Ben-89

Sensational photos once again Matty :yes: I like :y: Early model ke30s with the one piece dash never had the "chin" on the front beaver panel. Late model ke30 and 35's which had the two piece dash and grey fascia panel featured the "chin"

Cheers fellas, :) What I do with the cars is subtle and small. Yes its taken a long time but the real inspiration come from blokes such as yourselves who can really **transform** an old car into somethnig special and deserving :blush: :yes: :y:

A little bit of progress this week, bought somemore sandpaper and contined the feathering mainly where the spoiler was mounted as it had etched through the paint into the metal. I also bought a can of K&H Plasti Prime as I earlier sanded and prepped the rear spoiler and front grill and gave the pair a good coat of primer. Will look awesome when theyre painted :yes: The ke70 was crying for attention and a new battery too, got caught out a few times where the car wouldnt turn over at all. Some of the guys on the Lazy Moes cruise will know what I mean :blush: So its got a brand spanker in there and kicks harder than a rodeo bull now :wink: I thought I'd put up some pictures for the sake of it, only difference is the full lenght gearstick and proper knob, thats much easier to use especially when in start/stop traffic or general driving. And my rear number plate frame from back in the day :yes:

When you mean the "yard" do you mean where the tow truck drops them off or are in the yard where you pull parts from it? What condition/colour were the e7s in?

Hub caps look really good on both cars, calling them Gemimis is an insult Evan :n: Evan, you should have put your crown hubcaps on the coupe if you had the chance.

Hey Scott, about to replace the seal on my ae71 as soon as my rust sections are welded. Anyway... Did you by from Phils Aus Rotary from ebay? if you did you will need to run a stanley knife down a pre moulded groove. (the side that sits flush with the boot surface) and the groove you slice through will slot directly over the small lip that is around the perimeter of the boot. A little advice first, when you slice the rubber you'll see a metal spine which is th reinforcing. With some vaseline or grease smear it into that groove as it will assist when you push it down and will repel moisture between the metal spine and boot lip so no rust issues. Oh you may need to take the bootlid off so the rubber can easily be installed.

This van is absolutely insane, this will become the epitomy of Rat Rod vans :y:

Hi Andrew and welcome to Rollaclub :) I'm assuming its and early ae90 or ae92? Common flaws I have seen of these are.. Rust either bubbles or small holes above the windscreen, down the lenght of the A pillars on the hatchbacks, and C pillars on the sedan. The hatchback usually rusts out in the corners below the window first. Interior plastics i.e: doorcards can have the vinyl trim that shrinks from sun exposure on the top of all four doors. The plastic trims on the B pillars can get rather chalky again due to exposure, and this also the same on the centre console lid. Upholdstery can begin to wear, notably on the driver seat. If the paint is metallic, Eg maroon, light green, dark blue and gold to name a few you'll be hard pressed to find one with really good deep paint. Mechanically like any older vehicle, look for leaks around the rocker cover gaskets, and the distributor "o"ring seal. These engines do have small tendency to burn a little oil on start up due to valve stem seals. This is a general what to look for advice, I'm am not saying all models of this car are like that so don't be disheartened from Ive written by any means. There are a number of members on here who have ae90-94 Corollas which are really, really good examples of what 20 year old Corollas should be. And like the saying goes, if you look after it, it will look after you :) So good luck mate and bring on the photos when you get it. I'm sure other guys will be happy to offer suggestions or share experiences :y:

And Ive seen that tough little rig parked in front of a house on Heatherdale Rd just past the former Pick Pay N'Go wreckers!

Dark grey sounds nice, especially if your going to fit chrome onto the exterior. How about a really deep but lush red? Also did you make those twin exhaust tips by any chance? It looks good!

You need to Persist Evan :wink: Thronbury guy is up his eyeballs in bench jobs, thats what I was told in early november. Ans was politely asked by his wife I'm assuming can I wait a little longer till early dec? So I said yes and it was worth it.

Thornbury Carburettor Service 763 High Street, Thornbury, VIC 3071 North VIC p: (03) 9480 2108 Peter is the man and is very good at what he does, the carbie on my ae71 needed the idle lowered as it converted from auto. Secondly the auto choke had to be tinkered/played with as it was seized and laslty the mixuted were way off in a very bad way. He had the car for 24 hrs and quoted me $175.00 for the job and the car is much nicer to drive. A drive from Greensborough to Heathcote then back home consisted of 330kms to 1/2 a tank, or like low 6l/100km.

Headlight and grill mounting holes are different on the flat front also. Some people in the past have "unpicked" the flatfront radiator support panel and have welded it straight on so everything fits spot on.. :)

Hey Nick, nice original 55 you have there. I have a pair of perfect condition taillights for sale if you want them. P.m me :wink:

Thankyou very much E, will message him!

Hello Rollaclubbers, Some of you may be aware that I'm transforming my red ae71 into a Spirit..... I have absolutely every bit to make it such a thoroughbreed except one thing. *Drumroll* You guess it, pinstriping! I have googled various sign writers/printers and or vinyl cutters and have recieved quotes. Which are more in the excess of $350.00 + . I do understand its a complicated and time consuming task especially for a one off production. Ideally I'm looking someone from the Melbourne area as I been advised by some printers that they would need the car for measurements, scaling and colour matching to what I want etc,etc. Any suggestions/tips please post. Thanks.

Today went as planned, fitted both rear lenses and the LH lens fitted perfectly in the recess because the beaver panel surface was clean of any old gasket. The RH lens fitted nice but there was old silicone bead stuck to the beaver panel from the previous owner which I never cleaned up, consequently as the gasket I made was quite thick + the old silicone made the gap even bigger. Anyway I contined along and tightened the two remaining nuts and I overtightened them.... bugger. So I started the water test and the LH lens was spot on and the RH was perfect but where the two overtightened studs were is where it leaked as the nuts didnt work with the rubber to create a seal. Now that I have removed the offending studs, cleaned and glued the knarled tips where it slots into the plastic backing it wont leak the next time I fit them :y:

Haha On ya Clarky, I mean Matty! Its getting there, I test fitted the RH lamp and it seals super tight! I will fit the LH lamp tomorrow and the RH again so I can do the water test if they leak actual fluid which I don't think it will. Then lastly I'll take some dummy photos, as these will be popped in after the initial work is done.

My e7 sales brochure states its "Golden Wattle" :wink:

Once the rubber and glue become between the two surfaces, I taped down the rubber so it would set closer to the body as opposed to it being stuck on but not sealed. When I was glueing down the top pieces I was happy to see that the rubber sat quite flat and made a good seal against the body before I taped it down. After the glue set though with the tape still on, I ran another bead of the glue across the top of both lights for good measure :y: I will give the lights over night to dry properly before I remove the tape. Then I will test fit them with the nuts done up see any if theres any issues. RH Taillight LH Taillight Both lights drying and done :y:

Got some Spirit specific items on the weekend, first was a set of four chrome wheel trims. The type with the more prominent curve that is seen on earlier Corollas as opposed to the flat edged which was previously fitted to it. I also swapped with one of Pauls cars the drivers side mirror with a remote item which was fitted to the Spirits and lastly a CS grille minus chrome trim on the base with all the clips intact which is a rare find as this will be the grille painted centre red. The chrome trims were covered with light oxidisation, so with the steel wool and chrome polish they came up like new. The grille I prepped so there is no grease, dirt or dust anymore. The bootlid has been sanded, some spots more than others where there some heavy paint wear due to friction between the spoiler and bootlid, so these were feathered out by hand and sanding block. The DX lights I got are in perfect condition but the rubber seals are absolutely shot. So I had a sniff around Clark Rubber and bought two metres of a foam based rubber seal for $15.90 :yes: Tool for the job, scissors, tape measure, hole punch for the tail light studs and industrial strength automotive glue and Methylated spirits. Remove all rubber from light body and with a blade or similiar clean off any hard to get bits. Then with the metho and a cotton rag, flood on the metho and give it a good wipe in all the grooves and crevices where dust accumilates, as this will affect the adhering abilites of the glue later. If you have one these hole punches they're great as you can select any size. If you don't have one there are other alternatives. Once I measured all my foam strips, I placed them over the studs so they would scar the foam, then with the hole punch I'd press the holes and fit after applying glue to the light body and rubber.

The money she got for what I bought was more than what a wrecker would offer for the whole car! Its basically just a worthless shell, unless someone wants clean interior panels or straight doors.

Bit of a hauder, but it turned out to be good :) Also her and her husband run a car rental business and this Spirit was one of them which was written off during service. So initially it was a parts car for thier fleet of e7's.

So in otherwords your saying the top leaf literally pulls the rear end down evel lower on the axle assembly.

Hey Josh, No it wasnt me you saw last night, otherwise I would have p.m'd you saying I was in the area! Well thanks Mr Z! Patience is the best prectice. This Spirit was or is still rotting in the front of an unattended house. Over the 5 or so years it was there I used to occasionally glance and wondered who owned it. Initially I thought it was a T-18 when I was more novice as the DX taillights were decieving. Then one day when I drove past the older owner of th property was doing some mowing so I enquired. But a the time I didnt have this car so I never bought anything, then after three years passing and having the ae71 I remembered the Spirit and offered money for what I wanted :yes: The lady said if her husband had his way, that would have gone to the scrappers years ago :( Like I said, it takes time especially with older Celicas but you'll find find things for it :y: