My First Car. Granny-spec 1982 Ke70 Corolla Se

[BenDaMAN]

Yesterday i bought my first car.

 

A 1982 KE70 Corolla SE. 211,000 km $2400 (pictures will be posted tomorrow)

 

The cars story:

It was bought by a mid aged couple in 1982, between regular drives it has been garaged it's entire life in west Ballina NSW. Has been regularly serviced, and never flogged. Was sold to a 27 year old guy three months ago, he was asking for $2800 for it, but he agreed and sold it to me for $2400 as he needed a 4WD for a new landscaping job.

 

It's in incredible condition for it's age, such a lucky find. Only a small amount of surface rust under the back of the boot seal which just needs clean and a can of rust converter. Paints is only ever so slightly faded, the back left side of the boot lid needs a little bit of a touch up.

 

It's literally granny-spec. All that's been changed in it is the car stereo has been installed.

$400 Kenwood headunit, 2 sony xplodes in the front doors with some separate small tweeters, and then some kenwood 6x9's in the rear.

 

Has rego til January, all five tyres will past next rego check.

 

To do list:

 

1. Swap previous owners custom plates so they can be returned.

 

2. Get third party, fire and theft insurance.

 

3. Book my P's test.

 

4. Do two more night driving hours so that i can go for my test.

 

5. Buy new temperature gauge or sensor depending which ever the problem is, change the oil.

 

6. Order a new radiator from a mate's dad who's a mechanic who can get me a cheap new radiator.

 

7. Investigate wreckers for some EA Falcon springs to be cut to lower the car by an inch or so.

 

8. Install new radiator and cut and install Falcon springs with a mate of mine who's a mechanic.

 

9. Prepare and spray front and rear bumpers and plastic side trim with gloss black respray with clear-coat.

 

10. Spray chemical metal cleaner on original rims to spruce them up a bit again.

 

11. Get 30 year panel beater veteran to help me touch up a few spots of the paint, mainly the left back side of the boot lid, but also just above the rear left wheel arc, and clean and spray under the rear of the boot seal with rust converter.

 

12. Look into getting a front lip.

 

13. Start saving for a 4AGE Turbo conversion for when i get my full licence. lol

 

 

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

[Evan G]

sounds orite

 

1st thing, wrong section

2nd thing, if its in that good condtion why the hell do you want to make it into a drift pig/cutting springs? learn to drive it first, enjoy it. know the limits and get used to the slow 4k before doing a engine conversion and crashing into a tree!

[Sloth]

I second that. You don't need a lot of power for a nice ride that you can still have fun with. Both of my cars(KE55 and AE86) have had less than 70rwkw (and that was after the engine changes), even before (when I was running the stock 4k and 4AC respectively) they still had enough power to get me around and have a little bit of fun when I needed it.

 

Grats on the find! It's good to see old rollas in good condition going to people who will respect them and not getting crushed or thrashed.

 

My other suggestion is to be aware that when you do bodywork or make a car look nice there is always a chance some idiot will drive into you (or you would do something silly, but all Rollaclub members are responsible :yes: ). When I got my KE55 painted we sanded it all back, cut out rust, sprayed it in awesome PPG paint and then 3 months later (1 month after having it registered) a truck hit my rear drivers side wheel arch. Just to prepare you, there's a lot of idiots out on the road. (Getting a little off topic now, but I was driving home the other night with a camera attached to the bumper of me 86 and in the space of 30 seconds had two cars pull out in front of me from separate roads, for one of them I had to slam on the brakes and lock up the wheels, all caught on camera)

[Ben-89]

Hey mate, welcome to the club.

 

Like what Evan and Sloth have said. If the car is so good why stuff around with it? A few members on here and other places have regretted modding an original ke70. But its you're car and the choice yours anyhow mate.

 

If you want to spruce up you're wheels, give them a clean with paint thinner to remove any dirt/oils and then buy a can of Septone or VHT wheel paint. The colour is called alluminium, don't buy that chrome silver export paint as it will look tacky.

 

Lastly, where are the photos :yes:

[BenDaMAN]

sounds orite

 

1st thing, wrong section

2nd thing, if its in that good condtion why the hell do you want to make it into a drift pig/cutting springs? learn to drive it first, enjoy it. know the limits and get used to the slow 4k before doing a engine conversion and crashing into a tree!

 

Sorry. I got confused as to which section to post in. Which is the correct one? I'll repost so i don't look like such a newbie. Haha Ssh no telling.

 

Hey mate, welcome to the club.

 

Like what Evan and Sloth have said. If the car is so good why stuff around with it? A few members on here and other places have regretted modding an original ke70. But its you're car and the choice yours anyhow mate.

 

If you want to spruce up you're wheels, give them a clean with paint thinner to remove any dirt/oils and then buy a can of Septone or VHT wheel paint. The colour is called alluminium, don't buy that chrome silver export paint as it will look tacky.

 

Lastly, where are the photos :yes:

 

 

I'm not going to lower it more than 40mm, i'm not going to flare the guards either. Mate of mine with a KE70 made his front lip out of garden edging pop-ribeted and it actually turned out looking really good. lol So i'm thinking of doing that.

 

Yes i definately wasn't going to put chrome on the wheels Errk. Yukk! And sorry i didn't specify this guys. But i'm saving for an engine conversion that would happen no sooner than 3 years time, because engine swaps aren't allowed on P's.

 

Thanks for the great reception into the club, cheers. :)

 

I second that. You don't need a lot of power for a nice ride that you can still have fun with. Both of my cars(KE55 and AE86) have had less than 70rwkw (and that was after the engine changes), even before (when I was running the stock 4k and 4AC respectively) they still had enough power to get me around and have a little bit of fun when I needed it.

 

Grats on the find! It's good to see old rollas in good condition going to people who will respect them and not getting crushed or thrashed.

 

My other suggestion is to be aware that when you do bodywork or make a car look nice there is always a chance some idiot will drive into you (or you would do something silly, but all Rollaclub members are responsible :yes: ). When I got my KE55 painted we sanded it all back, cut out rust, sprayed it in awesome PPG paint and then 3 months later (1 month after having it registered) a truck hit my rear drivers side wheel arch. Just to prepare you, there's a lot of idiots out on the road. (Getting a little off topic now, but I was driving home the other night with a camera attached to the bumper of me 86 and in the space of 30 seconds had two cars pull out in front of me from separate roads, for one of them I had to slam on the brakes and lock up the wheels, all caught on camera)

 

Far out man. That would have sucked. There is just so many terrible drivers on the road, and all over the shop! I'll be driving it on my P's so i'll be being targeted by the cops, so all sensible driving from me, for now.. muahaha

Edited July 25, 2010 by philbey

[Ben-89]

Here's a little granny for you.

And we share the same name too :yes:

 

 

Edited July 25, 2010 by "The Mint KE70"

[BenDaMAN]

Ok so after looking around at performance upgrades for the 4KC engine and talking to to people, i've come up with some more ideas/plans for the present, leaving the idea of a 4AGE possibly for the future.

 

Setup thermo-electric system on the new radiator, look into making a shroud for the front of the radiator to direct the airflow more.

 

Buy king springs which will lower the car 30-35mm and stiffen it up all round, ($290 ebay plus postage.)

 

Get extractors and 1.75" exhaust system with good size two tip exhaust, no canons here thanks, lol. One mate said it shouldn't be too much considering how short the car is, and he didn't think it would need any bends in the pipe, so i'll probably go to his step-brothers work to get that done.

 

Mate of mine whose a mechanic and also owns a KE70 said the cam is a good place to start, performance-price wise is smart, will take a little bit of work he said.

 

Then to look at changing the carby to increase the intake.

 

See how it all feels, then considering getting the flywheel to be machined down to a lighter weight.

 

Maybe eventually do a full rebuild and balance the whole bottom end and get some good internals.

 

Then when i'm on my full licence (3 year time), look into running 6psi of boost with a turbo, possibly from a CA18DET.

 

 

This plan would certainly save the hassles of an engine swap, building up a 4KC seems much more impressive, progressive idea, as well as fun, although not as powerful as dropping a 4AGE turbo.

 

What are all your thoughts and ideas on these things guys?

 

Sorry no pictures today, camera screwed up on me.

[philbey]

Hi Bendaman, welcome to the RC.

 

Evan is correct, you posted in the wrong spot. don't Stress! I've moved it to the "Rollaclub Rides" section, the section for people to post up threads on their car.

 

Just a tip, you don't need to post everytime you want to "quote" someone. Just click the quote button on each thread you wish to quote and then hit the reply button... Game on! (I've merged your 3 posts into one)

 

Get some pics up before the mob starts screaming for them and Enjoy!

[BenDaMAN]

Alright so here are the the first pics, they will be my 'before' pics.

 

 

 

 

[Doogs]

Not a bad score mate, looks like it does not need much to be quite a respectable first car.

 

I second that. You don't need a lot of power for a nice ride that you can still have fun with. Both of my cars(KE55 and AE86) have had less than 70rwkw (and that was after the engine changes), even before (when I was running the stock 4k and 4AC respectively) they still had enough power to get me around and have a little bit of fun when I needed it.

 

Grats on the find! It's good to see old rollas in good condition going to people who will respect them and not getting crushed or thrashed.

 

My other suggestion is to be aware that when you do bodywork or make a car look nice there is always a chance some idiot will drive into you (or you would do something silly, but all Rollaclub members are responsible :yes: ). When I got my KE55 painted we sanded it all back, cut out rust, sprayed it in awesome PPG paint and then 3 months later (1 month after having it registered) a truck hit my rear drivers side wheel arch. Just to prepare you, there's a lot of idiots out on the road. (Getting a little off topic now, but I was driving home the other night with a camera attached to the bumper of me 86 and in the space of 30 seconds had two cars pull out in front of me from separate roads, for one of them I had to slam on the brakes and lock up the wheels, all caught on camera)

 

I agree with your comments about power. The old saying " You are better learning to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car fast" rings true. A stock or near stock KE70 will be a great learning curve to start with.

 

No good to hear about your hit your wheel arch, but I think this should not stop us building nice cars. If we all lived in worry of being hit, no nice cars would ever see the road. I think show quality streeters should still see plenty of road miles.

A few steps like having full comp with a suitable company like Shannons, and minimising your risk where possible are all that's necessary. We should all observe for idiots around us on the road, park in sensible areas to avoid shopping trolley dents and drive within our limits.

 

/end rant

 

Cheers,

Dougal

Edited July 26, 2010 by Doogs

[e70van]

gee, you could prob sell those no: plates to someone with a sprinter! :yes:

[BenDaMAN]

gee, you could prob sell those no: plates to someone with a sprinter! :yes:

 

yeah the guy that i bought it off, his previous car was a sprinter, and his initials are TM. Hence the number plate. I'm handing the plates in to get new ones in December, cause those one's cost $90 a year in NSW or something stupid like that. The guy that i bought it off decided he didn't want them back, cause it was going to cost him $160 to put those plates on hold, and then i'd still have to pay for my new plates ($80 for white ones i think)

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Sweet clean ride bro. Needs to be matt black, but with me every car needs to be. I'll keep an eye on this thread.

[BenDaMAN]

So it turns out the night we drove it back from Ballina it was so cold that the temperature gauge showed no movement. lol So the the temperature gauge works fine, and the radiator is fine for now, temp guage is up than 25% of the gauge during day time doing town driving, and 20% or less doing highway driving (80km/h cause i'm still an L plater. :jamie:)

 

Bought myself a Weber 32/36 carby off ebay. (Used for $200) Still gotta buy an adaptor plate (Where's a cheap place to get one, cause they're $70 off ebay including postage.)

Brothers mate in Brisbane should be able to help me tune it for my little 4KC engine. (I've heard a 38mm jet works well?)

Booked my P's test for Friday morning (Wish me luck!)

Planning on getting extractors and 1.75" or 2" exhaust system with a two pipe exhaust tip. (What do you guys think?)

Then i think i will get the cam regrinded for $99 by these guys: http://www.tighecams.com.au/ (Thoughts?)

King Springs are $290 for a set on ebay, which will lower the car by 30-35mm

 

And here's what i'm hoping it will sound like after all that. :blush:

 

 

(Lol, is that unreasonable to expect?)

Edited July 26, 2010 by BenDaMAN

[BenDaMAN]

Got my fully stock KE70 to do 150km/h today. Balls man, it was scary, feels so damn fast in that tiny little car. It's just like DDDDDDDDDDDD: *shockface* Really don't think i'd want to go any faster than that in that little thing, but it will be nice when the upgrades are in to see how much more pickup it has to get to 100.