ke18 pros and cons

[Pagie84a]

Just found 1 lurkin locally for not too much cash. I have a rebuilt 18rg and w50 sitting there anybody got some input is it gunna be a rotten prick to find bits for and modify want something a bit more straightforward than what my ra28s turned into

[Lampoon]

I previously had one. To find bits is going to be pretty hard if the bits relate to the rear of the car...tailgate, rear bumper, and rear seat.

[oldcorollas]

they are rare and awesome but likely more of a headfk than an RA28.. which is easy to mod in comparison

cons:
T50 sort of doesn't fit in the tunnel from height
W5x doesn't fit in tunnel due to width and height.

front has transverse leaf and 3 bolt steering arms = cross-member change is often a good idea, but there are no radius rods stock..
track is narrower than KE20.

engine bay is small.. I think 18R fits, but you might be moving radiator to other side of support panel.

etc etc

pros:
they look great, pretty rare and very light.
they have a lot of oldschool charm, and done right they attract a lot of attention

[Pagie84a]

Youve just put it in the too hard basket for me. Agreed they look damn good woulda been great with an 18rg in it. Ah well maybe a ke25 or something will be more suitable

[oldcorollas]

chuck in a 4A with turbo, and a KE20 front end, and it's a lot easier

[Hurricane]

i was going to say what Oldcorollas did. 4age is what i was going to do in my ke11, untill i foolishly sold it

[Pagie84a]

I would prefer a 4age but I rebuilt the rg for my 28 then got a 1uz for it instead so I wanna put it in something

[Jono.c]

T50 will fit if it's a factory auto. The tunnel is bigger. I've got a full ke20 front end with rack and pinion in my ke10.

But it really isn't hard to use the stock stuff and make them handle.. Best cheap setup i've found is remove transverse leaf and fit a whiteline swaybar instead. You can then either fit ke70 springs, Or an otomoto sleeve kit with Mk1 Golf GTi shocks in the struts. Doing that also allows you to fit cambertops and wipe off the positive camber. Makes a massive change to the handling for not much outlay

[Lampoon]

I had ke17 sprinter with 4age (then later a 4a 20V) in it. The ke18 wagon I had converted to injected 7k. It was always fun to drive the high revving 4a sprinter...but the torque of the 7k just made that car so easy to drive.

If i was to get back in to a corolla it would be a ke16/18 wagon, with force fed 7k running an auto box. Looking for as much torque as possible.

That would be a nice cruiser!

- - - Updated - - -

Suspension mods Jono.c mentioned would be the go too.

[Pagie84a]

Guess if he still has it in a couple weeks I can lowball shit outa him and it can sit there till I do research

[oldcorollas]

T50 will fit if it's a factory auto. The tunnel is bigger.

I recall cutting out both auto and manual tunnels and side by side there was nothing in it? or maybe a notch here or there?

in fact, here's some I prepared earlier
manual and auto tunnels.. auto (left) is a bit bigger near the firewall, but same down the tunnel


W5x box vs KE10 tunnel LOL


yeah.. nah..


PS, I know people who might even pay a small finders fee for a KE18 (I should ask them first tho...)

[Pagie84a]

Doesnt look anywhere near big enough can always cut a tunnel out of the fucked out 28 I have and graft it in looks like the shifter could be a bit far back though. Question is would I get lynched for hacking up something so rare

[oldcorollas]

tbh, not if it is epic

thing with KE1x's is that although they look cool, they are pretty shit stock and always need a fair bit of "help" to be a decent vehicle..

for me, I'd draw the line at hacking up the firewall...
radiator support? can be moved forward.. tunnel? can be enlarged, running gear? the wider the track and wheels the better

isn't there a front mount shifter for W5x? that metallic blue tunnel above is the manual version, which has shifter wayyyy forward
the front w5x shifter would be fine unless you have ridiculously short legs
even a KE30/KE70 K40/50 manual gearbox has the shifter coming out at the auto tunnel hole (conveniently)

[Pagie84a]

I have got short legs and long gooby arms. auto, rg, commy style lean?

[oldcorollas]

luckily the pedals and steering wheel in KE1x are really close together