robj

A number of people have asked me about my R and P conversion, so a brief thread on it. A few things up front: 1. This is a guide of what I did, you take responsibility for if you choose to copy. (My disclaimer...) 2. I am not an engineer, not even a mechanic. But I did do a lot of thinking and research into steering geometry before embarking on this challenge/ adventure. Including chatting alot to a kind gentleman who built his race car from sheet metal, and has the fastest time in his class for his car around Baskerville raceway (56 seconds around Baskerville, with just 200hp.) Also borrowed a few ideas from Carroll Smiths great books (Drive to Win, Tune to Win and Engineer to Win). I was advised a number of years ago to buy these books ($110 for the 3). They have saved me much more than that in mistakes already! 3. The pics I took this morning are the best I have.....didn't take any while doing it. 4. I've busted my leg, so have time to finally do this thread. Hope I can work out how to add the pics again, abit computer illiterate. I'll try get it done this arvo. 5. Open to discussion. Thanks for the feedback and discussion others have given me in my KE25 build.

From what I know, Browland summed it up pretty well. I've had 2 KE20's and 2 KE25's. The late model bonnet has the 'shark nose' point on it in the middle, like the LJ Toranas so the bonnet is longer in the middle. But the sides of the bonnet from early and late are the same length. So you can interchange early and late bonnets, just might make the grill stick out too far or hide it. Another thing is that the earlier models had a skinnier b pillar, and so the seat belt top anchor point was placed really high, pretty well on the roof like old datto 1600's. So the belt sort of comes across your cheek....well nearly. Later models had the anchor point on the b pillar.

Nice! Good job on the wagon. Great colour too. Looks like you've spent a bit of time on it, after your initial purchase wasn't what you expected. Well done for keeping up with it and making it a success story.

Very nice! Couldn't see the first number of pics on page one though... said something had expired. I went to the Adelaide Hills last Easter. Next time I'm up, keen to catch up and share thoughts and ideas. Rob J

Thanks guys for the comments. Yep, is heaps of fun to drive. I actually leave to go to work earlier to avoid traffic congestion and start the day with a pleasant 25min drive. Gets me to work refreshed. I've tided up the inside a fair bit too: new Knox fitted carpet and Automotive carpet behind the seats and over the parcel shelf. Only little annoyance is an ongoing occasional (fairly often) petrol smell that finds it's way into the cabin when the car has been standing for some time e.g. overnight in the shed. Don't know if anyone else has that problem. Have checked the tank etc for leaks. Keen to recover from a busted knee to go back driving! Tipsi, my struts are corona xt130, shortened 40mm and coilovers put on them. These are a wider (I think 52mm OD) strut than the KE25 ones, but very similar king pin. Obviously they have the wider bolt spacing than the KE25 strut and knuckles. Just another challenge that can be overcome.

I'll be keen to see it. I was wondering when someone would snatch up that motor from the just north of the city. Glad to see it's being used sensibly! Ha ha. With no turbolag, what instant control you'll have, especially with all that linear power!

Nice! I've found that an early celica (think TA22, or RA23/28) swaybar fitted my KE2X. They are thicker at about 19mm, the one I'm running is 22mm, not 16.5 for the standard. Might help if you want it stiffer. However of course they are not the blade type. Rob J.

I bought some Autotechnica seats, they fitted but sat too high. And they were a bit wide for me, I prefer a tight seat. I ended up with Mazda RX7 series v seats, but had to modify the seating mounts. That is, don't line up with original holes. These seats sat a fair bit lower too.

1:10 at Baskerville, using 3rd and 4th only. (not 2nd). On 185/60 firehawk tires, and only 2 degrees castor. Edit: Oh yeah, Ke25 corolla, 3sge.

Well, it's been over a year since I've added to this page. A few changes: Suspension I've played around slightly with the suspension and wheel alignment (has 2.0 degrees negative camber, and now 4.5 degrees castor). I've taken the smallest leaf out of the rear, and this lowered the back a bit too much, so reduced the lowering block height. Also have a 22mm adjustable swaybar, instead of the previous 19mm. (Standard is 16.5mm...) Cooling system It now has a better cooling system- it started to leak with too many pipes. Has a remote bleeder tank with a radiator cap on it. Better tires Changed tires a while ago: now runs RE001 adrenalins. Still 185x60 14 inch. Definately a big step up from the firehawk wide ovals. Even at small lateral g forces they just feel much more direct and sure footed. The extra 2.5 degrees castor has helped the understeer obviously. AZCUSTOM sump The 2S modded sump has a few baffles in it now. With the stickier tires, and already being a slightly smaller capacity sump than the 3sge, I was a bit concerned. Now I have oil 'insurance.' AZCUSTOM improved inlet manifold I also have an AZCUSTOM inlet manifold, which has 100mm longer runners, and a bigger (3 litre) plenum. I was expecting it to be more torquey and less quick. What the result is that the strongest acceleration area is not from 4500rpm to 7000rpm, but now 3700 to 6700. AND changing gears around 6000 - 6500rpm actually gives me quicker acceleration than what it used to do at 7000rpm! Happy with that! Yet to retune it. Enjoying it! :happy:

2s Bellhousing fits on to the 3s block. Must use a wider pilot bearing though, or better- take 5-8 mm off the face of the bellhousing. That will make the clutch fork fit better too in it's range of travel. But the motor must sit pretty far forward OR very low. I did mine very low, so as not to hit the transmission tunnel. I have recessed part of the tunnel too. Nick: you have a PM re flares. Queen 20V: Thanks. 1972

The car is going really well now. I've done some 10 000 km, using it nearly every day. That includes a few track days. The Rack and Pinion has a full length rack in it, and works well. Been playing with the computer, and getting down to nearly 8l/100km, but usually around 9l /100km. Track days about 30 l/100km!!

Hi. Apparently a few people suffer from their KE2X firewalls having leaks. Seems to be a bit of a design fault, from looking at my cars and wrecks, and other peoples cars. Following is what did to identiy and fix the common leak. Need: 1. screwdriver 2. caulking gun and that black sticky stuff used to seal around windows (not silicone- can promote rust). 3. two feet of clear plastic tube to fit on the end of the tube of black window sealant. (optional). 4. small mirror (I used my wifes vanity mirror, 5cm by 5cm). 5. 12mm? spanner 6. small mirror (used my wife's handbag vanity mirror). Method: 1.Remove the air intake trims that are below the window, behind bonnet. (Use screwdriver) 2. Take off bonnet (12mm spannner?) Need to do this to get to the most suspect place. 3. Inspect the area directly under the bonnet hinges, in that 3cm wide gap. On one sideof the car, mine actually had a 3mm gap that looked factory!. This seems to be the most suspect point. This is the bit that if you were standing at the front of the car, lookin to the rear, and stuck your finger in the bonnet hinge hole, and then bent your finger down as soon as it was in the hole, you would be at the suspect part. 4. With caulking gun, smear black stuff onto this area heavily. I also put some clear tube onto the end of the gun and sealed up the whole front/top part of the fire wall, and about 5cm along the fore aft bits on the most outer sides of the cavity. Use the mirror to see what I was doing. I used my finger to smear it, as did my wife, and nothing got the stuff of for about a week! so be warned. 5. Test it. I had previously tested my car, and thought this was were the leaks were (on both sides). Since then, have washed my car, and had a few big downpours. Dri as a bone. Cheers, Rob.

Good stuff. I bought the mag as soon as I saw your cars on the front! Doing well.

The car (ke25) is going great, it now has rack and pinion in it. But has a bit (not too bad) bump steer. I was hoping to get rid of all bumpsteer. Last night I played around with different tierod lengths/rack rod lengths, and it is vertually make bump steer completely disappear! (5mm out over 4 metres- can't measure that at the wheel!!) When I fix this small problem up, I'll give a report on it. It is a lot nicer to drive, very tight and good feel. Used mainly KE70 stuff, rack, LCA , column etc. Still need to mount the column to the firewall properly though. Loving it. robj Edit: The vital statistics: I cut the rack bar by 57/58mm. But that was too much. Extending the bar by 11mm on each side (22mm total) so only 35mm shortened of the bar was ideal. LCA inner pivot points are about 6mm BELOW the end of the rack ends, and 287ish mm from the centre line. That is what worked for my KE25. Toe is is quite noticeable in droop, but now virtually non exsistent in bump. Using 40mm RCA blocks at the bottom of the xt130 struts.

Both front brakes stick. The pads have plent of meat left on them, but perhaps got too hot? Don't know if that could do anything.

Brilliant!!! Nice work. PM sent.

I had a track day, and the brakes seem to stick for about a second or so after I've come off the brakes. This only happens on the front wheels, and these are the only one boosted. System: front: 4pot hilux calipers VH44 remote booster 1' hilux master cylinder. rear Standard RA23 drums on the t series diff. I put a kit through the calipers, they were fine. replaced the VH44 booster(ABS did this, they said it was faultly). Driving it hope, still the same. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks Rob J.

I have an RA 23 t series in my car, 14X6 wheels which are I think 12 or 15mm poitive offset. (stick out wider than most mags). With the TE27 flares, it has 10mm clearance on eather side- just perfect. Of course I had to cut the guards. Can check out my thread for pics. robj

Firstly, have you checked the globes? Yes, they do have them. The wire from the gearbox goes to NEAR the hole in the firewall where all the other wires go through the firewall. It is on a double (2 of) male/female plug, which goes down the firewall and slightly to the centre of the car, near the brake lines. This plug could have come undone.

I found out today that I got a few laps at 1:11, most at 1:12, instead of the 1:14 later in the day. A mate of mine timed 12 odd consecutive laps early in the day, around 10am, and then went home, before telling me. Later in the day I couldn't beat 1:14, the track wasn't as grippy. So comparitively, Jonny and my mate Roger were definately quicker, (3 or 4 seconds) but the track wasn't as good in the arvo. Probably explains why I was getting higher speeds down the main straight earlier in the day. Looking at the video of it will probaby help me improve my times for next time. A quick look at the video showed my racing lines and braking style can do with improvement, but hey, it's my first time on any track. Near the end of the day, on the video, you can see water still spraying up behind the car, even when the track looked dry. I probably enjoyed the really wet laps the best, learning (and enjoying) this sideways action. I didn't realise how sideways a car could get in my hands, and still be (relatively) controlled. I'd like to get good at that... A bit of info on my car: 3sge for an MR2. 250lb front springs, and about 1deg neg camber. 19mm sway bar, none on the rear. Tyres: Firewalk "wide oval" 185/60/14. A cheap brand of bridgestone, what supatool is to Kincrome. They were $100 each. Well, I verymuch enjoyed my first track day, and the car survived!! But the diff whines alot, and I have a small oil leak, and occasionally the charge light came on. A few things to sort out. Thanks Jonny for the work and pics. robj

Some clarification about driving styles allowed on the 26th of April. Last weekend was a drift practise day. This weekend (26th ) is a practise day. NOT a drift practise day. Thought I would clarify that, as there has been some confusion with that. Don't want people thinking they'll spend their money for a drift practise to find out that is not the case....

Just a private practise day. The caretaker said nothing was booked for the day, so we should be right. Jonny (TE37) and myself (KE25/3sge)will be out there, a few guys from the AE86drivingclub have indicated they will come out. It'll be my first time out on a track, so not expecting any fab times. Hopefully the rain holds out so we can get out!!

Nice!!! a couple of use plan to be there this Saturday 26th April, weather permitting. Hopefully have the final few things on my car fixed. Would you go out again? Rob.

That Corona is great! I have seen it on very rare occasions driving on the street. Can't rememberif that was in hobart or up north. I think there is one like it on the north coast? maybe that is the one. Didn't realise its donk though.