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Ke55-S Xx Coupe


Mechanical Sympathy

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The wheels were a bargain buy. I got them from a fellow forum member for $150, back when the forums were still abuzz. They came up good with a polish and paint.

I certainly keep in dry in the shed to keep those rear window quarters clean. Ironically you'd probably have a crack at repairing that rust now, if you still had it.

The poor old KE55 is underrated I reckon! 

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Yes R.I.P. !   (Rust In Peace)  dear olde KE55 Coupe.

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Not as shiny as yours !  When I stripped it for parts, I then cut the body up, &  the rear end floor & wheel arches, went to someone up on the Sunny Coast, who was wanted to "Tubb" his rear end for enormously wide rear tyres.  It was when I cut through those quarter rear panels, I realised how much the pillarless design, relied on that area for strength & rigidity.

Toyota, in their wisdom, added maybe 3-4 extra layers of steel sheet between inner & outer areas, for increased strength, for the pillarless design.  Trouble was, they were raw mild steel, with no paint or prep. on them at all; & when moisture got in, around that large rear glass rubber, it got into that raw steel, & the result was a disaster.

I never even took a photo of the rust, it was so appalling, but totally hidden & lurking.  The other thing a lot of people don't realise about modern car body resign; is how much the rigidity of the body, relies on those two big sheets of glass in the windscreen & rear window.  I once saw a car, (a Toyota Crown) literally break in half, because the owner, drove around on dirt roads, for a month, whilst awaiting a new rear glass, to arrive from overseas.

Cheers Banjo

 

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What a shame!

I saw those extra layers when I had mine apart, and actually treated and epoxied one little patch in there, hoping to at least give it some longevity.

Fortunately mine seemed to have at least some factory primer/base coat in those areas and weren't too bad. 

 It hasn't been parked outside overnight or in the rain for 7 years now because ponding water in the rear window corners would keep me up at night 😄

 

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Hi Pete,

              Me either, but I've done it to most small cars I've owned.

1.           Generally larger tyres have a wider tread, & therefore more contact/grip/traction with the road ?

2.           Generally larger tyres are greater in diameter, so slightly less revs required to cruise at the same speed ?

3.            Generally larger tyres produce a greater track width, with better & safer handling ? 

4.            Generally larger tyres on small cars, results in lower weight on the tread, & less wear/longer life ?

5.             Generally larger tyres create a more pleasant looking vehicle ?

Take this late 1950s early 1960s Ford Anglia 105E Piddly little 510 x 13 inch wheels.  I've seen wheels bigger than that, on a wheel barrow. 

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I know, because I used to own one once.  I put 640 x 14 Holden wheels on it, & the 640 x 14 Holden tyres were cheaper than I could buy the 510 x 13 tyres.

Lower it a bit, & then the car became a different animal. Green one looks scared  . . . . . .  The Red one looks like it could take on anything.

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Mind you, if that's not to your liking, you could make the wheels & tyres just a little bit bigger.

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Cheers Banjo

Edited by Banjo
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I’m 14 x6 on the AE86 and 13 x 6 on the TE27 (when it can roll). 13 x 5.5 on the KE15 for now which is overkill unless I can find some nice period 13 x 5 for it. 

Considering the Falcon GT had 6 inch wheels from memory. 
It’s just too much unsprung weight.  And of course modern tyres are incomparable to what was available back then. I appreciate tyre choices are somewhat limited, but not impossible.
 

Those wheels on MS car look phenomenal!

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1 hour ago, parrot said:

I’m 14 x6 on the AE86 and 13 x 6 on the TE27 (when it can roll). 13 x 5.5 on the KE15 for now which is overkill unless I can find some nice period 13 x 5 for it. 

Considering the Falcon GT had 6 inch wheels from memory. 
It’s just too much unsprung weight.  And of course modern tyres are incomparable to what was available back then. I appreciate tyre choices are somewhat limited, but not impossible.
 

Those wheels on MS car look phenomenal!

 

Yep, those Jovites do look good. I have a set on the ke25 that look very similarly sized. Not that it matters, thing hasn't been driven sinse I brought it home years ago.

Think from memory I saw MS's KE55 at a jap show couple years back up here in Brisbane. Very nice car.

 

 

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No doubt it could look even better if I stanced it out, filled those guards and dropped it on it's guts. It would probably garner heaps more likes on The Instagramme!

But I don't think I'd enjoy driving it as much. And I'd probably have to cut the guards inside the flares too..

I did go to the All Jap show that year! With Littleredspirit Matt and his AE86. 

 

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While I still have enthusiasm for fixing all the little niggles, I decided to have a crack at tuning the DCOEs on the weekend.

Originally I had a decent amount of trouble getting my head around how Webers work. So once I had a tune that worked I pretty much left it and it's been that way for four years or so.

But it wasn't ideal. The idle was a bit weak and erratic - occasionally popping, occasionally dropping revs,  and it'd fluff and gasp a bit at 1/3 throttle - so I'd just push through that hesitation and floor it.

I dug around and found my "Weber Carburettors Tuning Tips and Techniques" book by John Passini and set about re-reading it. Gosh it's dry reading! But very informative, even humorous at times! 

Maybe I never really set the idle mixtures properly. or they crept over time. But anyway resetting them at 1.5 turns out and fiddling with the linkage resulted in a solid smooth purring idle that inspires confidence in traffic. And the sound gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Next I read the section on emulsion tubes and compared my F11 tubes with the F16 tubes that I'd fitted as a Facebook recommendation.

I wish I'd taken a photo to show you all the difference. The extra holes in the top and bottom of the F11 looked to be more progressive than the all-or-nothing holes in the mid section of the F16 emulsion tubes so I swapped them over.

Lo and behold - that's what they're like to drive. Far more progressive and civilised at part throttle. More like how I imagine a 2TG would've been off the showroom floor. And no more popping and carry on at deceleration. 

The tune now sits at;

33mm chokes

135 main /F11 emulsion /180 air correctors 

I'll see how that goes for a while and keep an eye on the plugs.

Very happy!

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  • 3 weeks later...

On the weekend I met a very passionate Corolla owner named Steve.

He was passing through town and stopped by to show me his left hand drive KE35, a recent import from Spain.

Steve also owns a mirror-matching RHD KE55, a KE50 and has a KE35 convertible in the works - all painted in Bright Brown.

Interestingly it's fitted with a cable operate T50 mated to the 3K. The clutch cable on the right hand side is actuated by a cross-bar from the left hand side clutch lever.

 

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Woke up early this morning, couldn’t get back to sleep worrying about something or other so reached for the phone. And have had a fantastic hour reading over the last 7 1/2 years. You should be very proud of what you have achieved!  Waiting for my K/3K to come back from the machinist, repair areas in high fill - in other words just what I needed to see!

What a car you have built

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Ahh thanks Pete! I should have a read back through myself. Funny to think I've had it that long now. And that it's still holding together.

Almost long enough to forget how hard it was, and maybe start another!

It does seem they didn't get the K50 over there Simon, as this was a '78 model - so not so "early" 5 speed. 

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