CorollaNut68

Well this is kind of cool. One of the posts I was looking at had the KE10 frame numbers. I've always been a little confused on the models because I bought this as a '69....the title says '69...but the pictures I've seen have always showed the vents and high back seats...mine didn't have those. I e-mailed AskToyota.com on Saturday with the VIN and just got back the reply today...my KE10 was built in July 1968....and IS a 1968 Corolla! So I've got a first year (for here) first gen....and most likely the Oldest running daily driver Corolla in the state if not the surrounding states....which also probably means that the white paint job (I know, another white one) I've been planning will go back to the original Diana Olive.

Greetings O Knowledgeable Ones! I put a kit in my carb but did not replace the power valve...what does it do? I also have 3 places for vacuum...ONE in the back from the bottom near the pcv hose which I have hooked to the rear vacuum on the distributor (old style with two "horns") ONE about midway up in the front of the carb...which I have hooked to the front dizzy vacuum...and ONE on the side at the bottom which is blocked off....Is this correct for a KE10? I think the two lower vacuum ports are actually in the heat shield plate and would get "manifold vacuum"? I can't find anything about vacuum lines in the haynes manual that shows where they were from the factory.

Well...this makes me wonder. I was told one time by a parts guy at a Toyota dealer that I had an "Early '69" I suppose meaning there was a "Late '69?". But I have never seen or heard mention of it anywhere else. The '69/'70 pic says 69 started with frame no. 412000....it shows high back bucket seats and the vent behind the rear windows....mine had low back seats and no vents and the tail lights I see on the '67 (they have '67 printed on them) and the frame no. starts with 313. It never had the original grill when I bought it so I can't tell by that. Could the title be wrong? Is there somewhere to research the frame no.? They started selling the Corolla here in the states in June 1968.

I've got some FoMoCo 13" 4x110's on my KE10 which I believe to be from a Mazda. They look almost exactly like the stock 12" Toyota wheels..., I've got em black with chrome beauty rings and chrome capnuts, I keep lookin for some baby moons to fit the centers, lol last set I found the guy tryin to sell em to me dented one trying to make it fit when I told him it didn't. (he had some from two different makers, two each, one fit , one didn't, trying to sell them as a set of 4)

Yup...Gonna weld some new sheet in there

Thanks...so far I cannot find them for sale anywhere

I went ahead and got the side markers from ebay, they are a bit cheesy but I think overall they look a lot better than the nothing I had. And for only $14 worth the try. One of mine got smashed 25 years ago and couldn't find another so I just shaved em both. Nice to have something back, these are lighted though and I think stick out a bit more than the original unlighted ones I had. I'm not putting the bulbs in these, just using the base and lenses. I'm slowly getting the crash damage from last month beat back out...need a little welding here and there but looking pretty good for no filler yet. I went ahead and stuck it back on for now so I can drive...it's been 102F in the shade the past few weeks so I'm not spending much time on it lately.

WGMG? Sitting here in the States with my 69 and reading and seeing all you guys down there with seemingly parts galore, all kinds of swapping and re-building going on, racing, tossing k engines about like they grow on trees, swap meets, jamborees, drive-ins....geez. Although I can't find parts and participate in all those nifty events, my one consolation is...around here.....I GOT THE ONLY ONE!. Everywhere I go, I'm constantly answering questions...I mean right now it's fuggin ugly, 3 colors of primer, half beat to hell and people still love it, people still try to race me everywhere I go, I don't race it no more, too hard to find stuff if something breaks...Just in the last couple of weeks I've been challenged by hopped up Hondas, a freakin $65,000 Roush Mustang (damn that was fast), today a damn Ferrari on the freeway pulls up and wants to play.......I have looked.....there is no giant RACE ME sign anywhere on the car....maybe traction bars are enough to make people crazy I don't know...It IS a pretty tuff lookin lil car...

Well from here the answer is no....I ordered the '73 strut inserts...the body is shorter and doesn't fit to the bottom of the tube, the length wouldn't matter so much, a large size old socket or something could drop in the tube first to take up the space but it stops 2 inches from being inside the tube far enough to get the top screwed on. The KE10 strut gets a tad bit narrower at the bottom. The top of the rod is shorter where the threads are and would not reach through the top cap to get the nut started. I had to put the worn out one back in, now...what to do with struts i can't use.....gotta call to see what the return will take....and keep trying to find something that will work.

sounds like they will work, I may need a spacer...ordering them tonite...thanks a heap guys

here's what my handy dandy much worn Haynes says...usually if there is a difference it will say so, but it's been known to be wrong

mines a KE10L K-C and here's the strut if this helps...

Greetings all...Looking in my Haynes manual, I only see one measurement for the strut no matter if a 1.1, a 1.2 or a 1.6 Corolla !967-1974. Shopping at RockAutoParts.com...they show a strut insert for a 1973 1.2 but for nothing earlier. Would this work in my KE10 strut tower. I think mine are blown cuz it rides like a rock now. I seem to live in a Elder Corolla free zone so I have to work with what I've got...no going out and finding KE20's or 30's parts laying around.

Whoops, just saw the previous discussion on the rubber stuff, but still want to know about the mirrors and side markers

I've been looking for rubber and things for my KE10. I see a rubber kit at RareSpares for $600+ which has everything but the rear quarter windows. I see a 5 piece, front and rear windshield plus doors and trunk for $119 on ebay, same guy has aftermarket front side markers which I need also. I would have to get the bailey channels and other things separately. I guess my question is...has anyone used either of these two options? Any fit or quality issues? Also ...the side markers on my KE10 did not have lights in them, can I find those somewhere? And one more...would the Aussie drivers side mirror fit the passenger side of my US model, I would like matching mirrors on both sides. (not out on the fender, but by the windows)

Would be very cool...unfortunately cost plus shipping would probably kill me. I'm currently in the process of beating out the drivers side that just got wrecked.

Well...as I search for parts...I'm beginning to think maybe so....seems to be some around the Cali area, they have a big Toyota thing every year, maybe they just aren't on this forum

lovin the Celica...back in the 80's, a buddy stuffed a 302 Boss V8 and a c4 automatic from a Mustang into one....really wild ride...you could just make that rear end dance...after 1 weekend on the local cruzin scene we couldn't get anybody else to race us any more.

I have seen one really bad house, a friend was renting it, he had only been in it for a couple of weeks and said we all needed to come out and see it. Went one night with about 5 other people. Old house, back a ways from the road, big old wood porch across the front, old old doors with loose knobs, old wood floors, lots of leaves and scrub all around it...my point being there is no way someone could be anywhere outside the house and you not be able to hear them, you can hear every move anybody made in the house or on the porch or through the leaves around the house. We got there right at dark and went inside. He had a black lab puppy, couple of months old there. The kitchen is right off the living room and has only one way in or out, cabinets all around, one window above the sink painted shut and just a sheet hanging to cover the doorway(no door). The light in the kitchen turns itself on...at random times...the switch actually is moved As we sat talking in the front room, the first thing I noticed was an old christmas decoration, streamer like thing hanging from the light fixture in the middle of the ceiling that looked like a breeze was blowing it all the time. You could put a newspaper in front of it and it would keep moving like there was a breeze. The front door knob would start moving slowly like someone was outside turning it back and forth...reach for it and jerk the door open...no one there, no one hiding on or around the porch. The dog sat in front of me making really weird noises like he was trying to talk, then got up and went into the kitchen (light is off at this time) as he went in, he went under the sheet kinda pulling it in with him. a minute later I see he is trying to come out but he is standing on the edge of the sheet, I can see his nose pushing around from the other side and I think he's stuck. Just then the corner of the sheet lifts up like someone in the kitchen is helping the dog get out, he comes out, but the sheet keeps hanging there like someone is holding it. I go grab it and no one is in the kitchen, then it hangs normally. A bit later I see the dog go back in the kitchen so I'm really watching now....then there is a scratching at the front door...we jerk it open again...there's the dog! ...there is no way out of the kitchen other than that doorway, I looked all over , under and around. After about an hour, we've seen enough as everybody is really tense, we load up and leave and as I look back down the road...the kitchen light comes back on. He told us that one day him and another guy tried driving off and then snuck back around to watch the house, convinced that someone was playing tricks...they hid and watched for a while, got tired of it and went back. When they went in they found one of those old stuffed monkey dolls...from the 50's or 60's, the one with the banana in his hand....hanging from the light fixture...his face was melted and his arms and legs had been swapped around(torn off and stuffed back in the holes........................He moved out after that. It's been torn down since, (this all happened in the late 80's), to make way for all the new houses and new neighborhoods and upscale crap in that area now, but I bet some of those new houses have some old visitors. Not stoned, not trippin, many witnesses.

I was looking around at some too....geez I wish someone in the US still made stuff....$137 for a header...$261 shipping from partsco

Greetings...I am trying to redo my interior bits...I had saved the original door panels but a couple or 3 dogs made their way into my shed a few years ago and managed to reduce several pieces along with an entire wiring harness into little tiny bits. Anyway my 69 was originally Diana Olive with a tan interior and I remember the doors having a small chrome looking bit running back from the door release. (Painting it white with black and wood interior unless I change my mind at the last minute and go all black...I'm doing it "body off and glass out so it could go either way) What I am doing is adding teak wood trim throughout and I want to redo the doors and back seat side panels with some wood showing. I have the back panels and am rebuilding them with a curved wood panel that will show above the armrest area. (also going to insulate behind them) I need some good "straight on" pics so I can get the patterns in the vinyl right for the doors and figure out where in the pattern the wood will show. I see several different types and some don't have the door pulls like mine, just a small bit at the top of the panel.

Oh and the 69 wagon sold right away...so still looking for parts around here...nearly two weeks now and Insurance hasn't even looked at the car yet...they are supposed to be getting an appraisal company to come look at it cuz they have no idea what it's worth, no regular body shop will touch it...they aren't "certified to work on something this old". I have a couple of buddies though...one does paint and body, the other does welding and metal work, between the two should be no problem once I know how much I have to work with. Gonna go ahead and do a full chassis off, glass out, repaint...(after I get the rubber kit). The major problem I'm having is deciding on what color.....original Olive, Bright white...or even Black and Silver two tone similar to the primer job on it now.

It has been through quite a bit...I know it sat for a little over a year before I bought it...and a couple of times when I had other vehicles I let it sit for some time....maybe all together it has only missed 5 or 6 of the last 43 years being in daily use. It has always been there and done what was needed of it and then some....It drove when the Cutlass wouldn't, the 78 Jeep, the 88 Honda, the 99 Hyundai...the 08 Yamaha. I have had to do some interesting things to get it home sometimes...like shoestring clutch cables...using mine and my cousins belts to hold the radiator together when it split the top off....

I just thought when you said "otherwise it's done" I couldn't get anything for it. No big deal guys..... I have just located the someone selling a 69 wagon that has the engine and tranny out but still with it, and somebody cut a huge piece of the firewall and hump out, intending to swap engines but never finishing, otherwise it seems perfectly straight and has ALL it's bits, all lights and everything work....every little original bit I've been missing is on there, plus what I need from the crash. No title, bill of sale only it says, so unless I filed for a lost title , (and rebuilt the dang firewall) it'll just be a parts car. Gonna talk to the boss tomorrow about borrowing some bucks and his truck and trailer, (if the wagon hasn't sold yet) till the insurance folks are sorted out.

had185,000 when I bought it hmmm 25 years ago(had to look at my title, seems longer)....rolled it over many times...freshen it up every 250,000 or so whether it needs it or not...starting to not drive as much these days though So your saying no matter how much of it is new now...nearly three quarters of a million miles makes it worthless?, (yeah on it's 7th rollover) Mechanically, most of it's got less than 5000 miles on it..