Banjo

Hi, Your car is looking so sweet, especially now with the ROH wheels. Now it really has an "Aussie" connection. I am just so envious. It would be so cool to own a Rolla in Australia with LH drive & cruise around. I once drove a hire car in the USA, and the LHD experience was one I'll never forget. (neither did the other US drivers who shared the roads with me that week) The ROH wheels were very big here in Australia, & we refer to them as Hot Wires. They are still popular. Here is a company in Oz specialising in them. http://www.nealewheels.com.au/ Keep us up to date with your progress with your KE20. We are "luvin" it. Would love to see some photos of the interior of your stock US KE20, to see if it was very different to our KE20s out here. Cheers Banjo

Hi Paul, Lovely KE35 you have there. I just love that model, & yours looks a picture. Your comment makes me think you have a problem other than just suspension & shocks. Have you checked the universal joints ? To check whether a constant vibration is in the drive line or a wheel / suspension problem, through the car, throw the gearbox into neutral when going down a hill, when there is no one in front or behind you. If the vibration is less, then the problem could well be in the drive line. (diff, tailshaft or gearbox.) If the vibration doesn't change, then it probably is wheels or suspension. Check the rear gearbox rubber mount. They are known to shear, if they are very olde, and have had a lot of oil on them. Even check front enging mounts, particularly the one under the exhaust manifold, which are known to crack & get brittle, as I'm not sure whether the KE35 had a metal heat shield fitted to the mount. Splitting the problem into one area or the other, will narrow down where to look for the problem. Cheers Banjo P.S. Another area you should check is the rear wheel bearings. Common problem on K series. Jack each wheel up one at a time & & turn by hand or run in 2nd or 3 gear. If the bearing is gone, you'll hear it.

Hi Charles, Is the car drivable, or does it just sit there & whine when you let the clutch out ? There are two spline sizes for the K series clutch plates. 19 spline & 21 spline. Strangley, you can easily get the 21 spline pressure plate to go over the gearbox spigot shaft with 19 teeth, but it usually just sits there and makes a horrible whining noise when you try to drive off. The other problem that sometimes occurs is the pressure plate outer housing just touches the inside of the bell housing, making a clicking / whining noise. Not all after market pressure plates have the same outside profile. It can be a problem if you have swapped flywheels, or say fitted a 5 speed gearbox. Let us know what you find. Cheers Banjo

Found these Corolla blanks on ebay http://www.ebay.com....=item19d2d81578

Hi Paul, Found this thread on Club-K website forum in NZ that appears to answer your question in the affirmative. http://www.club-k.co...d.php?tid=17646 Cheers Banjo

Hi Paul, My posted picture above was not of my car unfortunately. (I used to have a KE20 while living overseas years ago) It was a photo I found on the internet whilst researching your query. Some other RC members who have KE20s may be able to answer your query more accuately. I'll keep my eyes open to see if I can't help solve your problem. Cheers Banjo

Hi Paul, Is this the item you are talking about ? Cheers Banjo

Hi beam has just gone in my KE30, and now I can only get high beam by holding the stalk back in the "Flash" position. The problem, as always, is the switch, which invaribale have contact problems with the high current that passes through them by design. I'll fix it properly this time by putting in lighting relays, so that the swich only handles the lower relay current. I've replaced the combination switch assemblies before in other Rollas I've had, only to find they also fail not long after. I've noticed aftermarket ones on ebay from several on-line stores, including Phil's Rotary here in Brisbane, who I've bought items from previously. Just wondering if any one has purchased & used these aftermarket light combination switches before, and what the quality of them is like. Any feedback would be appreciated. Cheers Banjo P.S. Does anyone know if Toyota still sell them, and if so, what they cost.

Hi Starski, Nice looking Hilux. Feel at home here. Lots of us pinch bits off Hilux utes and upgrade our Corollas. Calipers, MC etc. I reckon your Dad's on the right track. Sounds like it's running very lean. The other place you can get a vaccum leak is between the carby bottom flange & the manifold. Another culprit is the inlet flange between manifold & the head. Just check to see if all the nuts & bolts between manifold & head are tight. Sometimes if there is a leak there, you can just tighten the manifold bolts & nuts up, but if it has been leaking for a while, you are better unbolting the manifold, cleaning both surfaces & installing a new gasket. Cheers Banjo

As you put new plugs into it only 100-200 klms ago, and that improved it, you have a perfect chance now, to remove the plugs and inspect them for condition & colour. The state of plug tip & centre insulator can tell you a lot abot the state of each cylinder. Make sure you label them 1-4 front to rear, so you can relate condition to a particular cylinder. There are plenty of websites with info as to what causes the plugs to deteriorate. Here is one such website. http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/faqs/faqread.asp Cheers Banjo

Wow Mark ! 39 Replies & 548 Views to this post & thread. I kept coming back to it like a "Who Dunit Movie" to see what the end result was. Glad it is all sorted out ! We are all the wiser now. There is always a reason; it's just a matter of determining what it is. Cheers Banjo

Here's a regular member of RollaClub selling off some lowering blocks for a KE. Maybe you could PM him and ask the dimensions. http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/65716-lowering-blocks-and-u-bolts-1-12-inch-suit-ke-corolla/page__pid__655042#entry655042 Good luck ! Cheers Banjo

My pleasure ! You'll luv your KE25 with the 5K in it. It is by far the cheapest & simplest way to breath new life back into an older early model Corollas that are a daily drive. 5Ks are getting harder to find, but I believe Toyota still used the 5K in their petrol industrial forklifts up to the early 2000s, and you can still get exchange reconditioned 5Ks from the engine reconditioning exchange companies like Repco & GEM etc. When I first went looking for 5Ks years ago, I' thought I never find one. Now I've got two. They go best when mated with a 5 speed gearbox from the KE70. I've got a 4 speed behind one of mine, & a 5 speed behind the other, & there's no comparison when cruising. There are two mods you should always do when when transplanting a 5K. 1. Upgrade the front brakes. 2. Replace the single timing chain with a duplex (2 row) one from a 3K enginge. The camshaft & crankshaft sprockets swap straight over. Always replace the timing chain tensioner at the same time. You can usually find new ones on ebay. Also make sure that your 5K acquisition has an electronic distributor with internal ignitor module, & that no one has swapped it over for a points one during its previous life. Cheers Banjo

I confirm Stuart's advice that 5K flywheel & clutch won't fit inside the K40/50 bell housing. It's a tight fit in there. It's normal to fit the 3K or 4K flywheel to the 5K in these circumstances. Even with the 3K or 4K flywheel, you have to be careful. Not all after market pressure plates are the same depth. I once did a 5K conversion, fitted the 4K flywheel and after running the engine, heard this ticking noise. Traced it to the bell housing. Removed gearbox again, and found the outer top edge of the pressure plate was just touching the bell housing. Removed the pressure plate and lined it up on a flat surface with two others I had, and found it was slightly higher. I think the after market originated from India. I put one of the other lower depth pressure plate on, ground the bell housing slightly for good measure, & the problem disappeared forever. Cheers Banjo

The struts had the original oil filled Toyota shock absorbers in them, when I got them, which had no part numbers on them. The Monroe GT Gas cartridges I bought were model 25-3648. When I search the Monroe website for 25-3648, it pulls up all the following Toyotas that this model suits. The MX62 Cressida does not get a mention, so maybe they are Celica struts, as I was advised, & there has been a bit of mix & match with rotors & LCAs by someone previously. The 25-3648 shocks certainly fit perfectly in the struts I have. Monroes lists the 25-0435 being suitable for the MX62 Cressida. Cheers Banjo

Hoping someone on here with access to Toyota part numbers can help me with this one. I bought a pair of struts from a guy here in S.E. Qld, but never saw the car they came from. Attached to the struts were the LCAs, the coil springs and perches, steering knuckles, & the top bearing block. There were no calipers fitted. I was told the whole assembly was from an RA65 Celica. I stripped them down & started to refurbish them. The struts are 51mm OD, and have the big hubs with PCD of 4 x 114.3. The rotors are bolted onto the hubs from the inner side of the rotor. The LCAs were the standard 300mm long ones that fit so many Toyotas. I bought a pair of Monroe gas shocks designated to suit RA60/65 Celica, and they fitted perfectly. I measured the KPI angle and it appeared to be about 9.0 deg. The caliper mounting points have exactly 100mm centres. I decided I'd order a pair of new DBA rotors, as once I skimmed, the ones I had would be on minimum thickness. With the rotors off the hub, I measured the rotors precisely, and was surprised to find the OD was 248mm, not the 258mm I expected, after researching the RA65 rotor sizes. So now I'm not sure whether the struts are RA65s, and someone has fitted the slightly smaller rotors at some time, or whether the whole assembly I purchased, is maybe off a Cressida MX62, which has 248mm rotors. However, my research indicates the Cressida MX62 had a much longer LCA. I searched the strut on the weekend, & the only number I could come up with on the strut tube, just below the Toyota symbol was WK-23S. Strange short number for Toyota, so I don't know whether it is the tube number, or the whole strut number, but it's the only number I can find on the strut. Any help would be greatly appreciated. P.S. The only other clue was that that the steering knuckles fitted, have the offset ball joint mounting hole. Cheers Banjo.

Have a read of a discussion about this on this site at http://www.rollaclub...owering-blocks/ I'm luv'in your car. The wheels look good ! P.S. Search our forums for "KE20 Lowering Blocks" and you'll find there are 4 pages of threads on this subject. Cheers Banjo

Hi, Welcome aboard ! A lovely little KE20 you've scored yourself there ! Looks like it is in remarkable condition, and a good starting point for a refurb. Has it got much rust in it ? I would love to have started with one of these, but many Ke20/25s in Australia are riddled with "the cancer", and the cost & effort to bring the body back to roadworthy, is prohibitive, unless you are a panel beater by trade, (which I'm not). I've got a granny KE30, which I acquired with 96,000 klms only, and a like new body. My dream would be to own an SR5, something like this one in the USA ! Sorry, I can't answer any of your queries, but there are are others on here that will, no doubt, have the info you need. Keep us up to to date with you progress with your "acquistion", and we wish you the best with it. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jader, The weekend before last, I blew a head gasket in my 4KU (no: 4 cylinder), which is in a KE30, which originally had a 3K in it. I took the head off, skimmed it, and refitted, but took the opportunity to take a photo of the head "rear cover plate", whilst it was out. It shows the plate, as fitted to some early 3Ks, where a heater pipe was attached/fitted, as described earlier in this thread. Be warned that the plates on the rear of 3K, 4K, & 5K heads are not all identical. I think one of the bolt holes on a 5K plate is in a slightly different position. Cheers Banjo

Hi Guys, Quick question. Does anyone one know off hand what the Cressida MX62 standard front brake caliper mount holes, centre to centre dimension is ? I believe it is 100mm, but not sure. I've Googled for a hour this morning, & can't find this info anywhere. I know there are some other Toyotas, that use calipers with 90mm mounting centres, but would like to find something that bolts up without the need to engineer a special mounting bracket. Cheers Banjo

Hi Brendon, Common fault with the olde KEs. The usual cause is the tiny 8-9V voltage regulator on the rear of the dash printed circuit board behind the guages, or the "sender unit" in the tank itself. Very rarely is the cause the guage itself. I assume you have checked all the fuses first. I'll see if I can't dig out the circuit for you. Cheers Banjo

Hi Will, Found this picture of conrod/cap matching marks you can do with a centre punch or drill. This is not a Toyota engine, but it gives you the idea. This is what Altezzaclub was referring to in his first post above. It tells you which rod & cap are a pair, & which cylinder it belongs to. Cheers Banjo

Seeing it was the girls that got you into this mess, then you should get them back around to sort it out for you. The casting number on the bottom of the bottom conrod slipper bearing cap means nothing. It is the stamped numbers on the side of the conrod & cap that should match. It could be that these are not original to this engine, and that they have been mixed up, or line bored as conrod/cap pairs previously. The rod & cap are usually ground in pairs on the side, where the numbers are eventually stamped. If you look at the third picture in your original post, it looks like the grinds do not match up. This may be because of the casting itself, but maybe because they were never ground together originally, and are a mixed pair. Cheers Banjo

I wish I could relate to all your story. What was the attraction. Did they drive a Corolla, or did you have a Volvo parked in your driveway at the time ? Do the pistons have 1,2,3 & 4 stamped on the top face ? Cheers Banjo

Good Heaven ! What have I started ? I had just got rid of the distributor on my 4K, replacing it with two Commo coils & a waste spark ignition system (DIS) Now I have to think about using that dizzy drive off the camshaft to run a fuel pump for a possble EFI conversion ? Happy Days ! Cheers Banjo !