DIY Aftermarket Cigarette Lighter Corolla 98 - 02

As you can see the aftermarket lighter is to the right and the OEM is to your left . For those who don't have the money to buy a OEM or find a OEM in the junk yard here is a DIY on how to replace one with a small budget .

As you can see the plastic cover on the left but the aftermarket has the ground sleeve and with out that it wont work but the lighter is to small for the OEM hole and you can put the plastic for the aftermarket . But I came up with a way for the new lighter to stay and look clean .

First you remove the ash tray then you pull out the face plate off . You have to pull from the bottom up . But dont pull to hard cause the lighter wires and the ash tray light wire is hooked up .

Then you remember the bulb for the ash tray and then you remove the wires for the ash tray . Make sure you don't have the key in the ignition turned on or else you will shirt out the lighter fuse .

Once you have everything removed then you get some black silicone and place the lighter halfway or as far as you want it to stick out . Then squeeze some silicone on your finger and then fill in the gap making it look flush and smooth like in the photo . Then you let it dry for about 20 minutes before you connect it to the face plate .

Before you put the black sleeve to the face plate you add a little silicone behind it and push gently making sure you dont put alot so that it doesnt squeeze through if not then just wipe it away and make it look clean .

Then behind the lighter you add some more silicone so that the back of the aftermarket lighter is supported . Make sure your lighter is straight while you are doing this . Then let this dry for another 20 minutes before connecting .

Then connect your wires make sure the wire with the black line goes to the ground clip and the other goes to the positive . Make sure it clips tight but you can use wire tape to wrap it for extra safety . Then you put the light back into the ash tray .

Before you put the face plate back on make sure it looks like this and everything is dried . At this point you can check to see if your lighter is working . Once you completed your checks then you can push back the face place .

When its all done it should look like this , Nice and clean perfectly solid . The reason I used black silicone was to match up the round plate and during the day you cant even tell if you put silicone there .

Then when you are done you can either put the lighter part back in or plug in your adapters , and this is what it will look like .

There you have it a aftermarket lighter looking clean .

DIY Cooling Radiator Cooling Plate Corolla 93 - 97

The making of a Radiator Cooling Shield .


First you remove the screws on the top that hold the front grille .

In the bottom of the back of the grille is a snap thing that you have to open apart then the bottom will push out .

Then you pull forward gently not breaking the snap thing in the back .

Then with a 12m socket you remove the radiator hold down brackets.

Then you lay the aluminum sheet metal flush to the edge where you see my finger then you mark the holes to drill and tap on the center so that the hinge will make a tiny indent . Then you drill in the center .

Once you make the hole in the center you then put just the bolts back to hold the shield in place so that you can cut the center out where the hood hinge and handle is at .

Once you have it lined up then you grab your dremel and you cut the are where you can expose the hinger area first , Then you cut open the area where the handle for the hood can be exposed .

Once you finished then it should look like this . You would still need to trim it some more but you don't do that until after you make the bends of the aluminum sheet metal .

Then with a rubber mallot you bang the metal so that it forms the same shape as the radiator frame and the hood rod area so when you lay the hood rod down it will have enough room with out messing up your sheet metal when you close the hood . When you are finished it will look like this . ( Reminder - Then you can trim open up the hole a little wider because you need that metal to lay as flat as you can . )

Then you gently lay the hood down making sure the hook and the handle are clear so that you can open your hood and that you can close the hood to . It should look like this .

Then you put the grille back on and then you close the hood so that the metal lays straight and the hood will give you a leading edge to mark off with a marker . Try to get under the hood a little but not to short . Because the metal will tuck under the grille .

Behind the grille will be some plastic tabs that need to be cut . Do not worry this will not affect the integrity of the grille , But will make it easier for the metal to slide under the top lip of the grille . ( Advice - The more that is under the lip the better your shield will set and be lower in the front .)

Then you remove the grill cut across and put the piece of metal back then you put the grill back . This is what your shield should look like when it is all done ready to be painted . ( Reminder - You have to remove the shield by the bolts first cause you wont be able to reach the snap thing on the bottom anymore .)

Then with a grinder stone you round the edges so that it looks clean and remove the metals sticking out . Then you can sand the sheild and clean it with degreaser before you paint it .

Once you painted your sheild you bolt it back with the radiator brackets . Do not but the grill back on yet . Because you still have to check out the hood rod .

Then you put the grill back on and re-check the hood rod and make sure you have clearance .

Then you bring the hood down and re-check the handle and once you feel that every thing is ok then you close the hood completly .

Then you open your hood up and this is what it should look like when you are done .

DIY Front Bumper Fog Lights with HID's Corolla 93 - 97

This is a DIY of a front bumper fog lights using Ford Focus fog lights .
These fog lights are from a 2000 - 2004 Ford Focus . The reason I used these are because there are cheaper and under $25.00 shipped new .

These HID's are 3000k , bulb # 899 .

This is what my front end looked like before I added the fog lights .

First you remove the grille . The BLUE arrows are where the screws are to remove the grille . The RED arrows are where the bolts are located to remove the bumper .

Once you remove the grille you will expose two 10m bolts near the head lights and problaby 2 snaps that hold the top part .

Behind the headlights under the wheel well is one 10m on each side . All you have to do is raise the front end and use a mini ratchet , That way you dont have to take the front tire off , Then you go to the three in the front on the bottom of the bumper .

Once you have the bumper you place it on a blanket so it doesn't get scratched or if yours isnt painted then you can just lay it on a flat surface . Then you get a dremel either air or electric .

Then with the dremel you cut the four areas , Measure the area before you cut . Then you do the same to the other side .

Once you cut out the piece of the bottom grille then you place the fog light and check to see if any trimming needs to be down . In my case I had to trim the top part some so that the fog light fit snug .

Then I purchased 2 angle hinge from Walmart and had some self tapping screws and screwed one to the fog light on a part that was sticking out . I used some silicone to make sure it stuck .

Then I put a dab of silicone then placed the hinge in it and screwed to self tapping screw . Making sure the corner of the fog light was flushed before I screwed them down .

Then turn it around to make sure it is secure and doesnt shake . If you noticed there is a little space but that doesn't bother me . Then you do the other side .

Then this is what it should look like when you are finished . Then you move on to putting your HID's on .

First you find a secure place on your car to put the ballast . If you have to add some silicone on the back before you screw it so that it prevents it from shaking or getting loose . ( Warning - A loose shaking ballast will eventually burn out your ballast and then you want to blame e-bay for being cheap . )

In this photo I slid the negative wire and screwed it to the bolt where the RED then the postive wire I slid through the head light hole and securly wired it to the back of the firewall .

Where I made a hole . There is nothing there to worry about drilling into . Once I made the hole then I passed the positve wire .

Then I located my rear window defroster fused and placed the postive wire on one side of the fuse . The Red arrow is where it is located .

Since my rear defogger isn't working I used that button as my on and off button . If you can't use this then you can use a toggle switch and place the toggle switch to where it is comfortable for you .

Then you make sure all your wires are secure and then bolt up your front bumper and this is what it should look like .

Then you test out your lights to make sure they warm up to the yellow and then you are finished .