FAQ
The only dumb question, is the question you failed to ask.
As an true enthusiast I always love to tell about the car and the project. But there are some questions that are asked time and time again.
I'd like to answer some of those always returning questions on this special page.
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Q: When do you plan to have the car finished?
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V: Don't you just want to drive the damn thing by now?
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V: Did you actually drive the car before you dismantled it?
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V: That doesn't look like any Corolla I've ever seen. Are you sure it isn't a Honda or something like that?
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V: Isn't that refurbished 4A-GE engine a complete waste? What's going to happen to it?
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V: What are you going to do with the car when it's finished? Racing? Shows? Sell it for a shit load of money?
A: I bought the car with the idea to fix it up a little and have a nice little hobby car to drive around with just for fun. Well, that might have gotten a little out of hand.
This project is already running for the better part of 10 years now. In some years, I got more done on the car than other years. But sometimes live just get in the way of things. This project has already survived 3 moves, the birth of my daughter and a wedding. Things in which many of these projects get shut down.
So I just keep on going and I do not have a plan for how long things are going to take me. It will be finished when it's finished. If that is going to take me another 10 years? Who knows? I'm not in a hurry as I like working on it very much as well.
A: The end goal is of course to drive the car again. But I want to drive the car when it is exactly how I want it to be so I can drive it with a great sense of accomplishment, satisfaction and pride.
But for that to happen, the challenge is to get the car just the way I imagine it to be. That is going to take just as much time as needed. As said before, I'm in no rush to get her done.
A: After I bought the car, I drove it off the trailer when I got home. I suspended the car from registration and as thus, the car has never been insured under my name or has been on public roads under it's own power while I owned it. I drove it around a private parking lot once just for the fun of it. That was about 200 metres and that was it. After that, it went to my first workshop, was places on axle stands with the wheels removed and it hasn't been supprted by its own wheels ever since.
A: If you are a European, it might very well be that you have never seen a Corolla like this before. But I can assure you it most definitely is a Corolla.
This coupé model of the E9 series car that we called a Corolla was never up for sale by Toyota here in Europe. It was only sold on the Japanese home market and North America.
Despite the outer shell looking nothing like the Corolla hatchback's, liftback's or sedan's we knew here. The chassis and mechanics under the skin are (luckily for me) pretty much the same.
A: Sure it is. In hindsight.
But things don't always go as you planned. I planned to use the original 4A-GE powerplant that was in the car when I bought it. But the plans changed quite dramatically when I was put for a choice.
But be honest. If you were given the choice of putting in the original engine that, if I was lucky, might have put out 140hp on a very good day. Or the mighty 4A-GZE that could pretty easily be placed in this car and will bring 165hp all day with the potential for a lot more. That's a no brainer right?
About what is going to happen to that freshly refurbished 4A-GE engine...Well, I'm not quite sure yet.
It's collecting dust in my workshop at the moment, and will certainly not be returned into the car.
I can't really sell it as well, as nobody in it's right mind will give me the money I have already invested in it.
I might just use some parts off of it, or maybe it will just remain on standby in case the 4A-GZE blows...
A: I have this car just for fun. And I certainly haven't put in all the work, money and effort into it and modified it to what I wanted, just to sell it afterwards.
So what I'm going to do with it when she's all put back together is something I'll see when the time comes. If it's a nice day and I fancy a drive in it, I might just do that. She'll certainly be at some local club meetings to be admired by others. Who knows, if I feel like thrashing the pants off her on a good track day, I just might.
One thing is for certain, I'm resurrecting her to be driven again and I damn sure will.