Toyota's fate hangs in the balance

           For a few days after the sunny afternoon work session I was feeling so uneasy, a little absent not knowing really why. Then it came to me very clearly. I realized that this suspension state was a result of my unconscious fear related to the outcome of the technical validation I was about to undertake. Despite my optimistic nature I was fully aware that Toyota could not obtain a passing grade, but I was fed up with all the waiting and doing nothing so I decided to make hay while the sun shines not wasting more time. I wanted a clear answer so as to how far I need to go in order to meet all the technical requirements to fully enjoy the ownership of the car! On the Internet I found a page describing all the parts that the diagnosticians usually check. It was in Polish, so pasting here the link would have been pointless :-). Below you will find the main points and my subjective grade of each element.
 
1. confirmation of the data included in the car's registration document: VIN number, chassis number, engine number, etc. [OK]
2. possession of warning triangle and fire extinguisher. [OK]
3. condition of license plates and all other car's markers e.g. control label [OK]
4. conditions of the tires and tire pressure. [OK]
5. condition of the lights: their performance, location, number, etc. [OK - probable problems with the rear fog light]
6. condition and performance of the braking system. [OK in general, but the technical validation will verify that]
7. condition and performance of  steering. [OK in general, but the technical validation will verify that]
8. condition of the chassis. shock absorbers and equalizer springs. [the biggest unknown]
9. condition and performance of the transmission system. [OK in general, but the technical validation will verify that]
10. condition of the bumpers. [perfect :-)]
11. condition of the fuel tank together with the tubing. [OK]
12. condition of the electrical installation: battery, cables, electrical devices, etc. [OK]
13. condition of the body including mirrors, glasses, windscreen wipers, washer, seat belts and speedometer. [someone overzealous could find something]
14. level of noise. [I have conerns]
15. pollution emission. [I was not able to check it :-)]
16. leakage of fluids. [no signs]

           Based on the list I estimated the stage of my preparations. Taking into account the elements I was able to check I didn't foresee any problems. I drove around my neighbourhood and as usual I was only concerned about the noise coming from the exhaust as it was drawing attention to the car. I was not used to driving a vintage car and my current car is very quiet, so I didn't really know whether that was something normal or not. Thus, I asked Mr. Bohdan to do me the kindness of driving my KE30 for a while. After finishing the ride he stated that according to him the car in general should pass the technical validation, but the only uncertainty was related to the condition of the bottom of Toyota. In that case, there was nothing else left to do than to go and find out how the reality looks like. Stay tuned as this will happen in next post!

A sunny afternoon full of work

           A few days before my holidays I called Mr. Bohdan asking if he would like to devote some of his time in order to help me using his experience and expertise with regard to faulty electrical wiring. I had to do that, because this case was still on my mind and I wanted to resolve it once and for all.
           When I came back from holidays I dived into an endless whirl of work, sleeping off a jet lag and after that - tiredness. Then I had to enjoy some sweet laziness due to EURO 2012 successfully taking all my afternoons and evenings. At this point of time I received an unexpected and totally fantastic gift from Adam, who must have sensed or correctly predicted a drop in my motivation and gave me a needed push back that put me on the right track. 
           I arranged a meeting with Mr. Bohdan on Saturday when Poland was playing with Czech Republic. We spent a few hours in the afternoon together performing verious tasks. First of all, we decided to blow the air in the left rear wheel up as it had been escaping since the change of tires. In the process we discovered that there is a problem with the cigarette lighter that didn't work not allowing us to use an electronic device to deal with the flat tire. Thus, I had to a good exercise for my muscles. We also checked the engine as some problems had been previously noticed. When removing first 2 spark-plugs a drop in performance could be noticed (correct response), while there was no change after removal of the other 2. We replaced them with new ones and everything was OK after that. Our next steps involved spraying all the plugs with a special agent and then we started analyzing my previous efforts. It turned out that my assumption with regard to the correct grounding was fairly correct, but I should have found a better place to attach the cable to... A screw with a nut were more than perfect for this task and the rear lights stopped flashing once and for all! ;). However, a short circuit appeared preventing the left turn signal from flashing. Quick observation indicated that the culprit is the front left turn signal located on the bumper. How did we know about that? Well, he was the only not having the adequate spark, spark of life - let me say :-). A careful examination showed a strong adhesion of the metal part of the light bulb with the lamp casing, which prevented proper operation of the turn signals. I had to do some serious scraping with a knife in order to get rid of all the rust, I used the special agent and voila! Mr. Bohdan said that if on one side of the car there had been such a problem there were good chances that we would encounter a similar one on the other side. So we did check it and it was a lot worse :-). After a lot of effort from my side I was able to deal with it and everything worked as it should! Great feeling!
           When the afternoon was coming to an end I asked Mr. Bohdan to do a mini technical validation before the real one. We did some state of the art work by placing black sticker on a crashed putty that was coming away pretty badly. It was quite a funny way to fix things, but a man has to do what a man has to do, right? :-). As the match against Czech Republic was inexorably approaching I had to say goodbye and leave the rest of work for later. I cordially thanked Mr. Bohdan for his help and support and I know we really enjoyed that afternoon. So did I! :-)

Windscreen wipers

           In preparation for the technical validation of my Toyota I replaced both windscreen wiper blades, because the rubber was so old and brittle that there was really nothing to clear the windscreen with, which can be seen in the photographs presented below. New wipers were purchased in TESCO and although they do not have the same size as the old ones they fit perfectly. Moreover, I adjusted the windscreen washer's nozzles and for the first time in my ownership history Toyota had had a clean windscreen. You can't even imagine how much dust is in the garage! :-).

2 license plate lights joined the rear bumper for life!

           In order to fulfill all requirements of technical validation I undertook a systematic verification of each and every single element of the car I could lay my eyes and hands on. Rear bumper was my first choice due to the relatively easy detection of defects or missing things. It required a refresh, but more importantly, it needed license plate lights as there were none. 

           I must admit that I did not expect that the bumper on the inside will look so badly, but I assume the reason for that was the beautiful color "black pearl", which was covering it on the outside. Then it came to me that in all my fascination with the car I didn't notice the lack of chrome bumpers that were in the original version. However, the overall effect was not bad at all and from an aesthetic point of view it was more then bearable :-). 

           Before I started to work on the bumper I first brought him to my hometown, where my dad had already done some research on local auto scrapyards in order to find appropriate license plate lights. Knowing how they should look like we bought two lamps from small Fiat 126p and adapted the holes in the bumper so that both would fit smoothly without falling out on every bump. Results of our work can be seen in picture no. 4. It was a noisy uphill struggle during which a huge file, which we used, let out terribly plaintive moans, causing discontent among ladies forced to listen to the cacophony.

           When both holes were ready I got rid of the old screws that had to be drilled numerous of times in order to wrench them of the bumper (picture no. 5). After that it was time to have fun with a wire brush during a hard work of getting rid of rust. Moreover, the bumper was secured anti-corrosion fluid and finally, after waiting an appropriate amount of time, I coated it with a paint that can be applied directly on rust. As you can see in the pictures the bumper was patched a little bit and a hole was cut for a fog light. After the painting I think that the bumper looks really nice and I hope this is reflected in the pictures :-). In addition, new bolts contrast nicely with the black color giving it an overall elegant appearance. License plate lights were mounted on the bumper and they work sensationally!

rear bumper on the inside

some welded patches

a trained eye can spot a welding there :-)

the effect of an uphill struggle with the holes

old bolts

new bolts

the effect of my work

a closer look on one...

... and the other side of the rear bumper

license plate lights - view from the top

nice, isn't it? :-)

license plate light - behind the scenes

have the right one blinked? :-)

Solidarity of rear lights

           Now it's time to cast a little bit more light on the matter of... lighting, which generally works fine let alone a small exception - the rear lights. I believe, if I am not mistaken, that I have mentioned this in one of the first posts, but if not, surely, it was easy to see it in the video of the reception of the car. The following video was shot after two-month stay in the garage and was the first opportunity for Toyota to take a breath of fresh air. The blame, for turning the high beam on and not turning the switch hard enough to get the sidelights, I put on the stress of appearing before such a large audience :-).

           For a long time now, I meant to get to solving the problem with the rear lights. The problem appears when a right direction indicator is put into position. There must be a kind of short circuit and the right turn signal works, but accompanied by all the other rear lights. Oh, this lights solidarity. The following movie beautifully describes how it works mainly due to the night time. You have to look closely in order to see it because the blinking frequency decreases with the transition from right to left, but blinking on the left side can be seen. Frankly speaking, not only after I unscrew both rear lights panels did I saw with my own eyes that all lights are flashing - not only on the right side as I thought in the very beginning.

           I asked among countless number of people, what could be causing this blinking problem, and all as one man said - grounding. Naturally, other answers were given as well, but "grounding" was the most frequent one without any doubt. The first think I did was cleaning contacts and I used this opportunity to have a better look at the rear lights on the right. Mariusz (you remember him from tires changing operation) told me where I could buy such a nice reinforced rubber gloves as he had and you can see them at work. I also cleaned light bulbs siled with paint after the last body spraying. There was a dramatic situation, though, as I let one fall to the fround, by accident of course, and it burst into pieces ;-(. I had to buy a new one and because I bought the wrong one, I learned there is somthing like filament in a bulb... joke: D. Double filament was needed. Now I have it. Thanks to that I also learnt the English word for it. Ha! I am so lucky and happy that TESCO is open 24h/day, except for of all sort of holidays, of course. So I cleaned the contacts, I saw how the cables go and I washed the lights cover on the inside and outside. I am pretty sure that those more observant of you, while looking at photos from April photo session, noticed that the right panel looks much better than the left one, not only because of the sun shining from the right side:-).

           Basically it is everything I have for you today. No success story from that day, but some cool photos and a few interesting pieces :-). If anyone had any idea how to approach the subject I am willing to get the show on the road!

right rear lights seen from the perspective of someone locked in a trunk

that's how the wires look like on the right panel

o, this is where the wires are plugged in

this is the place of the right side indicator that needs support from other bulbs

and this is where the double filament bulb fits into

no, no that's not the double filament bulb - having it here would be too painful...

old, crusted rubber looking appalling...

right rear lights panel from behind...

... and from the front (dirsty, isn't it? :-))

Waclaw's curse or how NOT to renovate an old car

            Reality is starting to outpace the one currently existing on the blog, so it's time to knuckle down and catch up with it, especially, that recently I haven't been spending as much time with Toyota as I should or would like to. Therefore, there's a chance to make up for it.

            After changing the tires I wanted to focus on the next element of the car in order to make another step in the process of renovation. I also felt like tiding it a little, so I came up with an idea of concentrating on something not-very-challenging. Hence, my struggles with the steering column began. I think it's the right moment to confess to my ignorance of the names of particular elements I had to deal with while working with the column. I don't even know whether I named this element correctly at all! From this place I wanted to apologize in advance for all the mistakes I made, and thank for all remarks and pieces of advice on the matter. I hope that photos will help in deciphering this subject :-).

            In the beginning, I wanted to dismantle the steering wheel. Hmm... how can I even do this? At first, I thought that it's going to be a piece of cake – I unscrewed two bolts, which enabled access to the main bolt on the shaft, which I unscrewed and the wheel was ready to be taken off. And there it was where the first problem appeared. As a delicate and gentle man by nature I didn't want to abuse my strength while dismantling the steering wheel. But it just didn’t want to come off! I struggled harder and harder and… nothing. I came back home, read Haynes, checked with Piotrek and I knew what to do. The site I got from Piotrek contained some examples of real-life experiences with high level of wisdom in them. I followed the guidance and I put the bolt on its initial position on the shaft before another attempt to take off the steering wheel. These smart safety precautions would save my nose if the steering wheel suddenly came off after a very strong pull. I made it, without hurting my nose! :-)

            Afterwards, I unscrewed the bolts from the steering column’s cover and then removed the cover itself, revealing the steering column, which can be seen in the photos below. I was so excited about the whole process that I completely forgot about Waclaw’s interdictions and his Waclaw's interdictions and his curse [1], which I learnt a couple of weeks ago. Truth be told, it crossed my mind to take some photos during the work process, but I just didn't feel like interrupting this interesting task and going all the way back home just to take the camera. Naah…Thus, this manifestation of laziness was to get its revenge soon!

After unscrewing all the screws and unplugging the electrical wiring I removed the steering column and gladly took it home, where, using toothpicks, cosmetic sticks, spirit and other cleaning agents, I started to clean. By the way, I learned how the indicator lever works and how, by turning the steering wheel, turn signal switches off automatically. I also noticed a problem with the mechanism responsible for turning on high beams, and despite strenuous attempts I could not do anything about it. I should have taken some photos…

A couple of days later, time came to pay a visit to my parents’ house, so using the opportunity I took with me the steering columns with everything else. I arrived quite late and barely had time to enter the house and greet with everyone when my dad took the stuff I brought and got down to action. Together we managed to work out the mechanism and everything works like new. I should probably go home more often and bring gradually with me pieces of the car. Maybe after a few months I will manage to relocate it without having to drive it :-).

"All's well that ends well". This time I managed to trick Waclaw's curse, although I know that in the near future it will have plenty of opportunities to remind me about itself. I will have to be vigilant and stick to the bushido code of people renovating old cars. Thanks to this experience, though, I was able to understand the mechanism and the logic behind the important elelemnt of every car. If anyone ever had similar problems or had any questions I would be more than happy to help :-).

---

[1] This is a set of rules/laws one has to follow in order to complete restoration of an old car without problems. Upon those who don’t stick to the rules a curse has been cast.  Available only in Polish…

steering column after dismantling it to pieces

overview of the steering column

quasi view from the top

attempt to have a closer look

en face view

tore rubber protecting some wires

overview

not working (at that time) indicator

this is how it looks from the other side - the module responsible for sidelights and high beam lights located on the left side

A day of good fortune

           Yesterday, as I normally do at least once a week, I was monitoring the Internet. On Allegro.pl (Polish eBay) nothing new - no parts at a good price, no similar models, no offers; on Mobile.de for the last few weeks - nothing new; on Ebay.com generally always the same things, although someone in Australia (I suppose) was selling KE55 parts, claiming that they would certainly fit KE30; on Gumtree.com.au, as always, a lot of ads and cool stuff, but generally in most cases, the sellers were interested to sell locally. Well on the other hand I don’t want to collect everything there is, because I have no space to store it, nor money to buy it:-). I was amused the most by the option on Alibaba.com, where our Chinese brothers for a few dollars can do any spare part for the car. A prerequisite is the order of at least several dozens of pieces :-).
           So, while I was going through various pages I found something I was interested in from the first day of having the car. It was namely… the dash cover, which in my Toyota is in an awful state - destroyed by the sun and cigarettes extinguished on it (?). This is the first element that strikes the eye as viewed from the outside. Anyway, see for yourself how it looks like up close.

And this is how this piece of interior should look like. Time will come to buy it when I will be taking care of the interior of the car.

 

Dash covers can be found under the following links:

http://www.stockinteriors.com/DashCaps.asp?Itemid=11479&MakeId=28&ModelId=406

http://www.dashtops.net/products/dash-cover-1975-1979-toyota-corolla-ke30

          

Another example of the good fortune that day was finding a person with Toyota Corolla KE30 in Austria! Marion, because that is her name, published information about gasoline usage the car on www.spritmonitor.de and thanks to that I managed to find her. In order to send her a message I needed to be registered and so I did. It was a small price for the opportunity to speak with the owner of such an iconic car :-). I was very pleasantly surprised by the quick and positive response to my message from her. I am very happy because of this acquaintance and the possibilities to exchange mutual experiences and valuable pieces of advice. That is very important. I'm so happy! :-).
           I wonder how many more KE30 lovers are in Europe. I can’t wait to get to know more if them. After all, it is just 98 people with this model of Toyota Corolla I have to find to be able to order spare parts from China:-P.

          

April photo session

           Spring, or to be more precise summer, has come to Poland for good. That is why I was so happy to use that opportunity to get out of the garage and take some photos. There was also one, very important reason - the fothcoming application deadline for the Discovery Channel contest I wanted to apply to, but I didn't have any nice photos - all of them in the garage, without sun, a little bit depressive :-).

             For those who don't know about the fan page of Project KE30 on Facebook or prefer to follow us only on the blog I decided to upload the newest photos taken on April 27th.

         

Wheeler Dealers - the contest

          Quite recently Piotrek has sent me a link to a site containing a piece of information about the contest organized by Discovery Channel with Cyfrowy Polsat and Auto Świat weekly. This time Mike Brewer and Edd China, the characters from the series called Wheeler Dealers, are heading for Poland on a mission to restore another vehicle. The repair itself is the main prize in the competition and the budget is 5 TPLN (ca. 1,2 TEUR) . The contest consists of several stages and the final one lasts until 1^st July.

           More was I shocked by the fact that I didn't find any information about the contest myself rather than I was happy after finding out about it from Piotrek. It's kind of a weekend tradition that we watch these series together with Milena and sometimes, which is odd, she watches it alone :)

           The first stage assignment was to apply until 29^th April. It was really hard to fulfill this condition using less than 2000 characters. As a person known for verbosity and taking delight in using flowery language I find it quite a challenge. I have two witnesses to confirm that writing 1995 characters (I wanted to finish at 1979 – the car's production year) certainly wasn't an easy thing to do and took several hours. Luckily, I made it to the deadline and below you can see my application no. 64414. 

          In all, there are 66776 applications in the contest (!!!), 5 of which will make it to the next stage... After reviewing several pages with the cars I must admit, that there are really interesting car applications. I had no idea that there are so many nice cars in Poland! I congratulate and envy the owners at the same time. I didn't find any Toyota similar to mine, which of course doesn't mean there aren't any in Poland. I would love to meet the owners of this model of Toyota. That would be FREAKING FANTASTIC!!! If you know someone or maybe if anyone is reading this right know - I would be more then grateful for contacting me :-).

            Currently the second stage is in progress and until 14^th May, three-person jury will choose only 5 the most interesting cars. If my application gained acceptance of the jury I would inform you in the first place! In the meantime, please cross your fingers! :-)