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Good suggestions there, thanks. I really just wanted a chain because they are relatively maintenance free. I went to replace on in my KE70 not so long ago but in hindsight, it probably didn't need it. That was almost certainly in there from the start of time. Timing belts on the other hand, I'm not so sure how difficult they are to replace. Looks like it's planned that way i suppose.. Get's you back to the garage more often. I suppose as long as I can do it myself I should be right. Something in the 90's would probably suit me fine though will consider cost first. Any more suggestions welcome. Toyota's are great.. Any other models, makes which are pretty good. I see allot of small cars out there these days but not sure how they perform. How about Nissan? Ford?

I'm in the process of deciding what car to get next. I currently have a 1983 Toyota Corolla (KE70) and it has served me very well. It's just come of age and I'm not longer going to spend any time on it. The things I liked about this car I'll list below, as these are the features I'm looking for in a car. Very simple.. No bells and whistles. (No electric windows or anything like that) Manual.. preferably 5 speed. Very reliable.. Engine which has a reputation for lasting forever. Something I can work on myself. Not so technically chipped up that I need NASA to fix it. A Timing Chain as opposed to a timing belt. Saves allot of work, especially if I'm working on it myself. Around 1.5 - 1.6 liter. or even 1.3 liter. My KE70 is just 1.3 and it's great. Economical on fuel. Something which I can get allot of parts from a wrecker for. I'm not looking for bran new. Something used and I would assume something in the 90's models. I only say this because later models are increasingly difficult to work on. I would assume a Toyota would fit this bill. Probably a seca. I would like a hatch if possible as my KE70 sedan is a little small for carrying stuff. Even a small station wagon would be great. Any clues as to which vehicles fit this description. I figured it would be best to draw on the knowledge out there rather than spend weeks asking friends and family awkward questions. Thanks..

I'm doing the clutch in a KE70 (1983 Toyota Corolla)., Have done it before and know what is involved. Willing to drive anywhere from the CBD to 25km out. It's a relatively easy job but don't want to do it in the car park. Thought there may be some drive up ramps about the place where people can go an work on their vehicle if need be. Not that I've heard of this kind of thing before but I notice these ramps in some industrial sites which have been closed off and unused. Behind a fence of course. I used wheel stands last time which were ok. Just trying to make things easier that's all.

Just wondering if there was anywhere I could work on a car in the Melbourne area. I live in a block of units which makes it hard for bigger jobs. I'm hoping to find somewhere where with some drive on ramps if possible or somewhere designated for this kind of thing. Maybe I'll need to pay a fee for a day but it will be worth it as I'm doing my clutch and there's not enough space where I am. Any suggestions? Thanks

Thanks both. The timing mark for TDC is between the two marks at the front. It's a small notch on the back of the pulley. I'll do that alltez, will post how it goes in a week or so. I'm taking a break from the car.. much needed. A few hours later.... I've just been thinking about my timing being advanced too far. That certainly explains my idle problem and my inability to adjust the idle speed.. Would you know if this would also explain a small bump I feel at around idle speed. It seems to be at regular intervals. If my timing has been advanced too far and my fuel air mix is incorrect then could it cause that miss, or bump at idle speeds? Your answer above has got me thinking altezz. Cheers

Hmm.. I probably have pulled the cam forward in relation to the crank. I believe I lined it up correctly though, the keyway on the camshaft in relation to the dot on the camwheel should have allowed that I would assume. OK, thanks, but I didn't completely understand your last paragraph. (The valves will be opening and closing earlier and the points firing earlier ) Is this good or a bad thing? Do I need to go in and readjust the chain again? (Changing the chain made quite a difference! I expect the valve timing is now at factory spec) I'm assuming from this it sounds like I did it right. Is that correct? which you could check by measuring the valve opening times, and the dizzy just gets adjusted to 10deg advance. Is that using the timing light? Not sure what you mean here. I have adjusted the dizzy several times now. How do you measure the valve opening times? Initially things ran fine. Drove about 100km in it the other day and it went well. After fiddling with the mixer and idle screws I now get a little miss at idle speed. Also the idle speed won't come down, it stays quiet high. This to me sounds like a carby problem or an air leak (of which I can't find). Just making sure it's not connected to the timing chain I did recently.

Thanks for that.. I suppose I'm really wondering why my spark is happening so far in advance? 35 degrees +. Before I changed the timing chain it was at about 5 degrees. Some good tips there.

Thanks.. I have another question if anyone is interested. It's about setting the timing. The car was running fine until I started fiddling around with the timing. I also installed a timing chain recently. The car ran fine after that, so this problem has started since my bright idea to reset the timing . Here it goes... I am using a timing light. When my number one cylinder is at top dead centre, the notch on my flywheel is at around 5 degrees before top dead centre. I marked the wheel with white liquid paper. I then hook up the timing light to number one cylinder ( it works) and kick the engine over. When pointing the light at where the mark is, the white mark is nowhere to be seen at the 0 to 10 degree (prior to tdc) mark. But if I direct the light back around the wheel (anticlockwise, prior to tdc or 0) the white mark is at around 35 degrees or more when the light locates it. In other words, the spark happens at least 35 degrees from top dead centre. Maybe even further. What is this telling me. Is the vehicle sparking too soon? Seems to be, but this is where it runs at it's best. If I set it to 5 or 10 degrees from tdc it just conks out. Why would this be? The vehicle is nowhere near top dead centre or when the number one cylinder notch spaces the contact to make it spark. I've set the gap correctly, several times.. I'm at a loss to explain it. Thanks

I've started another topic because I've created another issue. Though someone may know how to do this properly. I was playing around with my idle and mixer screw on my carby today as I've messed things up in the past. I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing. I have a small bump at low RPMs, and I think I created it by messing with these screws. I realize this could be a myriad of things but I'd like to focus on this for now. On my 4KC carburetor there are three screws. A Fast Idle Screw andIdle Speed Screw and a Mixer Screw. (Photo below, couldn't find a better diagram). How do I coordinate the adjustment of these three screws to set these correctly. Where should the idle be when setting the mixer screw for example? What do I do with the Fast Idle Screw? etc. etc.

Well, the job is done.. I can't believe it. I think the worst part is getting the sump rubber back on.. It looks like my assumptions about the timing and the keyway position were correct. At top dead centre the keyway is not necessarily vertical. Another reason why this might be the case is sunken engine supports (moreso on the left side). I'm sure they've never been replaced. I also changed the condenser. It's hard to say if it was the condenser or the timing chain because I did them both at once, but what I can say is that the car runs allot smoother now, it sounds smoother or something. But this car has always tested me and after driving up the driveway after taking it for a spin, the tailpipe snapped. Probably an issue caused by all the blowbacks from my past problem. I'm quiet relieved it works. When I first started the car it wouldn't start. There were a few small jumps which I would assume was caused by my turning of the crank shaft by hand several times. Maybe air or something, not sure. I've placed some photos of the final job below. It's hard to get a good angle but I figured these might help someone considering all the help I've received on this forum. Note the spacing on the tensioner compared to my original picture. One Question: The timing kit came with a tensioner pad with a hard rubber surface. The previous one was like nylon plastic or somthing. Does this make a difference? Is rubber ok. cheers. Keep in mind that the keyway on the crankshaft is not vertical and everything worked out fine.

I've decided to replace that as well. Just to make sure.

Thanks for that. That's what I'm going to do. I can't see any other way it can go.. :) I'll take a photo of the flames if it all goes wrong. A couple of hours later....... Something which has given me a surge of confidence in my alignment strategy is the timing mark on the crankshaft pulley. When the keyway on the crankshaft is in the position mentioned above, the TDC timing mark on the inside of the crankshaft pulley is at 0 exactly (which is where it should be) The marks on the pulleys also align when at this position. I'm very pleased. I was thinking earlier that this double chain in my KE70 is not the original which is why I may have some differences in the standard way it is set. It could also be the difference between genuine Toyota parts and generic parts made by other companies. The ultimate test will be when I turn the key (once put back together) though I'm pretty confident things are right.

Thanks, but that's really the point. I have the compression stroke and place a small screwdriver in the number 1 spark plug hole (on the compression stroke). I turn the crankshaft and it reaches it's peak (the top) at around 5 degrees to the right of where the keyway on the crankshaft is vertical. If I move it to vertical, it's not possible to align the dots on the camshaft and crankshaft because the keyway is too close the the dot 120 degrees clockwise from the keyway (on the crankshaft) and I'm not at top dead centre. So, I suppose I'm asking, is it safe, as long as I have found top dead centre, on the compression stroke, to align the dots between the sprockets (the red line on my previous diagram). The end result will look like this: (see photo). My top dead center definitely isn't when the keyway is vertical and the positioning of the dot from the keyway slot in my crankshaft sprocket is testament to this. If the dot on the crankshaft was a little further around in a clockwise direction they a vertical keyway would also align the dots. Because it is not it is not possible to have a vertical keyway and aligned dots.

Thanks for the tips but unfortunately I'm in Melbourne in my unit car-park. haha. Haven't pulled the engine out or anything like that and won't be pulling out the cam unfortunately. I can adjust the camshaft and crankshaft to align but do to the offset of the notch (dot) on the crankshaft sprocket not being able to align with the camshaft dot, I noticed on a second check that the keyway on the crankshaft is about 5 degrees right of vertical when the number one cylinder is at top dead centre. Why would this be? I thought the keyway would be vertical at top dead centre? If I turn it until I get top dead centre, then everything lines up (but the keyway on the crankshaft will not be vertical, it will be right of vertical by abour 5 degrees). Thanks

Coil, fuel pump, ballast resistor replaced. And the leads.. I'm part way through the timing chain and I'm having a few issues. It's easy to get in there and coparing the new chain with the old, the old chain is a little bit longer but not by much. When I put the new chain in,it's allot tighter but the alignment is something I'm having trouble with. Here it goes. I'm using a Gregories manual. One thing I forgot to mention is that this is a 1983 Toyota Corolla KE70 'S' High Cam. I don't know if High Cam makes a difference in what I'm doing as I don't even know what it means. Anyway.. the gregories shows that the crankshaft keyway needs to be vertical so I can align everything up. When the keyway is vertical the number 1 cylinder is at top dead centre. There is a small notch about 120 degrees to the right of the right of the notch. At this cog, the bright link on the timing chain goes over this point. Unfortunately this notch on the small cog (camshaft sprocket) cannot be placed in a position to cut a centre line (the big red line) through the two cogs and align with the notch on the far side of the camshaft sprocket (large sprocket). I'm probably getting things confused. Should the center line cut the crankshaft sprocket in half? I think the big question is this. Should this be set up so the dot on the camshaft sprocket and cranshaft sprocket meet in the centre? I notice that this is how some timing chains are installed? Photo's below.