chrisRhoad.com » The Machine

Winter clean up has begun.

Chris — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:00:44 +0000

I have no entensions of doing a typical ‘winter tear down’ but I do plan on doing some clean up on the Corolla. For starters, I yanked the heater core. Since I bought the car, its never worked and was completely useless so in the trash it goes.

Damage!

Chris — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:50:49 +0000

More on this later when I have more time.

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Post tags: AE86, Clear to drift, Corolla, damage, Drift Car, The Machine

She’s still here.

Chris — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:21:29 +0000

Some thought that I sold the Corolla. I didn’t. Its been grounded to its room for the past four months due to bad behavior. Once it straightens up its act, I’ll let it go out and play.

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Post tags: AE86, Corolla, flat tire, grounded, still here

Safety first.

Chris — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:47:41 +0000

This broke while coming out of the sweeper at ESN. Thanks to NSP for letting me borrow a wheel off their show car. And to Chad for letting me use his extra Momo wheel until I can get a new one.
Note to self: Stop buying cheap shit!

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Post tags: broke, Elite Summer Nationals, esn, momo, ns performance, nsp, steering wheel

A less-shitty DIY Home Depot lip option

Chris — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:26:29 +0000

Of all the nice front-lip options out there for the AE86 (and other platforms), there is ONE that I hate with an absolute passion; the “Home Depot” lip. Sure its cheap, but no matter what its installed on, it looks terrible.

Last year as I was vinyl wrapping the Corolla I went with the ‘home depot’ lip option and here was the result:

UGH….. horrible. Within 10 minutes of installing it, I ripped it off and began my search for another (cheap) option. Back to Home Depot I went and this is what I found.

Look familiar? Probably not. Its the inner lining for a door frame and it too is at Home Depot for a mere $5. They are on the same isle as the doors (or close by) and usually in a very tall bin. Unlike the Garden-frame (or whatever its called) variation, this liner is flexible yet VERY sturdy. This is actually my second lip of this type. The first one lasted well over a year and went through a lot of abuse; ie course cones and being smashed while loading the car on a trailer.

The process of putting this lip on is very simple as well. All you need is a Dremel (or cutting utensil of some sort), drill/screwdriver, and a few screws.

Using your Dremel, cut the tabs off one side of the lip.

Make sure the tab-less side is facing up and fasten the lip to the bottom or your bumper using a few screws. On my previous lip, I also used Double-Sided 3M tape which helped out a good bit too.

Its obviously not required, but I rounded off the edges at the bottom.

Its not a JDM Kouki lip, but it’ll do for now.

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Post tags: AE86, alternative, Corolla, frame, home depot lip, jdm kouki lip, non shitty, window liner

Resurrection is a beautiful thing.

Chris — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:11:48 +0000

For every end, there is a new beginning. The new DMGG2 Hood.

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Post tags: AE86, dmgg2 hood, dmggmasd, gossip girl, hood

I got the last laugh.

Chris — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:00:49 +0000

Getting the USDM bumper brackets off this damn car have seriously been the vein of my existence. An impact wrench, breaker bar, Dremel…. not even a plasma cutter could get these stripped out bolts to dislodge themselves from the frame. Ultimately, an angle grinder won the battle and I got the last laugh.

Few pics from the TO event.

Chris — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:00:25 +0000

J.Weaver snapped some pretty good shots of everyone from the T.O. event that went down a couple of weeks ago. He even got a few of the ‘Rolla.

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Post tags: Corolla, j.weaver, pics, t.o. drift event, The Machine, traction optional

Gettin Durty

Chris — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:59:12 +0000

Got around to working on the car this past weekend. Finally started installing the XS Power D680 and replaced the busted lug bolt in the left-rear hub. For now the battery is in a “mock-up” stage. Im going to verify a few more things with the XS Power folks and then finish bolting everything down this weekend.

While working on all this stuff, I came to the realization of how dirty this car really is as you can see from the picture below. Im all for battle-worn abuse but this thing is beyond my tolerance. It will be receiving a thorough cleaning very soon.

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Post tags: AE86, bolt, Corolla, d680, dirty, The Machine, wheel lug, xs power

The end of an era.

Chris — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 16:00:36 +0000

Im sad to say that the DMGGASD hood is no longer For the last 6 months, its been kept outside and subjected to Mother Nature’s wrath. Honest, Im really bummed that it ended like this. When the car returned from Memphis I was hoping to pull the hood and hang it on the wall in the garage. I don’t know, I guess I still could. Never the less, a new one is under way.

To be honest, the whole damn car needs a lot of TLC. The logistics of the TO Event really took its toll. From the front bumper to the wheel lugs and LSD (needs rebuilt), the next couple of weeks/months will be spent bringing the car back up to mediocrity.

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Post tags: AE86, Corolla, dmggmasd, gossip girl, hood, i was that guy, wheel lugs