chestikoph1

Cheers Carlos, Will try and avoid the water barriers now!! Could have been worse, got a pretty expensive wall hanger pwr radiator and cooler now, or $1700 of scrap aluminium. Both of them copped the brunt.

All back together and painted now, also tidied a few things in the engine bay as well. I am going go withthe lip, now that its painted it looks better on. Starting to get withdrawals, need to start driving this thing again. I kinda liked the later bonnet more and my spare front bumper is pretty shitty, so if any one has decent ke 30/35 bumper they want to offload send me a pm.

Almost back on the road, still not sure about the lip though. Might look better once its all painted, and bumper is on. .

If your gonna run your standard diff, just take him both shafts and ask him to put the sr gearbox end onto the ke shaft. I think it was about $300 to shorten and balance, but don't quote me on that, it was a long while ago. Might have been more. The standard diff will last a while if you baby it, no skids or clutch drops :)

I got Phil from Final Drive Engineering, did a great job. You need to have the diff and gearbox in the car and do a quick measure, from memory the distance between the diff flange and the seal on the gear box output shaft. Also be easier if you supply both the ends of the shaft, sr gearbox end and what ever diff uni that you are going to use. And he will knock up the tube and balance it all.

Well it's been ages since the last update! Too busy watching every one else build some epic rides. The cars back off the road for a bit, had an altercation with a water filled barrier at sprint and managed to damage the front right corner. Nothing major. But I have taken the opportunity to change the front rad support to a ke35 one makes it easier to remove the motor when you can unbolt the top of it. And also destroyed the bonnet, guard, valance and bumper. Amazing what you can do at even relatively low speed. Will post up some pics soon.

Hi mate, Another option for the front is ae86 struts with Mazda rx7 4pot calipers and civic rotor combo. I have them on my sr powered ke55, and they a great set up, also give you more options on strut inserts. I should have all the info on my rides thread if you want the specific parts needed. Good luck with the conversion, well worth it!!

Not a great deal happening with my car lately, but plans for some more work soon. Need to change front rotors soon, as i have managed to warp mine during a sprint event, probably look at some DBA5000 series rotors. And some different pads, i think mine retain too much heat and that may have cooked the rotors. Also due for some new tyres. here's a couple of shots from some recent cruises.

not the cheapest way, but a better way of getting some more - camber.

Hi, I know you don't to cut the car up too much, but i had the same issues when trying too keep my fitment a bit more stealth. Minimal cutting and i managed too fit a reasonable sized cooler behind the grille of a KE55. Not sure what a Ke20 is like but this might help. Cheers Dean

Hey Ryan, if you need any nissan wiring diagrams just shoot me message.

Hi azzy_10, I will pop the info up on here incase any one else is interested in doing the same conversion, maybe the mods may want to put it in the FAQ's or general mechanical, but the info is here any way. If i have put any info that is wrong on here, any one please feel free to correct, add or comment. This info is for use in a ke55, but some or most can be used for other corolla's. Just to clarify this brake upgrade is for use with the AE86 strut and hubs. As far as i know the ae86 struts and hub conversion can be used in most KE/AE cars ( i have even seen it used on a KE10 ) if used with the standard AE86 brakes its a brake upgrade in it self over any KE/AE offerings. When you use the ae86 strut there are so many more performance shock absorber options, because it uses a larger diameter strut tube casing. ( main reason it's used ) As far as i know the king pin inclination isn't too bad compared to the other common swaps, xt130, celica and so on ( there's not as much positive camber ) But it might be a good idea to run some adjustable strut tops top correct any camber issues. As for the strut hight, mine were cut down too suit a short stroke insert and a adjustable coil over set up was used, not too sure how they would be with the standard AE86 spring/spring seat set up. ( i think too tall ) You also need to use the ke55 strut tops ( or use the adjustable strut tops as mentioned before, Cusco #109410A, and Noltec #N44025 are an option for KE25/30/55) The strut top PCD is different on Ae86, but i think it is the same for KE/AE70. AE86 hubs and steering arms need to be used, the arms should bolt up fine to the ball joint and tie rod ends on a KE55, can't be sure on others. ( you can also use power steering arms for more lock) The rotor used is from an EG Honda Civic and it needs to be re drilled to a 114.3 PCD, most brake specialist or machining shops should be able to do this. ( don't try and do it your self !! ) EG Civic rotors are available in slotted and cross drilled and pretty sure they are even available in a two piece performance combo from DBA for the serious racer. Calipers are from a series 4 Mazda RX7, they are an aluminium 4 pot caliper and are a massive upgrade over standard, also a heap lighter than the pug/landcruiser option. ( less unsprung weight = better ) Being from a performance car, they have a heap of after market pad options. To be able to bolt up the caliper you need to use a custom adapter, there are a few guys who sell this item off the shelf locally and over seas. ( too suit either eg civic or mini cooper s rotors ) If you want to know where i got mine from please pm me, i am not going to promote any one specifically. You also need to get your brake lines re done to suit the RX7 caliper. And would recommend upgrading your master cylinder to 7/8 or 15/16 to get the correct pedal feel and effort, off memory a master cylinder from an early model commodor VH/VK will bolt up to the corolla booster. The only thing you will have to do is swap the slanting brake fluid canister for the flat corolla one. ( the lines going in to the master cylinder may have different flared ends to that on the corolla one, mine did ) All this should bolt up fine with out many problems, the only small one i encountered is the clearance from the lower control arm to the rotor, a few taps with the hammer to flatten out the end of the arm fixes that, it only need a few mm, don't hit hard enough to deform where the ball joint sits. Hope that helps, like i said if any one has any corrections or additions don't hesitate to make them. Cheers

Yes, the spacers are about 4 mm thick and they are to get clearance from outside surface of the caliper to the inside surface of the wheel where the spokes meet the hub mounting area. The calipers are a largish 4 pot design and will need a wheel with as much X factor clearance as you can get. I am using the eg civic rotors, if you use the Mini cooper rotor you wont have this problem because they are a larger rotor and use a larger caliper adapter, that will effectively push your caliper further towards the outer edge of the rim. But you will have to run a minimum 15 inch rims maybe even 16's to clear the caliper. Bit of mucking around but well worth it. Hope that helps.

They are Konig Rewind's 15x7 with 0 offset.

Cars coming together really good Matt, must be getting close to dropping the motor back in? Have you got much left to assembling it?

Looks great, Good to see another sr powered corolla on the street. Hows the boost response with the T3? Please tell me those wheels aren't hanging around?

You will be fine man, just have fun. I have done this course a couple of times and it's pretty cruisey, it's not super fast, more about hitting those corners right. If i am not working i might join you. Need to sort out a couple of things on the car first.

Thanks mate, For about a hundred dollars you can get the rose joints and threaded blocks from Techno Toy Tuning from the US. Brief explanation.... You cut the ends of your arms and weld on a threaded block or tube, the rose joints thread into that with a couple of locking nuts, screw them out for more neg camber and in for less. Or if you know a decent suspension shop they should be able to mod yours for about $150 -$200. Just a heads up though, pretty sure it's not a legit mod to do in most states, but if your going to get defected it will probably be the last thing you will get done for. But it goes a long way towards a better handling car for track use, a bit over kill for street. Hope that helps.

Looks great Ryan, keep it up mate. Show quality work..!!!!

It's been quiet on the mods front lately,but some how you always find some thing to do. The noise of a Carter silver and Bosch 044 whirring away in the boot has been getting on my nerves, it's bloody loud. So i thought i would try and reduce it a bit. Ally plate with some of the Dynamat i had left over Still have to do the parcel shelf, there's a couple big openings in that. And now that i can actually hear some thing now, i finally installed a head unit, nothing fancy but good quality. Always been a fan of there gear, Blaupunkt make some great stereos. The one i put in is just the basic entry level unit, i didn't really want any bling factor at all.

Man...!!!! What did you do to fry that clutch like that. Car looks great, you will get to enjoy it better once you have done your diff.

A couple of shots of the pre 80's representation at todays jdmwa cruise. Good turn out and not a bad cruise. (yeah i know the torry isn't jap, but was cool any way)

Fitted up the new lower control arms and went and got a wheel alignment. A little disappointed with the result, not so much the camber, we set that to negative 2.8 degrees which should be heaps. But only managed about 3 degrees positive castor before the tyre started fowling on the guards, so had to pull that back a bit. Gonna see if i can give the front guards a bit of a roll and trim down where it's fowling, and maybe pull the guards a bit forward. Panel gaps will be a bit wide but the only other potion is to run flares. I don't want to have to run flares, but i might have to. Front tracks wider now as well. At least it's an excuse to get wider wheels and run more rubber. Any way heres a pic i managed to take before it got dark.

Hey Ryan, Good to hear that you're on the mend mate, and you have decided to continue with the project. If theres any thing you need a heads up with, shoot me a message. Good luck with it buddy.

Here you go Crowie. Picked up the control arms today, hopefully get a chance next couple of days to set them up. Guys did a good job except for the paint, so might get them powder coated before i whack them on. Should be able to get as -camber as i want, and more +castor now because the rose joints allow more angle than the standard bushed ends.