CRAZY FEMALE - Accepted male challenge OOPZ!

L

LadyMinx

New member
Points
11
Location
New Zealand
Car
Levin 4afe ae111
Hi
Everyone calls me Minx, i'm a 22yr old female from little old new zealand.
I bought a car with no help no advice ect... all up didn't do bad spent $800 on standard 1996 Ae111 GT Toyota Levin, st 1587cc. WHY??? well the hole thing came down to an argument with a car nut about girls and cars. Well challenge excepted the basic out line being
MONEY TO SPEND GETTING CAR = $1000
Must be standard not ultered in anyway
Must be road legal and remian so (must pass vtnz pre purchase inspection)
Must be 5 speed manual

Aim make it look like eye candy, make it perform better, drive better, sound better all within budget of $5000

I've had this levin 1 month.
Lowered with springs kindly donated by useless annoyin bf who refuses to aid in anymore then heavy listening.
Pod filter
full service ect..
new tyres/mags
cut polish an detail, custom sounds, bucket seats, momo steerin wheel.
lambo door kit
full tints all round
couple well place decals
personalized plates
doors have been shaved
custom horn
alarm
new clutch
cam belt done
new gear box
racing pedals
new gear nob
...All this totaled $1256.73

so all cosmetic stuff, well an truly covered will b painted black with red pearl an have lights under an inside all kitted in red soon also getting body kit fitted.

Now comes the part i suck at, i've been reading up an trying to get my head round the engine side of things... i'm a typical girl i dont no jack about cars really and found this forum after reading the various articles (EXCELLENT by the way)

I'm not sure where to start an have been looking at doing something with the exhust, and Carbuation & induction. As there no way i can get a whole new engine in the price bracket i need to improve whats already there.

SOO what can i do to improve this car, how do i no what fits what and make sure i'm not losing power an falling for advertising. I know this car is older an it aint exactly cool or somethin you spend $$ on. But any advice would be great! little direction point please in simple terms :)
 
Greetings Minx and Welcome to TorqueCars My Friend! :)

Not familiar with your model car but I am sure someone on here is! I do however wish you the very best of luck with this; by the time TorqueCars members have finished helping you with some sound advice, I'm sure that car nut will regret his words to you and having the cheek to issue you with such a challenge! :amuse:
 
LadyMinx said:
Hi
Everyone calls me Minx, i'm a 22yr old female ]
Click to expand...

Picture or gtfo! :lol: Someone was going to, I may as well get it out the way!

LadyMinx said:
I bought a car with no help no advice ect... all up didn't do bad spent $800 on standard 1996 Ae111 GT Toyota Levin, st 1587cc. WHY??? well the hole thing came down to an argument with a car nut about girls and cars. Well challenge excepted the basic out line being
MONEY TO SPEND GETTING CAR = $1000
Must be standard not ultered in anyway
Must be road legal and remian so (must pass vtnz pre purchase inspection)
Must be 5 speed manual

Aim make it look like eye candy, make it perform better, drive better, sound better all within budget of $5000

I've had this levin 1 month.
Lowered with springs kindly donated by useless annoyin bf who refuses to aid in anymore then heavy listening.
Pod filter
full service ect..
new tyres/mags
cut polish an detail, custom sounds, bucket seats, momo steerin wheel.
lambo door kit
full tints all round
couple well place decals
personalized plates
doors have been shaved
custom horn
alarm
new clutch
cam belt done
new gear box
racing pedals
new gear nob
...All this totaled $1256.73

so all cosmetic stuff, well an truly covered will b painted black with red pearl an have lights under an inside all kitted in red soon also getting body kit fitted.

Now comes the part i suck at, i've been reading up an trying to get my head round the engine side of things... i'm a typical girl i dont no jack about cars really and found this forum after reading the various articles (EXCELLENT by the way)

I'm not sure where to start an have been looking at doing something with the exhust, and Carbuation & induction. As there no way i can get a whole new engine in the price bracket i need to improve whats already there.

SOO what can i do to improve this car, how do i no what fits what and make sure i'm not losing power an falling for advertising. I know this car is older an it aint exactly cool or somethin you spend $$ on. But any advice would be great! little direction point please in simple terms :)
Click to expand...

Right, down to business! Just because it's old doesn't mean it isn't worth spending money on. I drive a 1995 BMW E36. It being old just means parts are easily available, and the knowledge is out there.

If you want to improve it then you won't like this...

Get rid of the window tints, lambo style doors, personal number plates, don't bother with pointless neons or a god awful body kit. You can spend money in so many better ways (plus as a girl it'll be more fun for you as a sleeper). Don't waste money on custom paint either. OEM+ is the way forward and it'll stop you looking like a chavvy girl racer. Also ditch the lowering springs and do the suspension properly.

Onto the good stuff...

A decent set of rims will do for starters and some decent rubber. Suspension should be along the lines of adjustable coilovers (so you can dial in height, camber and caster), thicker anti roll bars, poly bushes, strut braces. Follow that up with a brake upgrade. At least braided lines and better pads. If you can squeeze it into budget then discs and calipers as well.

Power wise I can't be specific as I don't know the engine in question. But after using most of the budget on the suspension and brakes I would look at a decent exhaust, air intake, big bore throttle bodies/individual throttle bodies and then a remap. I doubt you'll get an engine swap or a turbo in with your budget.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for the pointers.
Was in at Mag an turbo, i have got some decent tyres though i couldn't relay the sales pitch car is looking great, will go for different suspension, trying to find a super strut set up but looks like non of the wreckers in south island have a full set so waiting for calls from up north.
Having issues with figuring out the exhust stuff, can anyone explain the exhust setup an what sort of things to look for in exhust to make sure it'll fit? car is 1.6l
 
LadyMinx said:
Having issues with figuring out the exhust stuff, can anyone explain the exhust setup an what sort of things to look for in exhust to make sure it'll fit? car is 1.6l
Click to expand...

Well hopefully you have some performance car shops who specialise in an off the shelf performance system for your car. Failing this, for a few dollars more you could go custom, this would allow you to spec the kind of noise that you would like to hear and you will also have the choice of exhaust tips that can be fitted to the rear pipe to give it that extra special finish - i.e. chromed, blackened finish, round oval or square shaped tip, small medium or large bore, slashback cut etc, the list is endless.
 
Also like to note this is going to be street car not race car or anything. Literally will be driven down main street of town an then run through machanic who decides which is running best, people in town an youtube decidin which looks best. Lambo door kit was $60 from a mate and no cars in town have this so will be big head turner when parked up. Basically just cheap attempt at show car look :)
 
T9 man said:
Well hopefully you have some performance car shops who specialise in an off the shelf performance system for your car. Failing this, for a few dollars more you could go custom, this would allow you to spec the kind of noise that you would like to hear and you will also have the choice of exhaust tips that can be fitted to the rear pipe to give it that extra special finish - i.e. chromed, blackened finish, round oval or square shaped tip, small medium or large bore, slashback cut etc, the list is endless.
Click to expand...

Only performance shop in my town is Mag an Turbo and Subru shop so have to find things online and through wreckers this means can't just take car in an ask guy at the counter to show me what he got which makes this even more fun... lol
 
this sounds like a TV challenge or something! haha
welcome to the forum! (bit later but better than never)
i must say i pretty much agree with what prince has said in terms of the modifications.

happy new year to you too, and everyone else!

eagerly awaiting the photo's of the finished car! :p
 
I don't do bits on the side TN. Im a family man. And two be honest. I don't think she could be anyone's bit on the side! What side do you do?? Are are sooooo many!! :lol:
 
Hello there and may I extend to you a very warm welcome to TorqueCars forums.
It is great to meet you and I hope you enjoy the forums as much as we all do and that you get totally addicted to this site.

It sounds like you have a great project on your hands, with an impressive mod list already planned. So what's first up?

Do feel free to get involved in our other threads too, the more the merrier as they say and we are friendly (being friendly is actually a forum rule!:))
 
I just have a search for Levin photos. It is nice car IMHO!
Does it have turbo or is it atmo engine?
As Prince said, coilovers and some alloy wheels with nice offset would do the justice to the car apearance.
Does it egsists some higher powered Levin than yours? If so, you could easilly swap brakes and/or seats and some other details.
Think about HID lights with projectors.
After you decide about exterior just do the painting by your taste.
About engine and power can not tell much in general.
Just describe what you know about your engine and hopefully someone will give you some practical ideas.
Wish you succes regardless of bikini pictures! ;) Altough you give us a word! :lol:
 
Zwaf said:
Does it exsists some higher powered Levin than yours? If so, you could easilly swap brakes and/or seats and some other details.
Click to expand...

This. It 'should' be an easy upgrade this way. Any chance of giving us some stats as we don't get the Levin in the UK (over here it's a Corolla)? Therefore not many of us will know what engine you have to start with.
 
As soon as I saw 'female' in the post title I wondered how long it would take to get to photos! Looking forward to seeing some pictures of the car in progress! What part of NZ you from?
 
Hey BBJ , Lady Minx is a Kiwi girl not a UK girl as in your centre fold photo , no doubt LMs photos will be worth the wait
 
the best bang for your buck would be stage1 or 2 cam and or forced induction, turbo or supercharger is not that hard to do. i got an amr 500 (small supercharger off a 1.6) for 400 ozzie bucks delivered and changed to smaller pulley for more boost, i made the brackets bolted it on, plumbed the hose and the computer did the rest. 2 weekends = 55 extra horses to play with and it makes a fantastic whine noise as you go. i still have his number if you are interested.
 
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