Ariel's Story - A tale of a Utah Corolla by ariel_86

21 minute(s) of a 89 minute read

I was so proud that I spent all morning at the autocross, that I didn’t even take my paper numbers off the car while I was drifting.

I decided after that day that I should try to autocross more and improve my driving by trying new things. Autocross also happen much more frequently than drifting, and was a little bit cheaper because I didn’t have to keep changing tires, so I decided that for 2010, I would autocross as much as possible, and drift when I time and money allowed. I also decided that something had to be done about the cut springs and stock struts, but coilovers were just too much money to consider at the moment.

March 2010 – Transformation

Throughout 2009, I had noticed my clutch slipping more and more at each drift event. After the autocross/drift event in October, I knew I would be parking her for the winter, so I finished off Ariel’s clutch by doing some burnouts in the driveway. Not only did I finish a set of tires, but also I finished the clutch to the point that I could change gears WITHOUT rev-matching or clutching in, and stay stopped. It wasn’t until I pulled the transmission did I realize just how good of a job I did killing that clutch.

I had the flywheel checked, cleaned/machined, and they said it was no worse for wear and still usable. I put in an XTD Stage 1 6-puck clutch and it’s been holding nicely so far.

I also picked up a set of proper springs, Tanabe GF210s. Well they are more proper than my cut springs were. I tossed those on while I was changing the clutch and tie rods.

You can see the note to myself about what I needed to fix before I could race it again. Once all of that was taken care of, I took Ariel up the street for a self-serve carwash and to put some air in the tires before her first autocross of the 2010.

And at the autocross, next to my dad’s truck. I invited a friend from school to come out and race my car with me at the autocross. It was a good time, but he end up beating me in my own car. To make it an even more disappointing day, I ended up melting a hole in my oil nylon oil pressure line to my gauge in the middle of one of my runs. Here’s the damage from that.

Luckily, it was a small enough leak that nothing caught on fire, even though I was leaking oil right onto the header. I think the ugly wire sleeve I had tucked it into and taped with electrical tape saved the car.

June 2010 – Second Co-driver

June saw me autocross and drift some more. This time I got my buddy Dan (who tried welding my differential the first time) to co-drive at an autocross event with me.

Dan managed to spin my car coming through the timing lights. I thought it was funny as hell.

4th of July Family BBQ

September 2010 – AutoX & Final drift

Not much racing happened during July and August as money was tight and summer school was kicking my ass. However, when summer ends and fall begins, not only do classes start, but Labor Day weekend hits which means one more weekend of racing before school kicks my ass again!

There was also the final drift event at RMR. I liked RMR, but not everyone else did. People complained about the transition from the banked oval to the infield, how the course was always the same, the lack of tandem, but really, I think the people in Utah just got lazy and wanted something new/different without having to work for it. Anyway, here are some pics from the “closing celebrations.” See if you can’t spot any friends you know.

December 2010 – Waiting for spring

This is how Ariel usually sits during the winter. Utah had an odd winter for 2010-2011, with most of the snow/rain coming during Jan, Feb, March, and even into Apr and May in the mountains. The valleys didn’t see nearly as much snow, but some rain.

April 2011 – UtahHondas.net Spring 2011 Meet

I joined a local Honda forum to keep entertained online, and when they threw their spring meet, I went took Ariel the 1.2 miles to park near my house they held it at. Two different people took pics of it.

May 2011 – Getting ready for summer

I had just graduated from college with my Bachelor’s of Science in Applied Physics and had a summer job with the Air Force at Hill AFB and just knew that being graduated and employed meant that I could afford to race every weekend! That means I needed to freshen up the car for the new season, so a fluid change was in order.

Ready for the first autocross I could make that season, Memorial Day.

June 2011 – Drifting again!

June saw drifting return to MMP’s west paddock area. This time, I put my dad’s worn out Cocker Classics “Red Line” tires on to finish them up. 205/75R14 tires on a 14x7” wheel are enormous on a Corolla!

The tires were so big that I could hardly turn the wheel before they scrapped against the fenders up front. While tall, they fit fine in the back.

At MMP, trying to slide. BTW, those Red Line tires have a lot of grip compared to most of the junk I drifted on.

Always have to fiddle with things while at the track…

At the drift event, I managed to run into one of the plastic barriers and bend the bracket that hold on the lower trim below the bumper. I left it off for the autocross the following weekend and managed to catch a cone hard enough that it pushed the edge of the bumper into the fender.

Then a week later, my Camry spun a bearing and it was no longer drivable. I resorted to daily driving the Corolla, which meant that for the second time in 6 years, I would legally be able to drive her on the street.

Gearhead Shirts made a AE86 Coupe shirt that I had to have. This is me showing off my pride and joy and my spiffy shirt.

September 2011 – Two cars are better than one

10 weeks after the Camry spun a bearing, and 6 weeks longer than it should have taken, I got her running again, after a full rebuild that included shaving the head after the piston slapped it after the bearing disappeared. That meant that I had two running, legal cars that I could drive whenever I pleased. I like this feeling.

My dad’s 1968 Plymouth Barracuda, fastback with a 318, 4bbl, auto, next to my cars.

September also brought another return of drifting to MMP, this time at the east Midway. There had been a lot of controversy about people making a mess, not cleaning it up or telling anyone about it, running into the fences and not telling anyone about it, and other stupid and reckless behavior that had threatened to ruin organized drift events in Utah. Thankfully, a few people stepped up to the plate to set some rules to make things run smoother, and we had another drift event to prove we can act responsibly.

It was fun spinning out again.

Winter 2011 - Future plans/goals

Ariel needs some coilovers. Desperately. That should be my first focus.

Then a new set of wheels and tires, probably in the 15x8” +0 range with some 195/55R15 high-grip street tires for autocross.

And I’d also like to rebuild the motor. I’m thinking a high compression ITB motor revving to 9k rpm and running off a Honda ECU, but that might wait until this engine goes or next winter, hopefully that latter.

May 2012 – Some maintenance required

Since the summer, I've taken the Corolla out to drive whenever I feel like it. It's nice to be able to drive it as long as I'm willing to fetch it out of the backyard. This winter I've discovered that while the climate control blower motor works, I have no heater. I think the heater core is clogged, but I haven't done anything about it yet. I'll get around to flushing it some.

I've also noticed a leak from my passenger front wheel bearing, and the clutch fluid disappearing, so I ordered in some new parts from RockAuto.

My cat investigating my new items. I bought a new BMC, CMC, CSC, front wheel bearings, nut, and dust cap, and wheel studs off a Lexus. I also plan on installing the Russell Speedbleeders when I replace everything, and flushing my clutch and brake fluid and replacing them both with some DOT 4 or Motul fluid. I'm also going to invest in a stainless steel braided clutch line from the body to the slave cylinder.

I'll try to remember to take some pics when I do things.

June 30, 2012

Well, the Corolla is sitting pretty in the backyard again. Registration expires today and I don't have the money to renew it. Also, I need to figure out why my headlights don't work (brights work, but not the low beams :/ ) and figure out if it's the salve cylinder or something else with the transmission leaking around bellhousing and clutch release fork.

November 4, 2012

So I sold my Camry a little while back. I needed the money to pay for bills. I've been working at getting my Corolla ready for DD status. I replaced the leaking clutch slave cylinder, put in a new SS braided line for the clutch slave, a new clutch master cylinder, and a new brake master cylinder as well, while I was in there. New DOT3 fluid in both systems as well. Both the brake and clutch feel nice and strong.

I also flushed out the heater and coolant lines. Turns out nothing was clogged, but it feels better knowing I've checked it all. The heater works beautifully now.

Replaced the throttle body because I had lost the nut that kept the cable on it and had stripped the threads.

Now I'm trying to sort out the headlights. And horn. Once that is taken care of, I should be ready to get her re-registered and start driving her.

November 6, 2012

Yay! I figured out my headlight problem! It was something in the turn signal/high beam switch itself. I'm borrowing one from Will right now, but I plan on trying one from an AW11 MR2 to see if that will work too.

November 8, 2012

Painted my 280Z wheels. These will be my winter wheels. Getting snow tires put on them tomorrow.

January 12, 2013

Well, this was from Saturday, but it was a lot of fun.

Playing around in the snow with my brother riding along.

Letting my brother try out my car.

Thanks!

I've never "properly" fixed the fender. I just took it off and tried to bend it back into shape. Every now and again, I have to pull/pry on it to keep it from catching on the door. Ideally, I'll replace it in the future, but it's just not a priority right now.

My autocross setup was the 280Z wheels up front and some 15x7" +40 chrome 5-spokes in the back. I ended up selling the chrome wheels to a buddy a while ago. Then I painted the 280Z wheels green for winter use.