George's KE70 Love wagon

[George]

So after a long search for a Japanese "oldtimer" I got this yesterday. It's a 1981 Toyota Corolla KE70 3 door wagon in more or less original state. Engine is 4K - 1.3l, carburettor, 8-valve OHV with maybe 55 hp.

It was left standing outside a garage for three years so it's in quite a rough condition, but it fired right up! Plans are complete overhaul and maybe 4AGE blacktop swap sometime in the future.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8004/7465384332_8a01413012_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384332/)
_MG_5952 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384332/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/7463047432_8527356fe6_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7463047432/)
_MG_5949 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7463047432/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7109/7465384640_5f5bca825a_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384640/)
_MG_5958 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384640/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/7465384806_7a7dd40cbb_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384806/)
_MG_5957 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384806/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7129/7465384946_aed0317eff_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384946/)
_MG_5959 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384946/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7254/7465385094_e4efe1ce3b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385094/)
_MG_5961 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385094/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7111/7465385232_69db4e4be8_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385232/)
_MG_5962 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385232/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7119/7465384494_d798a7f437_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384494/)
_MG_5965 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465384494/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7465385344_51757ef845_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385344/)
_MG_5950 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7465385344/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

[KAL]

They have potential, those old corolla wagons. A friend of mine had a "drift wagon" with a blacktop swap and rollcage.

https://img.skitch.com/20120629-em43ubkgwyakkwdpybifpn7rhi.jpg

https://img.skitch.com/20120629-nhqkjapue27x3rpny8wubkruut.jpg

[George]

nice! I'm still looking for some inspiration, but couldn't find much about the three door wagons so far

[I<3flippyheadlights]

That wagon is so incredibly awesome.

[jux]

3-door, eh? Sweet find! I've never seen one of those in this area. Hoping you'll keep us updated!

[blenderblast]

That's awesome!
Looks like it'll be a fun project

[dustin a]

I wish I could find a fun project like this, looks awesome. Can't wait to see the progress :)

[George]

Small update, starter doesn't work so I'll have to look at that. I also started striping the interior and to my surprise, the floor seems to be rust free so far. And today I got a good offer on CO2 welder so I'll be able to get rid of some of the rust

[George]

I took out the carpet today and was surprised there was not much rust on the floor

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8429/7496722344_1dc674fa0c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722344/)
_MG_5991 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722344/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7118/7496722004_9e3b3e7518_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722004/)
_MG_5993 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722004/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

the only worse spot is on the drivers side just under pedals...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/7496722550_83d6c9d545_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722550/)
_MG_5994 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722550/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

and door

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8421/7496721856_19c0482bb5_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496721856/)
_MG_5996 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496721856/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

somebody was playing with seatbelts so I'll have to take a look at this...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8160/7496722838_747fdea652_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722838/)
_MG_5998 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496722838/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

and finaly a shot of a whole engine bay

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7496723064_8ca7732234_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496723064/)
_MG_5999 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7496723064/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

[George]

Small update. I finaly managed to get the rolla on ramps so I could take a look at the starter.

I got it out after almost an hour of trying as it's in the most fucked up place. The pinion goes out, but doesn't spin, not even when connected directly to the battery. I got the starter motor apart, changed one of the brushes that was too small and renewed the collector surface.

Now the pinion spins, but only when connected directly to power source. So I took apart the solenoid as there was no connection between the + cable terminal and the one that powers the starter motor. That was quite easy to fix, but it still doesn't work. The solenoid pulls out the pinion, but it doesn't spin.

Last possibility I can think of is there's a short circuit because the bridge between the two terminals is not insulated from the rod it's on that is grounded.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7530065546_cc32fb76c3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530065546/)
_MG_6194 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530065546/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7140/7530065868_1c8d2ffc00_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530065868/)
_MG_6200 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530065868/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8005/7530066102_b49a3f82ee_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530066102/)
_MG_6202 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530066102/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8433/7530064966_22b0450a9d_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530064966/)
_MG_6205 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7530064966/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

[The Driver]

Dude, that is such a cool canvas! Didn't know those were available in 3 door configuration!!!

[George]

me neither and they seem to be pretty rare, I've seen maybe two or three more. There's a lot of them in Australia though

anyway
d'oh

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7268/7581314230_aa51767d8b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7581314230/)
_MG_6217 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/7581314230/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

[George]

I finaly managed to get it to start on it's own!


http://youtu.be/mWGj30GMnZQ

[George]

finaly got me a point&shoot camera so I can take pictures without the need to stand 15 meters far.

almost bare chassis

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8404/8683276593_50d1afe51a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276593/)
Hoverolla (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276593/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

all the wiring

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8398/8683276459_1dc11c1052_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276459/)
Wiring (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276459/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

and I took pics of some of the rust spots...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8401/8684393264_d366ac97c0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684393264/)
Passenger's wheelwell (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684393264/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8392/8684393122_05400f6974_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684393122/)
Driver's wheelwell (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684393122/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8266/8683276101_b8a4a6a8d5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276101/)
Firewall (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683276101/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8389/8683275951_462f1877d0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683275951/)
Driver's underside (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683275951/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8381/8683275815_299571d650_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683275815/)
Passenger's underside (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8683275815/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

I'll have to learn to work with fiberglass as I'll be making a new bonnet

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8406/8684392620_e83ec81a07_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684392620/)
Hood (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684392620/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr

and just for fun, KE70 subframe compared to a Miata one... seems worse, but it's actualy pretty close in size

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8529/8684392480_38c3066abe_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684392480/)
KE70/Miata subframe (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49634872@N07/8684392480/) by GeorgeCZ (http://www.flickr.com/people/49634872@N07/), on Flickr