Banjo

Last month, I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room, whilst my daughter had her flu shot. I picked up a "Just Cars" sale magazine, which has a classic section in it. There low & behold, was a KE55 4 door, stock as could be for $ 14,000. Why you ask ! It had mileage of 4,700 klms thereon ! Yes they are out there, & there are those out there, who are willing to pay. I missed out on a KE55 4 door once on ebay, down in Port Macquarie NSW. It was one lady owner, & looked immaculate with low klms. I wanted it, & put my bid in. There were a few other bidders, but I stayed ahead of the pack. Right at the end of the auction (last 5 minutes) another bidder came on the scene. I battled for several minutes as we outbid each other, only to get sniped in the last second, by my new rival. I was devastated ! I made some enquiries, & found the mystery bidder was an international classic car buyer. The KE55 was put in a container & went to a buyer in The Netherlands. If you ever watch Custom Garage on 7 Mate, you will see that there are people out there, where money is no object. There a couple of resto outfits here in Australia, who do amazing work, for high end clients with funds. There is one resto company here in Brisbane, that I watched/followed a custom resto on the website, which was amazing. About a year later, I was at the Leyburn Sprints in September, & there at the Shannons Show & Shine, was this resto in the flesh. It was absolutely beautiful. One could almost say "Art" ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Bruce, Yes, that is what I used. Very easy mod. Would loved to have found a new Toyota HiLux or Landcruiser one, that fitted as easily, but the price, availability, & ease of changeover made it an easy decision. I think the only adjustment was the adjustable big pin, between MC & Vacuum Brake Booster. Ah them knuckles ! Off memory, they were only out by a couple of millimeters. I'm sure I did a post on Rollaclub. Details are earlier in this thread. Off memory, I opened up one of the bolt holes & relocated the dowelling. I know it was very easy, using a cylinderical carbine cutter on a hand drill. Off memory I discovered there were a number of different KPI angles on the various 50mm dia. Toyota struts, & the Celica RA65 struts I obtained were different in the wrong direction. I remember at the time, that there those on here, advising me not to use RA65 struts, as they had obtained +ve camber as a result. I had gone too far with the mod, so pushed on, & finished up with 0 deg camber on one side & 0.3 deg +ve camber on the other. I finished up getting some Techno Toy Tuning camber top adjusters, from the USA, and had they professionally set with 0.6 deg -ve camber on both sides. Could have gone to about 0.75 deg -ve, but was happy with the 0.6 deg -ve. I'm only using it as a daily drive, so certainly did not want to go beyond 1.0 deg -ve. Cheers Banjo

Hi Dave, You've always been a great innovator ! I like it ! Cheers Banjo

Hi Bruce, Has been a great mod, &worked reliably & well ever since it was first installed. It hard to remember how poor the original Rolla brakes were, after modifying as I described. The most important part is to fit a larger master cylinder, to get all the extra needed brake fluid into the larger caliper pots ! I used a MC from a Pajero, & it fits perfectly; same studs, no need to modify pipe connection either. Cheers Banjo

Oh I hate all those little rubber hoses that go hard & crack & leak ! What a nightmare to test all those little actuators, & one way valves. Came across one once so bad, I ripped all the "decrepit" hoses off to replace them, only to find someone had placed a ball bearing tightly in each hose, to make it look right, but totally inoperable. Cheers Banjo

That is just the sweetest looking Rolla ! Which 5 speed are you after ? The KE55 5 speed will drop in without issues, as dimenensionally it is the same as the 4 speed. The other 5 speed available is the 5 speed gearbox from a KE70,, which has the same overall dimensions, but has the point where the gear-stick comes out, a little further back. This will require cutting out your tunnel a bit, & filling the hole at the front. If you don't want to molest the floor pan/tunnel, then the KE55, 5 speed is the one to go for. Cheers Banjo

Hi Hermes, Nice looking KE55 4 door you've acquired there. Looks very clean, & having been an auto all its life, probably hasn't been thrashed. Very easy to identify whether your Rolla has the imported Jap diff, or the later Borg Warner. The Jap diff has no access to the banjo from the rear. The BW diff does have access from the rear, identified by a bunch of eight (8) bolt heads holding on the access/cover plate, around the perimeter. I would think yours has the BW diff. The name plate on the firewall, in the engine bay, should give you the year of manufacture. Yours looks like it might be around 1979. Front of BW Diff Rear of BW Diff Front View of imported Jap Diff. Rear View of imported Jap Diff/Axle Case. There were two sizes of brake drum fitted to the KE3X & KE5X Rollas. The early ones had drums 200mm in dia. The later 9" drums, are 229mm in dia. Whip one off & measure it, then you'll know which one you've got. If the shoes you've been supplied are too small, then you must have the 9 inch drums. 9 Inch Drum on later model Rear Axle Plentiful & available on line on ebay. Where are you located ? There might be someone close by on here, that can give you a hand locally. Cheers Banjo

Hi Hermes, I did a bit of research on the net, & this thread on Rollaclub, from 2011, gives a lot of good info. https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/49567-ke30-manual-conversion/?tab=comments#comment-508707 It appears that the conversion I did was the easy one, as it was a 2 speed auto. I suspect the auto gearbox you removed was a 3 speed, as apparently, it is different. Here is another comment I found on this site, that basically confirms your finding, that you will need to fabricate a new cross member, for the rear mount. If you are in Australia, you could have a Borg Warner diff fitted rather than a Jap imported one. Be aware, these have different mounting flanges. If I'd had an olde 3 speed auto box, I would have known this. We live & learn. Hope that assists. Cheers Banjo

Hi Hermes, I'm really interested to get to the bottom of this, as with exception of having to cut the tunnel a bit for the gear stick, when a KE70 5 speed box is used, all the Corolla gearboxes whether manual or 2 speed auto, were a fairly easy changeover. The biggest job is usually acquiring, & fitting the manual pedal box. Where about are you located ? Have you got any pics you can put up here of the auto gearbox, you have removed. Was it a 2 or 3 speed auto ? A picture of the car would be great also. I've transposed 3K, 4K, & 5K engines with various gearbox combos, over the years, between KE3X & KE5X Rollas, & never had an issue. I think there maybe more than one tailshaft length used, but that was probably to cater for slightly different wheel base measurements, rather than different gearbox lengths. 15cm is a big difference ! I can't imagine Toyota producing specific bodies to suit only auto, or only manual gearboxes, if they were to have different rear gearbox mounting points. Cheers Banjo

Hi Hermes, I pulled my gearboxes out of a heap today & lined them all up. They are all the exact same length from the front edge of the bell housing flange, to the rear universal protector end. The 2 Speed auto bell housing is removable, & I have removed it for a rear engine mount on my engine test bed. That's why it looks a bit shorter. Underneath the gearboxes, is a strip of aluminium on the floor, which lines up with centre of the rear gearbox mounting point, in all cases. I know when I took out my 2 speed original auto box, & fitted the KE70 5 speed manual, I used the same tail shaft & the same mounting points. So can't work out why yours is so far (15cm) out. However, my KE30 rear mounting points in the floor pan are different to your pic. you have two holes either side which are close together, & both used. My has two holes further apart, but only one used. This allows the cross member to have two mounting points if necessary. Cheers Banjo

I have a 2 speed auto box here, left over from when I converted my KE30 2 door sedan, to a 5 speed gearbox, from a KE70. I'll pull all the gearboxes out tomorrow, & measure them more accurately. I'll also take a pic, of my KE30 floor pan dual mounting points for the rear gearbox mount cross member. Was the auto you pulled out a 2 or 3 speed ? Have you done a pedal box conversion as yet ? Cheers Banjo

How are you going with this beauty now ? Is it all up & away, & now mobile ? Cheers Banjo

I presume that you are trying to fit & install a 4 speed manual gearbox from a Rolla into your KE55 ? I also presume that your engine is a 4K donk. I also presume you are trying to use the cross member that the auto box was mounted with. This is a fairly straight forward mod, so not sure what the issue is. Some pics of non alignment, or more information is needed. Cheers Banjo

This fuse supplies power besides the Heater/Blower On/Off switch; also to the combination meter in the dashboard, as well as the speedo. I'm guessing the speedo may have a warning light fitted, for the handbrake &/or maybe the stop light circuit. So there is another couple of places you can look at. The handbrake switch would be a good starting point. Does the blowing of the fuse coincide with operating the handbrake, or using the brakes ? Cheers Banjo

Hi Christopher, Bit of a challenge this one, but there are a few of us here in Australia, & Jeremy in the jungle in the Philippines, who are going to try & solve this. This is a bit different for us, because our Rollas, of the same vintage as yours, were fitted with a different engine. Altezzaclub's wiring digram is for the USA model, so should be very similar, or exactly the same as yours. The clue you have given us, is your comment . . . . The Rollas from that era, had either a fuse box with 8 fuses, or a fuse box with 10 fuses. I'm guessing your fuse panel is vertical, & has 10 fuses, the same as depicted above on the RHS, and as per the wiring diagram. The third fuse from bottom on the fuse box panel,is labelled "HEATER". However, as with all auto fuses, this fuse does supply power to more circuits than just the heater motor/blower. A quick trace of the wiring diagram, indicates it also powers the reversing lights. That's a circuit that runs from fuse panel to gearbox reversing switch, to the rear of the car. Does the fuse blow coinciding with putting the car in reverse ? Do your reversing lights work at all ? I'm putting my money initially on there being a fault in this circuit somewhere. A Short Circuit to chassis in the trunk somewhere, or in the tail light clusters, could be taking out the fuse, any time you put the car in reverse. If the reversing lights do not work at all, with an intact fuse, you might have a wiring that has come loose of off somewhere, that is intermittently earthing. I'll have a further look, & see what else it might be. Cheers Banjo

Your Instagram video appears to display a noise, that I would normally associate with a blown or leaking gasket; maybe on the exhaust system. This however, would normally not result in blowing a fuse, unless a leaking exhaust, was blowing directly on the rear of the alternator. Cheers Banjo

That ballast resistor behind the ignition coil should be mounted on the front of the bracket holding the coil, on those two little "wings" with the holes on them. Those ballast resistors get pretty hot, so they need air flow over them, so that's why they are usually mounted up in a free flow air area. Cheers Banjo

You shouldn't have one of those 100A fuses between the battery & starter. The big heavy cable between the battery +ve terminal & the starter motor should have nothing else in between. The starter motor current draw, is the highest current drawn by any part of your car. In Winter, it can easily be over 100 Amperes, whilst cranking. Your battery is probably rated at least, for 330 CCA (Cold Cranking Amps). The only high rated fuses needed in your car, are the two (2) fusible links, between battery positive terminal, & alternator, & the other one for everything else in the car. Those "MEGA" fuses are really there for things like fridges, big sound systems, dual battery systems etc. Lets know if it will start now. Cheers Banjo

That Fanta Can might be the problem. All that fizzie gas, is making your engine "buurp". Ha ! Ha ! look forward to the pics of the coil. Cheers Banjo

Can you take me some close up pictures of the ignition coil. Is it a sports or high performance coil ? Are you using points in the distributor ? I'm a bit concerned about the ballast resistor mounted next to the coil, which is tucked in between coil & mounting point. Your photos of the engine bay, blown up, do not provide me with enough resolution, but I can only see one terminal on the ballast resistor. Cheers Banjo

Morning ! Something serious going on here ! You haven't given us a lot to go on, so I'll ask a few more questions, & see if we can narrow it down. I assume by "got a few cracks out of it", you mean the engine fired, or ran for a very short time, then went dead ? Do any other electrical items work, or are all the cars electrics dead ? Lights ? Horn ? Heater Fan ? Etc. Are any fuses blown ? If so, which ones ? Is the fusible link near the battery positive terminal intact ? I am assuming by "no dash lights", you mean no warning lights, like oil & battery/charge lights ? I might have to come across Bayside, & give you a hand. Electrical faults are always simple to fix. The hard part is finding them. You best friend is a multimeter or test lamp. Cheers Banjo

Hi John, Welcome aboard ! Most people do those sort of things up as hard as you can by hand, with a normal length spanner. The Gregorys KE30 manual I have here, provides the following torque settings: Spring Front Pivot bolt nut: 55 Nm Spring Front Pivot bolt bracket bolts: 16 Nm Spring Rear Shackle Nuts: 55 Nm Shock absorber Upper Mounting Nut: 31 Nm Shock absorber Lower Mounting Bolt: 31 Nm U Bolt Nuts: 45 Nm Diff Crown wheel Retaining Bolts: 90 Nm Bearing Cap Bolts: 60 Nm If I come across any more, I'll give you a yell, & add them to this list. Cheers Banjo

Hi Christopher, Big G is right on the ball. Your symptoms indicate either one or both of his scenarios, are an issue in your car. Fairly simply fix. The blown fuses indicate a wire possibly free somewhere, that hasn't been connected, that is intermittently touching chassis, when the car rattles & rolls a bit, whilst starting. Do let us know how you go. Cheers Banjo

Plenty of wiring diagrams on the Commodore owners website forum. Cheers Banjo

I would think the loom is the least of your worries. First you've got to work out how you would shoe-horn a Commodore VS V6 into your Rolla, & all the other structural & brakes/suspension mods necessary to make it all work. Anything is possible, if you watch Custom Garage on 7 Mate on TV, but the amount of planning & cost would be substantial. Cheers Banjo