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My '00 Facelift Corolla Sr Vvti


Steven252
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Hi all, im new round here. My names Steve and ive recently bought myself a x plate corolla sr vvti. To say 3 months ago i didn't even know these cars existed is an understatement, and a year ago i wouldn't have even considered buying a toyota! The last 5/6 years Ive been heavily into my nasp and turbo'd rovers owning both a 188bhp k series on individual throttle bodies and a 2.0 turbo converted MG ZR with 250bhp ;) however all changed 2 years ago when i was made redundant from my job and the "toys" had to go :( (much to my refusal!!) I then have been driving round in every piece of crap that a couple of notes could get me (bar a 306 gti-6 that nearly financially crippled me in the process but boy did i love having something specialish again) i stumbled across a 1999 1.3 corolla sportif 3 months ago that was heavily bashed up but run like a dream and as you do, i ended up finding out about the G6R version. I then was given a full contact in work and had abit of money "saved" for a new car. i could have gone back to my roots of fast rovers but something about the lil sportif had me catched, plus the fact work is 20 miles away and i could do with something economical and not a joke to insure :) After searching for a while for a MINT G6R and realising that to find a good one id be paying out a fair amount i stumbled across the car ive just bought.

Its a 2000 x plate facelift sr VVTI with 146k on the clock, now normally i steer well away from high mile cars but upon reading the details i quickly saw that as "just a number". the cars only had 2 owners from new, and has a FULL service history with the same toyota dealer and has 15 stamps in the book. it also comes with every mot, and every invoice the cars ever had (a big folder full) so has quite obviously been the last owners baby, who was not shy of some money. if the car needed something it got it, even the tyres are all brand new, all matching and all 135 pounds a corner :o theres no wear anywhere and the paint looks all original and new :D

anyway enough of my ramblings heres some piccys, from the garage i bought it.

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on the journey home i found a nice little location, where some people were rock climbing,

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and onto the subbtle mods i have for it;

new flat wipers and tax disc holder

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new sticker (ill be repainting the engine mount as it lets the whole bay down!)

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and Badge (i have matching centre caps coming for the wheels)

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first thing that needed sorting was the manky gearnob,

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so i stripped it apart

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and half hour with the metal polish it came up like this :D

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then me and the mrs went on a 460 miles trip to silverstone for the trax event

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where it done this and only one tank was needed

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so thats 463.6 miles to 45.24 litres of go go juice = 46.62mpg so its reading bang on :D

im really happy with the car and have some plans for it as i go up the ladder in work, basically im not going stupid on it like my last cars straight away as i want to be in a financial position where id be ok for a good while if i lost my job again. i am looking for a spare 190 engine ready for when this one goes pop, but in all honesty i dont believe that will be happening any time soon. ive ordered some wind deflectors and i need to delete the rear wiper as i hate them. other than that the cars going to be maintained to the standard the previous two owners kept it at.

sorry for the long winded post but ill keep updating this thread with whats going on with the car :) all comments welcome.

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Car looks good, keep a check on the oil level, the vvti can drink loads.

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ye it took 0.75 of a ltr when i bought it, but i hasnt moved since (done 1k in it already ;)) and i was last serviced at 140k so im guessing its using that amount in 5k. not to bad tbf

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That is a great looking car and it looks very clean indeed.

Loving the tax disc holder :lol:

I recently painted my top engine mount and also the top rad mount/fixings as they looked out of place under my bonnet compared to the rest of the engine/bay :yes:

Good luck with the mods mate and keep us updated with your progress :)

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Quite a rare car you have there, look after it :thumbsup:

Mileage really is just a number on the E11, they really are solid cars. As mentioned above though keep an eye on the oil level, its not unheard of for them to use a bit, mine certainly did

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Very nice!

Good to see another of these on here :thumbsup:

Yours has optional dealer fit accessory alloys, don't see many of those, and factory upgrade of the cassette player too.

Looks really good, keep us posted on progress and updates.

My gearknob has gone about the same as yours, on my list of jobs to do! Yours turned out well, top work.

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thanks guys, its nice to own something special again! thank you for the very warm welcome too :)

yes the tax disc holder always gets people talking, there available on eBay ;) im going to remove the engine mount and rad fixings soon as i have my week of and have them shot blasted and powder coated.

as for a rare car i found this site www.howmanyleft.co.uk and im shocked at how many are left. it tells you how many on the road and how many declared sorn.

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so theres only 379 left :(

as for the wheels i have the original dealer book with the extras and iirc most if not all of them are ticked. i really like the wheels as there different yet a OEM fitting :D going to have them refurbed too as theres some slight markings on them from a incompetent tyre fitter!!

as for the gearnob i thought i was gone for good, even went to toyota who quoted 75 pounds - if they could find one. its all metal and comes apart as ive shown so alittle bit of polish and or some very fine wet and dry paper will have it looking like new again :)

its also booked in to a bodyshop to have the drivers rear quarter painted as theres a very small dent in it (not that youd notice unless i told you - tho i know its there and its bugging the hell out of me as i know its there) and to get the front and rear bumpers redone as there showing some age related marks.

any little touches TTE made for this car i can source? im on the look for a spoiler but anything else for the facelifts?

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TTE all sorts for the car, but you will be very, very lucky to find any now. Long since out of production sadly.

They did bodywork, wheels, suspension, exhaust and engine parts.

The only hope is that a dealer is sat with something on a shelf gathering dust, but annual stock takes and stock rotation will have seen parts scurried away by now ( I should know, years in the dealer network saw me scurrying bits myself and scouring the network for other bits!)

I have a Green one of these, the rarest colour I believe, less than 100 or so were sold, even less left. The facelift SR was only made in these specs for the UK market, so seeing as the Corolla is sold globally and in huge numbers through the years, they really are a rare car.

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nice car mate :thumbsup: looks just like mine when i got it

i svore to keep it oem... but 5-6 years later....

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OT: just let me know if i should delete this post ;)

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Exs - no feel free to post pics up :) i done the whole bodykit thing to my zr turbo so this one im going to try to keep standard....

Tibs ill try my local dealer and see if i can uncover anything. Im looking at coilovers too as its alittle high, how do you find yours on the road compared to factory?

Do you both have threads on your cars that i can view to see what can be done and to get some inspiration?

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Steven, have a look here http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=124875&st=0&p=1114644entry1114644

Not a full 'build thread' as such, but runs through a little bit of my car.

I have a Koni set up on mine. Adjustable shocks with matched springs. Had to be specially ordered as nobody really listed the sort of thing I wanted, in my budget range. Would have really loved coilovers, but at the time, a set was around 1200-1400 quid, far too much for my poor salary to cover.

On the road, it has been transformed. Was quite fun as standard, but years and miles had seen it become a bit sloppy. Now it is so 'chuckable'. So much fun, I can adjust how stiff it feels and this does help turn in and feel. The car grips and grips, partly down to the suspension, partly the tyres. Love it!

Only felt the limitations the other week, taking part in the Sprint at Croft. Car moved quite a bit, and the photos from the day show how much 'lean' the car was still showing. Obviously this is as track use is much more of a test than the road. I did do a track day just after fitting the kit, and it felt great, but I have gotten used to it now and do push the car further in all areas, so the limits are being pushed in accordance.

A coilover set up, set up correctly, would be better for my track work I 'm sure, but still have the expense to consider, and I really can't justify it at this stage.

Hope that my ramblings help in some way, anything else I can help with, ask away!

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Hmm thats the position im in - a decent set would cost me more than the value of the car, so i might opt for some 40mm lowering springs insted to reduce the 4x4 ride hight it currently has. I dont think the 55 profile tyre is helping either so i have 4 brand new 50 profile firestones in the garage to replace the firestones that are already on it, which ill kill two birds with one stone and refurb them too once the tyres are shot.

Both your threads have been a great help!! Exs your has been through many stages it seems ;)

Thanks for the positive comments guys :)

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Im looking for a standard sr splitter as mine seems to be missing, and it needs something at the front and id like it to be a genuine one. Anyone got one or breaking one?

Ive seen an fkperformance one i like but dot know where i can get one from? Tho id prefer the standard one if im honest, if i can get one that is...

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some new pictures after a quick clean.

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interior

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ive ordered some new front side repeaters so i can split the old ones open. i cant have the car off the road at all as its used for my work, so once these are here ill give it ago. im trying to achieve the same look toyota have with the front lights, having the inserts blacked out. i find it weird that they didnt continue it to the indicators and to me it looks odd. any ideas on how to split them? ive also got some new silvertech bulbs coming too :)

had abit of a casualty with one of the wheels

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my wheel cleaners stripped it of the paint :o i was right that the dealer had painted them quickly for sale!!! just means ill get them off and possibly paint them white?

hope you like

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Looks cracking! Good work!

Not too sure I follow what you are wanting to achieve with the side repeaters, so I'll be interested in seeing what you do.

Personally, I'd leave the wheels silver, but that's me obviously.

Keep the updates coming :thumbsup:

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thanks mate :)

she looks really good, but im finding "little" imperfections around the car that really annoy me, like little faded dots on the bonnet and stone chips/scratches than wont machine polish out. you cant see these until you get up close and personal and you cant see most of it when 1-2 foot away from the car and 90% of it you wouldnt notice unless i told you..... however I know its there and it really buggs me

the wife indoors tells me to stop being so anal about the paint as its a 12 year old car its going to have these minute marks and to be fair, shes absolutely right. the fact is, the car is probably in better condition than most 3/4 year old cars on the road anyway and i should just leave it be...... or do i get a full respray quote from a friends bodyshop :rolleyes: (infact he'll tell me to shut up and live with it too as its an original car :lol: )

funnily enough the lights turned up after posting this so i had a crack at getting the old ones off... glad i bought new ones now as it didnt go to plan.

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oops :lol: i got 90 of the way round, edging the light apart until it made a almighty crack and fell apart in my hand :rolleyes: i tried heating it up as i went along but wasnt making much difference, put it in a bucket of boiling water and stil itl stuck firmly. at least now ive got it apart so i can spray it, to get a feel of wether i like it or not. also as its apart and broken i can also see what products dissolve the glue without damaging the plastic/chrome parts, ie a strong detergent or nail varnish. i still have the drivers one intact to then attempt to remove cleanly before giving it ago on the new ones. atleast the replacements are cheepish at 25 a pair. ive emailed the company that makes them directly, to see if they'll sell the clear plastic part on its own, although i dont hold out much hope.

as for the wheels, ive always loved red cars with white wheels, though after owning 4 red cars ive never got round to doing it. i might do a couple of photoshops first to see if i do like them. i do personally like the silver too, so will be a tough decision to make. ive got plenty of time anyway as the tyres are brand new and wont need replacing any time soon

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My bodywork is terrible sadly, yours is so much nicer, don't beat yourself up over it.

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My bodywork is terrible sadly, yours is so much nicer, don't beat yourself up over it.

i thought yours looked good in the photos, so not terrible at all :thumbsup:

i think im setting my standards are too high for what is a daily driver. if it was only a weekend toy like my zr turbo used to be (and was freshly painted so didnt have these imperfections) id want it spotless but even if i had it done it wouldnt take too long for it to get marked as its parked in a supermarket car park at work... :(

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Nice to see another facelifter!

Don't be tempted to go down the route of buying a fake TTE rear spoiler - a guy on here did it from eBay and it didn't fit at all.

Lets see if you can fight going down the mild custom route ;->

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In all honesty im not even sure i "like" the tte rear spoiler.... The more i look at it the more it seems not to follow the contures of the car and looks like it was ment to fit somethig else. If it gets changed ill try and get hold of the one that is on exs car as i really like that, suits the car and also has a ep3 "type r" look to it which i love!

Im really not sure what i want to do with the car. Ive seen a tte replica front splitter which i love plus a set of side skirts and a rear bumper id love to buy. Tho if i do ill have to have the wholecar resprayed when fitted and i just dont know if i could justify the price. Plus ive been looking at celica 190s which really takes my fancy. Anyone attempted a engine swop to the 2zz-ge into one of these? Whats needed and required? Basically im finding it abit slow compared to previous cars.

Thanks for the kind comments guys. Shes a lovely little car and a massive credit to the 2 previous owners. Im just depating wether to blow a wedge on this car or get something more sporty. The main point that makes me want to do it is; ive never seen another facelift hatchback let alone an SR so love the exclusivity of owning one.

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