Presenting My Vintage Corolla!

[Jaliya48]

Hi AL,
Thought I'd share photos of my KE72V. Technically it's my father's but unofficially it's mine
A little history on this- my father imported this KE72V DX in 1989 with 40,000kms on the ODO. It's been with us ever since! The milage now is a little over 141,000kms and it still purrs along without any issues. I'm in the process of restoring it to factory original specification but I'd love to replace the stock K40 transmission with a k50 (5speed) transmission. I would if I could find one for cheap!

I've even got the original seat covers! (I'm looking for another set, let me know if any of you good KE72 owners want to sell yours!)

Instrument cluster-

Future plans-
I've already wet-sanded the entire body with 1500grit sandpaper in anticipation of a cut/polish job. Sadly that was a few months back and I spent all the money I had on another project! I'm hoping to cut/polish the paint soon.
Both rear lamp lenses are cracked and missing bits so I'm searching for new lenses.
My car is missing the fan shroud (better known as the 'radiator cover') that is essential for the factory AirCon to work. I've given up looking for an original so I'm going to try and get one scratch built.

That's about it, hope you enjoyed my ride as much as I do!
Thanks for stopping by and regards,
Jay.

EDIT: I moved all my photos of the '72 to a separate album in Photobucket so had to repost the direct links. Hope they turn up!

Edited January 14, 2013 by Jaliya48

[Schiffer]

nicely kept mate.

and good luck for your future modifications.

do upload pics of the engine bay and rear as well

[Jaliya48]

nicely kept mate.

and good luck for your future modifications.

do upload pics of the engine bay and rear as well

Hi,

Thanks for your compliments! I'll snap some more photos in better lighting conditions soon. Nothing special about the engine though, just your average Toyota 4K-J inside!

Regards.

[Schiffer]

Hi,

Thanks for your compliments! I'll snap some more photos in better lighting conditions soon. Nothing special about the engine though, just your average Toyota 4K-J inside!

Regards.

Your welcome, and ill be waiting to check them out

[Nilantha]

Grate. how about fuel mileage?

[soulja]

like father like son.

[hrm]

Nice car. Most of the KE72s still running solid.

[Crosswind]

Grate. how about fuel mileage?

when someone is showing a well kept specimen of a car, is that the only question u can think of? What did u think this is? Pu*chi car sale?

Edited October 9, 2012 by Crosswind

[jdnet]

wow that car looks almost as good as she did in '89.

[nexus]

nice car you got there mate they are very reliable cars and congratulations to you.

[Dinukap4]

Now thats a healthy corolla you got there mate!

[MrCat]

Awesome..!! Now this is the kind of thread that I enjoy..!

One might say that it`s just an old/boring Jap wagon, but that exactly is the beauty of it I reckon..! Anybody who`s got enough dough can pick up a new car, but only a few are dedicated enough to keep these old machines on the road. Kudos to you mate. If this is your first car, don’t ever sell it, you should be able to earn more money and upgrade later in life, but you might regret big time if your first car is gone forever..!

I can still remember the noise that the viscus fan makes on these engines at high revs, you can barely hear the engine but the noise of the fan blowing.

[SpeedyAsA]

Very nicely kept mate. This is a very reliable model & you have treated to it, what it deserves. All the best.

Please try your best to keep it in the original state without any mods. Congratz.

[terrabytetango]

only 1 lak kms in 23 years?! Very nice. Out of curiosity, how is the driver's door after all this time?

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Very happy to see that still she is in brand new look.

Please post more photos.

As I remember there was a difference in plastic panel at rear corners in High roof version and Flat roof version. In High roof version, there were three horizontal lines and in Flat roof model, there was only one vertical line. (Correct me if I am wrong) .

Reliable cars.....

[Komisiripala]

OMG ours was 16 sri 3705! Absolutely loved the car to bits. Was my first (moms car) and dude the things I've done the places I've been... Life changing ride, that!

So happy to see it in such good shape. Well done mate.

[Supra_Natural]

She looks to be in Super shape Jay... Fantastic job on keeping her in such lovely condition!

As for the bits you're looking for, have you tried the usual suspects up Delkanda way? An afternoons worth of wandering around there just might turn up what you need. Kurunegala also has some areas that have older parts as well.

Out of curiosity, what's the other project? Care to update us on that as well?

P.S. Not saying you should ruin the lovely originality of course, but if you're ever bitten by the bug to upgrade her perhaps this will serve as some inspiration.... Its a saloon version, but done SO right!

http://juiceboxforyou.com/2011/01/feature-keeping-it-in-the-family/

Edited October 10, 2012 by Supra_Natural

[Jaliya48]

Hi,

Wow, I'm overwhelmed by all the lovely comments, thanks!

@Nilantha, I get around 12.5km/l when driving in the city. I've not gone out of Colombo driving this though!

@MrCat, I love this car as it's a RWD manual transmission; something rare nowadays. It's my first car and I don't plan on selling it, but garage space is tight at my house and sadly this is excess. I'm hoping to hang on to this for as long as I can.

@SpeedyAsA, The only non-standard mod I'm planning on doing is fixing a small aftermarket tachometer as the stock instrument cluster does not have one.

@Terrabytetango, this was used as a secondary car in my family, hence the low mileage. The driver-side door is decent, but it retains water when exposed to rain. I think the small drain holes at the bottom edge of the door have got clogged up with 23 years of gunk! I'll be attempting to clean it soon. The vinyl door cards on all four doors are spotless and in good nick.

@Sampath Gunesekera, thanks! I've not seen a low roof wagon up close so I can't comment on the rear detail. Do you have the catalog of this particular model? I envy all your catalogs!

[Jaliya48]

OMG ours was 16 sri 3705! Absolutely loved the car to bits. Was my first (moms car) and dude the things I've done the places I've been... Life changing ride, that!So happy to see it in such good shape. Well done mate.

pretty neat! Was it white? I'm guessing you don't own it anymore?

@Supra_Natural, thanks. The other 'project' was buying a digital bridge camera!LOL. I've actually read (and stored) a plethora of articles and images of Corolla E7X sedans and wagons that were tuned for serious track use. Most of these have the legendary 4AGE 20Vs inside along with other Trueno bits. I'll gladly post photos of 'well done' mods later on.Regards.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Jaliya48

[Komisiripala]

pretty neat! Was it white? I'm guessing you don't own it anymore?

@Supra_Natural, thanks. The other 'project' was buying a digital bridge camera!LOL. I've actually read (and stored) a plethora of articles and images of Corolla E7X sedans and wagons that were tuned for serious track use. Most of these have the legendary 4AGE 20Vs inside along with other Trueno bits. I'll gladly post photos of 'well done' mods later on.Regards.

With my cousin in panadura. Was grey, then blue. Now white. He maintains it like a peach. And like you said, engine in front, drivetrain in rear, featherlight so no traction... This was my initial D!!

I still love to take it for a spin when I get the chance!

[The Don]

Jaliya, first and foremost congratulations on a lovingly kept car. This has always been one of my favourites, and the quintessential family car to have in Sri Lanka at the time. The station wagons are so useful, and I've used mine (it was a Mazda wagon) to transport everything from 14 people, cement, platforms from school, bicycle, massive 28" CRT TV and the list goes on.

On your proposed modifications, a few things to ponder. I personally don't think a tachometer is appropriate for your dashboard because it might look out of place, and it already looks lovely as it is.

I assume you have the 1.3L engine with 4FWD transmission. To be honest my old Mazda also had a 1.3L engine with 4FWD transmission, and I had a few offers to swap the 4FWD transmission to 5FWD, because while the top speed of the 4FWD is lower, the gearing is setup to make the maximum of the power available and accelerates a lot faster than the 5FWD which has longer gear ratio.

In our city roads, accelerating faster is sometimes more fun and better than higher top speeds, plus as you know these cars while wonderfully practical don't have super car handling.

A few things to ponder over.

[Davy]

Love the fact that it still looks the way it left the showroom. My first car was also a station wagon and I too admired the fact that it was rear wheel drive, no servo brakes, no power steering. So I know exactly what you mean when you said that you enjoy it.

Good luck continuing to keep her in good shape!

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Hi,

@Sampath Gunesekera, thanks! I've not seen a low roof wagon up close so I can't comment on the rear detail. Do you have the catalog of this particular model? I envy all your catalogs!

Jaliya, Catalog of Corolla KE72/74 is the "Most Wanted" in my catalog searching list. Still I couldn't find.

However once I found this .

Link:

http://oldjapaneseca...der=desc&page=1

There are 4 pages for Toyota Catalogs and please do a search for correct one. (Sorry I can't remember the exact catalog there).

This is not the exact one you are searching for, but related to KE70 series. Please check all catalogs there.

We also had a reconditioned KE72 from 1987 to 1992 (14 Sri 7389) .

Superb car and mostly had my driving lessons with her when I was 11 years old.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Sampath Gunasekera

[terrabytetango]

Jaliya, Catalog of Corolla KE72/74 is the "Most Wanted" in my catalog searching list. Still I couldn't find.

However once I found this .

Link:

http://oldjapaneseca...der=desc&page=1

There are 4 pages for Toyota Catalogs and please do a search for correct one. (Sorry I can't remember the exact catalog there).

This is not the exact one you are searching for, but related to KE70 series. Please check all catalogs there.

We also had a reconditioned KE72 from 1987 to 1992 (14 Sri 7389) .

Superb car and mostly had my driving lessons with her when I was 11 years old.

A relative of mine back in the village has a 14 sri example of this particular model; faux wooden panelling (I think) all around and it's a 5 speed, of the GL variety.

[liya]

*Nostalgia*