mycrors4

Hey guys,
My name is chris and i just got myself a MY00 berlina black s2000(aka Sabrina the s2k)

as a bit of background:
student studying to being an automotive tech.. maybe a racecar driver if they let me eat all the fatty burgers and burritos i want
I daily drive a 2012 vw golf. 2.5l 5banger. autotragic. it works great for traffic around los angeles.
I've tracked the golf a handful of times(big willow, autoclub, grange(lol))
It's served me well and i still own it, but last September, my brother got married and moved out, and an extra parking space opened up.

Told my parents it's either a dog or a project car

2 months later, i picked up a 1982 corolla(Crystal the corolla)
This was my first manual, first rwd car, first "project" car

I learned a lot on this car in the past year.

It was bone stock and i basically refreshed everything i possibly could with my college student budget.



went from a bone stock 40ish whp monster to an ugly duckling with probably maybe 55whp? lol



if anyone is interested in what i did the the corolla, i can definitely write a novel of everything done.

december of 2017, the day before my first planned track/drift day with the corolla, i traded it for a manual lexus IS300. straight trade. no money involved. car for car. similar miles(170k), clean title on both cars.

i regret getting rid of that corolla, but for a college kid on a college budget, it was the smarter move to get something that doesn't require lots of money and custom work. ill save that stuff for what im older and have more time on my hands.
I will own another te72 corolla again.. it's by far the most exciting car i've ever driven(i work as a valet attendant at a "high end" outdoor mall. my corolla was more exciting to drive than many of the supercars that come into work)

so this lexus is300. i ended up taking it to the track day instead. gave it a shot at drifting. it's fun. i can see the appeal. it just wasnt for me though. i prefer to use the grip i have.. not the lack of grip i can create; make sense?

anyways, i putted around in the is300 until the title came in. i actually posted it up for trade a few days after the track day.



come the first week of 2018.
I traded it for my s2000.

173k miles
clean title
stock other than ap2v1's, a berk headerback and a cut rear bumper

typical paint fade for an 18 year old car. not worried since it's on the bumpers and the trunk which i plan to replace anyways

now im into keeping things period correct. even my corolla, i tried to keep it to the 80s to everything i did aesthetically(remove bumpers, 1980 front end, HKS hi-power from 1986, 80's momo wheel, mr2 seats, etc)

Now i consider the s2000 a 21st century car for sure, but lets face it, the late 90s and early 2000s were full of things that are considered "rice" nowadays

but what do i care? it's my car and ill do what i want.

Sold the ap2v1's and picked up some volk racing evo3's. it's your typical mesh wheel straight out of the early 2000's
fun fact, Hector in the first Fast and Furious pulls into "The Racer's Edge"(where Brian O'Connor worked") with a set of Volk Evo 3's on his Civic.

other than a buddyclub shift knob(is that even considered a mod?) and some fresh fluids and a SS clutch line/new master the car hasnt been touched yet.
i just ordered billman's TCT for her as well





goals for this car:
Track it and have fun.


current mods:

Suspension:
Koni Yellows
H&R Springs

Engine/Drivetrain:
Billman TCT
Kraken VTEC Solenoid Gaskets
Blox Axle Spacers
Greddy SE Single Exit
Invidia Testpipe

Exterior/Interior:
Volk Racing Evolution 3's (Rays VRX10's)
Type R Shift Knob


Planned Mods:

ap2 valve retainers
new oem valve seals and springs
more streetable exhaust... or maybe less streetable with a j's 70RR
CR struts or Koni yellow's with swift spec r's (or ball out on some evasive spec coilovers?)
CR rear swaybar
Ap2 trans
Puddymod diff (for all the ricer things you wanna do time to time.. hard launches, sick skids, the usual stuff)
new R&P(depends on how the car runs at local tracks etc)
Spoon front bumper/Splitter(?)
Robbin's soft top
new mounts/bushings/ball joints(camber ball joints for the front) everywhere i can possibly find.
APR GTC200/250(again, depends on how the car handles at track)
fixed back bucket/rollbar/6point/HANS for when i go full retard track car


I was good at keeping my build threads up to date when i only had my VW. im gonna try to keep this one up to date as often as i can. I have a lot of free time between classes that I can use.

thanks!

jaor.s2k

Welcome! Are you in SoCal?

mycrors4

Thanks. Yea im in SoCal. I'm out in Glendale

mycrors4

Billman TCT came in today. Plan to install it tonight.

mycrors4

out with the old, in with the new!
gotta say the Billman TCT looked great! He was very helpful and everything went by very quick and easily. 10/10 would reccommend


i also ordered Kraken vtec solenoid gaskets.
my ballade sports one failed within 1k miles (previous owner said he put it on the weekend before i got the car. i've put about 800 miles on the car since i've owned it)



ill be driving the car with both parts installed tonight. im hoping my vtec solenoid leak will be resolved. I know for sure my timing chain ticking has gone away since the install of the Billman TCT

mycrors4

no leaks so far, everything went as smooth as i could ask for

as much as i love the sound, i sold the berk exhaust. as a pure track car it wouldve been perfectly fine, but for something i drive on the streets, i couldnt handle it.
a 30 minute drive on the freeway would have my head pounding, ears bleeding and vertigo like ive never felt before. everyone reacts to different tones/sounds differently and unforunately i couldn't deal with the drone caused by the berk.

picked up a greddy SE with an RSG high flow cat. it's definitely quieter than the berk, a different tone, but i feel i can get used to it. not sure about drone as i havent taken it out for a spin yet, but i can't imagine it being any worse than the berk. plus having a removable cat/testpipe means i can swap to a stock cat for smog and even get a testpipe if i feel the cat is what's causing the drone.

Spoon Fed

Welcome. Nice write up so far.

Love that corolla

mycrors4

Thank you man!
I genuinely miss my corolla, and if i had the money to buy it back, i definitely would!


update on the greddy exhaust:
it's quieter than the berk. drone is still just as bad though. im hoping moving to a testpipe will fix that issue.

if not, it's time to get something custom made

Tdoolin18

Nice write up!

I love those IS300s wanted one myself for a while. The corolla looks like a fun car as well!

Congrats on the S it looks awesome! It looks like you've got a solid plan of attack for this build. Looking forward to seeing further progress.
Also I gotta ask where did you find a Greddy SE single? I haven't seen one of those in a long time. I had the Dual on my first S but always thought the single was the best looking (edit: Affordable) single on the market.

mycrors4

Thank you!

I found the Greddy SE single locally and jumped on it as I got it for a killer price ($350). Unfortunately, the rear-most muffler has something loose inside. possible some matting or material? It doesnt bother me and doesnt make any sound when the car is running. not 100% sure what's inside those mufflers haha.

There is another one selling locally right now. A lot newer and clearly has less miles than mine does. He's asking $700 for his.

I've contacted Greddy on possibly purchasing just the rear most muffler from them and having either them or a reputable shop weld it on for me. I'd prefer if they did it just to keep things authentic, but either way works with me