I have just come into possession of a 78 Carolla. Body and everything is in great shape. The engine has a bad knock. It's undrivable because of the knock. I drove it on to and off of a car trailer to get it back to my house. The engine say ke55 but I was told it's been replaced with a Jem engine? In the past. I want to replace the engine. Is there a brand new engine that will go into this car or if not does anyone know where I could track down a reconditioned one and a someone who works on these to put it in. Or worst case scenario someone to fix the engine that's already in there.

Where abouts do you live?? 4K engines are common and cheap. I don't know what a jem engine is, Holden Gemini?? Throw it away!

 

Also, what gearbox is on it?? To return to a Corolla motor might be difficult unless you have a donor car for engine, gearbox and driveshaft.

 

How much do you know about working on cars and what can you do yourself??

GM maybe? Got pics?

Thanks for you response.

I'm in Carlingford. Not sure what the engine in it is, or if it's Jem or gem. I've been looking around and I've found a 4K motor and gearbox. The gearbox in it now is auto. The one I have found comes with a four speed manual box. Is the motor the same regardless of the gearbox? My Mrs wants to keep it auto. It's actually was her first car but has been in storage for years.

I'm a plumber so I'm reasonably handy. I have a mechanic mate who can give me a bit of guidance to.

I've got pics. Just trying to figure out how to post them

Weren't GEM engines a rebuilt/ replacement crowd?

 

Your right parrot,GEM was reconditioning out fit back in the day.

 

I would at least pull the motor out and disassemble it to see how good or bad it is.

 

If it has stuffed crank or cylinders scrored it maybe cheaper to start with a better engine.

 

I'm sure some one on here would have a good rebuilder engine.

 

The auto will bolt to manual motor you have to remove the clutch and fly wheel and spigot bearing in the end of the crank

 

and fit the auto drive plate.

 

I think you will find that the auto transmission is a holden trimatic ,which toyota adapted to fit the 4k motors,so parts for that should be dime a dozen.

 

rob

Edited January 26, 20179 yr by corollaart

GEM were an engine rebuild company in the day. Everything reconditioned you could could think of. They were on just about every street corner. Then came the day of the Jap imports and they disappeared off the face of the earth. If you were buying a car from the local classifieds and it had a Gem reco in it that was a bonus. A friend of mine worked there and they had some dodgey practices like boring the block with the crank in place. Just a fun fact.

Well, sounds like its a stock 4K and you know enough to strip it and find the rattle.

 

If you rebuild it you know its good for years to come, although it will probably cost more than an unknown bought engine you just fit and hope.

To answer your question the engines are the same weather auto or manual. just there are a few little things that you need to swap over if you swap them. Swap the automatic flywheel and torque converter, there is a kick down on the carby on the auto engine, the maunal carby might have provision for this or you migth need to swap the linkages. Possibly a few other minor things but those are the main two differences.

Edited January 26, 20179 yr by ke70dave

Hey Guys,

Thanks for your rsponses.I jutuoded pictures and the compute crashed then I did it again and it froze and timed out. Done with computers for today. I'm going to get this engine and manual gearbox. The old engine and gearbox will be up for grabs once I'm done. Will prob need a bit of guideance as I go along. Thanks for your responses! Its been very helpful. I will get some photos on soon, just done for tonight

here's a pic

Engine

Interior

Logo on engine