Prophecy's AE92 Corolla Levin

[Prophecy]

Hey guys, long time no see. Took ownership of my first proper car today :D

 

Its a 1989 Toyota Corolla Levin Apex (not GT Apex, unfortunately), 280xxx kms.

 

Working electric sunroof, windows (sorta...) and mirrors. Oh, and TEMS!

 

Black, pretty faded, but you get that.

 

Genuine 14" Watanabe F8s, apart from that its stock.

 

Does have a blown head gasket. Not sure what else is wrong with it, probably going to pull that engine out and drop another rebuilt 16v 4AGE in it. 20v 4AGE from a series 2 AE111 might come in the future with a manual box.]

 

Over the moon, I've wanted one of these for a long time now, cant wait to get stuck in :)

 

 

With a mate's 20v hatch :)

[Ryzza5]

What happened to your other Corolla?

[Prophecy]

Still got it, my license got taken back off me for a points technicality, get it back in November. Was looking to sell it, but I think im going to keep it as a daily, its needs rego anyway to sell, and the Levin still has rego, not going to cost me any extra to have both. Will sell the seca at some stage.

[Guest MrLolololXD]

Very nice Matt, been looking forward to the pics. How does it go compared to the old Rollamobile?

 

And is that Paolo's AE92? I swear it looks way different from the last lot of pics with your 2 Corolla's together that I saw... :mhmm:

 

Exhaust note videos required :D

[Prophecy]

Cheers man, its a pretty different experience to le rollamobile, didnt go very hard in the carpark, due to it being a carpark, and the engine being broken, but it feels nice and responsive, cant wait to take it on a twisty run.

 

That is indeed Paolos hatch, how long ago did you last see photos of it? Its been like that for at least 6 months lol. Exhaust note vids MAY come with this engine, maybe not though, dont want to blow it up. I am genuinely concerned for it, it seems very unhealthy.

[calster17]

Happy to see you got one at last! :D

She seems in good nick from the photos.

[Prophecy]

Ehhhhh seems it. Its not, really, lol. To be fair, the seats are! Doesnt look like anyones ever sat in the back seat, front seats are stain and general wear free, no tears, still very supportive. I'm really happy about that, the seats are epic

[Prophecy]

Noticed the PWR and MANU buttons, along with some obscure red button that isnt labeled on the gear selector trim today. Can anyone shed some light on what they do? (Obviously 'power' and 'manual')

 

Pulled the radiator out today.+ new headlight bulbs (I bought new ones for my seca early this year, forgot that I got 2 pairs, found the second pair in a drawer yesterday :D ) + domo (not really visible in this photos. Sitting behind the rear vision mirror)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ryzza5]

Obscure button on the gear stick will most likely be Overdrive. Leave it on most of the time to improve milage, although iirc you can turn it off to improve engine braking when going down hill.

 

Got a photo of the other buttons?

 

Awesome paint job/polish. I'd be looking for some new/brighter headlights to finish off the sharp look at the front. And also darkest legal window tint.

[Prophecy]

Nah I knew about the overdrive button, seca has it as well, they are 2 other buttons. i'll get photos of them on the weekend. Its not at my house, at a mate's, as he has room to store it and work on it, which I dont lol.

 

Tint FOR SURE. Dont mean to ruin the illusion, but the paint isnt that great everywhere. Look at the roof in the third photo. Theres a patch on the drivers side that HAS been polished. Luckily the whole roof should come up like that. It'll get a full buff and polish soon enough, that ought to sort it out. The rear spoiler is pretty terribly faded in a couple of spots too. Easy enough to respray it though :)

 

Those ARE brighter headlights! I put them in today lol. Parker lights will be changed to match later on.

[Ryzza5]

haha, yeah I did spot the roof paint afterwards but I'm sure you'll get around to it given the potential the bonnet shows. For the headlights I was thinking more along the lines a white/blue light as opposed to yellow. I got some Phillips Extreme bulbs from the PowerBulbs website after a recommendation from Dan_G here. Ignore the claims of being able to see further - yes they are brighter but they're still pointed at the ground at the same angle (being dipped beams - the high beams would be another story).

 

Steering wheel is also looking a bit dated, could possibly replace that - I assume you've given it a good clean after seeing the TopGear episode on 2nd hand BMW's ;)

[Guest MrLolololXD]

Looks awesome, and I don't care what you say, it better be at Toyotafest :evil: Especially if the 7M owners can make it out :p

 

As for light globes get some Philips Crystal Visions, that's what I bought the other week for my Supra. They're nice and bright, no hint of yellow at all, they're pure white and they don't really have a blue tint at all either. They do give the housings a slight blue tinge when they're not turned on, because the bulb glass is coloured blue, which I think looks pretty awesome. They come with some free parker globes in the packet aswell. I'll have to grab some pics of my lights tomorrow night, I replaced all the high/low/fog and parkers with them.

[Prophecy]

Woah woah, you guys are seeing the fog lights lol- yellow bulbed fog lights in the same housing as the headlights, thats the yellow, the headlight bulbs are 4000k xenons, slightly blue :P

 

Upgrading to a Nardi Gara asap. The standard ones, especially in good nick are worth close to 200 bucks. Pretty sure some of it has been resprayed, like the bonnet, hence it looking so good- I havent polished it, only that spot on the roof and a spot on the spoiler.

[Ryzza5]

You're right - I just noticed. So change the fog lights then :p

[Prophecy]

are you JOKING? Cant have non yellow fog lights on a jdm car ryz, surely you know this.

 

but seriously, no. yellow fogs ftw.

[Ryzza5]

I'm actually more surprised that car HAS fog lights. :lol: My 2010 Golf doesn't even have them (was an option that wasn't ticked).

[Prophecy]

yeah a range of ae92s had them. cielo (jap/euro spec seca) has redesigned headlights with foglights built into them like the levin. sprinter sedan also, it has the same front end as the cielo. hm. thats about it actually.

[The Compensator]

That's some fancy JDM stuff you have got there. :btup:

[Prophecy]

Gave it a pretty thorough clean inside and out on the weekend- plus a little half hearted attempt at a buff on the roof. I dont think the whole roof will come up well... Interior is much nicer/better than I thought though!

 

Excuse the bad quality. Taken with camera phone (my brand spankin' Nokia Lumia 925, mind you) with bad lighting.

 

Found even more adjustment on the driver's seat. Why anyone would want to swap these with aftermarket buckets is beyond me, and its now glaringly obvious why EVERYONE who knows anything wants these for their corolla. I'll give you a run down... Whole seat forward/back adjustable (obviously), back rest angle adjustable (obviously), leg bolsters adjustable in/out, seat... erm... part you sit on? tilt adjustable, back rest curve/flat adjustable, side bolsters adjustable in/out, head rest up/down (obviously...). Needless to say, i've set it up to be the bucketiest, tightest, coziest I can fit in. Its so god damn comfortable and supportive, holy crap.

 

Found out what the red button does! It locks it in park, you have to hold it in, and hold the lock button on the gear stick to get it out of park lol. Going to get annoying...

 

But yes, after a very thorough vacuum, and a good clean with a Meguires/comparable interior spray and a good cloth, it actually came up reeeal nice, much better than expected. Not a whole lot of fading, no tears in any fabric, not too many marks, not tooooo much in the way of interior panels not lining up (theres a couple here and there where its obviously been taken apart and then forced back together).

 

Discovered that it had an amp once... 2 x RCA cables + that thick cable running under the carpet under the passenger seat. Might have to get an amp wired in. Hadnt planned on it, but if the wiring is already there...

 

Also found that a 2DIN head unit will NOT fit! The cup holders take up about 10-15mm of the bottom of the compartment, making it impossible to fit a 2DIN anything without removing the cup holder piece- and it is not going anywhere. Its ok, theres plenty of nice 1DIN units out there.

 

Has anyone been in one of these before? How crazy is the leg room in the back??? And I dont mean good.

 

After washing with a proper good wash/wax solution it came up realll nice outside too, apart from the fading on the roof but what can you do, besides respray.

Didnt realize just how much metallic fleck there is, its gorgeous in full sun light, comes up a dark grey rather than black. Very cool.

 

Oh, and the stickers have begun... hehe.

 

 

 

More to come soon. New radiator should turn up this week, along with the top hose, already got a new bottom hose so it'll be ready to go back on. Then we can run it AGAIN (so we can truly check how it runs before we pull it apart), THEN the pull apart of the head shall begin. Lets hope its not too bad in there, huh.

 

--- Post Updated ---

 

HA. Just after writing this entry, my head mechanic/mechanically talented mate informed me that he's got the new radiator on and has ran it this afternoon. Bottom end too noisy, pulling the engine for a rebuild. Dropping another 16v (just that, no manual box, that'll come when the current engine has been rebuild) in it when I can afford one, just to get it running. Then we have to worry about the bushes, ball joints, rear hubs (3 of 4 studs on both rears spin...)...

[Prophecy]

How plans change, huh...

 

Picked up another smallport 4AGE on the weekend, no major issues, needs a general freshen up/service, will let my mate diagnose and write a list over the week and we'll get started on it on the weekend, hopefully have it in in the next few weeks.

 

20v 4AGE has gone out the window completely, could not be bothered. Manual might be out as well.

 

My dear mother- and I mean that in the best sense, shes the best- knows little ABOUT cars, but likes them as I do, and has a massive thing for Supras, Celicas, Skylines... anything 'low and wide and streamlined' as she puts it- anyway, shes great to just bounce ideas off, shes a logical thinker and crazy frugal.

 

I realized that if I drop a 20v and a manual box in my prized rare imported Levin, I am just taking away from what it is. I am one of the few people on the planet that can enjoy an auto car, I dont need manual to have fun- granted, manual IS fun. Keeping it auto means I can go from a spirited drive in the mountains straight back into the CBD and be comfortable, not on and off the clutch in stop start peak hour traffic. Means its not molested and modified.

 

As for the 20v engine, sure its got an extra 30 hp, its newer, its got an extra valve per cylinder- they sound the same, they are the same capacity, its just a whole lot more messing around to make a 20v work, and it is just not worth it.

 

So the current plan, both short term, and long term:

 

Freshen up the new motor- seals, fluids, belts, hoses etc.

 

Maybe paint the rocker covers while the engine is out- I was going to do them white and paint the letters black, but then I saw something- cant even remember what it was, and the choice was instantly clear. JPS. Black covers, gold letters. Subtle, sleek, and all kinds of awesome.

 

Replace bushes, ball joints and rear hubs.

 

Do blue LED gauge cluster conversion :) (will post photos when its done)

 

Swap watanabes for the 16"s on my Seca/liftback, because near new 195mm Bridgestone MY02s, and better sized wheels.

 

In car audio install- head unit and new speakers and a sub.

 

DRIIIIIIIIIIIVE.

 

December- Nardi steering wheel.

 

New brake discs all round, if it hasnt had to be done already.

 

Continue enjoying, do things as we go.

 

 

 

 

AT A LATER DATE.

 

Acquire Kouki AE86 notchback with manual gearbox. Drop a 20v or BEAMS 3SGE in it. Convert to track/weekend spirited driving machine, with interior in tact etc though. I do want a manual car, but the 92 Levin is not it, as it has played out. Its worth more to me as it is. Driveable, fun, quiet (it wont be too quiet- intake and exhaust will fix that), daily-able. The 86 would be the balls to the wall sideways track action car. :)

[Prophecy]

Did my first proper mod today. Painted the tired, faded grey grill. They actually came out chrome, which was awesome back in the early 90s, especially because its only plastic- lightweight AND classy. Not so great 20 years down the track when it just goes grey and horrible. (Hopefully you've all picked up on my sarcasm...) So I did what anyone interested in aesthetics would do, and painted it gloss black.

 

Before

 

After

 

 

No clear coat yet, i'll do that tomorrow, so its had enough time to dry properly. So happy with it, cant wait to see it on the car.

 

--- Post Updated ---

 

:O Just found this photo on google- this could very well be my car before it came to Australia- cant tell if it has a sunroof or not. Same wheels, etc. Also note the chrome grill.

 

[Prophecy]

Got the grill back in today, and fitted the new white parker bulbs- except, thanks to another case of Toyota's genius logic, the bulbs are flipped on the Levin. The bulbs I bought that would fit any other AE92's parker lights actually fits the indicators, and the indicator bulbs on any other AE92 fit the parkers. Oh well. Brighter indicators... I'll get parker bulbs when I get the car back in a few weeks lol.

 

Also applied the rest of my stickers :)

 

 

[Prophecy]

Just felt I had to make a random post... I am so damn excited for my license suspension to be over, and for this to be back on the road. I can not express in words what this car means to be. Its just an unknown jdm oddity to most, those who do understand probably own one, or something very similar and equally odd... I just love this car. I love looking at it, I love learning about it/them, I love what it is and what it did for the Levin/Trueno lineage. Most of all, I cant believe this is my car. This has gone on for far too long for it to be some awesome vivid dream though. This IS my car, and I will do it justice.

[Ryzza5]

So how many demerit points do you get post-suspension? If it was something high like 9 I'm guessing it would take ages of no infringements to get back down to 0?

[Prophecy]

I have no idea, tbh. I should probably look into that.