KE25 Coupe
progress diary
2006.
car sold. too many projects on the go and none getting finished.
24.11.04
bought a ke26 to replace this. wof ran out so parked up in da shed till time
available to do resto job. driveshaft rebuilt, B092 diff replaced to a U282 from the
SR).
11.06.04
Been keeping da ke25 driveable...drive it every day =) heater hose burst since
i used some original '75 ke25 heater pipes... (being a tight arse). got to get some
new pipe coz its freakin cold at the mo. Managed to find a matching door trim for
drivers door but it's brown so needs to be dyed black (cheers tup). installed
my bling US spec early model tail lights, completely red lense is neat! lookin at
selling this machine... so currently doing some repairs and maintenance.. rebuilding
a ke25 driveshaft with new uni bearings for a start. have my sights set on a
wagon... ke26 when i find one... but lookin at a ke70 for now.
23.12.03 Have now acquired a wof and regn. quick repaired rust on passenger
door, replaced te71 struts with original ke25 SR struts and steering arms.
Installed 'Kings Springs' in the front, part#: kdfl28, but still to install new short
stroke shocks. now using either Enkei 'Mesh' style 14x6 alloys with 185.60.14
Grid-II tyres or 13x5" starlet sprint/ te71 'pointies' or 14x5.5 cressida/ae86
'pointies'. Replaced both control arms as one was bent and both had worn ball joint
holes. Fitted Nolathane eye bushes and some missing Nolathane sway bar end bushes,
installed new ball joints and new outer tie rods. Installed the missing
steering limit bolts, external coil resistor, fuel filter bracket, choke/accelerator
bracket, battery clamp and washer bottle. Replaced the bonnet release cable as it
was frayed, -stiff to pull and it wouldn't return again . As a matter of
preventative maintenance it would be wise to oil or grease up the cable where it connects
to the bonnet catch. this area is very prone to corrosion! Swapped headlights
to semi-sealed units with 80w100w halogen bulbs (donated from an Isuzu Trooper 4wd).
Changed back to the original '72 plastic vertical slat plastic grill. need to find
some headlight corner pieces with the indicators...dreaming... Swapped the 4k
thermostat manifold (heater hose on r/h) to the ke25's 3k style piece (with a working
water temp sensor) and rerouted the heater hoses so they both run on the l/h side of head
as original. Replaced bottom radiator hose. Spent many hours playing round
with carby setups =( swapped the single carby (3k-b type) which came on
the car, for the full 3k-b twins. The aftermarket extractors (I've discovered) have
a thinner head flange than the factory intake flange so the bolts don't clamp up evenly.
The twin-carb manifold was butchered to counter this but the intake flange heights
are angle ground really rough that it's not worth individually shimming each bolt to
suit. also the twin manifold's water channels are ground off to clear the
extractors. Have changed to a 4k Aisan single carby with the 21/25 venturi's.
Needed to change the throttle arm from 'ball' type to the normal type.
The parts interchanged from another Aisan carb. As a result of using
extractors with no support for the intake manifold, the top two manifold-to-head bolt
threads have been stripped so I've managed to tap the holes to full depth and used longer
bolts. Changed ignition barrel to late model type with steering lock with matching
door and boot locks. Added the missing drivers side door panel although it's a
miss-matched pattern =( Replaced the centre dash 'flip down' light panel
(green coloured light) as it was broken. and added a stylish ma45 cigarette
lighter...em that all I can remember!
09.11.03 The new addition to the driveway =). got bored with starlet so
decided on an oldskool rolla for the daily duties. Was modified before i bought
it... including a 4k 1300cc engine, 5spd k50 box (ex ke70), lumpy cam, polished
rocker cover, extractors, 3k-b dizzy, 3k-b twin carbs, bigger exhaust, TE71 9" disk
struts with 114.3x4 studs on the front, Nolathane on front sway bar, fully black interior
(incl. roof lining dyed black), a mix 'n' match of early and late ke25 external trim...
someone has made an effort to swap the '72 trim to the facelift type '74-'75 trim
including tail lights, grill, bonnet and ke20 front corners. The engine bay has been
painted black along with some of the underside. the body has been yellow in the past
and now is white, but was originally orange from factory. Chassis-wise its
reasonably rust free, body wise its pretty rough with some bog and patchy white
resprays. though the normal places to find rust are in good condition! heh and
with 22 previous owners I believe it's had a hard life! If anyone recognises
this car i wouldn't mind some background info.. It's been owned in Hamilton,
Auckland, Whangarei and back to Auckland between 2000 & 2003... has plenty of little
bits to fix. Someone's gone off-road in it because the sump's bashed, the r/h
control arm is bent and the gearbox crossmember has been pushed up thru the chassis rail a
bit. (but who's to notice?).
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