M3 to a corolla is going to suck. But you'll save on gas that's for sure.

[badquenga]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

Welcome to TN!

You'll find a lot of useful information on the sticky threads at the top.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Thanks. I've seen the stickies, not as many as I'd expect for such a popular car. But, I'll be adding to that soon enough.

Originally Posted by 96coroll

Ugh going from an M3 to a corolla is going to suck. But you'll save on gas that's for sure.

Yeah, to a certain extent. Commuting 50 miles in an M3 only sounds fun. When you hit traffic caused by daily accidents/people who can't merge, constantly shifting gears on a M3 clutch gets tiring and annoying. Watching your money get eaten away by gas stations ain't fun. The stiff suspension is fun, but not very comfortable for long drives.

And, it's not just gas money I'll be saving. I just did a front brake job and it cost me $250 in parts. I priced a front brake job for the Corolla and it wasn't even the cost of 1 rotor for the M3. Oil changes are ridiculous, this stupid I6 motor takes 7qts of oil, adding that each qt is $8, just to do an oil change is $60. I'm doing an oil change on the Corolla in a few minutes, cost a whopping $17. BMW's are not economical in any sense. They have tons of parts/equipment that are overrated/useless (like a $300 smog pump, with a $90 valve that pumps air through the cat for the first 90 seconds of a cold start, just to heat up the cat...it fails every 100k or so). Or the Corolla has a $5 PCV while the M3 has a $80 CCV.

I feel cool driving the M3, but I feel rich driving the Corolla. Funny how that works .

[Bitter]

get some new headlights and run HIR headlight bulbs to see better at night. What year/engine/trans is the rolla? I got some awesome gas mileage by advancing my timing a hair to 15deg btdc and running 89 octane fuel. cost only about $1 more per fill up (89 is about .10 more than 87 per gallon by a 10 gallon fill up) and I seemed to a consistent 3-8mpg better all around. Of course I also had an ebay header and new primary O2 sensor but I did seem to gain pep AND mpg...felt like a real win-win. Helped out with passing people on the highway or getting to merge with traffic.

[badquenga]

Originally Posted by Bitter

get some new headlights and run HIR headlight bulbs to see better at night. What year/engine/trans is the rolla? I got some awesome gas mileage by advancing my timing a hair to 15deg btdc and running 89 octane fuel. cost only about $1 more per fill up (89 is about .10 more than 87 per gallon by a 10 gallon fill up) and I seemed to a consistent 3-8mpg better all around. Of course I also had an ebay header and new primary O2 sensor but I did seem to gain pep AND mpg...felt like a real win-win. Helped out with passing people on the highway or getting to merge with traffic.

Yeah, I looked into lights, but I don't drive at night much. This is just my commuter. The most I'll be driving is 2 miles home from school every M-Th. Other than that I go to work when it's light out and come back before it gets dark.

It's a '96 DX 1.8L. I think one of the motor mounts is bad, whole car shakes like crazy. But the idle is good and it's smooths out when decelerating. It's parked for now cuz it needs new belts. Genius who put on the alt belt didn't align in properly, so it's missing a groove...shredded. Squeals like crazy, but new belts are on their way.

I may or may not advance the timing. I used to do it on my Nissan's, but I'm just too lazy..and my timing gun went out on me. And, since I've had the bimmer, no need for a timing gun, so I just tossed it.

So far it's got new oil, plugs, I power washed the car and mats, vacuumed the interior and exploded a whole box of baking soda all over the interior of the car. It smells like an old POS. I'll be ripping out the seats and carpet and taking them up to my apartment to clean 'em. God I wish I still had a garage.

Had to use PB Blaster on all the lug nuts. Most didn't want to come of and all the others were a pain. I think one took out the lug bolt though. I'm saturating it with PB in hopes it's OK. But it's the only one that doesn't want to come off.

The only other thing is this damn alarm. Constantly locks itself. I had to unplug the battery while I was working on the car..and then I finally just clipped the alarm.

Other than that LIST of minor details, car is doing it's duty. Driving me all over the place (short distances now until I replace that belt) and saving me money.

[Bitter]

96 won't let you play with timing. You will have to drive it at night at some point, and when that time comes you'll wish you could see worth a damn...trust me.

[badquenga]

Originally Posted by Bitter

96 won't let you play with timing. You will have to drive it at night at some point, and when that time comes you'll wish you could see worth a damn...trust me.

Good to know, now I don't have to research it. I don't care about the lights. I can see just fine. I may do them in the future, but as for now, not on the list. Keepin it mechanically sound is.

[cipher93]

If you want to put in some elbow grease, Turtle Wax makes a Headlight Restoration kit I've had really good luck in. Allow yourself 10-15 to treat each head lamp and give it a night before getting it wet to make sure they head lamps seal. Should help clean up the foggy lens quite nicely, especially when paired with a high quality bulb like a Sylvania Silver Star (the short life shouldn't be an issue if you're like me and only drive at night very occasionally).

[badquenga]

Originally Posted by cipher93

If you want to put in some elbow grease, Turtle Wax makes a Headlight Restoration kit I've had really good luck in. Allow yourself 10-15 to treat each head lamp and give it a night before getting it wet to make sure they head lamps seal. Should help clean up the foggy lens quite nicely, especially when paired with a high quality bulb like a Sylvania Silver Star (the short life shouldn't be an issue if you're like me and only drive at night very occasionally).

Funny you should say that. That's my project this weekend...but, Turtle Wax...no. LOL, check out my youtube page. I make side cash doing headlight restorations, haha.

http://youtu.be/jBWemN0rqgY

I do a lot less steps than this video shows, but it was meant to show all the possible steps.

[badquenga]

Posted a thread in the show section. Did some 'detailing' today. Not much, but car looks much better now.

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...67#post3619867