Pics of my Luxury Toyota

Don't go around the country in your show car lol, definitely have to use a beater like mine

You don't really have a beater though, I definitely would not take either of those 2 BMWs on the trip I took. One car is a show car, and the other is a race car. Maybe you could pick up something just for a trip!

but it didn't have an engine or interior last I saw lol, not going anywhere in that condition

More random mods!

I replaced the old ugly hazed dome light cover with a new clear style, looks so much nicer!

New vs Old Dome Light Lens by gold94corolla, on Flickr

New Dome Lens Installed by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Still got the two 5000k LED boards soldered in there, super bright

New Dome Lens Lit Up by gold94corolla, on Flickr

I got a new set of sidemarkers, they were supposed to be smoked, but they didn't look very smoked to me. So I easily broke them open and painted them flat primer black to match all of the other lights. Also redid the paint on the head lights, since it was looking scratched up (top 3 pieces are painted in the pic)

Head Lights and Side Markers Painted by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Sidemarkers came out very nice looking

Completed Side Markers by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Comparison to what I had before

New Side Marker Comparison by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Installed (I had to color the LED bulb inside from aluminum to black)

New Side Markers No Tint by gold94corolla, on Flickr

I didn't like that look, it didn't quite match the darkness of the fogs, and the lens ripples were too obvious. So I had to put a light tint over them after all (it was a dark tint on the old sidemarkers)

Comparison again. Came out almost identical, though the new isn't as yellow looking and isn't chrome inside.

New Sidemarkers Tinted Comparison by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Much better match this time!

New Side Markers Tinted by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Yeah that was basically a waste of time, but I wanted to see if the smoked sidemarkers would be smoked enough, and then they worked, I had to improvise.




I replaced the original chrome ball shift knob with this OEM Lexus knob out of an F-Sport, because it was perfect for my car.

New IS-F Sport Shifter by gold94corolla, on Flickr

New IS-F Sport Shifter by gold94corolla, on Flickr


Re-mounted the sub to the back of the baffle board as to increase clearance, since I think the foam was hitting the metal

Re-mounted Sub by gold94corolla, on Flickr


Then I put all of the interior back in, because I was tired of the road noise, heat coming up through the floor, and generally not having an interior lol.

Re-built Trunk by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6488 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6489 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6491 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

At some point before this post, I forgot to mention that I lowered the coilovers by a full two turns on all four corners, since it looked stupid without the lip kit and extra high due to lack of interior weight.

So I went on another vacation after my trip around the country. The pics I'll be posting at this point were taken in late June/early July. I got a bit ahead of myself earlier with the modification pics, but whatever.

The new fog lights are installed in these pics, but not the new side markers or reverse camera (to give you an idea of time line)

I was able to take my bike with me because it fit easily inside without any interior installed lol

Easy to Fit A Bike by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Oh, the vacation was to Elk Neck State Park peninsula at the top of the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. So the pics again try and capture the scenery.

IMG_6157-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6160-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6161-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6162-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6163-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IMG_6167-2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

At North East Lighthouse by gold94corolla, on Flickr

More pics

IS300 At A Dock 2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 At A Dock by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 In The Country by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Rear by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Rear Angle by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Front by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Front Angle by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Church by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Took some pics of the lights

3000k HID fogs only (custom wired)

Fogs Only by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Fogs + 5000k HID low beams

Low Beams & DRLs by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Low beams + white LED signal lights (DRL in dim mode)

Low Beams & DRLs by gold94corolla, on Flickr

White LED DRL (bright mode) + fogs

Fogs & DRLs by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Rear lights

Rear Lights by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Rear Lights Angle by gold94corolla, on Flickr


Sunset pics!

IS300 On The Bay by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Sunset 1 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Sunset 2 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

IS300 Sunset 3 by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Yeah no one gives a $***

Yeah I've just been super duper busy lol, hopefully post another update in a week

But I totally posted about it right after I came to see you

got it from Harbor Freight!

It was hella dark and I was hella tired and I hadn't gotten mine yet, so I didn't even notice

Oh, I noticed you jacking alright. I was just more focused on the jacking action than the actual tool used for jacking.

Update time.

I ordered two brand new painted fenders last night, as well as two complete doors that I will have to paint myself.


More (old) pics.

I'm planning to redo the interior, since the dashboard finish is deteriorating rapidly (infamous sticky dash problem). Gonna get a 2001 dashboard because it doesn't have this problem, then paint the trim gloss black with clear coat.

I will also be doing a dash kit, so I ordered some samples from CARID.com.

Dash Kit Samples by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Dash Kit Samples by gold94corolla, on Flickr

I originally wanted the blue and black carbon fiber finish (to go with the new blue-stitched shifter knob), but since it's real carbon fiber, you can only see the blue in one direction. And the all-blue carbon fiber is simply way too dark. Real carbon fiber is nice, but overdone. And the chrome came out as a flat mirror, not rounded like the others.

But I really like the black/gray zebra wood finish (in the corner), it has the darkish look of carbon fiber, but it unique. Gonna go with that whenever I get to it lol.

Next up was fender work. Since I was going to order new fenders, I wanted to roll them properly this time. So I got a fender roller on Ebay for $105.

Fender Roller by gold94corolla, on Flickr

I used it well enough, but since the fenders were already wrecked, this didn't do anything to help that. New fenders will be good though, since the metal will be evenly modified all around.

Fender Roller by gold94corolla, on Flickr

I was able to get all 4 fenders rolled/pulled even more though, which eliminated any kind of occasional rub I had. I also messed with the bumper/fender alignment to make it smoother looking, like the car was naturally wider from the factory.

Front Fenders Rolled by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Rear Fenders Rolled by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Oh, and the front lip is back on, since I hated how it looked without anything.

Front Lip Installed by gold94corolla, on Flickr

washed

Car Washed by gold94corolla, on Flickr


I also bought this fender finisher, but I don't know if I'll need it on the new fenders. Bought it just in case I need to do minor adjustments. It was only $30 lol.

Eastwood Fender Finisher by gold94corolla, on Flickr


Finally, I happened to find a random windshield repair kit in Walmart, so I bought it and had a go. Not bad for my first try. You can still see a little part of the outline, I don't think I used enough resin. But the chip was about the size of a nickel inbetween the two layers of glass. This looks 100 times better than before lol. After I took this pic, I finished the job by filling the hole in the middle.

Windshield Chip Repair In Progress by gold94corolla, on Flickr

In the effort of catching up, you get 2 updates in one day lol.

My front DRL switch that I had since the Corolla fried on a pothole somehow, so I had to look for a replacement. Jeez it's impossible to find a simple rectangle switch.

But I remembered these guys:

http://www.otrattw.net/home.php

Figured I'd give it a shot and see what happened.

I first ordered 2 switches, one for the front lights, and one for the tail lights that I was working on finishing.

Switches have a natural location right to the left of the steering wheel. The switches were slightly too big to fit, so I had to shave off the inner edge of the switch openings to make them fit, and I had to grind a slight amount off of the bottom of the switches.

Out with with the old, in with the new:

Switch Installation Preparation by gold94corolla, on Flickr

wow they look incredible

Installed Switches by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Wiring was kind of a pain though, since the switches do not have wire harness, but instead, have individual pins. But I got some female wire crimp ends and went to town. Each of these switches has 5 wires... 2 grounds and 2 hots for the 2 individual blue LEDs, and one output.

Switch Wiring by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Done and working! The switches match the OEM finish EXACTLY and look perfectly at home there!

Switches Installed by gold94corolla, on Flickr

When I turn the key to start the car, the top section lights up blue

Switches Lit by gold94corolla, on Flickr

And then when I flip the switch to the on position, the bottom indicator lights up to tell me that it's on.

Switches On by gold94corolla, on Flickr

These switches have a nice "action" to them, they have a very solid click feeling when rocking them on or off.

Switches Off by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Switches Lit Up by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Switches On by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Now that I had those 2 switches in, it was obvious that I had to find a third switch that would somehow control the brightness of the HID head lights (that's what the middle rotary switch does).

The old switch has 3 positions (3 brightnesses: 38 watt, 53 watt, and 68 watt), but I didn't really need all 3 settings. So I decided to go with a 2 position on-off-on switch. The low setting is now 43 watts, and the high setting is still 68 watts.

This switch has 10 pins though, since it's a double-pull, double-throw switch. The upper 2 pins control the upper LED, the lower 2 pins control the lower LED, the middle 2 pins are the 2 inputs, and the other 4 pins are the outputs. The resistor values you see there are what control the HID brightness. I also cleaned up the wiring a little bit by daisy-chaining some wires together, so that I only had one ground and one hot coming off the switch instead of 2.

Roo Burner Switch Wiring by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Originally, the lower blue LED was supposed to turn on to indicate that the switch was "on" in high brightness mode (you can see the little red jumper wire up there) but the problem is that the actual voltage coming from and going to the ballasts was so tiny that it didn't power the LED. So it didn't work.

I had to redo it all, using a large DPDT relay instead of the switch. So now, the HID brightness control runs through the relay instead, and the switch is powered by the low beams themselves with 12 volts, so that the lower LED works. The output of the switch goes to the relay to trigger it, so essentially, it's like one big switch. Each flip of the switch make the relay click. Of course, the switch ONLY works when the low beams are on.... what's the point of powering the lower indicator LED if the head lights aren't lit?

I also cleaned up the wiring to the other switches by redoing the crimps so that they daisy chained the common grounds and hots.

Huge DPDT Relay Added by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Yes that's a lot of mess, I do with these switches had harnesses, but it's not so bad. The relay just tucks behind there, and the dash easily fits back together.

Now everything is complete and working perfectly! Looks and feels amazing.

Switches Complete by gold94corolla, on Flickr

When the key is turned:

Switches Lit by gold94corolla, on Flickr

Bottom of the middle switch lights up when the low beams are on AND the switch is flipped on, regardless of key position:

Roo Burner Switch Works! by gold94corolla, on Flickr

(yes I got that switch because it has a kangaroo on it lol..... the idea behind "roo burners" is that, when flipped on, the lights are bright enough to incinerate any wildlife that jumps in front of me.... though that's just wishful thinking)

I love you!