Pics of my Luxury Toyota

Oh, you mean the bus? lol

The weather was actually nice for once, 50 degrees... so I washed the car quickly because I couldn't see out the windows anymore from all the salt lol.

Been forever since I put up pics, so I took a few really fast.

Beautiful weather today!

Filled up the car with 2 flat cartloads of bushes from HomeDepot




I still don't know how I managed to fit all of this in there in one trip lol





After cleaning up the huge mess inside, I changed the wheels from winters to summer.


These were great, but the softer material just doesn't have the extreme traction I need when it's warmer.





Washed the car with the summers back on. The body is in terrible shape after the winter lol, I've got my work cut out for me

Well it's been forever since I took pictures of my car, and it's not really in any kind of clean or presentable way, but why not? I'll do some mods in the fall when the weather is nice.

(Pictures are taken literally out in the middle of nowhere in South Carolina, as I drove from Baltimore to Atlanta)

about 45000 miles in 4.5 years

Hi

August Car Wash by Tobias Sing, on Flickr

Dead forum is dead

Fortunately, my car miraculously isn't dead yet


Dec 1st, 2015, I was driving home from work in the rain, minding my own business, when the car hydroplaned into a guardrail.

Was coming off the ramp here at full speed



(that ^^^ is not where I hit though). Just going regular speed on the ramp, no brakes, no gas, no bumps in the road, no sudden steering movements, when I felt the back end just start to come out behind me to the left, sending the car to the right. No amount of steering could do anything though. With the suspension perfectly balanced on this car, it all gives out at once. I learned this long ago, so I don't mess around in the rain anymore, but these tires were on their last bit of life. My summers were done, but it wasn't cold enough for the winter tires yet (even though it should be) ugh.

So, the car started to 360 and kissed the guardrail where you see the two posts leaning back



Hit at about 80 degrees, but that spun the car the rest of the full 360 before it straightened out, and I drove it over to the left of the road and stopped in the grass. If that guardrail was not there, I'd have ended up in those trees, down the hill, flipped, and much MUCH worse. Thankfully though, the impact was so smooth and light that I was perfectly fine. No rush, no adrenaline, no shakes, nothing. It was kinda weird. I guess it's because I'm always thinking that something can go wrong, and ready for this to happen.

I shut the car off as the radiator smoke poured out. I got out to collect parts when a police just happened to show up. He wrote me a $130 citation for hitting the guardrail, which I also have to pay to fix. Then, had my car towed away. $300 to get that back. lol. Otherwise, he and the tower were very nice.

As for the car, well. It's seen better days. Because it's low, and it kinda sank into the mud, the guardrail impacted the car above the bumper bar. So, what really didn't feel like much caused a LOT of damage. Fortunately, no airbags went off, no glass broke, the engine was still running, the wheels were all rolling straight, and the tires all held air.

It's a sad sight though.












Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:19 PM
Got the car towed to a shop to weld on a new front end








While the car was in the shop getting the engine fixed up, I had them do all of the maintenance items on it. Water pump, Gates racing belt, belts, etc. OEM Lexus/Toyota parts of course. Also upgraded to BC264 cams, and a Fidanza adjustable exhaust gear (though I just left it at 0 degrees lol)


Once it was finally finished in the shop, it was like this




Getting it home was a disaster. They didn't put radiator fluid in, so it kept overheating on the way home (fortunately the shop wasn't too far, and it was the dead of winter). But they also didn't attach the negative battery cable properly, so the car kept dying and wouldn't start. And, the car had no front lights at all... so it got dark as I limped it home lol. But once it was finally back home, it was so nice and such a relief.

So, I worked to get it driveable. Gave it a good wash, put all of the extra bits back together. Wired up all of the lights on the front to my custom needs. It wasn't that shabby, I liked the two-tone for some reason haha



Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:21 PM
This stuff is all in the second half of 2016.

I had the power steering blow out on me one day driving home from work, on a section of Interstate 95 where they had several miles of the road torn up for resurfacing. Lots of bridges and bumps, and one day, the front hoses had enough. Car was fine to drive home safely, but I lost no time fixing the problem.

I had seen on the forum others who had their front hoses crack, so I started by pulling off the front bumper. Sure enough:



A trip to the store later for some parts, and it was all good to go again after replacing both hoses (fortunately, universal hoses worked fine)




The A/C on my car hasn't worked for years, it slowly got worse and worse over time right after I bought the car until it was just nothing. The shop didn't bother trying to fix the A/C when they replaced the front end. I figured there was a leak, so I filled the system with an off-the-shelf can system. Found that the high-pressure valve leaks air. $200something later, I ended up with a brand new section just to replace the valve. I bought the whole section, because it looked like it got pinched in the accident.





It wasn't THAT much of a pain to do. But I put it all back together, and tried filling the freon again, and it still didn't work. Took it to an A/C shop finally, and they said it needs a new compressor. Wonderful. I guess I'll figure out how to replace that eventually... but for now, still no A/C.


Then, I decided to get the car looking good again (this stuff was already posted)

Lots of parts to rebuild the head lights, box of paint, fogs, LED spots, etc



Upgraded the LED spot lights to a newer (more expensive) version that is twice as bright and a better color white, for the same size. These things are brighter than all of my other HID high beams combined lol. Amazing output with the combination spot and wide lens.



Prepped/Primed/Painted/Cleared all of the body parts (also new fogs with the inserts painted black)



New chargespeed hood and LED pods installed




Now, for some new pics that I didn't post before for some reason.

I had to redo my head light projector retrofit. I decided to go with the Morimoto D2S 4.0 projectors from TheRetrofitSource, since one of the shrouds on my old bixenon LS430s got damaged in the wreck. Plus, I had already done that LS430 retrofit twice... and it was such a pain. SO this time, I went with something MUCH easier. I also went for the LED Panamera shrouds that snap right onto the projector, no cutting needed. The LEDs are full brightness when wired to the parking light, and dim to half bright when the HIDs are lit. I also got some brand new Osram CBI bulbs.



Open the head lights with the oven like usual, and then take the main reflector buckets out and take the shields off:



Then, I had to grind out the bulb opening wide enough to insert the threaded shaft of the Morimoto projector. It then screws/bolts onto the back of the reflector for a tight snug fit. Then the bulb goes in like normal. Shrouds glued to the front, LEDs wired in, bezels painted black, and then stuck back together. Super simple process.



I didn't take any more pics of the process, it was so easy and quick and basic lol.







Also, over last winter (at end of 2016 now), one of the back brake pads went out and made a terrible grinding sound. Rather than replace a single pad, I decided to just go all out with a full BBK from Figs.



The install wasn't actually too bad. Just take the wheels off, undo the bolts holding things on, remove the old calipers and rotors completely, and install everything in the kit. Pretty straightforward. The front brake lines were seized on, so I didn't replace them with the stainless ones, but the backs came out no problem.

Since the brakes were much bigger, I had to trim the dust/splash guards behind the rotors. Angle grinder made short work of that.









Not really sure if it was worth it, but now I know everything about doing brake work, and they sure look amazing in the wheels.







At the end of all of this work, the car was finally looking back in shape again, but in even better shape than before with all of the new parts and upgrades


Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:22 PM
Continuing right along to 2017

I've been looking for these for years! Full leather black door panels. I had dyed my cloth ones black, but it didn't last. I really wanted these leather ones just to match the rest of the leather interior, and to just have a nicer non faded look. Finally found a full set on Ebay that the seller was willing to ship all together. Even came with switches, but I didn't need those. I put my white LED door covers on, installed them no problem.





Then one day, driving home from work on that same stretch of Interstate 95 that busted my power steering hoses, something nailed the windshield and destroyed it.



Fortunately, it wasn't too bad, or in the way of my visibility. But, I was actually happy to replace the windshield anyway, since the stock one was so pitted after years of driving, that it was impossible to see out of when the sun was shining in it. So, I got the thing replaced, and they treated the rust that had built up around the seal. I also had them tint the passenger side doors (finally) from when I replaced them years earlier. More stuff off of the to-do list.



Remember my round-country road trip in 2014? Well, during that time, the car developed a really bad noise in the front driver wheel, and it was clearly loose. IDK why it took me 3 years to do it, but I finally replaced the lower ball joint. I'm pretty lucky the thing didn't fall apart on me, but thankful. Since I was doing the one side, I went ahead and replaced both sides, since the passenger side was starting to make sound.

They are actually very easy to replace. Just remove the wheel/brake, and take off the bolts holding the hub on. It lifts right off to expose the lower ball joint.



I bought OEM Lexus/Toyota parts (of course, like always, only the best on my car). New vs old



Installs super easy. Old one comes off with the separator tool, again, pretty easy to do. Both sides replaced in no time! No more terrible sounds and clunky vibrations. Perfectly smooth and quiet again ahhhh




Next up, I replaced the trunk floor carpet with a new one, since the original was stained and bleached really bad.

Old



New





Next up, during that cross-country roadtrip in 2014, I also developed a CEL, code p0430. Since then, remember when I ran over that huge tire chunk on ... you guessed it, Interstate 95? It broke the other B2 oxygen sensor, since it hangs lowest. So, I decided to finally take care of the problem, years later. lol

I didn't actually realize at the time that you could replace the B2S1 O2 sensor from under the car. Silly me. Instead, I dropped the entire header, which required buying new v-band clamps. Oh well, I used the opportunity to check everything out and make sure it was all good still.



Sensor replaced:



Underneath, I then replaced the B2S2 sensor. It was stuck on there good, but eventually came off without needing to remove more of the exhaust.



You have to remove the front passenger seat in order to get to the plug for this sensor. Pretty easy to do.



Unfortunately, this didn't actually solve the P0430 code. It did fix the B2S1 code though, but apparently, the B2S2 was fine.

I think, when I removed the headers, I found oil in the B2 side. The car does burn oil a little, but after looking online, I believe that I'm losing oil through the exhaust valve cover seal, into the exhaust where it burns and triggers the CEL. The projects never end lol. So one day, I'll replace that seal, and hopefully that takes care of everything. Should probably replace the headers, since the cats are probably clogged a bit. So still plenty of work to do.

Since then, life hasn't treated the car well. Not like it ever did... but driving this thing daily, especially in Baltimore City with terrible streets and traffic just destroys the car.

I lost the front lip by bottoming out on too many entrances and dips on the city roads.

Someone hit me at work in the parking lot on the front driver corner, without leaving a note or anything, destroying the paint on the bumper.

So that didn't last long. So, I raised the car as high as it will go safely on these coilovers. I like the stance better this way actually, and now I don't have bottoming out and rubbing at all in the front anymore. A little less camber on the tires, so that's good. Just being slammed really isn't practical for me or my style. Maybe I'm just getting too old for this lol.

Took some pics at a part one day randomly. Car hasn't been washed since I got it back from the shop after the front end was replaced.



















Car still runs great though, and is still fun to drive. I'm glad I still have it, and I stuck with it after all the times I've wrecked it. Treat your car right, and it will treat you right. And if that doesn't work, just throw enough money at it, and that works too. lol. The amount of money I've got in this car is astronomical and embarrassing, but oh well. That's just how the hobby goes. But I do plan on getting it back in shape again by the end of the year, with more paint and another lip kit. It's just a matter of keeping it running good, keeping up with the maintenance, and keeping it looking good. I hope to have it for many many years to come
Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:23 PM
Gonna get the thread all caught up tonight, and finish spamming the pics lol.
But here's how the car sits as of right now. I gave it a nice wash because my brother wanted to take pics of our cars together. Nothing all that special, but it was nice to actually have a clean car and a reason to take pics again. The car looks different in pics than IRL, like, I see things differently in the pics than IRL. IRL, it looks fine, but now looking at the pics, I definitely want a lip kit again lol.
Any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, enjoy the pics.














Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:23 PM
Some of the pics I took with my brother's G37 when he was selling it


















yeah, I definitely think the car needs a lip kit now lol
Added: Jul 7, 2017 at 10:24 PM
And finally, just some detail shots I took as the sun set.

Tail lights, with the parking lights and extra "DRL/Fog" LED strips







Head lights again. HIDs in the lows, highs and fogs. LED shrouds and switchback signals/DRLs.











Wheel/tire/brake setup (again)










Whew! Now that we're all caught up here, I hope to keep it going as I have pics to show, and keeping it more organized. Thanks for looking.

yeah I still actually enjoy them, even if they go unseen anymore . Facebook will never replace forums for me

Thanks for going through the new stuff! Glad someone's still paying attention haha. Still repairs though, to this day! Working on the engine and body now.

You'll have to post up some pics too, I'll be checking!

Update please!

Ah you're right! This thread is slightly old!

Unfortunately, I don't really do much on the car other than good maintenance. Just keeping it running well and in good fun shape.

But, at the end of last year, I did paint up a body kit






Then I changed my job after almost 10 years, and I no longer work in the city, I'm out in the county where it's open and nice and flat and SO much better on the car. Here's where I park now, I can see it right out my desk office window





The summer wheels are on by now, but otherwise, it's still like that. I still haven't washed it this year lol

I am gearing up to wash my car for the first time since Toyotafest. 2013.

wow you're worse than me! Even with my car all busted up, it's still pretty clean now, washed it like a couple of weeks ago



~~~

The pictures in this thread were destroyed by Flickr and CarDomain. The full, restored thread and pictures can be found on the my.is forms here:

https://www.my.is/threads/437080/


And my new Flickr accounts for hosting all of the pictures are here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gold94corolla/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gold94corolla2/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gold94corolla3/

Thank you!