Post by orgowner27 on May 7, 2013 23:50:38 GMT -8
My name is Bill, and began my love affair with Corollas in 1971 when, after wrecking every car my mom ever let me drive, she bought a used 71 Corolla 1200 4 door sedan (peanut). Compared to the Detroit iron she had previously, that little yellow Corolla was a SPORTS CAR! I loved driving that car so much, sometimes loading it up with friends, cutting school, and just go spend the day THRASHING the hell out of it for fun! But unlike every other car she had before, I could not kill this one! Its handling and braking were good enough to keep me outta trouble no matter what dumb stunts this rookie adolescent could throw at it. And amazingly, it was always ready for more, at the twist of the key!
I got my very own first Corolla in 1972- a 69 KE10 2 door, which I had tricked out with Pirelli radials, Koni shocks, and a Kraco 8 track stereo. Wrecked that one TWICE. First time slammed into a guardrail racing a Mustang, but it actually got repaired with a new 1/4 panel and paint. The second time though, resulted in a roll over witch flattened the roof and busted out ALL the glass. Actually DROVE it all the way home- a 2 hour freeway spectacle!
September, 1973, on my way to work, spotted an auto transporter unloading what was to be the last shipment of 73 Toyotas my dealer was getting before the 74's with the big ugly bumpers came out. And on that truck, was a beautiful, RED, TE27 1600, 5 speed coupe. Of course, there was no way a high school kid could afford a brand new car, especially the top of the line model on a $2.00/hr salary. Just wanted a second chance with any white 1200 to replace my wrecked KE10, but when dear old mom saw that RED 5 speed with the racing stripes on the fenders, she knew it had my name on it. She co-signed my loan papers, and I made my $72.00 payments for the next 3 years. That car still survives today, in AMAZING condition, living a pampered life, covered in the warm garage, only driven on special occasions.
My sister bought a used, yellow 79 SR/5 TE51 Liftback in 1980. Drove it every day for a decade, and when she decided to move to Redding, she packed that sporty Corolla to the roof with boxes of her belongings, and made the trip from San Mateo to Redding every weekend. Fell in love and got married in the 90's, and her Corolla was now the car of choice for her AND her new husband to drive. (his daily driver was a smelly old Ford pickup that was always breaking down!) They drove her car to death, and with unimagineable odometer readings, 2 dead cylinders, no brakes and a noisy differential, they finally retired it to their front yard where it sat for ANOTHER 15 years under a tarp. I would pull the tarp back and whisper to it when I would go visit- "one day, you will be MINE!"
In 2010, when my son got his driver licence, she offered her old Corolla to me for FREE as a father/son project. We rented a tow dolly and made a special trip to Redding to pick it up. AMAZINGLY, after everything stated above, with some air in the rotted tires, a good battery, filling the reservoir with some brake fluid, and a shot of prime down the carb.....IT CHUGGED TO LIFE once AGAIN!!!
We replaced the original 2T-C with a healthy 3T-C, new brakes, clutch, and fixed a few other little things. gave the interior a good cleaning. Replaced the front seats with F/X-16's and put a dash cap over the sunbaked original skeleton.
But when it was finished, the boy was unwilling to drive it because it was a 5 SPEED! Wasn't comfortable because he had taken his lessons in a Civic automatic. I won't get into the details of MY words to him, but his MOTHER decided to buy ANOTHER mechanics Special, 79 Corolla TE51 liftback Deluxe Automatic for him to drive! Fortunately for me, this car was in much better shape mechanically- no rust, good running 2T-C, recent brake work by the previous owner, and AMAZINGLY clean interior, with a PERFECT, uncracked dash!
A shiny white $500.00 paintjob, some TLC, and a KILLER stereo, and it looks and runs like new!
Today, he is still driving the white auto, and I am driving sisters Yellow SR/5, everyday
One day in 2004, decided to take an alternate route to my daughters school, and spotted a filthy, banged up 85 Corolla GT-S in a driveway. I stopped and knocked on the door, and asked if it was for sale. The nice lady said she was going to fix it for HER son when he got his licence, so I gave her my number, and told her if she ever changed her mind to let me know. Over a year went by and one day, I got "THE CALL"! Picked this gem up for $300.00 plus DMV back fees, and in a familiar drill, added air to the tires, 2 quarts on oil to the engine, refilled the empty radiator, and installed a charged battery. The 4AGE twincam fired off instantly, and although making bad noises from the waterpump, was able to drive it all the way home, without overheating. Spent time and money fixing everything on this car, and finally had the paint and bodywork professionally. It came out so nice, that it too, is only taken out for special occasions.
And that's my life story to date. I frequent the 3tcgarage website, a member of the Nor-Cal AE86 owners group on Facebook, and was delighted to find The TE51 facebook page too! Thank you Ken for the heads up on this board. Hopefully we can all draw on others for info, parts and knowledge to keep our Old Toyotas ALIVE! HA!
Bill
I got my very own first Corolla in 1972- a 69 KE10 2 door, which I had tricked out with Pirelli radials, Koni shocks, and a Kraco 8 track stereo. Wrecked that one TWICE. First time slammed into a guardrail racing a Mustang, but it actually got repaired with a new 1/4 panel and paint. The second time though, resulted in a roll over witch flattened the roof and busted out ALL the glass. Actually DROVE it all the way home- a 2 hour freeway spectacle!
September, 1973, on my way to work, spotted an auto transporter unloading what was to be the last shipment of 73 Toyotas my dealer was getting before the 74's with the big ugly bumpers came out. And on that truck, was a beautiful, RED, TE27 1600, 5 speed coupe. Of course, there was no way a high school kid could afford a brand new car, especially the top of the line model on a $2.00/hr salary. Just wanted a second chance with any white 1200 to replace my wrecked KE10, but when dear old mom saw that RED 5 speed with the racing stripes on the fenders, she knew it had my name on it. She co-signed my loan papers, and I made my $72.00 payments for the next 3 years. That car still survives today, in AMAZING condition, living a pampered life, covered in the warm garage, only driven on special occasions.
My sister bought a used, yellow 79 SR/5 TE51 Liftback in 1980. Drove it every day for a decade, and when she decided to move to Redding, she packed that sporty Corolla to the roof with boxes of her belongings, and made the trip from San Mateo to Redding every weekend. Fell in love and got married in the 90's, and her Corolla was now the car of choice for her AND her new husband to drive. (his daily driver was a smelly old Ford pickup that was always breaking down!) They drove her car to death, and with unimagineable odometer readings, 2 dead cylinders, no brakes and a noisy differential, they finally retired it to their front yard where it sat for ANOTHER 15 years under a tarp. I would pull the tarp back and whisper to it when I would go visit- "one day, you will be MINE!"
In 2010, when my son got his driver licence, she offered her old Corolla to me for FREE as a father/son project. We rented a tow dolly and made a special trip to Redding to pick it up. AMAZINGLY, after everything stated above, with some air in the rotted tires, a good battery, filling the reservoir with some brake fluid, and a shot of prime down the carb.....IT CHUGGED TO LIFE once AGAIN!!!
We replaced the original 2T-C with a healthy 3T-C, new brakes, clutch, and fixed a few other little things. gave the interior a good cleaning. Replaced the front seats with F/X-16's and put a dash cap over the sunbaked original skeleton.
But when it was finished, the boy was unwilling to drive it because it was a 5 SPEED! Wasn't comfortable because he had taken his lessons in a Civic automatic. I won't get into the details of MY words to him, but his MOTHER decided to buy ANOTHER mechanics Special, 79 Corolla TE51 liftback Deluxe Automatic for him to drive! Fortunately for me, this car was in much better shape mechanically- no rust, good running 2T-C, recent brake work by the previous owner, and AMAZINGLY clean interior, with a PERFECT, uncracked dash!
A shiny white $500.00 paintjob, some TLC, and a KILLER stereo, and it looks and runs like new!
Today, he is still driving the white auto, and I am driving sisters Yellow SR/5, everyday
One day in 2004, decided to take an alternate route to my daughters school, and spotted a filthy, banged up 85 Corolla GT-S in a driveway. I stopped and knocked on the door, and asked if it was for sale. The nice lady said she was going to fix it for HER son when he got his licence, so I gave her my number, and told her if she ever changed her mind to let me know. Over a year went by and one day, I got "THE CALL"! Picked this gem up for $300.00 plus DMV back fees, and in a familiar drill, added air to the tires, 2 quarts on oil to the engine, refilled the empty radiator, and installed a charged battery. The 4AGE twincam fired off instantly, and although making bad noises from the waterpump, was able to drive it all the way home, without overheating. Spent time and money fixing everything on this car, and finally had the paint and bodywork professionally. It came out so nice, that it too, is only taken out for special occasions.
And that's my life story to date. I frequent the 3tcgarage website, a member of the Nor-Cal AE86 owners group on Facebook, and was delighted to find The TE51 facebook page too! Thank you Ken for the heads up on this board. Hopefully we can all draw on others for info, parts and knowledge to keep our Old Toyotas ALIVE! HA!
Bill