Hey everyone,

 

My first post on this forum. Enjoy my story 8/.

 

In August 2007 I bought an AE101 halfcut from NSW, $1750 shipped to Vic. The 4AGE in the cut failed compression tests, so the guy threw in an extra 4AGE and box. My first automotive purchase, I was pretty proud of myself :).

 

The Donor

 

Engine/box/loom etc came out and off she went to the tip.

 

The original plan was to plant the 4AGE into my brother's AE80 when he took it off the road and handed over the keys to me. Went along with that for a little bit, started dismantling the car.

 

Fast forward and I'm driving a FWD car daily and starting to get sick of it. I couldn't stand the thought of building a FWD car. So I started looking around for a KE70/AE71 to put the 4AGE in but all the ones I found were either rusty, too expensive or located outside of Victoria. Then I found something even better, and paid the deposit on the night I went to look at it.

 

Introducing my 1977 KE30 Corolla, picked up on Saturday, 4/10.

 

Damage :) (There when I bought it)

 

Apparently this car used to be a Tint-A-Car courtesy vehicle, not sure how long for. Interesting bit of history anyway.

 

So after having this car sit around for ages I change my mind, and decide that this car is too much work. Rust around both screens, big smash in rear quarter, rust in same rear quarter, rust in gutters and a rust hole in the RHS rail. Big mistake paying 1300 for the thing, but hey, we live and we learn.

 

Started to look around again and found 2 KE55's on ebay, one auto and one manual. Went and had a look, and decided to wait on the auction. The auction ended under reserve, and the cars were relisted with an $850 buy it now price. Bought them instantly.

 

So now I've got these two ladies in my driveway. Mum isn't happy, 2 cars need to be gone in 2 weeks!

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 201016 yr by RedKE30

That's good condition... how much did you pay for it?

That's good condition... how much did you pay for it?

 

He wanted $1400 but I got it for $1300. Check new pic for damage, and the front bumper needs replacing. It looks good from a distance and in photos, but up close the paint has scratches, few small dents in the car, little bit of rust. Has to be expected though from a '77, although the respray is apparently only about 8 months old.

 

Cheers

Sian

Edited October 6, 200818 yr by RedKE30

Ah didn't see all that stuff.. haha.

Interesting to see a KE30 with the late KE55 headlights and grille, normally people do the swap in the opposite direction (I prefer the square lights though, especially on the 55s)

hey nice buy mate, love the colour on it, it looks awesome with the tinted windows!

hey nice buy mate, love the colour on it, it looks awesome with the tinted windows!

 

Why thank you. The colour is great, but you should see the dodgy backyard paintjob. Will post pics.

WoW, nice find. This will be one sweet ride. Keep us updated. :cool:

WoW, nice find. This will be one sweet ride. Keep us updated. :y:

 

Will do sir! Lolla the Corolla is actually the reason I became interested in the KE's :cool: . You've done a great job, keep it up.

OMG. Makes you feel so good inside, and Lolla too. She feels like she's famous. :y:

 

Does this mean I have competition?? lOl :cool:

Haha nah I couldn't compete with Lolla :P

Hey mate decent base you have there to start with. Where abouts in vic are you, keen to see this on a cruise some time.

 

Good luck

 

Matt.

I live in the S.E burbs of Melb. Don't think anyone will be seeing this baby on a cruise for a while. Fix list is growing and funds aren't all that good :P

Bought myself some goodies for the car today, will hopefully take care of some noises and make the car drive better.

 

-Front wheel bearings

-Pitman arm

-Idler arm

 

 

 

Ripped off a wheel and got my first look at the spacers that had been used to fit the S13 rims.

 

 

Not exactly safe. Will definitely be getting some better ones, probably made custom.

 

Out came the wheel bearings, looking pretty ratty.

 

 

In went the new ones. Decided to put the stockies back on, actually looks pretty good.

 

Edited October 20, 200817 yr by RedKE30

Got time off from school to study now so I'm pretty bored. It's a choice between study or car...guess which one wins...

 

First up was the Pitman and Idler arms. Went in without a hassle and made quite a bit of difference to the feel of the car.

 

Next we opened up the boot to locate a very annoying noise. Didn't fix the noise but found some other interesting things. This is after i cleaned it out, found a layer of mud and water at the bottom. Patched up the holes with some gasket maker stuff.

 

.

 

Original toolkit

 

All the shit in the boot out

 

My fuel tank cover and spare wheel cover were both pretty ratty so I decided to remake those. Bought some 6mm MDF for $4 and got my dad to draw a template and cut them out. My brother did the spray painting, they look much better. Fuel tank cover needs a coat of black and a coat of clear then shes done. Will only put links for pics as this thread is getting too big.

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w240/re...ar/IMG_0735.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w240/re...ar/IMG_0736.jpg

 

Decided to pull the head unit out to fix a wiring issue. Got the trim out and found a lot of half assed wiring. Twist and tape jobs everywhere, and some pretty lazy soldering jobs. Pissed it all off, going to start clean with the head unit wiring another day.

 

Was just looking around the dash and happened to notice this.

 

Cracked boss kit, definitely not a good thing. Threw the standard wheel back on, and now I have a horn so that's a bonus. I also put the KE55 combination switch on while i was there, now to find a way to get the intermittent setting to work.

 

Also took the time to remove all the stereo wiring running through the car, ending up with a surprising amount.

 

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w240/re...ar/IMG_0727.jpg

 

Lots of other random pics on my photobucket

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w240/re...%20Car/?start=0

Edited October 20, 200817 yr by RedKE30