Mechanical Sympathy

Hello Kai, It should be written on a plaque near the middle of the firewall that has TOYOTA written at the top and then lists; model engine frame number colour/trim transmission/axle factory If this is missing there are at least a couple members here with that colour and they should be along soon.

Obvious comment was obvious. Edited objectively. Good luck with sale!

That's a pretty little coupe - sorry to hear you've had some troubles with it but it looks like you're well capable and enthused to fix them. Ebay can be good for those tricky little trims, rubbers and pieces as these cars still have a large following in Asia and they continue to make a lot of those things new. I have a few eBay searches saved to make it easier to find new items. Rare Spares also stock some KE35/55 stuff so their website is worth a browse.

A quick look at Wikipedia suggests they both may use the C52 manual gearbox but I don't know whether that means they share a bell housing configuration or I expect you'd see more 1ZZFE/T50 rwd conversions but I haven't had one apart to know. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_C_transmission

Hayley I think you're on the right path - this discussion has come up in the past year, maybe on the KE55, KE30 Facebook page - but it seems that some (maybe locally assembled?) liftbacks appear to be stamped KE55 on the firewall but they are indeed identical to the KE50 liftback. Looking at yours I would've said it was a KE50. I think you could safely order a KE50 window with some confidence.

These are all minor things that you might expect from a car that the owner has tired of and sold off cheap. You say you took it for a good run, but that your mechanic says it grinds in third. Did you notice that it grinds in third? Over the medium term you might live with it, but a second hand gearbox should be easy to find. Will you be relying on a mechanic to help you with the car? If that is the case I recommend working with what you have rather than upgrading anything. These cars are easy to work on and you will learn along the way. There are many dozens of hours involved in modifying cars that you would not want to pay a mechanic to do. If the speedometer has stopped working, get under the car and check that the cable is screwed into the gearbox properly. Otherwise the cable may have snapped. New cables are on ebay. Or the speedo may indeed be broken, It can be swapped. You just have to eliminate symptoms/causes and repair as necessary. Is the car running smoothly and cleanly? Or does it bog down when you floor it and consume a lot of fuel. Carburettors can be easily cleaned and tuned even by the home mechanic. Give it a tune - set the timing, swap the points plugs fluids and filters and then see how it goes.

Ayy a thousand bucks.. You'd wanna buy it for that, but you wouldn't want to sell it for that! They're getting hard to find and I saw a beaut restorer from Meringandan sell for $1000 on gumtree in less than 3 days over the new year. I was glad it sold so quick because it was making me feel anxious and because three car rule. Is yours an XX? Start a build thread and give us a look!

So it already has a hotted up 3T engine - just leave it and enjoy! We didn't get that 2 door model in Australia so all the antipodean members will be envious of your $1500 find.

Like Coln said - you could jazz up the trims with some silver or chrome spray and put a clear coat over it for longevity and gloss.

Looks to be great buying for $1500. About all it needs is some nice wheels. It is a TE7(something) powered by a 2T or 3T engine - but that plate on the firewall will confirm.

Not unless it has a 2T engine. A KE50 would usually have a 4K engine and therefore a K40 (4 speed) or K50 (5 speed) gearbox.

http://www.ebay.com....=item25743e6f39 These blanks are claimed to fit. Are they similar to yours? If so, they look similar to my KE55 keys which I had cut at Great Western Shopping Centre in Keperra.

I can also confirm the 5K clutch does not fit in a K40 bellhousing. I did not realise it was an issue until I reinstalled the driveline and turned the key!

Has it been rebuilt? You could probably buy a wreckable TA22 for $500..

I've always wanted a set of those steel rims. Yours have cleaned up nicely. They're not easy to find in Aus, as they were only fitted to (some?) TE72's I'd use VHT polyurethane wheel aluminium on them, with chrome dress trims. But we can't get that paint here any more either.

Thanks, that is a compliment coming from well established members. It is indeed a budget build! The kits for the type S5 OEM 2TG carbs I have were $65 each which was the cheapest I found. His website is very informative even if it is a little tricky to navigate. http://www.rmcarburetors.net/oem_toyota_solex_type_s5.htm

So I've been plugging away at this as time and funds permit. I set myself an upper limit of around $200 a month for parts and materials so shit doesn't get out of control and I don't try to rush toward some unnecessary, imagined deadline. It's been a few years since I sold my fire-snorting Saturday night special Rx-7 and I'm feeling low on street cred. Around August I got tired of mowing around the coupe so started pulling bits off, labelling and boxing them for the day they get cleaned and detailed and put back on. With each of the panels off I've been able to repair one at a time and make them good. Some will scoff at my body shop skills, but I'm no metal worker. If this lasts 5 years parked in my dry shed I'll be happy. Where I found rust, I cut/drilled out what I could, stone ground the rough bits then generously rust treated it. I lay fibreglass on the inside, then fibreglass on the outside, bastard filed it into shape, then another couple of layers on the inside for strength and good measure. Rubbed back the outside with 60 grit then smoothed it all over with some filler. This door has been rubbed into shape and is just about ready for some high build primer. It's rock hard and ain't going anywhere. Guards, bonnet, other door and rear quarters are all getting similar treatment. In the meantime I've been collecting parts for the engine swap. If you haven't heard me going on about Amayama Trading before, I'll reiterate; they are a great source of Japanese made OEM parts. I ordered a sump gasket, rear main seal, spigot bearing, clutch release bearing, gearbox front seal, associated gaskets and exhaust gasket. They were delivered within the month all for under $100. I also ordered kits and spare parts for my Mikuni Solex carbs. Rodger at RM Carburetors is a champ. A few little gems have come up on eBay also. Makes it hard to stick to the budget. New old stock headlight covers. The scuff marks buffed out! And a new old stock Aunger And I couldn't believe it when these 13x6.5" Jovites came up for sale locally and cheaply. Luck happens! I'm considering painting the centres red and leaving off the flares for now (to suit these wheels). Santa will get an engine crane off layby next week and I'll keep plugging away at body repairs over the holidays so that hopefully I have some more updates early 2015. Thanks for reading.

Yes I concur. I've done some looking around and I'll just be modifying my pedal box. Apparently KE55 pedal boxes are easier to modify as they have the holes for the master already in place, as well as the hole and bolts already in the firewall. The long and short of it is - take out your pedal box, test fit master cylinder to pedal box, cut a bit of bracing from the pedal box where it fouls the master cylinder rod, drill a hole in the pedal to mount some threaded rod or a bolt to connect the master cylinder rod. Put it all back together.

IMO paint the black bits black and paint the silver bits silver. Or completely silver. But not completely black. IMO anyway.

I understand that they're good carbs by most accounts, except for one inherent flaw. The grub screws that project into the body at 45 degrees that hold the inner venturis tight, don't do their job very well. Without attention, the venturis regularly work themselves loose and rattle around in place. This results in poor idling and performance also suffers. The tendency is to then overtighten the grubs screws until something gives. Apparently a bit of silicon or locktite or some combination of the two can lock the venturis in place when you're doing a rebuild on them. After learning this I inspected my set and all four venturis were loose. I ordered some kits and am hoping to get a friend rebuild (and ultrasonically polish!) mine over the coming holiday season so I'll soon find out how we go securing them.

I dunno.. if I lived in California and wanted a cool V8 to drive I think I'd be looking at other types of vehicles. However if I had a T powered Corolla in California I'd take advantage of the excellent U.S. T engine performance market. Kudos to you for doing something different.

Here's some grainy shots of a 289 Windsor in a KE55 Corolla that was on Ebay a while back.Seems to fit well except for the super long water pump assembly. Certainly I think I'd prefer a revvy Windsor with a 600 Holley, slippery stalled full manual valve body C4 auto and a B&M ratchet shifter over a 1UZ but that's just my $0.02

I'm doing similar with one of Jordan's kits, but going from 4K to 2TG. My engine had also been sitting for an unknown length of time, but I was assured it was previously a "runner". When I get the engine and gearbox on a hoist (i.e. when I get the hoist) I'm replacing; - Engine rear main seal - Sump gasket - Crankshaft spigot bearing - Clutch release bearing - Gearbox front seal - Inlet and exhaust manifold gaskets - Kit through the carburettors - Thermostat - Spark plugs I put it on a stand and sprayed about two cans of WD40 throughout the crankcase and down the bores and wiped away any filth I could find in the crankcase (i.e. not much) with my bare oily hands and then more WD40 down the bores and blew compressed air down the spark plug holes to blow the crap out (there were some gecko eggs in #4 exhaust port that were stopping the valve from closing fully). Turns nicely and seems to have plenty of compression on all cylinders now. You might also consider to check/replace your waterpump and check your timing chain. But I'm just a backyard mechanic, probably with similar skills to yourself. I'm not really game to pull an end cap off a conrod to check the bearings! So maybe some others can advise further. Good luck. Show us pics of the engine once you get it in with Jordan's mounts!

What Chestikoph said. In 1989 my yellow KE35 was maxed out at 160km/h doing 6000rpm in 4th on an N.T. open limit highway. There was no more in it.

A re-used gasket is a leaking gasket! Amayama Trading is brilliant for OEM parts/gaksets/bearings etc. provided you know the part number (i.e. from Toyodiy.com) and are happy to wait a couple of weeks.