Ryan's First TE27

[skellington]

I bought this car a few years ago for a good price. It is a 1974 deluxe 2tc 3 speed auto. The car has had the front resprayed white. They did a bad job and it peeled and started to get surface rust. The battery exploded so all around and below that area is rotted away. For me, The price was right for me to own a CA pre-smog vintage j-tin car. This is my second old school corolla, my first was my 76 orange TE31.










The body is really good on this car other than the rusted frame rail, radiator support, and the 1 dent on the front fender. The seller even threw in some Minilite like wheels, and a set of sr5 struts (which I made coilovers out of for my 76).

[skellington]

I refinished the minilite style wheels which I found to be Western Superlites. We purchased another 74 TE27 in the same color for an amazing price which was in better shape so time went to that one, as did the superlite's. She really liked the look of the wheels.




I bought a set of SR5 steel wheels from Santos who owns 1st gen celica. I refinished these in hopes to put them on my 27. When i restore wheels, I go all out. Strip, bead blast, etch primer, paint, clear, and polish if needed.








So at this point, almost nothing has been done to the car itself. I got the engine almost started, but the wiring in the car engine bay is thrashed. It looks like someone had hooked the battery up wrong due to the reversed battery lead colors. All lights blinkers etc work perfect, so looks like there will be some wiring in my future.

[skellington]

I brought my cars up to my new house. Here I will have a shop to work in, so I can give the car some much needed attention.



If you are wondering how severe the rust damage is (pictures below may bring a tear to your eye):







Frame rail and radiator support are destroyed by rust. I have the skills to fix it. I filled my welder's bottle, and my wife and I started stripping it down. So far we removed: struts, grill, lights, panels from front. I will need to pull the engine to get in to whats left of the frame rails.

[ke25sl]

Nice. I've got a '74 Deluxe as well... But mine is a European spec ke25...

[crash_x]

Wow man, thats so serious rust/ acid damage
how far down the frame does it go?
Battery damage can be some of the worst if let go like that one.
hope you can get it cleaned out and saved

[skellington]

Sept 29, 2015 16:39:32 GMT -5 crash_x said:

Wow man, thats so serious rust/ acid damage
how far down the frame does it go?
Battery damage can be some of the worst if let go like that one.
hope you can get it cleaned out and saved

From what I can see so far, The damage encompasses the entire lower part
of the Radiator support. There is a seam weld that just hangs off in the front
for over 8" attached to nothing. The rust goes back as where the cross
member bolts to (possibly further). The bottom of the sheet metal frame rail is
just gone. The part that holds the driver Tension Control Rods might be salvageable,
but it was hovering in place supported by the sway bar. The bumper was only held
on by the passenger mount. I literally unbolted the passenger side and pulled
it out. This car had battery acid damage for a long time. I think the last time
it was driven was in the 80's.

[skellington]

I pulled this out.

And this.

Here is what it looks like now. I have room to get some metal work done. I think I will put my spare T50 in place of the 3 speed auto. I may have to acquire a manual pedal assembly for this. The frame rail will actually be easy to fix. I was expecting to find rust all through the frame rail, but it stops in front of the crossmember. When I took the crossmember off, There was still shiny white paint.

[crash_x]

its good to see things getting done