My 1998 Toyota Corolla

Hey guys, I though I would make a build of my 1998 Toyota Corolla. I'm just keeping it simple; stereo system, fix the rust, drop in air filter, change the serpentine belt, and some other minor things. Right now I am waiting for the rust neutralizer to cure so I figured it would be a good time to make the thread.

The day I picked it up, along with a 1993 tercel (bought cheap to fix and sell). Towed both cars home with the Tacoma without a problem (not at the same time though).


Rust Areas




After about 3 hours with a wire wheel on a half inch air die grinder










Any areas seen with rust and the areas that were hit with the wire wheel received a good coating of rust neutralizer. By the way this is my first time ever doing body work like this. Will continue later with more pictures

 

*UPDATE*
Finished the fiberglass work 3 days ago. Took me a little while to learn the easiest way to put it on. Now I am onto body filler. Here are some pics of it after fiberglass and sanding. This has been a learning experience. I want to finish the body work by wednesday night (Nov. 24). I hope that after I get the body filler on and sanded that I will get some more pictures up.

 

Some more pictures-
Finished putting on bondo, needed to finish sanding.


Primer on, some areas needed to be sanded more. Yes I know the garage floor is a mess.

 

Looking good so far!

 

Thank you!

 

Geez that seems like a lot of rust! Depending on what you paid for that car, it might have been worth shipping a rust free one from California! We are so sheltered over here!

 

That would be nice, but I got it for less than $2,000 I think shipping would be a lot though

 

I have finished the paint on the rust repair. Just need to get some pics of it. I found some pics of some of my stereo stuff. My dad gave me his old JVC head unit and JVC 12 disc CD changer (since my iTrip sounded like crap) until I get a new head unit. Also, my 12 inch kicker comp in a ported box. I do not have a picture of it in my car, yet.

 

Alright I finally got around to taking more pictures.
Painted area. about 8 coats of paint... kind of a long story. Looks good from a distance, up close it is kind of noticeable that it is not perfectly matched.


My sub in the trunk of my car. I still have enough room to fit my hockey bag.


Added another dash pocket in place of the factory CD player. My dad has a lot of them laying around from when he was a mechanic.


My new door handle because I broke the stock one (it was probably 12 to 13 years old).

 

As a fellow owner of a high-mileage Corolla, this thread makes me


They just keep going...and going...and going...

 

Yes they do mine has 154,000 on it. How many miles on yours? My friend's dad's '94 has about 300,000 on it.

 

2003, 175,xxx on it right now.

 

sweet man. so your corolla is your daily driver?

 

Yeah. Corolla is DD, Taco is for bad weather, goofing around, or haulin' the heavy stuff. Little silver shit gets WAAAAAAAY better mileage, cheaper tires, cheaper OCs, etc. Drivin' the truck just to get 'round town and back don't make no kinna sense!

 

haha exactly! i wanted a truck or an SUV (toyota pickup or 4runner) but they were expensive and gas would be pretty expensive for driving to school and the rink. I have a manual tranny in my corolla so i get even better gas mileage.

 

Just take good care of it, and when you're workin' later in life and makin' bank, getcha a nice toy on the side. Pretty much the plan I went with. I fully expect to get 300,000 miles out of both of these vehicles - my folks bought the Corolla new and maintained it properly until I bought it off them. I bought the truck new. I do my own maintenance on both vehicles. The TLC is, I'm convinced, a big contributor to the DD running like a sewing machine at 175k and counting.

 

I try to and will try to continue to take care of it. There are somethings I have to finish up, but other than that its good and solid. Im still not really used to being able to move the steering wheel so easily since my dad has a taco and my mom has a Rav4 (bigger tires and weight difference).

 

You'll learn to love it. After owning both for a while now I much prefer smaller, nimbler vehicles in traffic. Better avoidance and shorter stopping distances help keep you out of trouble with the morons...and my God are they out there...

 

Oh yea they definitely are out there. At least I do not really have to worry about them at 2:30 in the afternoon