Fuel line 79 KE55

[RumpldForskn]

Hello first post here ever, recently purchased a KE55 with a fuel cell in the boot in place of standard tank. Done very well but in Victoria it’s not allowed so I’ve got my hands a new tank in fairly good condition now fitting it isn’t an issue it’s the fuel line layout is it vent, fuel in, fuel out or vent, fuel out, fuel in.

filler is on left hand side of pictures as would sit in car.

any help would be appreciated thanks guys for providing a place to help freshies like me ! 

Edited June 12, 2024 by RumpldForskn

[Banjo]

Hi Sam,

                  The easiest way to determine, which is which; is to disconnect the rubber hose on the LHS, in the photo, (which is probably the outgoing fuel line) & remove the whole assembly from the tank, by twisting it.  This is easy in your situation, as the tank doesn't appear to be fitted to the car. Normally, in Corollas, with the tank vertically in the boot; You have to remove the tank altogether from the boot, to be able to withdraw the fuel pickup & fuel guage assembly, from the tank. Once removed, it will be clear, which is fuel out, return fuel in; & vent connections.

Let's know how You go.

Very neat & original under the bonnet, in your KE55, except for the twin carbies & the oversized battery. 

Someone has also paid close attention to "earthing",  of engine , chassis, & battery, from what I can see; which is good !  Is that a little "insulator" flap over the top of the battery's +ve terminal, so that it does come in contact with the underside of the bonnet, on a rough road ?

Altezzaclub on here, has always suggested moving the battery location to the opposite side of the engine, down under the coolant overflow bottle, which can be moved elsewhere. Getting the battery down low, close to the "chassis rail", lowers the "centre of gravity"; particularly, when the battery is larger & heavier than standard, as is yours.  The only downside is a longer heavy cable is needed, to connect the starter motor, to the battery's +ve terminial.  I think it is a good idea, but I just haven't got around to orgainising it, as yet. 

Cheers Banjo

Edited June 13, 2024 by Banjo

[RumpldForskn]

Hey Banjo

A lot of work has gone into the whole car the fuel system was a fuel cell but it’s against the law here in Melbourne. Got the tank sorted with the help of knowledgeable older fella, and the fact the outlets are all different sizes small medium and large, I’m now stuck however on the fuel sender wire I believe I have found the og wire from the fuel gauge but am terrified that it’s not the right wire any suggestions on a test that doesn’t require a tear down of the dash to follow wire. Yeah the flap is there as an “in case” of touching there is plenty of clearance between the battery and bonnet, I believe the motor has had a bit of work done but again I’m not a hundred percent sure until we tear it down for a rebuild later in the year. Car is very clean all around and not far from being another survivor on the road ! 

Edited June 18, 2024 by RumpldForskn
Adjustment

[RumpldForskn]

The oversized battery was more for the cranking some mornings in the cold plus I think previous owner had a rather large stereo system installed in the car none of it is in there any more trying just to get her to be a reliable daily 

[Banjo]

Hi Sam,

              The wire at the fuel guage in the boot area, basically earths, on grounds through the variable resistor, which is the fuel level sender, in the tank.

The guage responds only gradually (damped), so that it is not floating up & down, whilst the fuel is sloshing around in the tank. With the ignition on, have someone sit in the car & watch the fuel guage. A second person should take the wire you've found, & connect it temporarily to a part of the chassis, which is "bare" & clean.   If the guage starts to rise, as observed by your helper, you've found the right wire. There shouldn't be any other spare wires in the boot area, if all the tail, stop, indicator & licence plate illumination lights are working.  Only hiccup could be if a previous owner has rewired the car.

Let's know how you go.

Cheers Banjo

 

[RumpldForskn]

Banjo, 

found this wire gonna give it the test as soon as the wife is available hahaha

 

[Banjo]

Hi Sam,

             Glad You found the wire.  Only other wire that I think that could be, would be a boot illumination light. However, if You already have a boot light, then it is very likely to be the fuel sender.  (best drink that coffee, before it gets cold !)

The fuel sender units inside the tank, are notorious, when old; for "wearing out"; as the constant rubbing can wear the fine resistance wire, they are wound with. They are seeming irreplaceable, unless you can find a wrecked Corolla, with a good one still fitted.

I noticed you were lucky to have secured Historic Vehicle number plates with your new acquisition.  Does that restrict You in Victoria, to only driving so many klms per month, or similar restrictions ?

I was sent this email this morning for Heritage Plate auction, available here in Australia.  Just have a look at some of the bids for these plates.  Crazy !

https://collectingcars.com/collection/heritage-number-plates?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SF_CC_Collecting_Push_18/June/2024&utm_term=&utm_id=626394&sfmc_id=6149295

Cheers Banjo

 

[RumpldForskn]

Banjo, 

hey mate that coffee definitely went cold ! 
anyway nah had no luck with the fuel sender wire, but now seem to have run into another minor issue! 
seems as tho my carbs are out of tune won’t hold idle with out choke out, runs ok under choke, now that’s a problem but it’s not the issue….i have contacted 9 mechanics and honestly 7 have said they haven’t ever touched a carby outside of school, so her lies the issue I’m in Melbourne’s south east suburbs and can not for the life of me find a mechanic that wants to give it tune for me.

u seem to have quite an extensive knowledge on these 4K motors now would your recommendation be take of the dual carbs and go back to single carb? Or find someone to tune the dual carbs ? I’ve been told the delorrto 40s drown these motors? I have a guy here that has the most extensive range of old KE parts and knowledge but again I don’t wanna rely on him as he has own work on plus he is an old fella should be enjoying these years not working on my old Corolla lol. 
 

anyway the plate thing nah the owner held onto the old Sydney historic plates, mate I would give the wife and kids for an og plate for the old girl but I think I’m just gonna settle for a Japanese style plate without a custom word or anything(I wanna get her on full rego down here in vic use her daily like she deserves).

any advice /info is much appreciated mate thanks ! 
 

fuel sender isn’t winning incoming new gauge and wiring kit so we will run a new one ! 

 

[RumpldForskn]

Also I couldn’t find a boot light anywhere on the boot most probably taken out ? There was a bunch of audio in the car from the amount of wiring I stripped out of it 

3 x 0 gauge power wires 

3 x 0 gauge earth wires 

mass amount of speaker cables 

and 3 sets of rca cables my guess is it had a killer sound system back in the day ! Not for me prefer the sound of that old 4k. 
 

it’s definitely had some wiring done behind the dash has a head unit and couple gauges installed oil press and water temp but temp seems to have stopped working I’m guessing the temp sensor is buggered I’ll get a new one from auto barn in the weekend. 
 

then I’m honestly about ready for the roadworthy only worry is the front seats are not standard but the are on the factory (fabbed up) rails 

Edited June 21, 2024 by RumpldForskn

[Banjo]

Hi Sam,

              I'm presuming the engine in the car is a 4K-C maybe ?  I can't imagine the previous owner spending all that money on a 3K.  The fuel cell, was a bit over the top, but from the pics, the twin carbies look like they have been installed OK.  The real big thing, with fitting twin carbies; is whether anything has been done to the head's combustion chambers & inlet & outlet ports ?  The K series heads, were never a good flowing head; as number one; they are not cross flow head; & number two; the head inlet & exhaust tracks, could well be improved.  My personal opinion, is it's not going to greatly improve the engines performance, by simply fitting twin carbies, unless this is associated with some head work, to improve the air flow in, & exhaust out. However, unless you get that info from the previous owner, the only other way  is to remove the head, & take a look.

Any unknown engine, I always like to remove the head as a minimum first up; as it allows you to see first hand, what the state of the valves & their seats are; as well as the state of the bores, & whether there is any movement in the pistons.  Again, not knowing what the state, the carbies are in, the first thing would be to remove them, & clean them completely, before trying to tune them.  Tuning a single carby is hard enough, but twins can be a bugger, if you haven't got the experience & equipment to balance them etc.

At a very minimum, before You do anything; I would warm the engine up; whip out all the spark plugs, & do a compression test. Even the colour of the spark plug electrodes, give a good indication, of how things are going, inside the cylinders.  If you can find out some history of the motor, that would be a really good starting point.

Cheers Banjo

[altezzaclub]

"ems as tho my carbs are out of tune won’t hold idle with out choke out, "

Take the tops off, unscrew the various jets and clean them out with a can of carb cleaner.  Shoot cleaner down the holes and drillings where the jets go. The fuel cell may have been replacing a rusty fuel tank, and dirt from that might be blocking the idle jet on one carb now. Hold a carb top up vertically and have the float hanging so the arm just touch the needle and seat valve, and measure the gap float to top with verniers. Compare the two carbs, the gap should be 11mm from memory. That gap determines your fuel level in the carb, which also determines the leaness.

Another one is the gasket between the carb and the manifold, a difficult choice. Some get bolted up tight, other theories reckon they must float so the engine vibrations don't disturb the fuel. See if they are rigid now. Then take the carbs off and inspect the O-rings or the gaskets to the manifold. Any leak in there will run a carb lean.

Then back the junction screw off that joins the carbs so they are independent at idle and see if each one makes a distinct clean 'click' when you let its throttle drop 5mm. If the idle stop screw is not set correctly it will not have a clean click, or if the throttle shaft is bent so one of the two plates hits first. Check each carb then run it so you can play with each to see which one is lazy.

Take a length of hose and listen to each of the 4 throats, they should each make a clean distinct 'thop' sound at idle. The quiet or fuzzy ones need their idle mixture screw adjusted. get each pair sounding as similar as possible. Then set the idle speed screw on each carb to make the carbs sound the same. Then set the balance screw joining the carbs so they open the same from that idle point.

There, you've set them up!

Of course the jets may not be ideal, but you need the car running as best you can before driving it and doing 'plug cuts' to compare the 4 plugs and see if the same fuel is getting delivered to each throat and if the mixture is correct right through the range. A mixture display and an oxy sensor is the modern way to do this, with an oxy sensor port in each exhaust branch...  The trouble is, you spend that money and once you have the right jets in the carbs you never need the gear again.

There're books written on how to tune twin carbs, this is just a quick reply...

Edited June 21, 2024 by altezzaclub

[altezzaclub]

Here's a starting point for which jets and chokes should be in there-

 

Edited June 22, 2024 by altezzaclub