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Snagglepuss Build Thread Lenny's New Whip


Lenny
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Hi all,

Well where to start lol

Welcome to my new adventure,

I've purchased a 2000 build Toyota Corolla Levin BZR AE-111 Coupé

Engine is a 20 valve VT-i Twin cam 1598cc Naturally aspirated engine also known as "the black top"

BHP: 168

Top speed?

I need a bigger speedo as it only goes to 180kph and I went past that in 4th gear at 7,500RPM 🙉

Gear box is a 6 speed short shift manual transmission with a limited slip diferental,

Suspension is a unique super strut system, don't feel your hanging on corners it sticks to the road,

Personnaly I prefer to hang because then I know how hard I can push it before slip,

But with super strut suspension it doesn't do body roll.

Brakes: its got twin pot brakes up front and single pot caliper with discs on the rear,

Abs and power steering.

It started life in Japan in 2000 after 9 years of Japanese ownership and was shipped to Ireland,

Where the transmission was replaced by a manual bzr box, but there's still something to do with an automatic neutral sensor thing in the car, but I'll discuss that later

It was imported by a fellow from Wicklow who registered it and kept it for 2 years before selling the seller I purchased from yesterday who had it for almost two years aswell.

Here are some pictures

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Please tell me those lights are not glass ;)

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Please tell me those lights are not glass ;)

No George there Plastic mate,

Will be near end of next month but I'll get them packaged up and over to you for treatment mate thanks very much,

Update:

I've removed drivers seat and replaced with one that is in better condition,

Fitted the rear spoiler again and give the outside a wash and wax to help seal the scratches until respray.

Found a total of 12.76euro in coins through out the car aswell as a Remington 2.2mm bullet in the boot next to some pheasant feathers

Plans after work tomorrow are:

Remove the 5" 5H1T pipe silencer and fit the one supplied with sale "for not purposes"

I'll get. Video of the 5H1T pipe in operation before removal lol its the same size as a toilet drain and has nothing inside just a cylinder on the end of a 2.5" pipe from the exhaust hence the name snagglepuss its a fiesty, raspy little !Removed! wagon :lol:

Back fires and everything when you let off the gas in third.

Aso tomorrow replace upper rear seat section and passenger seat,

Have arranged to meet a guy with a replacement washer bottle and interior air vents hopefully this follows through,

Tomorrow aswell,

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Shame about the scratches - i can't understand the kind of people that would dp that to a car - good to hear you got a bit off for that and you probably would have resprayed it at some point - heat sensitive paint? :)

i looked it up and 180kmh 111.8mph (i think the car will go a bit faster than that - in the correct enviroment) or 190kph speedos were fitted to JDM cars, they were also restricted to 118mph - is yours derestricted?

They say the super-strut suspension ones are the best (+the bzr with the 6-speed and lsd) but they are difficult to have lowered - you will just need to get the "hang" of it :lol:

Lots of space above the head unit for a double-din unit!

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Image3846_zps0af24bdb.jpg

Image3843_zps7b636899.jpg

Image3842_zps4201f2ac.jpg

New windscreen required,

Also see the centre air vent, need one of those too.

]Image3841_zps5a35c46d.jpg

Race spec battery already fitted,

But needs locating in the boot instead,

Image3838_zps4e6ec701.jpg

Got some performance ignition leads fitted :)

Look good in the blue

Image3837_zps011c9abe.jpg

The image below is the roof of the boot,

Its the centre where the chassis has a 6x9 cut out for a centre sub.

Image3835_zps1da5db21.jpg

This image is to the right of the 6x9 space,

Its the factory 6" rear Speakers

Image3834_zps12719d13.jpg

This is the bottom left side of the boot compartment,

And yes that's a puddle of water in the pocket,

When I bought the car, the seller had already began breaking for selling parts,

Thankfully I bought it before he sold the rear spoiler but he had it removed a couple of weeks,

Leaving some holes in the boot allowing water in,

I've refitted the lovely bzr spoiler and hopefully the moisture stops,

Time will tell, we may also have a leak to sort aswell.

Image3833_zps916b4e80.jpg

To help understand the above location,

This is the boot from a better angle,

I'll be purchasing a rubber blank for the rear wiper in the coming weeks, clean up the rear a bit with it gone.

Image3829_zpsd8cf40e5.jpg

The roof has some carbon wrap on it too :lol: not my cuppa so its coming off by the body shop when spraying,

Will do for now though

Image3828_zps1122a912.jpg

Here's what I see in the rear view mirror :)

Rear spoiler feels sweet looking through it reminds you your in a coupé

Image3826_zpsb5b620da.jpg

Image3825_zps4f72bde0.jpg

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Got out to it today after work,

Stripped out the seats found some parts requiring paint and a lot of parts requiring a good clean,

Think I'll leave it stripped for painting and have the interior sections treated too,

No point in going this far not to treat the inside too what?

So tomorrow or Monday I'll investigate removing carpet aswell,

And just keep the drivers seat fitted for transporting to body shop.

I tried to replace the muffler today but the 17mm bolts are solid on the flang,

Needs jack, grinder and two new 17mm bolts lol

Ilk get it sorted next month,

I can't really run it until the exhaust muffler has been replaced with something that muffles.

A lot of work ahead,

But painting will be 80% of the work.

Not so bad I suppose.

Will be better in 6 months time, the main core is good and the engine is sweet, so its worth working at it.

Roof headlining is so dirty, I've never saw such !Removed!,

I'd link to look in to removing, cleaning and covering it with some swade or something in black,

The same for the rear parcel shelf section,

Seats are good I've made a good set from my previously purchased set and the set that came with it.

Passenger side has some water engress aswell after a pressure wash,

Not sure if its the windscreen crack or the passenger door seal.

There's also an external aerial for the car alarm,

But its mounted to the drivers side of the dash, gotta sort that too.

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More Pics Lenny Please :D

Tomorrow mate :)

She's race spec now lol no seats or panels in the rear, no spare wheel no front passenger seat neither :lol:

Just a drivers seat, 6 speed box and a 5" 5H1T pipe exhaust,

I'll get a video tomorrow of the 5" muffler lol

My 6 year old daughter has agreed to start it and rev it for me to video :)

She's been practicing on the focus today because I've only got one try with the Levin before the neighborhood phones the cops lol

Bwaaam sounds like a Ferral cat at 2am in your back yard getting rhode !!!

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Hey Lenny , I like it mate looks like you have a great project car there mate , i'll watch this thread :)

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Looks like a really fun project car Lenny.

Watching this thread with interest... :ph34r:

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No probs, have fun with Snagglepuss ;)

Thanks George,

Shame about the scratches - i can't understand the kind of people that would dp that to a car - good to hear you got a bit off for that and you probably would have resprayed it at some point - heat sensitive paint? :)

i looked it up and 180kmh 111.8mph (i think the car will go a bit faster than that - in the correct enviroment) or 190kph speedos were fitted to JDM cars, they were also restricted to 118mph - is yours derestricted?

They say the super-strut suspension ones are the best (+the bzr with the 6-speed and lsd) but they are difficult to have lowered - you will just need to get the "hang" of it :lol:

Lots of space above the head unit for a double-din unit!

No heat sensitive paint mate,

Guy who created that idea needs help :lol: just no

My car was imported from japan too,

Has Japanese on the chassis plate lol so it must go up to 190kph on the clock but it was defo off the clock when I floored It,

TRD have a clock for it reading up to 240kph I'd like one of those lol

My Levin started life as an automatic the seller said,

Because there is a neutral sensor box in the centre foot well,

He says its there because automatics don't start unless in neutral, so this box tricks the system allowing manual transmission

Perhaps this fools the speed limit too,

I don't know,

But when I get time I'll trace the cable to see where it leads to, (no pun intended there)

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Hey Lenny , I like it mate looks like you have a great project car there mate , i'll watch this thread :)

Looks like a really fun project car Lenny.

Watching this thread with interest... :ph34r:

Thanks very much guys,

Your support gives me great motivation and reassures me that I'm not going crazy :lol:

I was feeling a bit down at finding rust in places and some leaks,

But I suppose I could get the same trouble with ones selling for 3-3500 as I am now with this one,

I got it as is for 1,600 euro that's 1358.78 GBP

But I've got a cap on modification spending which includes the cost of respray,

I won't be spending any more than 4,000 on this project,

Starting next month and rolling initial this time next year,

Mainly bringing it to a more reliable state and improving the carpet etc.

Followed by battery relocation, sound system, varex remote exhaust muffler with a fujitsubo 4-2-1 manifold.

Delock the boot as part of spraying aswell,

Upgrade bulbs and de-tango where possible,

Dewiper the rear, battery relocation to boot compartment,

Fotwell lighting and ambient lighting much like the focus styling.

Some 16" Rota Boost alloys in gold with blue brake calipers

TRD 3 point strut brace sand blasted and powder coated blue matching calipers front & rear.

Performance timing belt, electric water pump system,

Aluminium auxiliary pulleys.

After that keep her clean and maintained.

Biggest job is getting ready for paint inside and out,

After that she's relatively new.

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Looking forward to this one Lenny, if you can do half the job you did on the Focus, it shall make an excellent read and result.

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lovin the car dude, nice list of mods there to go along with it...... this will turn out brill, you have attention to detail..... im watchin this lol

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Looking forward to this one Lenny, if you can do half the job you did on the Focus, it shall make an excellent read and result.

lovin the car dude, nice list of mods there to go along with it...... this will turn out brill, you have attention to detail..... im watchin this lol

Thanks very much guys,

Suppose I'm starting it at the wrong time of the year coming in to winter but its great enjoyment,

I was always one to take in the stray cats and taim them in to domestics,

So I'm growing much love for the motor, going to bring it back to original state with some extras.

I took it down to my local vallet place on Friday,

The guys know me well from going in and out with the focus,

The owner came over when he saw me in the drivers seat,

Asked if I'd sold the focus and was this a black top :)

Told me about three of them breaking for parts within 20 minutes of my house,

And give me a mobile number of some guy who has purchased one just for its engine,

So he's breaking the rest of the car apparently he does rally driving in his spare time and is transplanting the black top with a turbo addition,

I need a few parts so ill give him a call,

I'm starting to think this is something I should have started ages ago,

Because parts are available locally and very cheap, which is surprising considering this car was never sold from Toyota in Europe,

Each one has been privately imported.

I've been on the Ireland Toyota forum and I've gotten in contact with a guy who owns a motorbike shop in Ashford Co.Wicklow,

He sells genuine Toyota Racing Development (TRD) oil filters and pipercross panel filters specifically for the Levin,

He's also a big enthusiast and has lots of spare parts.

Got talking to another guy in co.Kerry who is breaking three of them :lol:

I've passed him on a list of parts required so he's getting back to me with a price,

If it comes I good, I'll be heading over with the back seat down in the focus to collect.

Here's an example of cost,

I need a new windscreen washer bottle, drivers side air vent and centre twin air vent,

For these three parts including washer pump I've gotten two quotes one @ 20.00euro and one @ 25.00euro

Front bumpers from the likes of Bomex and Cwest are coming in at around 150 euro

Full seat interiors are 100.00 euro

The stuff is amazingly affordable,

However I need to be care full because all the small prices add up to big money in disguise :lol:

I don't need VickiC coming down hard on me.

The main priority now is getting the muffler changed over to what he called the MOT one,

When I get that done I can start the car in the yard and keep it ticking over,

I can start it as it is but even when ticking over at 1,100 rpm its like the focus at 3,000

Neighbours would say anything but I don't like it myself, so I wouldn't inflict it on them.

Luckily MOT muffler came as part of sale so I just need to get the old one off.

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Small update guys,

Rare Cwest front bumper panel is in the bag..

Picking it up on 7th November

Here's an example

img_4419_zps05f143cb.jpg

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Like that bumper, what the Law like over there about running with no front plate ;)

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lenny like i said to you on toc you have some nice plans for it

and the pic of the white one i know the owner of it and if you want more ideas on yours look up davidtorpey on toc he has a blue levin with a cwest front bumper

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Small update guys,

Rare Cwest front bumper panel is in the bag..

Picking it up on 7th November

Here's an example img_4419_zps05f143cb.jpg

Not sure mate but I'll find out soon after fitting and I'll let you know :lol:

120 euro for the bumper George how's a man to say no...

I've been pricing some suede Alcantara in black to cover the roof lining 34.99GBP gets a section measuring 47"x 32" gives me enough for trimming all round so that's on the cards too,

I'll price a roof lining from another Levin,

If I can get it for under 40euro I'll buy one and spray glue the black fabric to it,

Then I won't have to worry about taking care removing the existing one,

Shame Haynes don't do manuals for map imports,

Would surly take the guess work out of removing panels.

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lenny like i said to you on toc you have some nice plans for it

and the pic of the white one i know the owner of it and if you want more ideas on yours look up davidtorpey on toc he has a blue levin with a cwest front bumper

Will do thanks Nicky mate,

I just pulled that image of the Cwest bumper off Google images not actually purchasing from that fella

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Will do thanks Nicky mate,

I just pulled that image of the Cwest bumper off Google images not actually purchasing from that fella

no worries at all and its grand he sold the car a good while ago

and there is a toc meet next weekend in lahinch co clare next weekend

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no worries at all and its grand he sold the car a good while ago

and there is a toc meet next weekend in lahinch co claire

Hopefully it stays dry for the day,

Sadly I won't be able to attend this one, I'm working nights next week 11-7am so next Saturday is a write off for me,

And I've blown my budget for the month purchasing the Levin last Thursday,

My next spare few quid is purchasing the bumper on 7th

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