New to Performance/Upgrades, need some opinions

[Machupicchu]

I have an 01 Corolla S, i just rebuilt the engine and fixed the oil burning issue, and now i would like to have a little fun with it. I cant seem to find many aftermarket performance options for the corolla (maybe im just not looking in the right places) so i turn to you guys.

I want to stick with NA, so beside all the bolt ons (intake,exhaust,ecu,) i plan on upgrading the head. Which leads me to my first dilemma. I want to start getting parts but i am unsure which route to go.

I could stick with the stock corolla head, which would involve bigger cams, porting and polishing, new valves, stronger springs etc... but i feel like finding aftermarket performance parts might prove difficult.

(I believe this is possible) but I could put a celica head on the block and do the same, making it slightly easier to find parts.

Or, if i could find one, buy an aftermarket head for the 1zz be it celica, corolla, whatever will fit, and built it myself. Iv seen the MWR head but it seems kind of pricy.

I don't want to start buying things that wont fit or work when i start the headwork, so i want to figure out the best possible direction ahead of time.

Thanks for all your input in advance.

[PhatRoyale]

If you're planning on doing all that work, you might as well get a 2ZZ-GE swap and have a better base to start with.

[Machupicchu]

Ya i thought about it but i just finished rebuilding the bottom end, and california doesn't take nicely to swaps if you still want to smog it. Looking to stick with the 1zz

[ilovecorollale]

So besides intake, header, exhaust, you can add the intake manifold and throttle body from the newer 1zz engine (black plastic intake manifold). Maybe lightweight pulleys if it helps and just try to lighten up your car.

[Machupicchu]

So are a lot of the bolt on parts such as header, intake, exhaust for the 1zz pretty much interchangeable? I was talking to a buddy today who had to change the intake on his MKIII Supra every time he had to smog it because any intake with any modification or custom work would fail visual inspection. So im stuck with parts that will bolt on to a 1zz head. Aside from that though, does anyone know where one could buy a pre port/valve job head for a celica or corolla? Would the 2zz head fit on the 1zz block and still smog?

[Machupicchu]

Oh god, now im thinking about boosting it... someone stop me!

[silverone]

Originally Posted by Machupicchu

Oh god, now im thinking about boosting it... someone stop me!

Calm down man remember were driveing corollas

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by Machupicchu

Would the 2zz head fit on the 1zz block and still smog?

The 2ZZ head won't fit on the 1ZZ block, period.

[Machupicchu]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

The 2ZZ head won't fit on the 1ZZ block, period.

Ok cool that narrows it down a little.

Is there much difference between the celica gt and corolla head?

Basically would aftermarket intake and exhaust bolt ons, and internals for a celica fit into a corolla head?

[PhatRoyale]

It's been covered before:

1zzfe celica VS 1zz fe corolla

Verdict is that it's not worth the time, money and hassle just for a tiny gain. When it comes down to performance on Corollas it's engine swap or bust.

[kitzmiller88]

underdrive pulley, intake, flashing the ecu, headers and resonator delete exhaust. those are really the only things that can be done to the car, best bet is to trade it in on something better

[Bdub215]

Originally Posted by kitzmiller88

underdrive pulley, intake, flashing the ecu, headers and resonator delete exhaust. those are really the only things that can be done to the car, best bet is to trade it in on something better

You can do a few more then those. and what would trading in on a better car do? thats giving up. you're supposed to make bad cars better.

[Bennie]

Originally Posted by Bdub215

You can do a few more then those. and what would trading in on a better car do? thats giving up. you're supposed to make bad cars better.

If you think it's a bad car then you really should be buying something else.

Not to bash anybody that's mods these, I usually end up modding just about everything I own in one way or another, but I've realized they did a GREAT job of engineering these cars to be dead reliable, exreamly inexpensive daily drivers with perfectly acceptable power, brakes and handling.

Can it be improved on? Absolutely! But not by much unless you dump some serious $$$ in to it. That's what I've got other cars & bikes for.

[PhatRoyale]

Originally Posted by Bennie

If you think it's a bad car then you really should be buying something else.

Not to bash anybody that's mods these, I usually end up modding just about everything I own in one way or another, but I've realized they did a GREAT job of engineering these cars to be dead reliable, exreamly inexpensive daily drivers with perfectly acceptable power, brakes and handling.

Can it be improved on? Absolutely! But not by much unless you dump some serious $$$ in to it. That's what I've got other cars & bikes for.

Well said.

[Bennie]

Don't let me discourage anybody from having fun with your Corolla, just be realistic about it. Do it because you like to work on cars and you want to make it unique. Don't do it so you can go beat down Evos & Vettes. There just isn't the aftermarket support for these things.