Instrument Modifications
Had a wee play with speedo's.
Have now adapted an NZ new AE82 FXGT 240km/h speedo to the ke70 coupe. The gauge is
same style as ae85/ae86 so would also make a great upgrade for ae86 the difference being
the position of the trip meter button is on opposite side and gauge face variation. note
the brass bits on top of ae85 speedo, thats the factory 180km/h speed governor/limiter for jdm models.
the ae82 being nz new has no speed limiter :) the limiter can be simply disconnected by unscrewing the
bolt on the back of the speedo leaving the chime connected for 'lights on' warning etc.
In my case I wanted to fit it to a TE71 instrument panel. The ae8 gauge has a
plastic frame whereas the te7 has a metal frame sim to ke2#. Also the ae8 gauge is
not as deep and wouldnt fit without spacing it forwards. This was done with a square
piece of perspex screwed on the back. The mounting bolt pattern is different so the perspex allowed me to adapt it.
By spacing the gauge forward the speedo cable 'clip' would not fit thru the back of the cluster
so by pulling the clip away and squashing the te71 cable metal shroud a little.. it is enough to hold onto
the back of the gauge without pulling out. The ae82 gauge face is much larger and had to be trimmed to fit. i hope to one
day make a new gauge face with smaller dial. The ae82 trip meter doesnt quite line up
with the te71 view holes unfortunately and the trip meter button on opposite side.
It wasn't the ideal swap but oh well. An NZ new ae86 240km/h speedo would be nice
but somewhat rare!
A handy trick with the ke2 and ke7 speedo's is the ability to alter
how many k's it shows. The number barrel can be levered out and the numbers rolled over
to a new one and the metal clips bent back in. This comes in handy when swapping gauges and wanting to retain the original
k's on the clock. The speedo's on these only go to 99,999.9 then reset to zero again so a true amount
of k's in unknown as most ke corolla's have done over 100,000k's. On the other hand the ae8#
speedo go to 999,999.9 (a million) and therefore show a true amount of k's unless its done over a
million! The ae8# speedo has a plastic casing and speedo cannot be altered without
breaking the plastic clips. Warning: it is most likely illegal modify speedo's or alter speedo readings in your country. i did not tell you to do it!
After noticing the similarity of E7 and E2 corolla speedo's.. out came a ke26 cluster
with m/h speedo... But first I checked fitting a non-tach type km/h speedo gauge to an SR coupe
tacho cluster (for those with m/h speedo wanting to get km/h).. the gauge face is larger
but i dont see why it would not fit with a little trim round the outside.. the speedo
itself bolts in otherwise. see first couple pics below.
Next experiment.. te71 speedo into ke2# cluster...
The TE71 180km/h speedo will not fit with the trip meter still attached as it sits lower and would contact the ribbing
on the casing and also the trip meter button on te71 comes out a different spot... so the trip meter was unbolted.
there is a difference in the speedo cable attachment size so a ke70 speedo cable
could be used in the ke2# instead. If your creative enough I dont see why a new face couldn't
be made... ie get an image of the ke7/te7 face scanned on your puter and take to a
printing place and get a decal made for it (add another 20k to it and make it 200km
heh heh.. then cut out a piece of 2mm plastic.. drill the three center holes and paint it mat black and stick the decal on.
this would be a handy upgrade for those without te27 or sr coupe clusters wanting extra speed range.
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