Im Back.............. Massive Updates On My 1981 Ke70 Corolla

[uncle silvia]

Well I have been a member on here for a few years now and did start a topic thread on my corolla, but I failed Miserably at keeping it up to date

Unfortunately my name-sake Silvia is no more after a run in with a woman driver and a Micra a few years back, so now my attention has turned to my little Corolla

So here is the project from start to present....... i hope you like it B)

OK so I may as well start at the beginning!!!!

Here is my 1981 Toyota Corolla KE70 1300 that Ive had for over 3 years now!!

This car is so clean and origional, I couldnt believe it when my friend brought it around!

It was owned by an old gentleman from new, that passed away and his family just took his car to the local scrap yard in cornwall! The guys at the scrapyard thought it was too good to scrap so sold it as a whole! A friend of mine knew i was after something "old skool jap" and when he saw it in the yard he told me about it! To cut a long story short............ It became mine for only £250!!! :D .

This car has all the O/E parts and lots of bits like Toyota floor mats, tool kit, Books etc and even has some maps from 1981 lol!!

Its in really good condition to and only had some rust on the bottom of the drivers door!! The car looked like nothing has ever been inside it and nothing is used, broken or worn!!

I use this as my daily driver and a small project to keep me busy when Im not messing with my Silvia (see last photo), which Im soon to reshell after it unfortunately got written off by a woman in a micra!!

Anyway, heres some pics of when I first got it :D

[uncle silvia]

When I bought my Silvia it had a white and chrome NARDI TORINO steering wheel in it which quite frankly looked awful in that car!

I was going to sell it but didnt get round to it!

The standard Corolla steering wheel was really thin and was horrid to drive with! Then i remembered the white steering wheel I had and wondered what It would look like!

It turned out that it really suited the age of the car and kept with the Retro Japanese theme!!

With a stroke of luck we actually had the correct steering wheel boss kit on the shelf at Halfords (where i work = Discount LOL) for my car and it went on a treat!!!!!!!

What do you think????..............

And some pics at this stage!!.........

Arty shot:

As you can see I have fitted the Japanese sized No. Plates (as Im going to turn it pretty much into a Japanese spec car over time), which I think look so much nicer.

Ive also fitted a K&N filter and breather to the engine......

[uncle silvia]

Some of the grey stonechip on the doors was painted white, the rubber door trims were removed and i got some wheels which I referbed myself! They have been on the car for a year now with a lovely set of Yoko boots ;D

Enjoy.............

Wheel Referb:

Finally On The Car :-) :

Ive decided Im gonna go mad on the looks department rather than keep it standard but dont worry, it will be all in a 70s and early 80s Japanese/Boso style but will not ruin the car! I bought some 14x9j Enkei dished wheels with stretched tyres and was soursing some twin headlights and suspension parts so I can get her riding low! Im still using the car as a daily driver so the engine will stay almost standard for now bar stage one parts to keep costs down!

Heres my New Enkei Apache 14x9j running 185/60/14 tyres............

Its going to be a looker that can be run everyday!

[uncle silvia]

Unfortunatly it looked like this just before last christmas after my neighbour drove into it in my street ..................

Well its finally been all fixed up a few months ago and had a few new additions :D................

New front bumper, end caps, front lip spoiler and the front panel fixed.....

New rear bumper, end caps and rear lights...............

My retro Japanese Sat Nav ........

My custom tax disk holder :D...........

And heres a few arty shots I couldnt resist taking...........

[uncle silvia]

Ive been saving for some suspension to lower the bugger propperly but it hasnt stopped me getting some little details from home and from as far as Japan itself!!!! :D

First off I got these pressed Alloy No. Plates made for that old skool look.............

Im heavily influenced buy the Bososoku Movement in Japan so I wanted some little details for my car!

First off I shipped in a few bits from japan..............

Tokyo subway Grab Ring.............

And I threw in a Retro Corolla key ring too............

Then I had another parcel arrive with some more Jappy bits!! :mrgreen:

I was kindly offered a mates last Hang Ring (Rolo anyone :D) but he felt he had been delayed in sending it to me?!?!?!? (not at all really!)

Anyway he decided to give me some freebes for my troubles :D ..........

He even wrote a warning note on the back of the beer mat saying people will say silly things about the ring on my car!!!!

I don't know what the sticker means though???? Any ideas????

[uncle silvia]

And now one of my BIG parcels arrived a few weeks ago, can you guess what it is??

Yes its some BRAND NEW Japanese spec twin headlights :D

Will look like this when its fitted (unfortunately there was some bits missing so I have to wait :roll: )..................

[uncle silvia]

And my most recent bargain for the car............

Total cost £17 New :mrgreen:

Its only a cheap one but the welds are really good, its the style I wanted and its not actually that Big so it will be just right!! Cant grumble for 17 quid!!

It has been obsolete for over a year now in work, so I did a store search and I got the last one in the country hidden away at the back of another Halfords store room!! So i had it sent to my store! The price had dropped off to £20 then less my staff discount!!

Ive spoken to an exhaust builder and Ive been quoted £128 all in for this to be fitted along with the rear half of the system in stainless!! (the front half will be done later with the 4 branch manifold )

Thats about it for now but ill keep you all posted!! 8)

[uncle silvia]

Yes and this time its a mix of good and bad!!!

Well I parked my car outside my mates house over night and this is what I found in the morning

Someone had hit my bumper AGAIN on the same corner that got hit last time last year!! Its bent the bumper and the bracket, ripped my plastic end cap in half and dented the front panel under the headlights, all of which need replacing or repairing this time!! Unfortunately no note was left and it was a hit and run!!

Hopefully i should be able to get the bumper no probs as my supplier owes me a new one as this one went rusty after only a few weeks and is faulty! The rest ive got to buy myself!!!

However, on a better note I have got myself a new set of winter rims!!

These are Proper JDM yO TyTe etc etc Watanabe light rims running Dunlop Cut slicks (although street legal they are crap in the wet so are gonna be changed). Ive got a soft spot for these as I has them on my old CRX too, although these are wider with a bit of a dish!!

The best bit is they cost me nothing as i swapped them with a local guy with an AE86 as he liked my wheels with the polished lip!! Job Done!!

Heres some pics..............

The wheels are 14x7or7.5 with my old ones being 15x6 so they fill the arches out nicely!!

As you can see Ive also Added the chrome strips on the rear lights as per JDM models too!! Im an attention (to detail) !Removed! LOL.

Watch this space for my summer wheels coming soon

We also had a bit of fun the other night with a mate who is also interested in photography!

He decided he wanted to use my Corolla as a subject!

Nothing over the top just a nice quality photos!

Heres the first finished one of me and my Rolla

And another..........................

[uncle silvia]

Well the Corolla went for its MOT and it failed!!

To be honest I'm not upset as Ive done well to have 2 years of MOTs not costing me a penny on such and old car!! :P

Well it failed on %$(ed Exhaust, Rear brakes and a 10p sized hole in the inner arch!! Not to bad really!!

Well the exhaust was dead and rusted through so I used this as an excuse to get the exhaust I bought earlier fitted! As the whole exhaust was pretty cack I ended getting a full stainless system made up for it from the downpipe back!

Its a top job and it sounds nice and deep without being too loud!!

Heres some pics of the finished article....................

Also While the car was off the road, I had a week off with good weather, I started to fix up the bodywork and the damage to the front end!

There was a few rusty bits on the doors and rear arch so ive sanded, treated, filled where nessessary and painted to get it back looking nice again!!

Its not perfect but it cost me next to nothing to do and it will last till the car eventually has a full respray sometime!!

Heres some of the pics of the work.........................

The damage before...

After I removed the bumper it revealed this mess.......

Filled the hole after straightening the front panel..........

Primed......

Da Daaa......... looks a bit better............

Brand new bumper...........

I havent got pics yet but I painted the back of the bumper with silver hammerite as these are cheap copy bumpers and do corrode unfortunately....

[uncle silvia]

Some more bodywork tidying....................

While it was in the air I got some better pics of the custom exhaust.............

Ive also polished up my new chrome bumper for the front and got that back on! It will probably have to come back off when I do the Twin headlights............

LOL

And my 14x9 Enkei wheels went off for a polish and a paint................

Unfortunately I found they couldnt be split to be painted as they had been welded together???? Well at least they wont leak air I guess and ill never need to split them again hopefully!!!...............

And as the car stood at this point! I thought Ide enjoy the sun and take some photos after washing it...................

[uncle silvia]

Photo Whoring!!

Ok so not an update as such but me and a mate went out and did a little shoot of my Corolla and his (now sold) 120y just for fun!

Heres some of the pics........ Enjoy............. 8)

And 1 of the Datty for ya..........

[uncle silvia]

Well its the bit you have all been waiting for........ Yes the Enkei's and Lowering :D

I finally got round to getting this done as I wanted to show It a few times before I came traveling!!

Heres some pics of during and after the work................

Wheel centres sand blasted ready for paint!!

All painted in BENTLEY ANTIQUE GOLD awating Stainless bolts

Rear dish painted too

Finished wheels with bolts fitted

Completed set :-)

Fitment.........Check lol

This is how u polish them............. Spin the wheels and rub LOL

Trying tires

I went for 185/60/14 Fedrals in the end

First trial Fitment before lowering

Needs some arch work!!

Not a lot of clearence between wheel and strut....... Even with 15mm spacers!!!!

STREEEEETCH!!!

Rear springs removed for some angle grinder action......... for now!!

One Coil Removed at the back!!

Fronts removed for same treatment!!

One coil off all round

Time for some Arch mods!! (Heres ma Lo-Rider Yo lol)

Rolling..........

Rolled, flared and painted............. Ill do some filler work on these at a later date!!

[uncle silvia]

Since we had more arch clearence we decided to go lower at the front............... another 1.5 Coils off the front :-)

And this is the outcome :D................

It can go a little lower at a later date but I need to get the exhaust fettled with first as its a little low..........I do need it to be drivable though as its my daily driver!!

Hope Ive redemed myself for my lack of speed on this project ;)

And heres some better pics from The Dorset J Car show last summer................

[uncle silvia]

Heres some more recent pics of the car.............................

Oh and i have some new goodies for the we beasty too :D

JDM Chrome wind deflectors (need a little modding as off a different car)

Very rare Genuine Toyota Corolla (Jap Spec) chrome fender mirrors......... maybe the only set in the UK??

Centre Consol.............. unfortunately got a bit broken but I should be able to fix it.

Corolla 'C' badges Gold and rare white

Gold Badge test fit (however this will be on my JDM Twin Headlights and grill i already have ready for fitting)

[uncle silvia]

I am now in New Zealand and will be traveling for a year here!!

WOW what an amazing country by the way.......... love it :D (Oh and its full of old Toyotas tooo)

The Corolla is now in storage and ready for the project to go to a new level when I get back 8)

These are the last pics i took before i left...............

[uncle silvia]

Well While im away my plan is to collect parts for the Corolla over her in NZ as lots of parts are avaliable here!

When i get back the Corolla will no longer be my daily and will be a full project car with a complete rebuild and engine swap over time!

Watch this space

[zak_1991]

Hows it going with the corolla???

[FROSTYBALLS]

The OP was last on the forum in September 2010 - so I doubt you will receive a response ..........

[scrowie190]

love it ,!!!!!!!!!!! Im tiding a 1980 hiace at the moment ,they dnt seem to be a very chatty bunch on here, trim bits for my van are hard to come by .but totally love your motor well done ;)

[uncle silvia]

On 1/10/2016 at 11:34 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

The OP was last on the forum in September 2010 - so I doubt you will receive a response ..........

Well I’m back 😉😂👍

On 1/11/2016 at 9:28 PM, scrowie190 said:

love it ,!!!!!!!!!!! Im tiding a 1980 hiace at the moment ,they dnt seem to be a very chatty bunch on here, trim bits for my van are hard to come by .but totally love your motor well done 😉

Hi 👋 

thanks for the comments. Obviously this was a long time ago. 
I had to sell my van when I left NZ which was a big regret but I’m currently considering a gen 4 Hiace now as I miss van life.

As for the corolla...... it’s been in storage for 10 years now but hopefully moving it to my new house with double garage soon 😉👍

[Toyota4age]

On 1/2/2020 at 3:45 PM, uncle silvia said:

Well I’m back 😉😂👍

Hi 👋 

thanks for the comments. Obviously this was a long time ago. 
I had to sell my van when I left NZ which was a big regret but I’m currently considering a gen 4 Hiace now as I miss van life.

As for the corolla...... it’s been in storage for 10 years now but hopefully moving it to my new house with double garage soon 😉👍

Would you sell it?