#project car

as far as future plans go i'm honestly not really sure. maybe an engine swap, maybe just a plain old restoration. i think largely my goal with him is to just to make him comfortable and reliable to drive, and he's NEITHER of those things at the moment.

he hates hills, he grumbles and shakes and grinds, the whole deal. the only thing that i think works reliably on him is the brakes, they have a lot of stoppage left on them. that said i may still refresh the brake system anyways, just for extra insurance.

at some point i plan to take out the engine and clean it up. put new gaskets everywhere, degrease it and replace all the hoses and tubes. might even go as far as a total rebuild? right now there's a couple oil leaks which is no good so i'll have to figure those out first.

and then there's the transmission not quite getting into gear, and i think the differential is a little busted too, i'm not sure how tho. there's just a lot of grinding going on underneath that needs some attention.

uhhh what else. OH i do think it would be fun to just completely take him apart and build it back up again. makes things more complex but also easier at the same time since all the parts are more isolated. i'd go from the bottom up. repair and derust the chassis, rebuild the suspension and brakes, rebuild the engine and transmission and exhaust, maybe rewire everything but that's scary, derust and repaint the body, and then finish off with sprucing up the interior. from there i'd probably decide wether to do an engine swap or to squeeze out as much horsepower as possible from him. he doesn't have a lot to begin with, but bringing out a little bit more would be soo much fun.

For reference its a 2019 Toyota Corolla Hatchback.

Heres photos from working on it.

Now photos when it was fucked.

The dipshit dropped his phone while driving and decided to pick it up WHILE DRIVING. He wasnt suppose to be driving it btw. AND HE WAS DRINKING TOO. (there were redflags after this incident that came up that I ignored in the past but brought into light after this incident. I was young & naive and was unfortunately use to horrible people & environments.) Also I was battling super bad depression (now diagnosed with MCD : Major Clinical Depression) so it was hard to accept that I deserve better, thankfully my bestie of 14 years (now my wife) helped me get out of this shit hole I been in since late 2022 to the beginning of 2025.

Now from its past