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 Trueno 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 upgraded 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 jdm KE70 SR Coupe. Jap import rhd, 4k-u 1300cc Jap emissions model, electronic
distributor, A41 automatic, rack and pinion steering, cable clutch, single piece drive
shaft, 6" U312 3.9:1 ratio diff with 5 link coil sprung and drum brakes, 200mm x12mm
fr disks, 87mm steering arms, 12mm rear sway bar, late model wire loom.
donor car
1982 TE71 Sprinter TRUENO Coupe. Jap import rhd, 2tgeu 1600cc twin-cam 8v EFI, T50
20spline 5-speed, recirculating ball steering, hydraulic clutch, two piece drive shaft,
T292 6.7" 4.1:1 ratio 5 link coil sprung disk-brake diff, 9" fr disks, 85mm type
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
PLEASE NOTE! THIS ARTICLE RELATES TO RHD Right Hand Drive CARS (japan, new zealand, australia etc)
MECHANICAL:
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 if 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. It seems
the E7 rack is too narrow to fit the 2t sump above it without any contact to the
universals. 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. also have read that
removing those braces will allow a little flex between engine and box and can put
unnecessary load and therefore wear on the input shaft and spigot bearings??? (In end of
crank)
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').
AE7#/AE8#/CE7#
ae7# come with either recirc ball and rack steering. have yet to see a rack on the
ce71 but who knows?
The same ideas apply to doing mounts on these crossmembers. the E7 crossmember
itself does not change shape.. but the mounting positions do. If you were planning
on installing a 4age then the correct ae7# crossmember would make things easier.. make
sure to get the mounts with it and the steering rack too. ae85/ae86 have an
identical engine crossmember as an E7 so can be interchanged. easier to find a
p/s rack A series crossmember this way. or transferring T series mounts to a p/s
ae85/86 crossmember etc.
POWER STEERING INTERCHANGEABILITY
the mounts for a rack are different between and manual and p/s. The p/s rack has a
fatter seat therefore if you were to swap to a manual rack then a collar around the rack
would be required so it's not loose. you can't fit a p/s rack into a manual type
mount obviously.
PEDAL BOX & HYDRAULIC CLUTCH
To fit a 2tgeu with the T50 gearbox you will need to set up a hydraulic clutch. (or
it's possible to set up a cable system to mechanically operate the clutch fork). The
TE71's have a different pedal box than KE70 which have the mounts for a clutch master
cylinder (CMC) and a stronger clutch pedal. I've been told the Australian AE71 (4a-c T50) have a RHD hydraulic clutch setup with a rack.. this pedal box would be the best set up to use
if you can source one when using rack steering.
A TE71 pedal box can bolt into a ke70 (cable clutch) with a few mods. Firstly
three holes need to be drilled into the fire wall for the CMC to mount to. one of
the clutch bolt holes need to be drilled first before the te7 pedal box will sit flush
with the firewall as one of the clutch mounting studs protrudes from the pedal box.
Once drilled you can use the pedal box as a guide to drill the remaining two CMC
holes. To actually mount the CMC to the firewall in the factory position requires you to
cut off the tube where the KE70's clutch cable exits 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 the
column mounts to the firewall. This is fixed by bending the pedal away from the
steering column and back downwards. 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 once bolted 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 just
touch the steering column when the column is pulled to the left.
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. Apparently the
tail housings can interchange. 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 kt14# Corona 5k's. TE71's have a T40 four
speed or T50 5speed. these have a separate bellhousing and split case aluminium box
with a hydraulic clutch. The TE71 T50's come in two variations with a 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 is larger on
the 22spline version which locates on the inside of the bellhousing. (i have yet to
confirm this). Automatics were also fitted but i'd be the first person to remove it
ha ha =) The 21spline output shaft on the A series automatic 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. the uni's may not be able to handle big
power though.
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 straight tube, 20 spline(k40/K50/T50), 21spline(W51, W56) 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 and
gearbox 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.. where as 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 (that ive measured so far), but not
the U series as it has a smaller locating (spigot) ring. The bolt pattern on
the diff pinion flange can vary. S, T and F series diffs do have interchangeable
bolt patterns, but there are variations depending on which car it comes from.
Another shaft that is similar is the Corona RT11# 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