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KEN! Well, water has traveled under the bridge mate. I did get the big girl licensed- she had a W50 5 speed conversion when I picked her up. The 21RC was a gutless wonder but she was a fantastic cruiser. I keep saying was. The W50 eventually decided it didn't love life and the input shaft bearing let go. I limped her down to the farm near Busselton, and proceeded to pull the box. The spigot bearing didn't feel right, but I had to pull the engine and get a torch on to get it out. Kids got in the way, one thing led to another and she languished in the hay shed for a few years. I even countenanced some offers over covid but no one showed up with cash. After moving back to Perth we eventually moved back into our old place, and there was room in the carport, so I fished her dusty, grotty self out of the hayshed and brought her back here. She needs a wash and a driveline. I have the original 21RC on the floor with a W57, a spare 22R, a 22RE intake manifold... but I also have a Saab B204 turbo and RWD gearbox, along with a Camry 1MZ and a Aisin AR5 and bellhousing that should fit. So there's options, and Mumbleweed will yet live if I can commit to one of the options!

Hey friends, Looking to see what offers are made for my 2Door 1975 KE30 Corolla The car has been sitting in the garage for quite a few years now as I planned to have it restored. Unfortunately, I have not gotten around to it and am now considering selling if I receive a reasonable offer. The photos in this ad are old however the condition of the car is still similar to the photos. There is a couple of rust spots that need attention and a dent to the body that can all be resolved with the know-how. All in all condition of the car is really quite good. The engine was running great and did not have any issues when I was driving it a few years ago but it has sat around for a few years now. The car has always been reliable and great to drive. This was my first car and I have no strong desire to sell, if the right offer came along I would consider selling due to needing the money for other things. I would like to pass this rare Corolla on to someone with the passion to restore it. You do not see 2 door KE30s around anymore and I don't know if there are any more of these left in SA (it might be the only 1975 KE30 left in Aus).

Hi guys I’m looking for some parts for my 20 I'm after a good front bumper and the mounts both for the rails and for the guards. a good rear bumper middle and ends a good front chin panel and possibly a pair of guard’s depending on how mine are when I start to strip it down. time to start fixing her up has been in the family since new damn salty air in Portland has got to it bad. thanks guys

The only thing is starting with a disc cutout little thicker than you need, just tap it down with a hammer and then keep hammering it until it's stretched to about the size you need. Bring you are using mig you need a little more room around the edges than I do as I'm on tig. Also use a copper backing, if you do have a hole close to the edge there is a good chance you'll just burn away the metal without it. Don't ask me how I found out... Thankfully it was on scrap metal

https://www.ebay.com/itm/252712915526?itmmeta=01HZHP4696X085TDDH6HYVVBDJ&hash=item3ad6dd1246:g:TU8AAOSw2xRYb~xX&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwGr7q5cNAPsgLNo666OVeImJHUupAiKbxaNKivMY7q5JrDP7YyvD4sVxDIGOrp2xS8%2BIl46Jk5uxMPE1pXC4Zx0X2wa%2FgbC%2BRYggzXAyW%2FmQDDFnZzRxYETyfjKhZCKXgtncTzapZ6P8RkGtRnE9tVCrWNfQLjgXeQ0pD%2Bq6z%2BS0V3aRirkiTrYeDXjUsO56Afi7NTIHATDf4NaguyDfQtreG2oGFIxUPtKFN6%2FdQUJOlkcyMOCjCSZnbom6ICfLdg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9bkkLb8Yw

Would strongly recommend grabbing that other car if you have the luxury of space. The bonnet is very hard to find in good condition. Some parts are still available from Toyota but you will need to find a parts book. I order quite a lot of genuine parts new on Impex. Essentially sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes I'm not. Otherwise it's a matter of watching out, seeing something, thinking "I will need that one day", and buying it if the price is reasonable. Has been my approach for many years for my three cars. Ebay US can often be good sources of mechanicals like brake shoes. Parts wholesalers and the like. i.e https://www.ebay.com/itm/235381582407?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110025%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPOSITELISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D266070%2C265705%26meid%3Dc929df1bdd4c4c55815e1a50d5adac70%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D134539189491%26itm%3D235381582407%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4481478%26algv%3DAlgoIndex5SimRanker%26brand%3DMintex&_trksid=p4481478.c101506.m1851

What a coincidence! Yes, it's a great little community and surprisingly active - and it fortunately hasn't succumbed to social media platform concentration. I guess people who like old-school cars also like the old-school internet. 😀

I'm thinking to myself, that will be Banpei. Pop across to aeu86.org and there it is! Longtime since I've been on that forum, but some good guys. Great to see it's still active.

No worries, and thanks a lot for the info! This project will take some time in any case. I'll definitely contact Peter per your suggestion - getting in touch with somebody knowledgeable about these cars is always very worthwhile! I have found some parts in the meantime: A brand new old-stock exhaust (still has the Toyota P/N sticker!) here in Switzerland - and the guy said he might have some other bits for the car as well, just not listed online. A slightly dented but fixable front bumper in the Netherlands plus the brackets (irons?) via a friend in the european AE86 forum. The grille was actually stowed away under the seats and interior panels inside the car - unfortunately dented, but fixable. A spare engine from Japan - the company that imported me an AE86 once does send parts containers every couple months from there. I may get access to another "never gotten to it" project that's way more rusty, but otherwise complete, located in Belgium. I'd rather get the missing bits than tearing apart an otherwise complete car. Maybe get it and fix both cars? Also, I think I've figured out the history why the car was stowed away. It must have been in a front-end crash, as the entire upper frame has been welded and fixed. It's pretty obvious from the weld spots - but it was done thoroughly and everything looks straight. That also explains the paint looking so fresh - it must have been painted at the same time. I just wonder why so much effort was put into it and then never finished, as it really doesn't look like that much is missing. Probably some parts were not available anymore from Toyota and finding them pre-internet was too difficult, but that's just my guess. For consumables and remanufactured parts, I've found that Rockauto has a surprising selection of spares. Basically everything except brake shoes is available. On that note: Where do I get brake shoes for the car? I've scoured the internet with little success... Should I do the "bake in the oven to unglue the old brake material" process as described in the workshop manual?

Now thats a good idea. About to do similar so I'll give that a go!

So it's been a little trial and error, mostly on scrap steel. But I have a way to fill the spot weld holes. I have a cheap metal hole punch, so using that I can punch out some 1mm steel to close to the size I need. Then I flatten it using a hammer, I also then stretch it and to fill the hole as much as possible. This should bring the thickness down close to the 0.8mm of the original metal. It makes filling the holes much easier. I'm still going on the holes, but I'm getting there...

I had one when I first came over here in 1976, a Beetle I bought in Sydney with a blown clutch, the rounded but not split rear window. Stayed with my sister and changed it in her driveway, then drove to Canberra where I was staying. It was resprayed down there while I worked at a panelbeaters, then GF & I went to Darwin in it... well, not quite, it melted a piston in the summer heat around Grafton & I hitched in to Glen Innes to get a new set from a wrecker. It never felt right after that so we left it in Townsville to be sold and hitch-hiked on to Darwin, where she flew to Indonesia and I hitched back to pick up the money. The dealer paid me, said the timing was out and the car was so good he sold it to his daughter! The adventures of youth! Many of them involved VWs back then!

Note the change in specification after certain dates. Don't forget you will need bumper irons. Don't assume the pictured grille is correct for your model, but does at least indicate the various other bits of hardware required. Note the reference to "euro spec" for the front bumper. I have no idea how they differ. But you are unlikely to find them anyway. And apologies for my late reply, I'm not sure how I missed this. Good luck!

Ok. I’ve calmed down now. The bumper and grille won’t be too hard. You need to be sure to get the correct grille though. I’m a KE15 person and tend to look down on KE10’s so am not sure which one is correct. I’ll have a look at the parts book and see if it is differentiated, though someone here will know. The fender will be an issue. I was able to get a NOS item from Yahoo Japan a while back. It’s a matter of watching and waiting for the gems that come up occasionally. You will find a Spanish guy on eBay but all his parts are gold plated and diamond encrusted - apparently. There is a mechanic in Melbourne Australia called Peter Robinson who over many decades has built up a significant parts hoard. And he knows more than most people alive when it comes to Corolla’s. He is old school, a bit crotchety, and works best by phone. He does have a younger bloke who helps out especially with his online presence. He will likely have some good original options, and will make sure they are correct for your model. Search for Peter Robinson Automotive - Kerolla spares. Be careful though, I recently caught a guy in the USA mimicking the Kerolla Facebook persona with a slightly adjusted page title and using Peter’s posts in this fraud page. Facebook has seriously degenerated with fraudsters in the last 6 mths especially, and I will now only deal with people I have been monitoring online for some years.

OMG!!! That SST set!!!

Golf R ! https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/faster-2024-volkswagen-golf-r-teased-144309/ Now if money was not a stumbling block; then a big Yes; but at $ 60K - $ 70K, that might hurt a bit. My son's girlfriend's, whole family are Volkswagen thru & thru, & swear by them. No one, including me, will put down Volkwagen's reputation for reliability. However, somewhere along the line, way back; pulling a kombi engine; & a Bettle engine out for friends, in a driveway, without the assistance of a vehicle hoist, still reminds me a stiff neck, for a week or so afterwards. My earliest initiation to Volkswagen, was in Papua New Guinea, where I worked for a while in my late teens & early 20's. I was on contract, but we had to find our own accommodation & transport, although we were paid an allowance. Finding good secondhand cars was an issue, & rust was a problem. I remember one FB Holden, where you watched the road beneath you fly by, below your feet, & that was whilst driving. In Rabaul in East New Britain, we came across, a fully imported German VW which was, I think; the most basic model they ever made. It had a 27HP engine, when I think the Australia model, was 30HP , at the time. It had the little oval window, at the rear, but it had had a divider in the middle, unlike the then current Australia model. It had no fuel gauge, but when you ran out whilst driving, you kicked a little lever, to the left of the clutch pedal, & the petrol then exited the fuel tank from a second lower pickup point, & got you home. However, for all the basics; it never broke down. I tell a lie ! Once we broke a fan belt, which is a pretty important item, in an air cooled engine. We didn't have one, but did use a girls panty hose, that had been left on the back seat, (duno how it got there) & we made it back to town. Cheers Banjo

I thought more about it, and decided I didn’t want to have to drive 400km on a space saver again. So thought I would look around for something Volkswagen in a 19 inch wheel. Not sure why, but I see very few Mk8 GTI’s on the road. And these are an option wheel too. Stunned on marketplace to find 3 of the same wheels for $200 each. Some poor P plate kid hit a pothole on the way to Adelaide and destroyed a wheel. Brand new from VW they are $1500 each. I saw his quote, and the wrecked wheel. So not unreasonably he bought a set of some aftermarket wheels for under $1000 and sold these. 2 of them are as new, while the third had a little gutter rash. So that one is my new spare for when I go outside the metro area. I couldn’t get around to his place fast enough. The other two can go up in the roof just in case. It has been a new experience watching like a hawk for any potholes.

Sob ! Sob ! My 5K engine has just become obsolete ! Toyota To Introduce the INN Engine at 200HP per litre ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGXqA5EvSkI Meanwhile, I'll just get my 5K to be fully ECU & EFI controlled ! Just about to fit modified camshaft cover back on; & put it all back together. Cheers Banjo

Plus one! Always great to see a project finished and working, and that's a smart-looking sleeper.

"The Corolla looked a bit too try hard. " Definitely! The last decent-looking car Toyota made would be the Altezza, it followed on from some lovely Supras and Soarers, then devolved into weird angles and mis-fitting panels. The Yaris is like the Ford Ka, a ewe pissing, just not as bad. After Josh's bro bent his Golf R we fitted all the mechanicals and wiring from that (including the boot floor) to his Mum's 1.4L Golf. Now she has a shopping rocket that his Dad swipes most days, and it looks completely stock. The boot floor was the only part that needed altering (shallower floor) to fit the 4WD. Keeps your eyes open for an R at the auctions/wreckers, you never know...

Just love it, when a project comes to "fruition", & the road trips get going, under it's tyres ! Well done, & a good thread. I'm sure it will be appreciated by many, over the years on here. Congrats Cheers Banjo

Well BIG update, long story short she is finished and now registered! Here's some photos from it's shake down trip! Started off at a spot out of town for sunrise. Then went down onto the beach! Here's a shot of the finished engine bay! Also fitted up a D21 Navara/Pathfinder snorkel! Fits really well and gives the factory look I was going for! Fitted up some flush mount LED reverse lights in the rear bumper. Really enjoying exploring in the old girl, a few more trips coming up soon!

Yeah I saw a GR corolla the other day, I wasn't too impressed with the looks. The GR Yaris is similar but I dunno, seems to wear its ridiculous looks better. The Corolla looked a bit too try hard. Not to mention how much is a GR corolla worth? 65k! hah, I'm not paying that for a corolla. Save up a bit more and you can get an older Porsche!

I have to say i was very impressed by how well it handled, until i got the deflation warning. Oh well. The reason i was going so fast is I was concerned about someone coming the other way and chipping the paint. My avatar i have to admit is some mad Irishman I found very many years ago. This was the first opportunity I've had to really open her up on some challenging roads after 10 mths of ownership. And I went nowhere near it's outlet limits. Amazing that something you can potter up to the shops in can be so incredibly quick and raucous when given its head. You really do see a different side of the car other than just blasting away at the lights. Phenomenal. I had been aiming to buy a GR Corolla for a couple of years prior to giving up on Toyota and buying this. I see one in the carpark at work regularly, and it's actually a damn ugly looking thing.