Scrapyard Find - My 1981 Corolla KE70 :-)

[uncle silvia]

Hi all

 

Im new on here but some of you may know me from other forums!!

 

 

I think I got spotted by another Autoshite member as I found a card on my window when I got back to my car! Having never heard of this site till now I didnt know if it was good or bad but having now joined up it seems like a really interesting site working for a good cause!!

 

 

 

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

 

Here is my 1981 Toyota Corolla KE70 1300 that Ive had for a year 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 .

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[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 Jap 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????..............

 

 

Ive done a few bits and bobs to the oldie Corolla and taken some better photos of it, so I thought Ide post up some pics...........

 

 

 

 

 

Arty shot:

 

As you can see I have fitted the jap sized No. Plates (as Im going to turn it pretty much into a jap 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]

Ive been doing a fair bit of work to the little KE over the last few months and its really taking shape now!!

 

Some of the grey stonechip on the doors is now white, the rubber door trims are now off and i got some wheels which I referbed myself! They have been on the car for a while now with a lovely set of Yoko boots :nod:

 

 

The project is slowly ongoing but heres some pics I took over the last few months............

 

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

 

Wheel Referb:

 

 

 

 

Finally On The Car :

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately the car got hit by the woman across the street from me and pushed through my garage, causing damage to the front and rear of the car!

Ive since soursed brand new front and rear bumpers, rear lights and Will be getting the front panel and the rear quater fixed soon!

 

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 jap style and will not ruin the car! Ive just bought some 14x9j Enkei dished wheels with stretched tyres and im in the middle of 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............

 

 

 

 

 

The wheels are not fitted to the car yet as Im doing some more work to it but Im hoping to have the wheels on soon!!

 

Its going to be a looker that can be run everyday! Hopefully looking like the one in my Sig!! \/ \/ \/ \/

 

Ill keep you all posted!!

[uncle silvia]

LATEST UPDATE!!!

 

Well its about time I did an update to my little KE project!!

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

 

 

 

 

Well its finally been all fixed up and has a few new additions ................

 

 

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 ...........

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watch this space as I have some new rims ready to go on and Ill be sorting the ride height asap!!!!

 

Ill update asap when its done!!

 

 

Hope you like it............. and to me its FAR from shite!!

[55bloke]

Welcome aboard! That's a thing of beauty! Well done to the scrappy who decided not to crush it- good to know there's a few who can make such decisions!

[uncle silvia]

Cheers!!To be honest I saved it more as the scrapyard owner wanted to keep it for himself and turn it into a stock car as many Starlets ended up as!!My friend told him I wanted to restore it so he let me have it!! Phew!!!!

[fotorabia]

awwwsum dude...ive seen a Corolla SR Coupe locally..a late 70s one driven by an ol lady here in town....its minty..

[bigstraight6]

Welcome aboard! it was me that 'carded' your motor! great car you have there, I've seen it many times around my native Plympton, but always on the move so never able to get a pic! mind you, I won't post up the one I took of it yesterday in Halfrauds carpark, as the pics you've already posted in very imaginative Plymouth locations are just great

[Milford Cubicle]

Nice work on saving it and not being offended by the 'autoshite' card. :DLooks a stunner!

[uncle silvia]

Welcome aboard! it was me that 'carded' your motor! great car you have there, I've seen it many times around my native Plympton, but always on the move so never able to get a pic! mind you, I won't post up the one I took of it yesterday in Halfrauds carpark, as the pics you've already posted in very imaginative Plymouth locations are just great

Ah hello!!Yea I live in Plympton and work at Halfords!! Pop in and say hi if you see the car there!! Just ask for Scott and hopefully im not to busy, I love to skive!! 8)Heres some more pics Ive take recently if your interested...... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=23023&l=85b5c&id=511144091 ........ Sunday afternoons are great for Photos!!!! No I wasnt offended.................... was wondering tho!!!

[retrogeezer]

Nice car, like the subtle mods too....I've left a few cards on nice cars but no-one has shown up, I wonder if people are offended by the name?

[uncle silvia]

Nice car, like the subtle mods too....I've left a few cards on nice cars but no-one has shown up, I wonder if people are offended by the name?

I was wondering if it was some sort of "barryboys-esk" site ready to take the "Wee" out of old cars.................. But it turned out to be a good site for a good cause!!!SAVE THE OLD SKOOL!!

[Milford Cubicle]

I'm surprised there isn't a site like that, some people seem to abhor the idea of driving anything old or 'different'.

[Mash]

OMG GR8 4 DRIFTIN LOLZ ETC ETC...Seriously though, welcome and lovely job on restoring the car. I like this type Corolla a lot.I have a couple of the large scale plastic models of the KE70 from a Finnish company. They are extremely accurate and if you want I can spare one. I'll post a photo up later and you can let me know what you think (unless you already have one..)CheersMashPS May I also draw your attention to the following site?*shameless plug alert*www.oldjapanesecar.comClick on the forum section and have a look at us

[andrew e]

Lovely mota' - Mash the plastic models are they the 1/20th bendy type? I might have some in moulded metalics...

[Mash]

Yep this is the one. About 1/20th as you say. 200mm / 8 inches long.

 

This metallic blue one is going spare. PM me if you want it uncle silvia, it's not dear Few scuffs but very presentable and would look ace on your rear shelf at a show.

 

If not, first come first served after that

 

[retrogeezer]

Mash, if silvia doesn't want it please let me know how much it is..CheersRG

[uncle silvia]

Yes im VERY interested in the Model KE70s!!I can see a mini my KE in the making!! you have PM!!

[r.welfare]

Yeah, those models will be Stahlberg all right.The Corolla looks superb following it's resurrection - the mods are tasteful and in keeping with the car and era. Wonderful.

[carlo]

Hello there, have also seen your Toyota outside Halfords/PC World, you may have noticed some geezer staring at it intently a month or two ago! It's a real eyecatcher.

[andrew e]

Ah nostalgia! Can't find mine though.... me and my brother had metalic brown and blue, bright red and yellow ones. You could pop the trims and the repeater out, and swap the interiors over! Back in the early 80's they were 99p in the cheap shop in our high street! Sort of deformable, we might have roof chopped them

[uncle silvia]

Cheers guys!! Yea it gets a lot of attention out there!! Love it

[AnthonyG]

Nice little Corolla there Uncle S. Glad to hear some scrapyards still have a bit of soul, most would have depolluted and crushed it. You seem to have bad luck with women driving into your cars though - I'd watch out!

[pompei]

Hi Uncle, Are the tyres you fitted narrower than the standard or recommended width for the rim?

[Guest]

Have said it before elsewhere, but I like this car! Obviously I would since my Charmant is based on one.

[uncle silvia]

Hi Uncle, Are the tyres you fitted narrower than the standard or recommended width for the rim?

The ones In the pic are slightly narrower and are what was fitted when I bought the rims! I may change the tyre size slighty but I havent got to that yet!!

[uncle silvia]

Nice little Corolla there Uncle S. Glad to hear some scrapyards still have a bit of soul, most would have depolluted and crushed it. You seem to have bad luck with women driving into your cars though - I'd watch out!

The scrapyard I got it from seems to have the occational good find but this one was by far the cleanest Ive seen there!!

[uncle silvia]

Yep this is the one. About 1/20th as you say. 200mm / 8 inches long.This metallic blue one is going spare. PM me if you want it uncle silvia, it's not dear Few scuffs but very presentable and would look ace on your rear shelf at a show.If not, first come first served after that

Yes Ill have it mate!! You have a PM about postage details!! Cheers

[mk2_craig]

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!

Amazing how often that happens! Proves the point that the majority have no interest in cars wotsoever.

[uncle silvia]

Make finds like mine very possable tho!!