Nathan'S Ae71 Daily

[Hillynath]

Well it was a few month's ago when I decided I needed another car.. Something cheap to run and something relatively nice to drive.

 

Without having any luck on a decision, I decided it would be a bad idea to just jump into anything so I played the research and wait game.

The missus also needed a car, and one came up. It was my Grandfather's Ae82 hatch, 3 speed auto, 285xxx k's, faded paint with minimal rust. As he can no longer drive and she needed a car more than I needed another car we claimed it.

 

Only problem is that it was in Mackay....

 

So Booked our 1 way flight's and headed up there to see some of the family and get her a car. The day before we were scheduled to head back down we took the Corolla for a day trip up to Airlie Beach to visit my sister.. On the way we stopped. Not intentionally. The car had died and had us stranded on the side of the Bruce highway, To make matter's worse. We were broken down outside a sewerage treatment plant (SH%T! Literally)

 

So did the usual checks. Got fuel? Yep... Got spark? Yep.. Got power? Yep... Hmmmm... Okay crank it over while I look in the oil filler, yep, Timing belt snapped. Thankfully it was now rather than a day later) So got the car back to my old man's and started pulling it apart that night as we had to leave the next day. Got into Repco first thing the next morning for a belt and we were back on the road in no time.

 

 

So off we went 1200k's of road ahead of us, Left Mackay at 9:30am and arrived home here on the Gold Coast at about midnight. The poor old Ae82 made it! Not a drama at all, didn't miss a beat sitting at 110 sitting behind trucks. (I was surprised after our little incident a day earlier)

 

So a couple of weeks of driving the Corolla from time to time I decided "What a great car this is to drive" and started looking into early Corollas for my second car.

 

I have seen a couple of guy's driving around Ke70's and as I didn't really desire the Ae82 hatch look but really dig the square shape of the Ke70 I made my decision.

 

After many night's of reading, research, more reading. 4k, 4-ac, 4-age manual, auto, blah blah blah. I knew an Ae71 was my next candidate, I was also really hoping for a CS-X model for the nice bits.

 

 

So it started with Carsales, Ebay, Gumtree, and various Forums.. On the hunt for a car. Couple of Ke70's around but not really what I was after...

One night I stumbled across an Ae71. In my price range, 5 speed, aircon, low k's, cs-x!!

 

So I sent the guy an email, and went and had a look as soon as I got the chance. The car was okay, untidy and in need of some Tlc I left and decided that I'd sleep on it. Realising that some work is what I wanted and that this car would be a great start I bought it. (Without even driving it)

 

Here are the photos from the ad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I hired a trailer and we went and picked her up. All went smooth except it was a hassle moving it around as it needed a new battery and had to be jumped every time.

Sorted that out and gave the interior a clean and vacuum. Only took 1 quick photo of the interior. The seat's are in great condition!

 

 

The driver's seat however was stuffed. You sank to the floor.. So I pulled it out and all the foam was still intact so I did some home fixing and it feels brand new out like it come out of the factory! All for the cost of a few Cable ties and some old Venetian blinds.

 

 

 

 

So I have never worked with rust and never attempted any panel work what so ever. After some Google searches and Youtube videos I gave some of it a go myself. I'm happy with the result considering it was my first time at this kind of repair. It also look's better than the rusty hole.

 

Up close you can obviously see the imperfections but standing back you can't see it unless you know it's there(Except for the masking lines which I need to polish out)

 

Before

 

Half way

 

Finished (Except for a polish, waiting on it to harden)

 

 

If you noticed in the photos from the Ad.. The rear of the car was overly high. Something was all wrong. After a quick inspection it turn's out the springs in the rear were not the right ones for the job, They were too small in diameter to seat on the diff and they were also way to high for the shock absorbers.

So after calling 4390874 wrecker's in the area (not literally) I found one in Brisbane with a couple of Ke70's in the yard and I could take my own tool's and get the springs myself, As this was my first time at a "Pick apart" wreckers I really enjoyed it. Grabbed any nuts and bolt's laying around close at hand and grabbed a couple of little bits and pieces for my pockets.

 

Also it desperately needed some new bit's in the engine bay so I replaced the top and bottom radiator hoses, Plugs, Leads, dizzy cap and rotor button, fuel filter and gave it a degrease.

 

So I got the spring's in the same afternoon and am really happy I went to the effort of sourcing them. I gave the black bits on the car some tyre shine and also gave the boot lid a polish for now.

 

Here is how she sit's now.

 

 

 

 

You can see the Ae82 we got from Mackay on the right

 

 

I got my Roadworthy cert yesterday and will have it on the road on Monday! :D

 

My plan's are to keep it tidy. I'm planning on making it handle better rather than go fast (I have other toy's for that) After all it is just my daily so it wont have a lot of money spent on it. It still has the standard casette player which I'm going to eventually swap with a head unit of some kind.. I wont be butchering at the interior and painting it stupid colour's and screwing speakings into the door cards, Keeping it tidy and a pleasure to drive is what I want.

 

I have probably missed a few thing's but that happens, I'll keep this thread updated as I go along. I'm sure I'll get flamed for something or other :P

 

 

While I'm here these are my other toy's.

My First car which I have been driving for the last 4 years, Have had lot's of fun in this car and still love driving it. If you have any question's feel free to ask.

 

El Falcon.

 

And also my Latest addition (Apart from the Ae71)

My 2011 Wr450F. Straight out of the box with 0km's on it.

 

I also love getting out and doing some Kayak fishing when I get the chance

 

Catching my first Bass over the side of the "yak" :P

 

 

 

Anyway I'll leave it there. I'm pretty easy going and I look forward to getting into the Corolla world more and chatting with you all.

 

Thanks

Nathan

[Ben-89]

Welcome Nathan, good cars you have there and great story!

 

Nice to see the ae71 went into the hands of someone like yourself who will

look after it. What you have done so far is a clear indicator :y: :y: I like the other "toys" too.

 

Ae82s are good little run abouts, Up until a 15 months ago I had one for 6 years but had enough of the fwd factor. As I have a clean ke70 which I rarely drive I too wanted something rwd with a little more zap. So I bought an auto ae71 cs, in red and dailied it and by luck I bought a manual conversion and the rest was history.

[Hillynath]

Thank's for your input Ben :)

 

Can't wait to drive it tomorrow once I get the registration sorted! :D :D

 

 

Yeah the 3 speed auto in the Ae82 is good but once you hit a steep hill it's a little different.

 

 

 

Had a look earlier in the dark in preparation for her first nighttime maiden voyage.. My headlight's and high beams seem to be adjusted well and look good. However the light's behind my dash seem to be playing up. I'm missing the one/s which illuminate the Fuel, Temp and Tacho.

What I have read is that people have tried to fix similar thing's to this and then had more issues than before? Which if that's going to be the case I think I'll just leave them :P

[Hillynath]

Registered and on the road! :D :D

 

 

I stopped in somewhere and went to start and it just wouldn't fire... Gave it a couple of minutes and away she went. (I think i may have flooded it?)

 

 

 

Overheating... Hmmmm..... I have found milky residue around the inside of the oil filler cap, and a little in the breather that goes from the rocker cover to the air filter housing. Oil is still really clean and no milky residue there, still too hot to check the water.

 

Please don't be the damn headgasket :(

[Hillynath]

Well there was no water in it :glare:

 

 

Topped it up with the car running and heater on, getting steam out the exhaust and also little puff's of steam/vapour/unknown gas from the couple of bubbles that pop out the radiator...

 

Great, I'm hoping for a headgasket over a cracked head but will see how I go. Picking up a compression tester tomorrow and will just go from there.

 

 

 

 

Damn cars :bash:

[01sik]

4age time?

[altezzaclub]

Any trace of leaking in the past? Something that would have warped the head like rad hose or heater hose?

 

You could treat it as a chance to warm it up a little... do some porting for a future DCOE conversion and take 20thou off for a bit more compression. Then again, most of the work for a 4AGE conversion is already done, unlike the KE70s.

 

Nice buy, it looks very smart.

[cicca_294]

hey dude,

 

jesus it came up okay didnt it! Paint looks great! great work on getting to the rust quickly aswell...

 

with the overheating issue, i have had a similar issue in the past, and found running without a thermostat was a good way to somewhat fix it...

 

It'll be rough on start up, but once its warm, it'll drive all the same..

 

An old mechanic once told me that the cars came with a shroud around the radiator, and without them, they were subject to some overheating issues..

 

what are your future plans for it?

[Hillynath]

Not ready for a 4age yet but it's something I'll consider in the future :happy:

 

Well around the carby it's quite dirty, like a radiator hose split and sent dirty old water everywhere.. Apart from that no, not that I can see.. Nothing on the block that I can see either.

 

Hopefully I can diagnose this tomorrow and perhaps have it apart later in the week (Fingers crossed)

 

 

Any Idea's?

Thanks for your input Altezza :)

[Hillynath]

hey dude,

 

jesus it came up okay didnt it! Paint looks great! great work on getting to the rust quickly aswell...

 

with the overheating issue, i have had a similar issue in the past, and found running without a thermostat was a good way to somewhat fix it...

 

 

 

 

Thanks! I still have some work to do but as you said, it's coming up great :D

 

When you say you had a similar issue, was it just plain old overheating? Or were you losing water or perhaps having steam coming out of the area's I described?

 

 

Just trying to increase my knowledge in the 4ac department as it's an engine which I haven't had any experience with, or know of such common problems..

[Hillynath]

Update...

 

 

Checked the compression today and was happy with the result.

 

150 across all 4, give or take 1 or 2 psi but 150 on all 4 is all I need to see :happy:

 

 

 

 

My assistant

 

Wasn't getting any water droplet's from the bores either. Everything seem's Good! :y:

 

 

 

I took it for a 15 minute drive today. Only lost a little bit of water and it didn't overheat. I also kept the radiator cap on half way (on the safety catch)

Will change the thermostat tomorrow and have a look at the water pump (I cannot see any leak's around the area, could be very minor though I guess).

 

 

 

 

Damn cooling issues :bash:

 

 

Any input is much appreciated

[Hillynath]

Okay.....

 

So trying to sort out this cooling system. Can someone give me an idea on how it work's, a diagram perhaps?

 

 

I replaced the thermostat. The old one was easily cactus.. and lot's of shit in the housing. Cleaned it out, drove it a few times over the course of the day and didn't lose any water..

 

Seem's to be going okay but as soon as you start to speed up a bit (over 70ish) Or come to hill's and such, it want's to overheat.

 

 

 

 

Pulled out the radiator today, gave it the best of a flush I could do... Then the bad part happened. Pulling one of the heater hoses off the copper pipe from the heater core. SNAP! F&*K!!! :bash: :bash:

 

So I used this opportunity now I had both heater hoses free.. So I started the car and no water comes out of the 2 hoses. I put the heater and fans on, Still no water coming out.

 

Also my top radiator hose is coming up to temp and the bottom isn't now... (just from having it idling in the driveway for 15 minutes whilst i top it up and check things and whatnot.

 

 

 

If anyone could throw a few idea's my way that would be awesome. Also what do I do about the broken heater core pipe now? Ugh....

[Hillynath]

Edit to my last post.

 

 

Unblocked whatever shit was in there and now the heater hoses produce water.

 

Going to bypass them with 1 single hose and hope for happy days. Who need's a heater anyway right?

 

 

 

I have taken the assumption that my bottom hose was cold due to the thermostat not opening yet... Which it wouldn't have been far away from.

[Rolla_06]

If you want to find out were it's leaking from go purchase yourself a coolant preside tester.

As for you next problem of the two hoses being cold and hot, that's because the thermostat hadn't opened yet. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere on here that they open at 80 degrees. If you want a heater you will need to buy a new heater core. Give it a good flush, not just the radiator. Put the hose in one side of a heater hose turn it on, make sure you take the radiator cap off though.

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Meh you're on the goldie, don't need a heater anyway.