KE70 SR Coupe
2005


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2005 updates.. latest update at top

18.12.05
Battery now wired in.  Intake pipe made, comes straight out of turbo to the afm.. used original intake pipe and drastically shortened it to basically a single bend with barbs on each end.  Late 2tgeu thermostat outlet fitted with ta61 2tgeu top radiator hose which points straight to the radiator instead of towards the battery.  Some ta61 2tgeu afm plug wiring used as an extension wire to the relocated afm.  Cam cover oil breather pipe spun 180' and a little K&N fitted for now... this will theoretically suck in air too which will bypass the afm and lean the a/f mix.. can cause afm to shut off under idle and also turn fuel pump off. (same applies for some non blumb back bov's)  the pipe seems glued in (loctite?) but will spin or come out with reasonable force.   Dummied up the hilux 4pots on jzx81 disks... they poke out past the hub so wheel clearance not lookin good.. only the 5 spoke wheels i have will fit. hmm
Entry for the '4 and rotor Nats' sent in!!  joining the club-k club entry to the show day and enter drags too :)  got lots to do over the holidays!

21.11.05
Mods- started to mount battery in l/rear seat well and intake pipe mods to move afm to l/h side.  GTI-R intercooler end tank has been swapped 180', next is piping for it.   Bought some LN61 hilux 4pot calipers (heavy) to play with... if easy enough to do, then may fit them to the jzx81 disks and ma45 struts.  pretty heavy setup!

04.11.05
Another run down the strip.  season opener for the nightspeed dragwars and absolutely huge turnout!  ran consistant 14.7 with a best of 14.61@ 152.5 on the last run after letting tyres down a bit.  tramp off the line becoming more evident.  time to replace the std rear shocks me thinks

30.10.05
Entered GM Drag day with club-k (see gallery for pics/vids).   hoped to at least crack a 14sec 1/4 for the first time..  got a best of 14.59 @ 153.8km/h.   stoked!  most improvement came from the 4 puck clutch and the BOV probably helped some too.  engine mods at this stage are 2.5" exhaust, pod filter and a bov. 3tgte is otherwise std with 185k on the clock.

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23.10.05
Finally fitted new 4 puck clutch plate and replaced the w55.  Checked boost at full rev and found to creep to 0.9bar!  needs larger wastegate!   have now fitted a vr4 BOV plumb back styles to help stop any compressor surge for now.

09.10.05
some pics :)
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26.09.05
dont like the idea of huge front track hmmm.  disk conversion only possibly?    had another hell mish to get a wof.  cut more rust out, this time the major being the l/h towhook.  new shock finally installed in the left strut.   installed new steering rack grommets (thanks Quintin).  changed to T series open diff etc.  Entered Pukekohe open day on friday 23.09.05 for some drift practice with Tup and Alex.  13 drifters in total and managed to get 4x 15min runs.  Ah fun at last!

15.07.05
bite the bullet time.. want to finalise the suspension and driveline so can finally get a cert for this thing.  i have bought jzx81 n/a markII 11" vented disk struts.  The advantages:  bigger vented brakes, short steering arms for heaps of lock, added castor, 5x114.3 or mod to keep 4x114.3 stud.  Downside: is r'n'd required to setup correct suspension geometry,   wider hub meaning different offset front wheels, extra track and maybe requiring flares. 
The struts have a 5x114.3 stud pattern but has a flanged hub which can be redrilled 4 stud. The disk sits on top of the hub rather than bolt under so easier to replace if warped.. and the steering arms are offset for added castor and are same lenght as ae86 p/s arms (which im currently running).  Next objective is to try set these up to handle like a dream in the ke70, if not then bye bye new struts.   In std form they run a fwd offset wheel, the strut tube/stub angle (whats that called?  steering axis inclination maybe?) is around 11deg compared to about 8.5deg on te71 struts..  so looks like i'll be needing longer lower arms and camber plates just to get these suckers sitting in the right spot.  Cressida arms are longer and vary in length depending on model so will have to investigate that, but *X81 have a larger inner bush on the lower arm so dont easily bolt in to corolla's.   boy am i going to have a wide front track!  also since the hubs are alot wider the fwd offset rims are needed for the sake of bump steer.  also due to the larger disks i can only run a minimum 15" wheel which i do anyway.  The coilovers and shocks i have already will still fit these struts too so its play time.  if this goes ahead flares probly next on the list heh.   

29.05.05
wow  what a busy week.  filled a few small holes then scotched/sanded the 70.  replaced doors, fixed starter motor (found the starter solenoid plug snapped off).  previously kept having starting probs on the 3tgt coz of this and had to hold ign key on for a number of seconds before anything happened.  Had issues with tail light wiring which looks to have been previously replaced with aluminium wire?!! which often snaps off.  The spare 3tgte finally finished assembling on wedn 25.05.05, sat the engine in the engine bay thurs night, painted car on friday night.  hooked up the 3tgt during saturday, cranked it over at 4.30pm which started first pop after checking oil pressure ok  :)  spent all saturday night/sunday morning putting the car back together including swapping door winder and windows over to the new ones.  Test drove it to the track... turned up to d1nz drift school just in time.  the new 3tgte runs noticeably better. the turbo hardly smokes, the compression is higher at 125-128psi compared to 115-117psi.   dizzy vaccuum advance/retard diaphragm spat the dummy so only mechanical advance.  eek.  but happy as with its performance (especially from a pick-a-part motor).  next step get a wof ha ha, then suspension improvements in time for d1nz round4 since it handles like crap (currently no camber and understeer inducing locker).

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18.05.05
KE70 been out of action for a while.  have entered D1NZ drift school on the 29.05.05, so the big mish to get going again.   Have installed a 1kg fire extinguisher required by D1NZ.  Have cleaned up the ct20 turbo from the corroded 3tgte engine.   Had a wee trouble getting the water cooling flange off since it was a solid rust lump..  a couple weeks soaked in CRC and the nuts turned off easily.  Compressor side caked in gunk so pulled compressor housing off, degreased it along with compressor wheel...  nice n shiny now.  added some shim under the wastegate actuator so will soon see how much boost increase it gets.  On the parts hunt.. have picked up some second hand coilovers for the front, bought an F series 7.5" 4.55:1 ratio F253 lsd diff from a jdm CR30 masterace-surf van.  (drum to drum which measures about 1450mm).  bought an intercooler from a diesel turbo Estima van which is small and has plastic end tanks but should be ok on the low boost I'm running and easy front mount install job.. bought plenty of hoses to go with it and some from ma70 and ga70 supra's.   The estima had F series live axle drum brake rear-end but a really wide (approx) 1515mm.  Hope to get some camber plates to suit ae86 or '83 E7 corolla fitted before next drift day and have car painted black.  mmm  one colour at last!

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oh yay some pics :)  first 3 show engine that came out.. grubby under intake due to water pipe leak just below chain tensioner and blowing up oil filters.  3tgte on the stand is spare one getting prepped to be put in.

30.03.05
Decided to reuse old water pump for a short time since so much corrosion is still inside engine.. will do a couple of water (chemical) flushes to try clean most of it out then fit new water pump.  Copied new water pump gasket with gasket paper and installed old water pump.  gooed up cam cover 'half moons' as they weren't rubber anymore, kinda turned hard plastic and have shrunk in size.  Entry to d1nz declined due to 70 entrants and only 45places to fill,   DOH!

29.03.05
Have pulled the 3tgte frost plugs out.  found a solid wall of rust behind #4 plug, dug it all out with a screwdriver, gave the water galleries a blow out with compressed air...  makes big mess it does! curses to previous owner for not using antifreeze!   fitted new 35mm brass frost plugs.  scraped inlet/exhaust gasket surfaces flat, removed thermostat manifold (water pipes majorly rusted).  removed water pump, shaft wobbly and impeller corroded.

28.03.05
Still blowing filter seal out.  tried a genuine toyota (Denso) filter and yet to pop a seal.  a new one costs $20 retail so they more expensive but if they bandaid the oil pressure problem then its worth it!   well in the mean time I'm swapping in a spare 3tgte bought from 'pick-a-part' last year and hoping it'll run.  need to get something running for d1nz in couple weeks.  With 186k on the spare engine and major water line corrosion, I knew it would take a bit of work to get it prepped for use... but it's the hidden things that have become a problem.  once mounted on the engine stand, pulled off the CT20 turbo and had a go at stripping the corroded water cooling flanges off the centre casing.  it looks like the water pipes entering the turbo have rusted through (rusted completely off actually) and sprayed water over the hot turbo. the whole housing and turbine housing clamp have some pretty bad corrosion..  so gave it a good soaking in CRC and put it aside.   stripped off engine external bits so the block was accessible.  took the engine outside and gave it a degrease and water blast.  found two frost plugs with corroded holes in em.  Drained oil then pulled sump off.  rotated engine upside down.  checked bottom end bearings for excessive play.  pulled oil pump rotor and body out for inspection along with the pressure relief valve.  put sump back on with new gasket.  whilst upside down gave spark plug valleys a good clean so dirt wouldn't fall into the holes.  Pulled cam cover off and gave a light blow with compressed air to remove some of the caked on (and flaky) oil deposits. this engine had obviously not been maintained.  cam cover gasket is new tho so looks like last owner made an attempt to fix oil leaks heh heh.  turned engine onto side.  pulled plugs out, some were quite tight due to gunk around the threads.  the engine had water sitting in the valley for some time so looks like it'd made it down the spark plug threads.  cleaned threads up too then new Denso W20EXR-U11 plugs fitted. (from Toyota).  checked chain tensioner and had a good laugh..  never been adjusted at all so there's a good 15mm play in the chain and witness marks on the underside of cam cover (chain scrapes it when too loose).  pulled tensioner out for an overhaul. O-ring was square and the corrugated rubber thread cover was so hard it crumbled.   found the piston to be jammed up with so much caked oil it didn't move so the tensioner never would have worked anyways.  cleaned it all up, replaced 10x2.5mm viton o-ring and reassembled.  pulled dizzy cap off for a look...  both the graphite pins jammed in the cap, rotor split down the side, mechanical advance jammed solid, vacuum advance diaphragm got a hole in it so dizzy pretty much useless.  next is to pull 3tgte out of ke70 and use the working parts off that to get the spare engine running.  Ordered new 9" 5puck ceramic sprung centre clutch plate in the hope it'll keep a grip compared to the std full face organic plate.  will be using the std 7.8?kg 3tgt flywheel for now to see how much wear this 5puck plate will cause.  have found jdm cressida gx61 1g-eu manual engine have the same flywheel so no shortage of std flywheels.  Cressida gx71 1g-eu flywheel has a little extra meat on it and weigh 9kg but still interchangeable with the 3tgte.

22.03.05
took oil pressure relief valve out but seems to work fine.  pump rotor pitted and scoring the rotating parts.. not sure on cause of overpressure prob??  have tried a Fram brand filter and continues to blow the seal out.  this only happens within a few mins from starting on cold engine.  had two alternators die within one week :(  d1nz round2 in a few weeks... time for another engine change and get an lsd installed.  3tgte timing chain rattling and tensioner adjusted all the way in.   compression seems consistent with #1 125psi, #2 117, #3 117, #4 120.  turbo smokes and chews through the oil.  bottom end not quite knocking but noisy...   um yeah, rebuild time!

01.01.05
have been driving the ke70 daily since it came back on the road.  in last couple days have had a major problem with a bursting oil filter.   luckily nothing was damaged.  first the oil filter seal got spat out the side on a cold start up and pissed oil through the engine bay and floor, cleaned up and refitted seal then drove 20k home.  next morning went for a drive... got as far as 800m or so and boosted out of a corner and 'poof' a nice oil slick trailing me.  had a closer inspection which showed the filter had split at the seams and is noticeably ballooned.  oil filter change is overdue, tho this should not happen if the oil pump pressure relief valve was working as it should.  yet to investigate actual cause.  have now got ke26 back on the road for daily duties.

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