KE70 2tgeu conversion & related info
In an effort to build a drift car I bought a KE70 coupe as the roadworthy shell and have stripped two TE71 coupes for parts. One being the TE71 Sprinter GT I originally bought to start rally sprints/hill climbs. That project fell through due to lack of time to work on the car to fix rust and get it prepped for the gravel. After having it sit for two years I decided to use it for parts to build a drifter. The second TE71 Levin was bought as a wreck for parts as it had some nice after market goodies including a hilux lsd diff =)
The big swap!
I found there to be many differences between the TE71 GT corolla/sprinter and the KE70 SR
corolla. These are both jdm models. US or Aussie models could vary in
their own ways (like lhd).
Specs:- my car
1983 KE70 SR Coupe. Jap import rhd, 4k-u 1300cc Jap emissions model, electronic
distributor, A41 automatic, rack and pinion steering, cable clutch, single piece
driveshaft, 6" U312 3.9:1 ratio diff with 5 link coil sprung and drum brakes, 218mm
x12mm fr disks, 87mm steering arms, 12mm rear sway bar, late model wire loom.
donor car
1982 TE71 SPRINTER Coupe. Jap import rhd, 2tgeu 1600cc twin-cam 8v EFI, T50 5 speed,
recirculating ball steering, hydraulic clutch, two piece driveshaft, T292 6.7" 4.1:1
ratio 5 link coil sprung disk-brake diff, 9" fr disks, 85mm steering arms, 14mm rear
sway bar.
donor car:
1982 TE71 Corolla LEVIN Coupe. Jap import rhd, same as above specs. different head
lights/tail lights, bonnet, guards, grill etc
MECHANICALS:
ENGINE/GEARBOX MOUNTING... changing to a different series engine requires
a new mounting arrangement.
KE70 rack'n'pinion with 2tgeu:
The KE70 engine crossmember has the steering rack mounted on the rear of the crossmember.
A 2tgeu does not bolt into the mounts on the KE70 x-member. TE71 crossmember
mounts are further forward, lower and wider apart.. The options are to either keep
the KE70 crossmember and make new engine mounts for the 2tgeu or to use the TE71
crossmember and make a new mount for the steering rack. (or cut the rack mounts off the
KE70 crosssmember would be wise). The TE71 T50 gearbox crossmember will bolt in
nicely using the furthest rearwards bolting position, (or middle position for the auto in
my case as it has three sets of holes). The T50 gearbox mounting position could be
used as a guide to sit the 2tgeu in the correct position to make new engine mounts.
KE70 recirculating ball with 2tgeu:
If your KE70 has recirculating ball steering (as some do) this would make the conversion a
whole lot easier, as you'll only need to bolt in the TE71 crossmember and keep the KE70
R/B steering untouched. If you don't have a TE71 crossmember you'll need to make
some custom engine mounts to suit the KE70 crossmember.
STEERING-
rack'n'pinion with 2tgeu:
I've noticed all te7# series corolla's have recirculating ball steering. I also
found the reason is the rack is too narrow to fit the 2t sump above it without any
contact. To make the steering clear you must remove the r/h gearbox brace otherwise
the steering universal joint where the steering column connects to the rack will contact
the brace. Removing the g-box brace may reduce the strength of the bellhousing but I
have yet to hear of any breakage's.
KE70 rack'n'pinion converting to recirculating ball:
The TE71 has an engine crossmember without rack'n'pinion mounts, (as it has recirculating
ball), this crossmember will bolt in the KE70 chassis. Some may choose to convert to
R/B instead of keeping the KE70's rack. You'll come across a few problems in doing
this... firstly yes the KE70 has got the correct holes for the R/B steering box and
idler arm to bolt into BUT, inside the chassis rails are internal bracing which
interfere with the holes so you cannot fit some of the mounting bolts through without
somehow removing the internal bracing. The TE71 also has strengthening in the way of
compression tubes which fit between the two sides of the chassis rail. The mounting bolts
fit through these tubes. e.g. if you were to drill the KE70 holes out and bolt the
steering in then the rails will get crushed as soon as you turn the steering wheel.
You need to somehow strengthen the rails similar to what is done when bolting a towbar to
the rear chassis. Secondly the KE70 (rack type) steering column exits the
firewall further inwards than the R/B column does. So to fit the R/B steering column
with the R/B box you need to cut and redrill the KE70 firewall to suit the different
position. Thirdly the R/B doesn't have a steering travel limiter but instead uses an
adjustable steering travel stopper bolt on the steering arms which contact the control
arms at full lock.
KE70 recirculating ball converting to rack'n'pinion:
Remove the R/B steering box and idler arm with all the links etc. This can then be
replaced with a crossmember sporting the rack'n'pinion. The firewall hole where the
steering column exits through may possibly need to be cut towards the centre of the car to
clear the steering rack's universal joints and also the mounting holes redrilled to mount
the steering column. You'll also need the steering column that fits the rack which
connects up differently than to the R/B box. The travel stopper bolts on the R/B
type steering arms can then be removed or put in backwards as they're no longer required
as the rack has it's own steering travel limit. Once all this is done you'd still
need to modify the mounts to fit a 2tgeu (as described above in 'Engine
mounting-KE70 rack'n'pinion-with 2tgeu').
PEDAL BOX & HYDRAULIC CLUTCH
To fit a 2tgeu with the factory equipped T50 gearbox you will need to set up a hydraulic
clutch. (or it is possible to set up a cable system to mechanically operate the
clutch fork). The TE71's have a different pedal box than KE70 which has the mounts
for a clutch master cylinder (CMC) and a stronger clutch pedal. this would be the
best set up to use if you can attain one. These will bolt into a ke70 with a
few mods. Firstly three holes need to be drilled into the fire wall for the CMC to
mount to. I found I could drill one of the mounting holes out first which the pedal
box has a stud sticking out for the CMC. The pedal box does not sit flush with the
firewall without this hole. once drilled you can use the pedal box as a guide to
drill the remaining two CMC holes. As a guide only, the top CMC mounting hole centre is
about 88mm from the edge of the top/left brake master cylinder (BMC) and 108mm from
the edge of the bottom/left BMC mounting hole. The bottom CMC hole centre is
104mm from the edge of the top/left BMC hole and 89mm approx from the edge
of the bottom/left BMC hole (this is only a rough guide measured from the TE71). To
actually mount the CMC to the firewall in the factory position requires you to cut off the
tube where the KE70's cable clutch used to exit the firewall, otherwise it will contact
the CMC's reservoir. With the TE71 pedal box fitted and rack'n'pinion type steering
column used, the clutch pedal will contact the bottom of the column where it mounts to the
firewall. This is fixed by bending the pedal away from the steering column.
The clutch will still sufficiently operate without bending the pedal as I've found out,
but not to full travel. Also when using this same set up, because the TE71 pedal box
mounts the steering column further right than the ke70 (rack) column, the mounts on the
pedal box do not line up exactly with the KE70 column. There is enough flex in the
ke70 column mounts (on firewall) to allow to move the column to the right a bit and bolt
together. In doing this the steering wheel doesn't feel quite straight compared to
your seat but not really noticeable if you pull the column to the left as far as the pedal
box allows when bolting it together. This also brings up the issue of the dash
surrounding the steering column does not fit as you've just pulled the steering to one
side. you can choose between either the rack or R/B style plastic column surround to
suit it's position as each has a different offset. When using the TE71 GT panel
(which has the ok computer and other warning lights) found below the gauge cluster but
above the steering column, this will touch the steering column when the column is
pulled to the left (as it's supposed to be for R/B steering).
GEARBOX
KE70 manual boxes are either a K40 four speed or K50 5speed with cable clutch and have a
1-piece aluminium bellhousing/box-casing. They can also be identified by a large
steel plate on the bottom of the case. (don't confuse with an automatic's oil pan
tho). the earlier corolla ke2#/ke3# and kp6# starlet K40/50s have a
different tail housing and the shifter position is further forwards. The tail
housings can interchange tho. These boxes cannot interchange to a different model
engine... a K version ke70 box will only fit another K motor or an A version ae70
k50 box only fits a 3a or 4a etc. The ke74 wagon came with a 5k engine and T40 box
from factory but are quite rare along with a kt147 Corona wagon. TE71's have a T40
four speed or T50 5speed which have separate bellhousing and split case aluminium
box. The T50 have hydraulic clutch and come in two variations in the TE71 with an
early 20spline output shaft version and the later and stronger 22spline output shaft
version. The bellhouse don't interchange between them apparently because the bearing
size on the layshaft is larger on the 22spline version which locates on the inside of the
bellhousing. Automatics were also used but id be the first one to remove it!
ha ha =) The 21spline output shaft on the auto is the same size as a W
series supra gearbox so it can help to keep the driveshaft if upgrading to a supra box
behind the 2t/3t engine.
DRIVESHAFT
The E7 rolla's seem to have the same length chassis underneath (that i've seen so far)
meaning driveshafts can be interchanged to some degree. There are at least 6
different variations in the driveshaft... either single piece, two piece, rubber shock
dampener or solid, 20 spline(K50/T50), 21spline(W51) or 22spline(T50) front yolk.
Small universals with press in caps, small uni with circlip on outside, big uni with
circlip on inside, small pinion flange locating ring, big p/f location ring.... yada
yada. The shaft lengths do vary depending on what diff was originally fitted with
it. A smaller diff will have a longer driveshaft... ie the U series 6" diff has
the longest driveshaft with the smallest universals.. whereas the TE71 has the
shortest shaft when fitted with the T series 6.7" diff. CE71 diesel wagon
driveshaft is the same length as the TE71 shaft but has a W box 21spline yolk with small
uni's. The diff locating ring are the same diametre between the S, T, F or G series
diffs, but not the U series as it has a smaller locating ring. The bolt
pattern on the diff pinion flange can vary. S, T and F series diffs i've found to be
interchangeable. Another shaft that is similar is the Corona RT116 which is pretty
much identical to the CE71 shaft except has larger uni's.. this shaft is more suited
to modified engines. Earlier TE71's with the 20spline T50 gearbox usually have small
uni's and were upgraded in late '82ish and '83 models with the 22spline T50 and larger
driveshaft uni's with circlip retained uni' bearings (easy to replace).
more to come:
DIFF
BRAKES/SUSPENSION
FUELLING
CHASSIS/BODY
ELECTRICAL
INTERIOR