Toyota 2010

Another year another TORC. You think I'd get tired of this. And I do, cause it's the same suspects but different year. But I wanted to show a friend how nutty Toyota, Lexus and Scion enthusiasts can be. I'd have to say this year was very different. More out of the box thinking and rare stuff that's not very common to see now a days.


Chopped up, ratted out Scion XB. Super ugly and so different, that's what I like about it. Not following that Japanese trend, or wheels that stick out thinking it's flush.


A really nutty mid 70's corolla. I'm not sure who built it, but it wasn't a filipino cause there wasn't a 2TG with carbs on the side. Nor a Puerto Rican cause it would have turbo 3TC running single digit quarter miles. What's under here is a V8 from a Lexus. I'm kinda swaying it's a white guy who built it, but that V8 would have the markings of a bowtie and demon carburetor. So that leaves me clueless on who may have built this thing.


This Cressida wagon was just plain clean, nothing over top. I really like it that way, something that would be a cool car to cruise in.


Here's something that I'd like own one day. Toyota S800, a car that was never officially imported by Toyota. Only through gray market and military guys coming back from overseas were these cars able to land on American soil.

There were quite a few rare bits of old school performance parts,


TRD racing engine that was produced for racing only. And to own one of these engines means you got some deep ties with TRD and it's legendary racing feats. How many of you actually know what this engine is? Hint: it's based off 18RG engine.


HKS turbo kit for an 18RG engine. The early HKS kits turboed the carburetor engines. I don't how many of these kits are in existence, but i'm sure not many were imported here or still complete. But to see one up close was really cool.


4TGTE homologation engine built by Toyota for it's efforts in Group B and WRC back in the early 80's. So there were a few streets cars who had these engines installed from the factory for this effort.


For me the holy grail of Corolla parts: HKS exhaust system, not that new single tip rubbish that you see now a days. I'm talking about the old twin tip design. Long since discontinued, it's very rare see these around anymore. Brand new these came in an aluminized silver paint. The owner has painted this one black, probably cause it was starting to rust. But for those who grew around import street racing, this brings back some memories.

There was lots to see and for some reason this year, I saw a lot of old friends and acquaintances from industry this year.

For the rest of the photos

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Where's the mojo

It's been a few months since i've been back in the seat, 5 months to be exact.

Image via Wikipedia

Like Austin Powers in the Spy that Shagged me., I thought I lost the mojo. But after a few minutes behind the wheel and burning a couple of tires at the past weekends Drift Day would tell me otherwise. It's good to be back but damn I just burned a set of tires, I bought yesterday, in an hour.

One thing that annoyed me was that fact I only driven the car with it's new found tune and boost only once. After spending a day with the car, i've become addicted again. The dark side (boost) is definitely good with this one.


Im also trying out a new suspension setup this time. I've been a Koni user/fan for most of my driving career ,but it's about time for a change. And I got a good deal on some TRD shocks so why not.

With the new suspension the car was hella dumped. The neighbor was concerned I would rip the fenders off the car. But alas it was not the case. I'm glad the dealer cares about the welfare of the car even though his car would probably say otherwise.

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The car still has some quirks that need to be addressed, yeah I know i've gotta take care of the burning oil. My apologizes to all who inhaled. I guess it's time to cough up some cash for a turbo.

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Rebuilding the strut housing.

Like the control arm, my strut housing had also gone south. So again it was time to make another housing. I had 2 available to me, but only problem was they were passenger sides and I needed a driver side.

Fortunately, Naoki was really working hard to findone for me and eventually found one he had laying around. It took him a couple of tries, but he eventually got it right. Though he was also the one who had 2 passenger side housings.

The modification will follow the same setup as previous, which is a 40mm cut on the housing. Which is the perfect cut for short struts, from TRD or using the front SW20 MR2 strut inserts. I'll be using TRD shocks this time around instead of the Koni shock. After about 9 years of rocking Koni's I think it's about time for a change.


The sleeve is measured 25mm/~1in from the top of the strut. This will located where i'll be welding the coil over sleeve perch.


Some cutting and welding and were done.

Thanks to;
Naoki @ driftday for finding the housing.
Taka @ driftpro for selling me some old TRD shocks.