TOM

Yeah SA is good for that, we do have the oldest car fleet in the country apparently! Not boring at all - that is essentially the plan I guess. It's not as good as the photo's make out as you will see later, but it's way better than average for one of these so was too hard to pass up. 1980 KE38 wagon 4K with 4 speed, no air-con. Brown. I lke it. 3 owners I think with plenty of receipts for recent mechanical work done, including this year a fully rebuilt head. 226K kms, interior is amazing apart from torn drivers seat and unknown rear seat condition, but original carpets are in very good order and should come up nicely. Incredibly, it has the original soft-vinyl cargo area cards in overrated condition with original working rear speakers, even the one on the tail gate is overrated!!! See teaser pics below... Dash has cracks but a mat will cover them, rubbers and seals are all awesome. Motor is tight and responsive, everything else works well apart from what I believe is a rooted Diff. Borgy. Bugger, there goes a Saturday... Is obviously in pretty good order for it's age, very straight apart from couple small dings in driver door and paint flaking from previous bogged damage on rear quarter - see pic. Paint is good but thin on roof with a bit of surface rust here and there. Rust in: both rear wheel arches but not much in left side, little bit in inside of tail gate and the section of boot floor right next to it, and a couple other tiny bits but other than that it's looking better than average rust wise. Plans are clean up and put on historic rego (I have a company car for now), standard stuff like chrome trims/black rims, whitewalls, venetian and a black mesh visor and possibly a deflector for the driver window. Fix the diff. And some low...not too much though. Then start doing little bits to the body over time. And a bloody 5 speed gearbox is an essential mod - can't put up with that shit. And it won't happen overnight by any means like many of you enthusiastic and energetic young whipper snappers! I dream of any available spare time and disposable cash! Some more teaser pics I took while I was there...can't wait to drive this baby home tomorrow. Towbar will get used Even the carpet is pretty good and would come up pretty well with a gurney...wish I had one One little tear, otherwise sweet What looks to be the only previous/repaired damge on the car.

It's happened again.... Picking this up tomorrow night, more pics and details to come. SA seems to have an abundance of KE wagons and vans!

I'm sure I speak for everyone when i say this thread has been a real enjoyment to read, and more pics are eagerly anticipated!! Go the 38's (I'm picking one up tomorrow night woop)

Forgive my ignorance, but what are portawalls? Incidentally, my housemate has just purchased a whitewall machine and is doing great work. Based Nth Eastern suburbs but will come to you. Cheaper than SA whitewalls too. Can also do motorcycles. I will be posting a formal advertisement soon (still trying to find the best quality paint), but feel free to PM me to enquire or book. Can post pics of cars he's done so far. Cheers,

KE1x for sure, such a beautiful shape and the 11's were one of the best looking cars of all time imo Best for cheap thrasher cars would have to be KE70's - cheap and virtually unbreakable

None of mine had them. All KE1x series I've seen have that horrible tear in the hood lining where the mounting points are - maybe the hood lining was cut from the factory but belts not installed. Does anyone have one without seatbelts but with no holes/tears in the original hoodlining?

Found these on here: http://forums.performancecar.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=49817&p=482867 It's a wrecker in New Zealand somewhere. Love this first shot

More... Not a Toyota but I do have a soft spot for these old coupes

Wow, hows the cargo area! Nive find man, haven't seen one of these in SA before...

That's the place, and apparently if they get the height wrong they will reset again for no charge until they get it right.

Get your springs reset - it's cheaper and you can specify the height exactly, plus you retain your original spring rate. Plus they won't be bright yellow like King Springs which can attract the 5-0's. I'm told the mob who does it here in SA are very good, not sure of their name but I can find out.

If it's in diff lock mode you would know about it straight away - tyres chirp round corners and the car will protest at any turning of the wheels on bitumen. Mine was a bit tempremental when trying to deactivate the diff lock and took a few goes. Burning rubber isn't something these cars like to do at all. The transfer case will not tolerate being abused in these cars - they're not a sports car and shouldn't be driven as such or things will eventually break. Saying that, 135,000kms is very low for one of these and you see them advertised with 400+ kms on standard mechanicals, so it should take a fair flogging yet. As for the shudder, it could have a slightly bent axle? Shagged bearing? Bent rim? I've seen plenty of these things with bullbars on them, not sure who manufactured them but they shouldn't be too hard to find. Ring places like Just Wrecking Toyota's here in SA, not sure if you have a similar wrecker over there or not... Also, to my knowledge the suspension can't really be raised a whole lot due to the design - I'm sure one of the more experienced 95 owners could tell you more about this but someone else has asked the question previously on here - a search may yield some answers.

OK this isn't a Toyota, but holy crap man...

I know...I knew you would like it Tally!!! Found them on google images, just typed "abandoned toyota" and it came up on the 16th page or something. Work is boring sometimes... The link on the previous page has more images and some really cool video's - I watched one but don't know if they cover the dealership. The painful thing about it is these people are still waiting to be able to return to their homes/businesses after all these years. Just think about it - the whole city would need to be re-wired, re-plumbed, re-engineered and certified clean and safe for human existance. The Corolla's, on the other hand, would probably still work after half and hour of tinkering, a hose down, some fresh fuel and air in the tyres and drive out of the dealership like they were supposed to 36 years ago!!!

And another. Sorry about the small size

Evidently these cars are most likely still there, also there was apparently a Mercedes dealer and maybe others. Not sure when this photo was taken though. A veritable wet dream for any KE2* and other '74 Toyota owners, although I will admit to secretly wishing this conflict had perhaps happened in 1969/70... Again for those who can't be bothered turning back a page

Check this shit, apparently an abandoned Toyota dealership in Varosha... Drool... Wonder if they're still there? See article / link below...very interesting!!! http://varosha.multiply.com/ Quote Famagusta developed to the south of the old town, in the area of the relatively new town of Varosha, with its long beach backed by modern hotels.Today Varosha is no more than an empty ghost town. It lies in a UN zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the occupied areas, and is presently occupied by the Turkish Army. As the occupants fled from the fighting of the Turkish invasion, Varosha remained empty as it became part of an eery no-mans-land between makeshift borderlines. Washed clothes were left drying on washing lines - electric lights were left burning for years until the bulbs finally failed. Varosha remains a bargaining counter - a symbol of the madness and the tragedy of those awful summer days of 1974 More... Landcruiser = fence

I guess I should also point out that the same friend (my housemate) has his Matte black HQ ute on historic through SMASA. Holden did a colour called "GMH Blackout Black" which was used for engine bays etc, he convinced them it was a factory colour and they either believed him or couldn't be bothered checking... His ute is also lowered a bit, but that was done after being inspected.

Have recently spotted a blue/green/rust KE10 in the Tranmere area, parked in a front yard. It's well buggered and looks very unregistered - lots of dings and rust, has roof racks and mazda stockies on it, probably good for parts more than anything. PM me for street name

SMASA is good - my friend has 5 cars and a motorbike done historically through them. http://www.smasa.com.au/ Membership is bugger all ($40 p.a + $15 per logbook - these last 3 years though) but if you want to get the car on historic straight away it costs a bit more (extra $60 or something). They're very picky though - no mods whatsoever apart from anything that you can convince them was a factory option, which on 38's wasn't much. You can whack stuff on once registered, but doing it really puts the future of historic registration (which has been under threat of significant modifications to the existing laws in SA for years, and it will happen eventually) because if you get busted they have more ammunition. Needs yearly inspections too so mods need to be changed back to original. Or...you can start your own club with minimum of 6 members (none can live in the same house) and do it yourself which is well worth consideration in my opinion. Obviously it's not quite as simple as that, but it is possible. Pros: Less than $150 a year rego, 90 days you can drive it using logbook to record each trip. Cons: Really not for modified cars in SA (unfortunately) Yo

Never seen one either... In the first photo everything from the rear window forward looks exactly like a ke3* I reckon. Can someone enlighten the masses on this? Anyway here are some more pics I found... Easy resto this one :dance: Pillars cut - at least they got something straight off it :fuzz: Corolla provides habitat for a variety of flora and fauna

Last one was very nice...I'm drooling Don't know if this has been posted yet, but prepare yourselves for.... Same with these which are very old apart from the last one, but insanely funny! Powerthirst 1: Powerthirst 2: And the new one, Sports! Aaarrrggghhh

Agreed totally. I grew up in the country drinking rain water, and Adelaide tap water never sat right with me. The last two houses I've lived in have had Purataps, and I love them. Makes a huge difference and well worth it imo

I dunno man, I saw you driving this the other day (last wkend near Smithfield) and I must say it looks spigging awesome as it is, I would be reluctant to change it. IMO it already stands out fantastically and looks so desirable - it has an awesome presence. I reckon the red centres/walls would look porn on a white or dark coloured car, but may look out of place against the orange. Love your work!

Started pulling this beast apart today, will get stuck into it more next weekend.