Ke20 Corolla

[tharindra]

been toying with the idea of starting a vintage japanese 'project' and the KE20 seems to fit the bill,i.e. rear wheel drive, light, cheap and loads of them in sri lanka....

prices seem to range from Rs 150,000 - 360,000 ......im not looking for a extremely well kept vehicle, just as long as its mechanically solid and no rust - how much would a said example be worth roughly?

[MasterDon]

An average condition one will go around 2 lakhs and there abouts,the Deluxe will be a bit higher.These are favorites for the small time buy and sell guys so the prices tend to depend on the seller's profit margin.Better if you can buy off a normal owner.

[Simplelife]

  On 2/9/2011 at 4:31 AM, tharindra said:

been toying with the idea of starting a vintage japanese 'project' and the KE20 seems to fit the bill,i.e. rear wheel drive, light, cheap and loads of them in sri lanka....

prices seem to range from Rs 150,000 - 360,000 ......im not looking for a extremely well kept vehicle, just as long as its mechanically solid and no rust - how much would a said example be worth roughly?

Hi mate, I bought a 1983 KE72 for the same purpose as u mentioned for Rs.325,000/- last week , has lot of work to do with it.. check the Sunday papers, you should find a KE20 ranging from 200,000 to about 250,00/-.. good luck with ur project

[gunat]

  On 2/9/2011 at 6:19 AM, Simplelife said:

Hi mate, I bought a 1983 KE72 for the same purpose as u mentioned for Rs.325,000/- last week , has lot of work to do with it.. check the Sunday papers, you should find a KE20 ranging from 200,000 to about 250,00/-.. good luck with ur project

do you mean 1973? KE20's were from the 70's as far as i remember.

Out of curiousity- did you find a sedan or coupe?

My gramps had a mustard yellow coupe- 6Sri3848...it was such a trouper. In hindsight, i wish we kept it!! Would have made a perfect 4AGE project...

Last i saw, it was in the Nugegoda area and was a green colour.

Edited February 9, 2011 by gunat

[Simplelife]

Nope, I mean KE72 (the DX wagon)... made in 1983

Edited February 9, 2011 by Simplelife

[tharindra]

Thanks for the quick feedback guys....will put the hunt into top gear

  On 2/9/2011 at 6:19 AM, Simplelife said:

Hi mate, I bought a 1983 KE72 for the same purpose as u mentioned for Rs.325,000/- last week , has lot of work to do with it.. check the Sunday papers, you should find a KE20 ranging from 200,000 to about 250,00/-.. good luck with ur project

Nice one, i would prefer a ke70 as well [rear coils, and bigger engines...] but budget constraints!..keep us updated

  On 2/9/2011 at 6:36 AM, gunat said:

do you mean 1973? KE20's were from the 70's as far as i remember.

Out of curiousity- did you find a sedan or coupe?

My gramps had a mustard yellow coupe- 6Sri3848...it was such a trouper. In hindsight, i wish we kept it!! Would have made a perfect 4AGE project...

Last i saw, it was in the Nugegoda area and was a green colour.

He's talking about the KE72 mate - 4th gen corolla e70, production from 1979.....

[MrCat]

Hey,

Just wondering whats happening with your project mate? Me toying with the idea myself, trying to decide between a KE20 - 4AGE build or a Datto B110/B210 - SR20DE build. It has to be a light weight Jap RWD, popular model + motor project. Would be good to know if you`ve had any progress so far.

Anyone else who has got your hands burnt/succeeded with a similar project?

Cheers..!

[tharindra]

  On 3/14/2011 at 7:37 AM, MrCat said:

Hey,

Just wondering whats happening with your project mate? Me toying with the idea myself, trying to decide between a KE20 - 4AGE build or a Datto B110/B210 - SR20DE build. It has to be a light weight Jap RWD, popular model + motor project. Would be good to know if you`ve had any progress so far.

Cheers..!

unfortunately not mate, I had to divert all my funds to my daily runner, which has to undergo a full rust removal/paint job and a bit of a restoration process....so the Ke20 dream will be on hold for some time I only got far as calling up ads on papers and checking up prices...wish u all the best tho....keep us updated if u do take the plunge!

[MrCat]

  On 3/14/2011 at 8:20 AM, tharindra said:

unfortunately not mate, I had to divert all my funds to my daily runner, which has to undergo a full rust removal/paint job and a bit of a restoration process....so the Ke20 dream will be on hold for some time I only got far as calling up ads on papers and checking up prices...wish u all the best tho....keep us updated if u do take the plunge!

Oh I see, That`s understandable. I`m also still gathering information and ideas mate. Will have to decide on a model/motor combo first. This`ll be a slow process though, I wont be able to allocate funds a 100%, have to go as I get access to some extra dough Ke20 is on the top of my list since there`s plenty available in SL, and chances maybe high in finding one with a straight rust free body.

It`a great if we can hear from someone who`s build a fast RWD Jap classic in SL.

[The Don]

Chaps, you gotta consider whether a classic Japanese chassis, gearbox, axles can actually take the power of a newer more powerful engine. A lot of these car's didn't really handle that well to begin with, and while you might be able to achieve straight line speed, corners might end up being quite a different matter .....

[tharindra]

for sure......i think anything more than 150 hp would be too much for a ke20 chassis......from other builds on the net I heard u can get the weight down to about 600kg, so that should get a decent power to weight ratio.....

[The Don]

  On 3/14/2011 at 11:03 AM, tharindra said:

for sure......i think anything more than 150 hp would be too much for a ke20 chassis......from other builds on the net I heard u can get the weight down to about 600kg, so that should get a decent power to weight ratio.....

I don't think the original 1.1L engines produced more than 40BHP ... do you think it can handle 150, especially considering that the Japanese never made especially strong chassis ....

[tharindra]

Its not about just dropping an engine in, of course there's the relevant mods u have to do to handle the power....

I think this link was also put up in the forum somewhere: http://racer86.com/category/project-kp30/

Anyway, this guy is running a 131 hp motor in in his kp30, a 5k if i remember correctly, and in terms of chassis relevant mods, its stripped out and has uprated suspension, that seems to be it. He's running stock brakes with racing pads......of course has a nicely done up engine, mated to an Exedy clutch and k50 transmission...and now it has a LSD as well!

the ke20 if course slightly bigger and heavier than the coupe kp30, but not by a large amount [ke20 770kg factory weight - kp30 600kg stripped out]

[MrCat]

  On 3/14/2011 at 10:53 AM, The Don said:

Chaps, you gotta consider whether a classic Japanese chassis, gearbox, axles can actually take the power of a newer more powerful engine. A lot of these car's didn't really handle that well to begin with, and while you might be able to achieve straight line speed, corners might end up being quite a different matter .....

Yea thats absolutely right. Honestly I`m not sure how to at the moment, but there should be some chassis strengthening to cope up with more power. Fortunately there are conversion kits available for popular conversions like this as well (engine mount kits, stabilizer bars/kits, etc...) so shouldn't be too much of an issue. A good roller cage would add extra rigidity to the body. I have read articles here and there about mating Celica gear boxes,Hilux diffs, etc... but am yet to compile all info in to one design (or something like a design)

Cheers..