[Hiro Protagonist]

So I went and did a thing the other day. Barring a KE10, we have now completed ownership of every single odd-numbered Corolla generation (3, 5, 7, 11 and now finally 9), and in some ways the fact that my pending existence caused my mother to have to sell her KE10 is kinda poetic (and ironic).

So, meet Marvin - both after Marvin the Paranoid Android from HHGTTG (the movie remake unfortunately, since the BBC miniseries version was silver rather than white), and Lee Marvin from the classic Western musical Paint Your Wagon (I was just stretching for any name connected to the word "wagon" really).

Pertinent details
2006 Ascent wagon
218k
Manual (I am pathologically unable to buy an auto if manual is a viable option)
All 3 cupholder dividers present and correct (apparently a minor miracle)
Boot room for days

Yes it will be getting some (minor) modifications
No I won't be putting the 2ZZ in to it instead of the 102
Yes I still have the 102
No it isn't finished yet.

by Ian Rigby, on Flickr

 

[OZCorolla_x2]

Looks a lot like mine, 2006 was the last Wagon in Oz, so good pick up.

Just about all of the wagons rear struts are well & truely dead by 160,000kms, ie when you push them down they don't come back up.....So when you rock the steering wheel side to side at 40km/hr the car will pitch & yaw all over the place.

If you are mechanically capable, suggest doing all 4 struts with KYB Excel G's it does not cost much & it will handle so much better.
Front Lower Control Arm Rear Bushes (the large circular ones) will start to crack/tear from 250,000kms replace by nominal 320,000kms.

Agree the boot space is fantastic in the Wagon &
Mid 2005 onwards has Flyby Wire Throttle Body, if you clean your throttle body & have OBDII, the resting position should be 14.1
The red silicon inlet manifold gasket mentioned on this forum fits & would be worth doing by 250,000kms, your idle will become smoother

If you pick up a genuine rear boot carpet it quietens the Wagon down road noise wise as does having the retractable cargo blind over the boot in place.

IMO the Ascent seats are more comfortable than the Conquest seats.

If Toyota imported the new 1.8lt non hybrid wagon into Oz I'd buy one.

Rob.

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

Just about all of the wagons rear struts are well & truely dead by 160,000kms, ie when you push them down they don't come back up.....So when you rock the steering wheel side to side at 40km/hr the car will pitch & yaw all over the place.

If you are mechanically capable, suggest doing all 4 struts with KYB Excel G's it does not cost much & it will handle so much better.

Struts are still fine but will be getting lowered at some stage (not excessively as it will still be seeing gravel roads etc). First up is a new headunit (already ordered) as the factory unit isn't connected (previous owners removed an aftermarket one but the wiring had been cut instead of using an ISO harness), as well as the rear brakes to fix a high-speed shudder (new rotors and pads already ordered). Fronts look like they have plenty of meat left so they can wait a bit.

If you pick up a genuine rear boot carpet it quietens the Wagon down road noise wise as does having the retractable cargo blind over the boot in place.

You mean a boot liner? The deck boards are already carpeted. Cargo blind I'm keeping an eye out for but isn't essential as the rear seats will down most of the time (so I can fit my bike in the back without needing the towbar/bike-rack)

 

[OZCorolla_x2]

My rear rotors are still good at 288,000kms & I'm still on the "Original Pads" noted that mine does not have ABS (so just the standard proportioning valve set up once you have ABS eg my 2009 ZRE152 at best you will get 120,000kms from rears)....so seems odd to be doing rear rotors at 218,000kms.
=>> Does yours have the "Safety Pack" ie Ascent with dual Air Bags & ABS?

Some store the cargo blind under the rear floor in the slots for that purpose? Check.....if lucky yours might be there?

WRT "You mean a boot liner?"
No. The "High Quality Toyota Genuine Boot Carpet" they were $75 on ebay on run-out from Sydney City Toyota (see if you can get one from a fresh kill at the wreckers along with the cargo blind.) else maybe ask your local Toyota Dealer?
Toyota Manufacturer Part Number: PZQ2012040

eg

TOYOTA COROLLA WAGON CARGO MAT CARPET OCT 01 - MARCH 07 NEW GENUINE ACCESSORY | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for TOYOTA COROLLA WAGON CARGO MAT CARPET OCT 01 - MARCH 07 NEW GENUINE ACCESSORY at the best online prices at eBay!

www.ebay.com.au

eBay item number: 291079188974
New Toyota Genuine Accessory
Corolla cargo mat. Grey carpet
Suits ZZE# Wagon
PZQ20 12040
Toyota Corolla RHD
Grafiet
Made in Netherleands

The deck boards are already carpeted.
Not really they have a fur coating, but in mine I would not call that carpet.

WRT "as the rear seats will down most of the time...bike transport"
=>> exactly what I use mine for. It is perfect for that purpose, so much more space than the ZRE152 Hatch.

Rob

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

Nope, no Safety Pack so only driver's airbag, no ABS. It's mainly the pads that need doing if the shudder was from a warped/uneven rotor I figured I might as well just replace them whilst I'm there, whenever I buy a car I have a tendency of assuming that the previous owners didn't take care of it and will often replace a lot of things just to have a clean slate.

And yes, already checked under the rear deckboards for the cargo blind, no dice.

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

First mod done (well not quite, still got to wire it up but wanted to do a test-fit first), need to work out where I'm going to run the USB for AA/ACP too

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[Hiro Protagonist]

Next step was trying to sort out the brake shudder - previous owner indicated that they had been told by the mechanic at last service/rego that the rears were almost done, so I figured that would be the first place to start. Ordered new rotors and pads (didn't bother with the parking brake shoes), arrived quick-smart so got to work swapping them in....

Man I forgot how much I hated drum brakes. Even though the rear brakes are disc, the parking brake works via shoes against the inside of the rotor hat, which means you have to back them off when replacing the rotors otherwise they can catch on a lip. Well, it turns out that I mustn't have backed them off enough (or they stuck to the inside of the rotor), because when I pulled off the right rear (had to use the jacking screws because it wasn't coming by hand) the shoes had grabbed on to something and managed to bend the entire backing plate (despite the only connection between the shoes and the plate being two nail-thin pins). This meant that the new rotor (or the old one, for that matter) could not fit back over the shoes regardless of how much they were backed off, so I was up Schitt's Creek without a rowing instrument.

Cue a fit of inspiration to literally rip the entire parking brake hardware off the backing plate, smash the thing back as close to flat as possible with a sledgehammer, tie up the cable to the back of the hub and then make a break-of-dawn run down to Sydney the next day (with no working handbrake) to pick up a new wheel hub....which just turned out to be an entire rear torsion beam assembly, because it required less disassembly (and also gave a few spares). Good thing I bought a wagon, and in a moment of poetic irony the first part the parts hauler hauled was literally it's own rear end (like a Babuskha doll)

All goes back together without a hitch, then the new rotors and pads finally fit and my brake shudder problems were solved.

Except they weren't. So I figured that it must be the fronts, instead (not like there was any other option, apart from the uncomfortable possibility of excessive runout). Didn't really have time before Christmas to order new rotors (at least pads I could get off the shelf), but fortunately I had a spare set of DBA T2s lying around that were slated to go on the ZZE102 (since the SuperStrut brakes run essentially the same 275mm front rotors). Bit of overkill for a daily wagon hack, but time was more important and I wasn't driving up to Coffs to go camping over NYE with shuddering brakes. At least these went in without a hitch (apart from having to take a few hours break whilst I tracked down which mate I had lent my caliper piston resetting tool to). And lo and behold, the shudder was cured.

So speaking of camping, this was one of the reasons why we bought a wagon in the first place (other than being a parts hauler). Still tonnes of room (pretty much from window line up to the roof)

Anyway, after we got back in the new year, I set about getting stuck in to the rest of the planned initial mods. First up, towbar. Should be simple, new towbar and straight car (no accident history) should mean everything lines up nice and neat, right?

Right?

Guess again. Looks like Blind Freddy got a job at TAG some time last year, and welded together my towbar as straight as Mardi Gras

So now I've got to go through the hassle of an eBay return of a metre-long chunk of steel, which is always fun. Still, at least the day wasn't a total write-off, as I acquired a set of 16" wheels to progress one step further along the path to Dad-bod Sportivo (the Aus-market 2ZZ hatch model).

 

[XtRaSlo]

Nice collection and wagon 👌

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

Short version, towbar now fits - just have to rip the interior trim out of the boot to see if there's any pre-wired plugs of whether we'll have to wire it in from scratch



Long version - measured the mounting points on the car with stringlines and plumbs, sent dimensions to manufacturer who confirmed that their entire batch was out (must have been an issue with the jig if that's the case), sent out a new towbar adjusted to the exact dimension of what I had (just in case) and arranged for Toll to pick the other one up (so at least I didn't have to schlep to the post office). One of the tow hook bolt holes was on the verge of stripping out however (not uncommon by the sounds of it) so had to chase it out with a thread tap, of course it had to be the one with the tightest clearance and worst access (muffler side, closest to bumper, and with a useless plastic tab on the bumper getting in the way).



Next up is chasing down a facelift ZRE152 steering wheel so I can have SWC for the headunit (although Android Auto is now broken due to my new phone, also seems to be a common problem with S22s). Also picked up a full set of power windows/switches and door trims, at some stage I'll have to pull the interior apart and see how much is also pre-wired for them.

 

[Hiro Protagonist]

ZRE152 steering wheel now fitted, SWCs aren't hooked up until I can get a new clock spring (going to switch to black fascia too, silver doesn't suit the Ascent interior) but already feels tonnes better than the stock vinyl noodle-ring.

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[Esso]

Nice wheel. Rear disc brake is the way to go!

In the US, we don’t have fender lights. I was curious if you could measure out the placement of the fender light relative to the fender for me? I have Scion XB fender lights but I just can’t find approximation of their location. Appreciated if you could.

Great wagon. A rare or nonexistent sight here in the states. I haven’t seen a retrofit of this front end yet. That be neat to have here.

Here’s the picture of what I have.

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