Hello everyone!

I mainly joined the forum to gather info and share progress on my restoration of a 1968 KE10 Corolla. It's a barn find that was parked in 1973 due to rust, but the rust's been fixed sometime later. The story is that this car was the first car sold by the founder of this dealership/workshop, who must have taken the car back after it didn't pass inspections due to rust. He wanted to fix it and get it back on the road, but probably that project failed at the fender being unobtainium (and without the internet, that was a big roadblock!). Now the guy has passed away, the grandchild is running the business and with changed requirements in how used tires must be stored for disposal, they need the space. Hence, the car had to go - and I snagged it for a good price.

It's in very good condition as it's been fixed and possibly painted already, the engine is in unknown condition. The trim bits and pieces seem to not be missing, so it should be possible to assemble the car. Here's some impressions of me bringing it home:

What's really cool is that I got the full set of original Toyota tools for it, they still had them but wanted to recycle them:

Now some questions:

• Any general tips on getting the engine running again?
• Do you know anyone who might have the fender and front bumper and grill? I don't mind shipping costs around the world - it is what it is.

Regards!

OMG!!!  That SST set!!!

Ok. I’ve calmed down now. The bumper and grille won’t be too hard. You need to be sure to get the correct grille though. I’m a KE15 person and tend to look down on KE10’s so am not sure which one is correct. I’ll have a look at the parts book and see if it is differentiated, though someone here will know. The fender will be an issue. I was able to get a NOS item from Yahoo Japan a while back. It’s a matter of watching and waiting for the gems that come up occasionally. 
 

You will find a Spanish guy on eBay but all his parts are gold plated and diamond encrusted - apparently. 
 

There is a mechanic in Melbourne Australia called Peter Robinson who over many decades has built up a significant parts hoard. And he knows more than most people alive when it comes to Corolla’s. He is old school, a bit crotchety, and works best by phone. He does have a younger bloke who helps out especially with his online presence. He will likely have some good original options, and will make sure they are correct for your model.   Search for Peter Robinson Automotive - Kerolla spares.
 

Be careful though, I recently caught a guy in the USA mimicking the Kerolla Facebook persona with a slightly adjusted page title and using Peter’s posts in this fraud page. Facebook has seriously degenerated with fraudsters in the last 6 mths especially, and I will now only deal with people I have been monitoring online for some years. 

Edited June 2, 20242 yr by parrot

 

 

Note the change in specification after certain dates.

Don't forget you will need bumper irons.

Don't assume the pictured grille is correct for your model, but does at least indicate the various other bits of hardware required.

Note the reference to "euro spec" for the front bumper.  I have no idea how they differ.  But you are unlikely to find them anyway.

And apologies for my late reply, I'm not sure how I missed this.

Good luck!

 

Edited June 2, 20242 yr by parrot

On 6/2/2024 at 4:42 AM, parrot said:

And apologies for my late reply, I'm not sure how I missed this.

Good luck!

No worries, and thanks a lot for the info! This project will take some time in any case.

I'll definitely contact Peter per your suggestion - getting in touch with somebody knowledgeable about these cars is always very worthwhile!

I have found some parts in the meantime:

• A brand new old-stock exhaust (still has the Toyota P/N sticker!) here in Switzerland - and the guy said he might have some other bits for the car as well, just not listed online.
• A slightly dented but fixable front bumper in the Netherlands plus the brackets (irons?) via a friend in the european AE86 forum.
• The grille was actually stowed away under the seats and interior panels inside the car - unfortunately dented, but fixable.
• A spare engine from Japan - the company that imported me an AE86 once does send parts containers every couple months from there.
• I may get access to another "never gotten to it" project that's way more rusty, but otherwise complete, located in Belgium. I'd rather get the missing bits than tearing apart an otherwise complete car. Maybe get it and fix both cars?

Also, I think I've figured out the history why the car was stowed away. It must have been in a front-end crash, as the entire upper frame has been welded and fixed. It's pretty obvious from the weld spots - but it was done thoroughly and everything looks straight. That also explains the paint looking so fresh - it must have been painted at the same time. I just wonder why so much effort was put into it and then never finished, as it really doesn't look like that much is missing. Probably some parts were not available anymore from Toyota and finding them pre-internet was too difficult, but that's just my guess.

For consumables and remanufactured parts, I've found that Rockauto has a surprising selection of spares. Basically everything except brake shoes is available.

On that note: Where do I get brake shoes for the car? I've scoured the internet with little success... Should I do the "bake in the oven to unglue the old brake material" process as described in the workshop manual?

I'm thinking to myself, that will be Banpei.  Pop across to aeu86.org and there it is!  Longtime since I've been on that forum, but some good guys.  Great to see it's still active.

What a coincidence!

Yes, it's a great little community and surprisingly active - and it fortunately hasn't succumbed to social media platform concentration. I guess people who like old-school cars also like the old-school internet. 😀

Would strongly recommend grabbing that other car if you have the luxury of space.  The bonnet is very hard to find in good condition.

Some parts are still available from Toyota but you will need to find a parts book.  I order quite a lot of genuine parts new on Impex.  Essentially sometimes I'm lucky and sometimes I'm not.

Otherwise it's a matter of watching out, seeing something, thinking "I will need that one day", and buying it if the price is reasonable.  Has been my approach for many years for my three cars.

Ebay US can often be good sources of mechanicals like brake shoes.  Parts wholesalers and the like.

i.e https://www.ebay.com/itm/235381582407?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110025%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.COMPOSITELISTINGS%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D266070%2C265705%26meid%3Dc929df1bdd4c4c55815e1a50d5adac70%26pid%3D101506%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D134539189491%26itm%3D235381582407%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4481478%26algv%3DAlgoIndex5SimRanker%26brand%3DMintex&_trksid=p4481478.c101506.m1851

https://www.ebay.com/itm/252712915526?itmmeta=01HZHP4696X085TDDH6HYVVBDJ&hash=item3ad6dd1246:g:TU8AAOSw2xRYb~xX&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwGr7q5cNAPsgLNo666OVeImJHUupAiKbxaNKivMY7q5JrDP7YyvD4sVxDIGOrp2xS8%2BIl46Jk5uxMPE1pXC4Zx0X2wa%2FgbC%2BRYggzXAyW%2FmQDDFnZzRxYETyfjKhZCKXgtncTzapZ6P8RkGtRnE9tVCrWNfQLjgXeQ0pD%2Bq6z%2BS0V3aRirkiTrYeDXjUsO56Afi7NTIHATDf4NaguyDfQtreG2oGFIxUPtKFN6%2FdQUJOlkcyMOCjCSZnbom6ICfLdg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9bkkLb8Yw

Some news in the meantime, I have acquired the missing fender and a new old-stock exhaust.