robj

This is a nice read. I like it!

RA23 T series??? 1365mm face to face, with a welder it will be cheapish. I did that, and was good. Used the RA23 panhard rod too. I've got pics of it on my ride.

I ran a 19mm from a celica .... RA23 I think. That was a bolt in, although I did have different LCA's. Pretty sure it would work with the standard LCA's too. With 275lb springs on the front (coilovers) it was pretty good. Had an extra leaf on the rear, but with the panhard rod the leafs did spring work, not lateral work, so they felt much stiffer when under lateral load than those who don't have a lateral locating device. Ended up putting in a 22mm one in (and made it adjustable) when I changed it to Rack and Pinion. Even on the track it was slightly too stiff with pretty good road tires. But obviously on the street the inital turn in was very quick.....not followed by understeer. On the track it would understeer too readily. Never ran a rear bar. Hope that helps. If you do a search for 3sge KE25, you should find a few pics of the bar. .

I've done a 3sge Gen 2 swap in a KE25. W58 gearbox, T series LSD, coilovers etc etc. I did recess the firewall, but didn't really need to. Got it regoed in Tassie. As far as weight goes, my 3sge was only 9 or 14kg heavier (yes, with all bolt ons) than a 3k. And the balance was 53% up front, and 47 rear, with just under 1/2 a tank of fuel. The guy I sold it to did have issues with rego in NSW because of the firewall mods. Don't know how you would go with a beams in a KE1X, with the standard steering- it would possibly foul - hitting the belhousing when turning sharp. I ended up doing a Rack and Pinion conversion using AE86 stuff. That was much better. And as far as power delivery, well an injected twincam 2litre is WAY more torquey and happy than a K series motor that's tuned within an inch of it's life. Rob

I put in a T series out of a RA 23/28. Needed to cut the mounts off the KE20 diff and weld them on the T series though... These diffs are 1365/1370mm wide face to face, which is narrower than many other T series. I used TE27 Flares too, look up my old build post and it will give you some idea if it's worth while for you. Hand brake cables matched up, and this diff had provision for a panhard rod. Can get good lsd centres for them too. Again 114.3PCD Cheers Rob

The KE25 steering, track, guard clearance etc etc is the same as a KE20 (if that's what you're asking :hmm: ) Here's a thread of my car with 14x6 185x60 tires. I've got the offset in there somewhere... I think 12mm positive?? You can see some pics with and without flares on and measurements of the guard clearance. http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/11909-ke-25-3sge-pics/page__st__30__p__182824__hl__%2B3sge+%2Bke25__fromsearch__1#entry182824 Rob

I dummy fitted the late model grill to my early model just for fun, and it is doable, but requires very slight modification.... slightly different mounting positions. BUT with the late model "pointed grill" (similar to LJ Torana's point) makes it stick out ahead of the straight (read shorter) bonnet. That's the ugly look, IMO. FYI about fitment: I've owned an early AND late model KE25 AND an early model KE20 all atthe same time. They all had different mounting points for the grills, but nothing a small bit of metal could soon fix. And I agree with Redwarf, the early model look better :yes: robj

Hi, clearing some tires and wheels. The tires on the wheels are not that great, either just road worthy or not, or old. I used them to move my project around. BUT the ones NOT on the wheels are are better: 185x60x14 Wide oval firehawks that I had on my KE25. Only 3 of them, (the other got a puncture). 2 Steelies are 14x5.5, the other 2 are 13inch corolla skinnies from KE30-55 era. The link here will put you onto more pics if you are after that. http://www.rollaclub...total-1143-pcd/ Chasing $100ono for the 9 tires, 4 steelies and 2 mags. BUT will seperate. I think the mags are Datsun ones, 200B I think. Cheers, Rob

A T series swap isn't THAT expensive (I guess depends what you call expensive). I bought a diff drum to drum for $140, put a TRD 1 and a 1/2 way LSD centre in it $500, $20 for new oil, a bit of welding to weld the diff to my car (from 4 link to the leaf suspension of the KE25) and hey presto! Custom build an adjustable panhard rod (KE25's don't have one) for about $100 (including nylothane bushes). So less than $800 for a conversion AND a very tight TRD centre.

Good work guys, I like this thread. Sam, good to see you're still using that creative head of yours! ;)

Hey, just found this thread. Very good drift freak. You are doing things right; checking stuff out with your engineer before going ahead "blindly". This should be a nice car to drive, feeling fast and fun at even slow speeds too. That's the good thing with tiny corollas. I Pm'e d you with some stuff, but not all of it may be relevant as I forgot it's not a KE2x you're doing. Cheers Rob

Wow, This car I build got in the finals for car of the year! Thanks Aaron from Azcustom, and Jonny Rochester. Rob.

This car is no longer mine. Has been bought by a guy in Sydney who I'm sure will treat it well. So long.....

Yeah, from memory I think that the standard ones ran too rich especially up the top end. An aftermarket computer can obviously help that.

Nah, WOLF 3D version 3. Actually found out that the throttle wasn't opening completely up either, so a bit more in it still. Also, could tune it for a bit more power too. Keen to see your dyno run for comparison. I did a fair bit of reseach into inlet manifold design, and matching to port size etc. Hence the good power output at lowish revs (5500rpm) and fat midrange. PM me if you want to chat about the design of the runners, plenum etc. It made more power everywhere, and only dropped 1-2kw by 6500rpm. That would probably change with the what too. All good. Cheers, Rob.

Did a few dyno runs today. With a conservative tune, got between 95rwkw and 97.4rwkw at 5600rpm, and a very meaty midrange. No wander it doesn't need lots of revs, AND being a light car. Happy with that. This dyno run got 96.7rwkw

I did a rack and pinion conversion for my KE25 as Taz Rx mentions above. Thanks for the Sale 'Bump' Tax Rx. :yes: The thread for the rack and pinon conversion is http://www.rollaclub.com/board/index.php?showtopic=39042 This is different from the KE3x KE5x models. But the above thread shows the measurements of the AE86 steering geometry. Of course the ehem... 'legendary' AE86 can be greatly improved apon for better, more direct, more angle, more feel steering. Just like it's suspension is often improved apon. Don't use my LCA inner pivot point measurements with KE30 or later steering, you'll end up with lots of toe in during compression. It works perfect for KE2x knuckles though, but these would need to be modified for KE30 or later struts. I had new everything in my steering box set up, but the rack and pinion steering I have is MUCH better. Don't know how much better a standard rack/pinion setup would be than a new draglink. A bit more feel, less toe change under heavy braking or hits as drag links actually flex a fair it. I had a quote from a guy who'se done rack conversions including a Datto 1600, and he said expect $6000-$7000. Sounds excessive- maybe it is. But by the time you actually do all the work, research, more research, make it, change it etc you'll see why so much. I ended up doing over 50hours or research myself, talked to experts, looked at conversions etc. Let alone the making, trying, testing, improving etc. It is not straight forward, from king pin angles, anckerman angles, front bump steer to rear roll steer relationships, castor rod placement etc. In the end I'm glad I did it, but at the time was wandering when will it end. Here endth my 2 cents....

Haven't had a chance to take the car for a nice drive in the twisties lately, as I'm recovering from a knee injury. So just normal spirited driving. Got 7.77 litres per 100km for the last month. Not bad I think. Anyone else agree?

No dramas Phil. I found getting 3 of Carroll Smith's books were a great investment in the build of my car. He was a F1 manager many years ago. The books were Tune to Win Drive to Win Engineer to Win. Cost me $100- $110 5 years ago, saved me much more than that in getting the wrong info or products, and the theory of driving was good too. Each book about 150-200pages of good text. With a good build like yours, might be worth grabbing your hand on them. Glad I was told to get them...smile.

Nice car, must go hard! Love the old school rollas.... That amount of power must make it a challenge to keep in a straight line when on boost. Man, with such a short wheel base. Like a hybusa gokart!

Another way is to clamp the leafs on the front 1/2 of the springs (in front of the axle) by making a metal band around it, and then welding. As it cools from the weld, it holds it very tight, and effectively becomes a trailing arm. I did this with my KE25 and 3sge motor, no tramp at all. Note, it does stiffen the sping rate considerably of course, as the front half basicly are are trailing arm. The successful Early Escorts with leaf springs used to do similar things. Another thing on stiffness: when you have an effective lateral locator (Panhard rod or Watts linkage or WOB-yes other old idea) it allows the springs to do just be springs and not a locator. This has big effects on the feel of a car's rear stiffness. Alot of people will add 3 or more springs, then after putting on a panhard rod will take them all out or just add the one leaf. For my car, the one extra spring is heaps enough. Ended up taking out a short leaf to make it a bit softer. To give you an idea of what setup ballances my car, I don't have a rear swaybar, and have 250lb front coilovers and a fairly big (22mm adjustable) front swaybar. Hope that helps. By the way, love the car!

Those pics in the above post look just like mine... the memories! Looking good Tally. Glad to see progress mate.

Nice KE25! Good to see a rust free straight one. The Fender mirrors do look the part, must say.....

Very nice! Same colour as my spare KE25. This will fly: make sure the bonnet is properly secured, I know of a few KE2x bonnets coming up. Very nice indeed.

Taz_Rx Yeah, he rang back. A few things in the BMW RB conversion I would have done differently to make it more reliable, so I left it, and won't buy it.