Banjo

About six months ago there was an intersting thread on Rollaclub about what tools usually were carried in the boot on a daily basis. Not much, if I remember the contributions. But there are three very basics that should be found in every Corolla rear guard side well. 1. Roll of electrical tape. 2. Tube of 5 minute Araldite. 3. Couple of thin wire coat hangers. :)

Maybe Aliens did build the pyramids. But they must have driven Hi-Luxes, and had Sidchrome socket sets ! Maybe they pulled the stone blocks up the ramps on Sidchrome sockets with their Toyotas ??? :)

Yes, I'd forgotten about "McGuyver". He was cool. Fix anything; do anything, with whatever was at hand. Anyway I'm not so sure my friends solution to removing the bus gearbox was so original. Isn't that how the Egyptians built the pyramids, rolling those big blocks of stone, up an earth ramp on their Sidchrome socket sets. :) :D :D :D :D :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz:

Grims right Fook. All my Sidchrome 1/2" drive sockets have the same diameter around the boss where the 1/2" drive coupling is made. :)

Jamie's mention of sockets reminds me of a guy I worked with several years ago. He was a paraplegic engineer in a wheelchair that let nothing stop him from leading a productive life. I went to a few parties at his house and I can assure you, nothing stopped him. He decided to buy an old Sydney bus and fit it out and drive around Australia, with some friends (3 were girls). The fit-out took almost a year, but was beautifully done. Anyway, finally the day came, he resigned from work and off he went heading north from Sydney. About two months later we got a call from him requesting help. He was broken down near Rockhampton in Qld. with something in the gearbox broken. He asked if we could go down to the bus depot at Tempe in Sydney & see if we could get him this spare. He said the bus was parked on the concrete driveway at a service station just south of Rocky. Anyway, we got him the part, had it shipped up, and didn't hear from him again, until he returned to Sydney nearly a year later. Anyway we are up at the local pub hearing his stories, when I ask about the broken gearbox. "How the hell did you get the gearbox out of the bus ?" I asked. "Easy" he says. "We jacked the bus up, took 2 days, laid out all the sockets in my socket set under the bus, with a thick piece of marine ply on top. Removed the floor, and lowered the gearbox with some rope, and rolled the 3/4 tonne gearbox out from under the bus on top of the sockets." Reinstallation was, he recounted, a reverse procedure of the removal. Now, there's ingenuity for you. :) :D :D :D :D :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz: :fuzz:

Yeh ! I think everyone in those days used to mark their tools. Lots used to mark them with those vibrating electric etching engraving machines, made by "Scope". You don't see them around these days. I worked with an electrican who even had his name engraved on the shaft of each of his screwdrivers. :)

A true artisan ! :)

That's interesting Fook, as I am just about to do a complete lighting upgrade on my KE55 coupe, and was going to use the LED bulbs. I think they're about $ 9.00 is Super AutoCheap. The problem with the flasher and LED bulbs is that the flasher units are made to only work with the filament bulbs. LED bulbs draw much less current than the standard filament bulb, and therefore result in less voltage drop in wiring & connectors. Unfortunately, the flasher unit is a bi-metal switch arrangement. The indicator is switched, current flows to the bulb, bi-metal switch heats up & distorts, switch opens, current stops flowing and bi-metal cools down. Switch closes again & cycle is repeated. The LED current is not great enough to heat the bi-metal strip, so the flasher unit will not work. I assume, Fook, your indicator LED light is permanently on. There must be a simple solution. I'll see what I can discover. On the same topic, amber & red coloured bulbs are great when faded lamp lenses are faded or new ones hard or expensive to get hold. I've tried that special stuff you paint on the inside of the lenses, but in the Qld sun, it is only effective for about 6 months. :)

Recently I had the head off my 4K-U. When replacing the radiator I noticed the heater pipe spigot on top of the water pump looked a little blocked on the inside. I ran a big drill down the inside diameter by hand to clean it out. After doing so, I was amazed how thin the aluminium wall was after the corrosion had been removed. Being a bit concerned it might not have enough strength to be reliable, I put a little sideways force on it, only to have it break off in my hand. Now it was late on a Sunday afternoon, and although there was a second hand pump lying around in the garage somewhere, I was inclined not to use same, as I have often found that water pumps that have been lying idle for some time, provide short lives before bearing or seal failure. The pump boss below where the spigot had been seemed to have plenty of aluminium "beef" to it, so I wondered if it was possible to drill out and fit a new spigot/outlet. A large drill (about 5/8") was used, and the a nice recess was soon formed. I then searched the shed for a bit of pipe that could be forced into service as a new spigot/outlet for the heater pipe. Nothing turned up the exact size I wanted. Then I spied my box of tube spanners. A 13mm tube spanner had exactly the right outside diameter. Out with the hacksaw and off with the hex sections at each end, and I soon had a new spigot. A quick mix of some Araldite, and I soon had the new spigot firmly in place. Next morning, I reattached the heater pipe, filled with water, and the daily drive was back on the road again. That was some months ago now, and the repair has been both reliable & permanent, thanks to a 13mm tube spanner & a tube of Araldite. :)

Had this story told to me in a pub (the only pub) at Fords Bridge, out the "back of Bourke" in N.S.W. Farmer was removing the engine out of his old 1950s Austin that had served him faithfully for many years, as a farm workhorse. Truck under a large gum tree. Steel cable over a branch connected to the rear of a small cat bulldozer he used for clearing fence lines. Got engine out O. K. and was hanging in mid air. Removed Austin truck and was just backing his flat top under the elevated engine, so he could lower, and then transport to town for repairs. About a klm away some contractors were building a new dam for the farmer, and ran into a very large old tree stump that wouldn't budge. A few sticks of "gene" under the stump should fix it ! Well I think they overdid the the few sticks. A giant explosion rocked the earth for a couple of kilometres. The tree rocked, the branch snapped, and the engine plummetted to earth passing straight through the weathered old boards on the back of the flat top, to become completely entangled between the chassis & tailshaft. Three years after hearing this story, I was in the same area again and called on a property to ask for directions. There near the outsheds was a flat top with a slightly bent chassis, and a truck engine firmly embedded between the rear chassis. The farmer was so disgusted, he told me, he just walked away and left it there, but had used the timber off the table top for fire wood. sob

Jason ! Does that mean when you now sleep at night, you have the feeling your 4A-C engine has never left you ? :)

Jamie, your mate SAM must be a big boy !

Love it, Rob, Wish you'd taken a picture of it. Conjurors up a beautiful mental picture ! Busy road. Motel Sign. Car in pieces beneath. Irate Motel Manager. As long as you didn't wash parts down in the bath tub ! :dance:

GOOD ONE ! :dance: Love it Dysolve ! That's beuatiful & very ingenious ! Come on guys; there's got to be a lot more of those sort of stories out there waiting to be told !

I've just started a thread, where I'd love to see posts of weird mechanical solutions to everyday problems. We all seem to have stories of how we got out of some "on the road" or mechanical problem, by using a non conventional solution. Remember that ABC show a few years back called "Bush Mechanics". I luv'd that. It brought back so many memories of getting stuck in the bush, and getting out of it. You've probably all heard the suggestion of cracking an egg into your radiator, when you spring a leak miles from no where. Remember a thread not that long ago here, about bedding in a new engine using Bon Ami cleaning powder. I knew an old bush mechanic who reconds he got extra life out of slipper bearing shells, by filing the ends of them slightly, and packing them out from behind with a number of Tally Ho tobacco papers. My grandfather used to tell me that when he went rabbit shooting and got a puncture he couldn't fix, they'd cut grass and stuff the tyre full, and drive home. Well that's the sort of tales I'd love to here. How you got an engine out, when you didn't have a chain bloc, etc. etc. etc.. One of the best reads and videos I've watched recently is the Birdsville mailman's 1954 epic b/w "The Back of Beyond". To my way of thinking, Tom Kruse was the greatest bush mechanic of all time. What that bloke couldn't do in the bush with a broken down vehicle. It was just amazing ! Anyway, it's over to you. I'm sure you'd all love to post your moment of ingenuity ! I've got a couple of stories I'll post in the coming days. ;)09

Ophs ! Must have pushed the wrong button there ! * as he puts down glass of red wine * Let's start again. 4. Where is the best place in Brissy to get a complete set of poly bushes for my KE55 at the right price ? Thanks in advance ! :dance:

Did the rear end of my KE55 coupe a few weeks back, with waggon springs, gas shocks & poly bushes all around. I think the poly bushes I used were Super Pro brand. I'm now ready to do the front suspension bushing completely, and have decided to go poly again. Question: 1. How many different brands of poly bushes are there for the KE series ? 2. Are any brands beter than others, or are they much the same ? 3. What should I pay for a complete front set for my KE55 ? 4.

Rob, You are spot on ! Thanks ! :thumbsup:

Could well be one of the many rubber tubes around the carby that eventually crack and leak, causing the sort of symptoms you describe. If you find they are cracked, replace the lot. It's quick simple. Go to your local auto spares & get a 1 metre of rubber hose to suit. Take old piece as sample. Remove one piece at a time from carby, cut new one to length & fit. This way you won't forget which one goes where. :thumbsup:

Rob, Thanks for that, and all the camera work down in the garage. We are all a little wiser now. I figured it was something like that. All the manuals I have read indicate that when fitting new rubber bushes to the inner end of the lower control arm, that they should NOT be fully tightened until the car is lowered to the ground. This is presumably to provide some torsional effect from the rubber to the suspension, both up & down from the neutral position. I thought that maybe the rubber bushes provide more of this torsional effect than the poly ones, which are usually covered with the special dry lubricant provided with each set of bushes. With your rose joint mod, this torsional effect is presumably lost, so have you had to compensate for this elsewhere in the suspension setup, or doesn't it matter in your rallying application ? Thanks again ! Banjo :)

Just the picture you want to see before you fly out on an overseas holiday ! :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad: :sad:

OK, I've just done the rear suspension and about to start on the front. The rear of my KE55 2 door coupe got a pair of waggon springs, (thanks Fook), a pair of gas shocks and new poly bushes all around. Made a big difference. :P In researching the front suspension I came across the above comment from Fook re not necessarily going all poly bushes on the front suspension. Now I know what castor, camber & toe-in are, but I need someone to explain in a little more detail, how the rubber bush use on the inner control arms allow one to "wind more castor in". As someone very famous out Ipswich way once said. "Please explain". :)

Highly unlikely that it is the fuel guage itself. The guage is powered by a small 8V regulator, attached to the rear of the instrument cluster assembly. These are notorious for breaking down, but sometimes you can be lucky, and it is just a connection problem, as the older Corolla's used a flexible printed circuit board that can create problems. The regulators can be purchased at an electronics store. I would first check that you have +8 volts to one side of the guage. Other than wiring between the dash and the boot, the other likely culprit is the fuel level sender unit in the tank itself. This requires removal of the tank to remove the sender. The wire wound resistor eventually wears away & shorts turns making it inaccurate. The fuel sender units are hard to find in good condition. I had to go through about three before I got a good one. Good luck ! Let us know how you go. :dance:

No. it doesn't look that bad; but it will if Jonsey & his mates ever attack it with hammers, axes and other electric tools, it will not look pretty. Reminds me of pictures somewhere on this site of Nick & helpers demolishing his old KE-70 body with a sledge hammer. Not a pretty sight ! Maybe Nick can dig them out and post them here again ! :dance:

Jamie, hope you win. With 16 bids so far & 5 days to go, you may have to rebid. Enterprising guy ! Bit of Teddy lateral thinking here. All the guys are constantly cleaning out sheds & garages of all kinds of unused Corolla stuff. Maybe rather than landfill, we could all get together once a year, and with a welder or two turn it into a woork of art that we could sell on eBay for a fortune and pay for all of Rollaclubs running costs for a year. :dance: