Banjo

There is a company selling dashpads for early Corollas on ebey, for $ 69.00 ea. I bought one on ebay, some years ago, not as fancy as in the link below, 7 they were half that price. Lasted about 6-7 years in the Qld. sun, before it eventually turned to dust. ebay Dash Pads for Early Corollas Some else on here, might have bought one of these here in Oz, & would like to comment on their quality. Cheers Banjo

Hi Rupert, I'm sure someone on here will have one somewhere. Most of us have one in our "special tools draw", which we use as a "clutch plate alignment tool"; rather than those universal tapered ones you buy at SCA & auto tools & parts stores. I'll certainly look around my heap tomorrow, & see if I can help. P.S. I'll bet it has been a bit chilly, down Tassie way in the last few days ? Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, Hats off to You ! You've got more patience than I have, but I sure it will look perfect, when you finish it all. Cheers Banjo

For what it is worth, I'd be leaving the respray until last. With a different engine install, there will be a lot of mechanical work necessary, & maybe the engine/s in & out a few times. Most heart breaking outcome, would be to spray it; then scratch or damage it, during the mechanical side. Where are you located gegraphically ? I'd love to have a look at your acquisition, if you are nearby. To find one of theses KE-17 Sprinters, without substantial rust, is a real find. Cheers Banjo

There is something about the rear roof rake on the Sprinter models, that was/is so appealing. Forget about the 20V or 2TG conversion. I asked the question on here sometime back. Who is going to be the first to do an EV conversion on a KE. Your KE17 Sprinter is perfect. It would be the first, & only one in the world ! (I Googled it, & couldn't come up with anyone whose done it) Here is the standard in early model Corolla KE resto. https://www.wapcar.my/news/goldmine-brand-new-1972-toyota-corolla-sprinter-trueno--4057 No pressure to make yours as good or better than this one. Love this guy ! https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a12475265/teslas-shop-foreman-has-owned-36-first-gen-toyota-corollas-so-far/ Cheers Banjo

Welcome back ! Oh WOW, a KE17 Sprinter ! Arn't you a lucky guy. Carol looks in good shape for a resto. Will be really keen to see what you discover. Does it actually run, as it is ? So many of the KE17-20-25 series now are full of rust, but Carol looks likes she "has been loved", at some time in her life. Excuse my ignorance, as I've never got up close & personal, with a KE17; but is the circled component below a water heater control & shut off valve ? I've never ever laid eyes on one of them before ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Graeme, Not quite a Christmas Tree, but a a full set of clean; clearer, & brighter lights, which does give it a fresh new feel at night. Cheers Banjo

The LED changeover of all lights on my KE-30 has been finally completed, after the last LED bulbs for the rear ‘Number Plate illumination” arrived yesterday, & were fitted last night, with a really good result. I thought I would list them all, & their cost, so anyone else contemplating the changeover, will have the LED bulb type/model knowledge, & cost. There are a total 18 off bulbs involved . . . . . None of the bulbs required any modifications to connections or wiring. Headlight Bulbs: Two (2) off @ 36.57 total. eBay Description: 4-Sides H4 HB2 9003 LED Headlight Kit Light Bulb Hi-Low 2500W 375000LM 6000K HID _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Front Side Guard Indicator Bulbs: Two (2) off 12V 5W Wedge Bulbs @ $ 2.00 ea. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Front Turn Indicator Bulbs: Two (2) off Front Parking Bulbs: Two (2) off Rear Stop Bulbs: Two (2) off Rear Reversing Bulbs: Two (2) off Rear Turn Indicator Bulbs: Two (2) off Rear Parking Bulbs: Two (2) off Total off 12 bulbs Three (3) off packs off 4 @ $ 5.99 ea. Total Cost: $ 17.97 eBay Description: 4 X 1156 BA15S Car While Globe 18 LED Brake Revers Turn Stop Tail Light Bulb 12V ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Rear Number Plate Illumination Bulbs: Four (4) off @ $ $ 7.48 (note: You only need two, but the pack includes 4 off) eBay Description: 4X BA15S 1156 CAR GLOBE 50 LED BRAKE REVERSE TURN STOP TAIL LIGHT BULB WHITE 12V _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interior Dome/Ceiling Light: One (1) off @ $ 6.65 ea. (note: You only need one, but the pack includes 2 off) eBay Description: 2x CAR 12V LED 31MM FESTOON INTERIOR WHITE LIGHT BULB 18SMD AUTO DOME GLOBE _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ You will also need to swap your turn indicator flashing unit, over to a model suitable for LED lamps, as the existing one, (designed for high current bulbs) will “hyper-flash", if used with LED lamps. LED Flasher Unit: One (1) off @ $ 12.99 ea. ebay Description: 3 Pin LED Flasher Unit Relay Indicators 12V For LED Light Turn Signal So all up cost is about $ 100.00, & you get a couple of spare bulbs, to pop in the gove box. The results were more than pleasing. There was no mods carried out to the wiring or connections needed. Obviously, whilst, you've got the "lenses" off to swap over the bulbs, you will give the lenses a good clean. I found the little rear bumper bar mounted licence plate glass lenses, needed a very good clean. The flasher unit, is simply a plug out; plug in; requirememt. It is located down behind the plastic panel, next to the drivers accelerator pedal & leg. The only other advice I can provide, is about the electrical contact points in the car, for all these bulbs. The existing filament bulbs carry reasonably high currents, that "burn through" slight corrosion on the electical contact points, in the sockets. However, the LEDs, have very small DC currents, by comparison, & I would suggest giving all the electrical contact points a good clean, before inserting the new LED bulbs. I found an easy way, was to a bit of steel wool wrapped around the end of a pencil, or similar object worked well. Just make sure to blow out any tiny bits of steel wool, before inserting the new LED bulbs. For complete safety; this cleaning suggestion, should be carried out, with the negative terminal of the battery isolated. Probably the best results, I've had on my car, for a $100 spend. Cheers Banjo

Excellent ! There is an olde saying that says; "a workman is as good as his tools". Always makes it easier when you have the right tools for the job. Good work ! I gather the exercise, has given you a lot of interest in the trade. My guess is; that as you've "I took a few tafe courses . . . . ", You might move to this field untimately ? What a dream job, working for a company restoring olde cars professionally, would be ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Geoff, That is awesome ! All cudos to you, as many of us would not have the skills or inclination, to tackle what you are doing, to that level of detail. (No bog involved) Your pictures tend to indicate, you have a wealth of metal working machinery to work with. Is that all your own, or do you work in that trade, normally ?. Keep up the excellent work, & please keep posting pics. You'd be surprised, how inspiring this is to others, who may be considering tackling, something similar. Cheers Banjo

Hi Ben, Sorry to hear you are having so many issues with this particular problem. My only comment at present is, that the special one piece gasket you have purchased, does not look like the the one, we have available here in Australia. The one available to us, is quite thick, & tends to take up those small gaps, between manifolds & head face. It appears from your picture to be a metal gasket, with "facing" added to it. If it is metal, one would think, it wouldn't have the ability to "absorb", small clearance descrepancies between the inlet & exhaust manifold faces. Cheers Banjo

When trouble shooting electrical issues, in olde Corollas; the problem is often compounded, when You turn to the wiring diagram at the back of a manual; whether it be a Toyota factory "Yellow Bible" manual, or an aftermarket ones, like Haynes, InterEurope, or Gregorys. Generally, a mass of wiring lines, running all over the page, which are very hard to trace, & has your eyes straining, after a few minutes. Commonly, you are only interested in one part/section of the car's wiring, related to your issue at harnd, (say head-lights); but you get confused when it is swamped by the complete wiring diagram. Some wiring diagrams, depict various items, with a shape that is easily recognised. (eg: battery, headlight, or alternator) but many wiring diagrams, simply depict, the various items, as little rectangles or circles; (as above), with a number next to it, for which you have to look up the "KEY" or "LEGEND", to find out what it actually is. The simplest way, is to photo copy the wiring diagram, from the manual, then high-light with a texta pen, just the wires & electrical components, that you have an issue with. Altezzaclub, has often placed wiring diagrams, here in that format, & that certainly assists. However, even if you just isolate the wiring diagram for your area of interest, the little rectangular boxes with a "KEY" number next to them, & 2,3,4, 5, or 6 wires attached to it; give you no idea, as to what is going on inside the retangle. This is especially a problem, if the rectangle represents a switch, or a relay. A classic example would be the "hazzard switch", LEGEND 41, which is a little rectangle depiction with 6 off wires going into it. (good luck with that one) I was looking at a problem at the weekend, that I came across; whilst comverting all the lighting in my KE-30, to all LED lamps. I had previously also added to the complexity, by adding relays; so that lighting & dip switches, which originally carried heavier currents (especially in the case of the head lights), would often burn out the switch contacts. The conversion of lighting to LEDs, overcomes this problem altogether, as the same, or greater light levels, are produced, with much lower currents.. So I sat down, & drew a circuit of my KE-30 "Lighting Only" wiring diagram, & depicted within the relays & switches, just how they work, which greatly assists, whilst chasing lighting issues. I've even put the wiring "colour codes' to assist. However, please don't blame me, if some of the colours are incorrect. Even on the factory wiring diagram, you'll find wires that are labelled one colour at one end, & another colour at the other end. I remember well, several years ago, when completely rewiring the engine bay of my KE-30, that when I unwrapped the factory cable loom, I found badly crimped factory wiring, where the wire changed colour, inside the harness/loom. (Must have run out of that colour wire ?) I have depicted the Light switch & Dipper/Dimmer switch, as two seperate items, only for understanding; as to what goes on inside them. They are in fact, one unit. One of the issues with this switch is that; +ve 12 Volts power, is switched to the headlights, with a relay; but the switching, of the same high currents, betweeen low & high beam; is accomplished with fairly small switch contacts in the lighting switch itself, which switches to the ground/negative side of the supply. This, often burns the contacts in the switch, & requires a replacement switch. (Been there, done that !) https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/65882-after-market-ke-light-column-switch/#comments This problem can be overcome by either fitting LED head light bulbs; or fitting two relays between the Dimmer/Dipper switch & the head lights, which Altezzaclub has described on here previously. In the Light switch section, there are 3 positions. 1. OFF 2. TAIL 3. HEADLIGHTS + TAIL The Dipper switch is a little morre complicated, as you may want to flash the head lights high beam during daylight hours, when the lights are not on; so the dipper switch also has to turn on the Headlight relay, as well as select the high beam, when you pull back, on the spring loaded dipper switch. Hope someone, somewhere is helped by the above wiring diagram. Cheers Banjo.

Good point ! Ben; remember that the inlet manifold (aluminium) & exhaust manifold (cast iron) are made of two different materials, with different expansion rates, when heated & cooled. The use of a very thick hardened washer, is a necessity, to be able for the "pull down" on each manifold tab, to be flat & strong. Don't be tempted to file down the exhaust manifold tab, on the outer side, if it is thicker. I have once, long ago, filed the outer side of the aluminium mainifold tab/s; when it was the thicker, & it solved the issue, but it was not a lot of material removed. The really import fact; is that a straight edge across both manifold's gasket mating surfaces, should have no gaps of more than a thou or two. The heavy & thicker one piece gasket, with absorb any small alignment gaps like that. I can assure you, that I have done this job on 2-3 K Series engines over the years, & after, what I have described was carried out, the result was permanent, & I have never had to revisit them again. We have had a number of people on this forum, over the past 12 months, that have learnt, that sealing of the "inlet manifold track", is extremely important aspect of getting idle & tuning correct. All air entering the cylinders; must be air that only enters through the carby venturi, & not from elsewhere. P.S. One last suggestion. Once you have done this, & the engine is running sweetly again, make sure you re-tighten/re-torque the manifold stud nuts. Cheers Banjo

Hi Ben, The out of roundness, as you describe the gaps & spaces between exhaust & inlet, are not an issue, as very large thick washers should be used to clamp down both manifolds. What is more important, is that the faces of both inlet & exhast manifolds are in perfect alignment, & perfectly smooth; when manifolds & gaskets are fitted to the head. Bear in mind, that the inlet & exhaust manifolds are "bolted together", directly below the carby (see above). It is always a possibility, that these have been seperated at some time, in their long life, & bolted back together, with both gasket faces not in perfect alignment. Unfortunately, I've found over the years, these bolts will be almost "welded" to the exhaust manifold, because of the heat in that area. The flanges on the manifolds, where the big thick washes clamp down; must also be the same thickness, so the thick washers sit flat. A little bit of attention to detail in this area, & it will work, & your inlet sucking air in from unwanted areas, will be solved. Cheers Banjo

Electrical faults are always hard to trouble-shoot; but more so, when they are intermittent. Fuse blown very unlikely, but could possibly be the socket into which the fuse is lodged. More than likely, it is the relay, so I would see if there is another identical relay used in your KE70, & swap them, & see if the fault disappears. If previous owner has "been at the wiring", or done mods, that could easily be an issue. Might have an additional/extra wire wrapped around another, without being soldered or used with a terminal. Altezzaclub, knows all things about KE70 wiring arrangements, & there is probably a wiring diagram on this forum somewhere, you can acess, to trouble shoot, with reference thereto. Cheers Banjo