Presenting My Vintage Corolla!

[iRage]

It is amazing how the toolkit has reduced in time to pretty much nothing...I haven't seen any decent tool-kits (if at all) in almost all JDMs these days...not even the wheel blocks !

[isurunugawela88]

Where did you buy the New Rear Tail Lamps for your KE 72?

[Jaliya48]

iRage- True. New cars come with the scissor jack, jack handle, lug-nut wrench and a tool to remove the wheel cover. Maybe it's a cost cutting measure, but it means that the new owner won't be able to attempt any repair.

@Isuru, I bought the lenses only. These are aftermarket lenses made by a manufacturer called "DEPO" and it's from Taiwan. A Google search reveals that DEPO makes aftermarket lenses for a range of cars including VW and other European marks. The general verdict it that their stuff are good for the price. Some work was done on the original assembly to remove the old lenses from the frame and then the new lenses glued in place using Silicone. The lenses were bought from Panchikawaththe, I'll look for the receipt and get back to you with the name of the vendor and cost of each. See Post #70 on page 4 and Post #103 on page 6 for a detailed account of the procedure.

[isurunugawela88]

Thanks Jaliya, My Plan is to buy a KE 72, so difficult to find an Original Car like yours.

[Jaliya48]

Thanks Jaliya, My Plan is to buy a KE 72, so difficult to find an Original Car like yours.

It's difficult, but not impossible! I saw an absolutely gorgeous, mint 17- KE72 with the original white paint (all the stickers were in place and no masking lines around them) on Kirimandala mawatha on Saturday. It was in unrestored condition (which wasn't bad), but imagine what a cut & polish and some TLC would do! I'm guessing it's a single owner car as well.

[Jaliya48]

So...I managed to take apart the dashboard trim and remove the plexiglass cluster cover for a cleanup of the speedometer and gauges. I also managed to give the plexiglass a buff with brasso as well. The results were excellent! The speedometer and gauges had accumulated dirt and the Quartz clock hands were almost black with grime. I also noted that this cluster has a uniquely shaped corner that isn't present on the AE86 cluster, even though they have the same dimensions. Oh well, there goes my cluster swapping idea!

Await photos of my operation.

[Komisiripala]

Now that's an update we'd love to see!

[Jaliya48]

Photo update time!

Here's the cluster with the plexiglass off and cleaned half-way-

Note the odd right-top corner?

All fixed up-

The clock!

The plexiglass has white overspray from the last time the car was painted. I'll be dealing with it when I buy a decent plastic polish. It looks leagues better than what it was though.

I also did a custom job on the gear knob trim. Long ago, this had a nice 4 speed shifter pattern printed on it, but it was reduced to a piece of dimpled sheet metal after 24 years. I initially wanted to print out the 4 speed pattern, but then I thought I'd do something different. Here's the result-

How it looks once pasted-

It's sprayed on using the spray cans left over from the wheel cap restoration. The three 'crowns' were brush painted- I couldn't mask off such a tiny detail! The once light-grey knob is now a weird green hue; thanks to UV discolouration. I've come across one or two black 4 speed knobs (probably from the sedan) so no replacement yet!

While on the topic of clusters, here's one I'd love to have on a different car!

Regards.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Jaliya48

[Jaliya48]

Can't post these together with the earlier post, so here goes-

Interior after clean (ignore the tear on the left side of the driver's seat!)

Sadly the passenger seat bottom half has a large stain that won't budge, even with full-strength Teepol! I might have to hire a steam cleaner for those stubborn stains!

Apologies for the poor lighting, the seats are actually much better than they look!

More overspray on the side Everything else cleaned up nice though. Might try some diluted thinner on it.

[Komisiripala]

Looks like you're having a good time with the paintbrush as well! Nice work, mate.

That gauge cluster is lovely. As for the dash, even mine was discoloured around the ashtray. Try a full reps ray when you have time. They'll do a plastic primer cost over it so it won't peel or fade

[Jaliya48]

Thanks, Komi! I've seen a spray paint called "Plastikote" that does a good job on these interior bits. It's not available here though, but can be brought down via eBay or something. Maybe when I have some cash from Avurudhu...

Annoyingly I noticed that I've missed some stains on the cluster. It ALWAYS happens!

[Supra_Natural]

Super job there Jaliya, this has inspired me to try and clean up the cluster on the hilux... Might do what Komi has done on the datto and fit LEDs at the same time..

Dunno if i've shared this before but you may find this site useful

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/q_J_198204_TOYOTA_COROLLA_KE72.html

Essentially the full parts catalog, searchable and detailed with diagrams for all Toyotas.

You've gotta love the interenet.

[Jaliya48]

Thanks Supra! I've not seen this particular site before, but I've come across another virtual parts catalog for Toyotas.

http://japan-parts.eu/toyota/jp/1982/corolla/ke72v-evkrs/5_191110_095/body

Night visibility is still not great with my cluster, but it's better than before.

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Jaliya, have you seen this?

http://www.autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=112833

I remember same blue colour rear carpet had in our KE72. (But can't exactly remember "Corolloa" logo on our one.) But is was same blue colour thick carpet. After seen this , I feel it might be original......

[Jaliya48]

Jaliya, have you seen this?

http://www.autolanka.com/ad.asp?ID=112833

I remember same blue colour rear carpet had in our KE72. (But can't exactly remember "Corolloa" logo on our one.) But is was same blue colour thick carpet. After seen this , I feel it might be original......

Thanks for the link, Sampath! My KE72 has black carpets with the C COROLLA logo and script in yellow. I had something similar on the transmission 'hump' but it was grey with the script in white. Sadly it disappeared sometime in the early 2000s.

This particular car is very original and looks great. He's even got the wheel caps! Hope it goes to a good owner!

[Octanehead]

your thoughts???

[Jaliya48]

KE70 2 door wagon (panelvan or "pannos" for short) probably from Australia. Am I correct?

I'm fond of the two door wagons but I like the panels to be glass and not covered like in this example. The JDM stuff are better looking though! KE70 sedans and wagons were built in Australia for their markets which is why they have 'slant nose' models as well.
Over to you, iRage!

[Octanehead]

Yes I dont fancy the covered glass either, but im digging the stance and wheels on this!

[iRage]

Thanks Jaliya..but I think you covered it all from the very poor angle of the it seems like it is not the quad-circular light front end...so I guess it is an early 80s unit ?

The slant nose was available in Japan as a Sprinter.

On a separate note..thought I saw a panel van of Jaliya's car's vintage for sale online a few days ago. White in color....looked to be in pretty decent shape...

[Jaliya48]

Thanks Jaliya..but I think you covered it all from the very poor angle of the it seems like it is not the quad-circular light front end...so I guess it is an early 80s unit ?

The slant nose was available in Japan as a Sprinter.

On a separate note..thought I saw a panel van of Jaliya's car's vintage for sale online a few days ago. White in color....looked to be in pretty decent shape...

This particular design looks the best-the sunken front.

and here's the WIP thread of the yellow panno-

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/forums/showthread.php/69174-82-KE70-16v-Panel-Van

[iRage]

it makes it even nicer when you have black tape holding everything together ...my personal favorite is the quad-light front

[UNIX]

Wow nice car dude.. Thumbs up for your work.. We do have a same like car at home which is rarely used... It's bit different though.. 1982 KE72.. Best of luck with your next aims with your car

Well this is our old KE72..

I'm new to this forum.. so showing you a pic like this in a another one's thread a bad thing.. I'll remove.. I just wanted to show awesome this old cars are...

[iRage]

Welcome to the forum Unix....nice KE72, although need of some minor work, the car looks very straight. Is the lime green the original color ? KE72s that are not factory white are quite rare

[UNIX]

@ iRage -> Thank you No it wasn't lime green. It was Silver color when it was imported to SL as father said. Yeah painted chrome bumpers with black and that black paint is getting weird now

[Jaliya48]

Nice example, UNIX! It's actually a KE70 low roof van. Tell me what the identification plate says on the firewall if possible.

Were the door handles chrome or were they added after it was imported?