Greetings from East Malaysia

[Mr.427]

Hi fellow ecomodders. I'm glad that I've been accepted as 1 of your kind.
I'm a heavy-duty truck and machinery repairman (and weldingman) by profession and works on my 1978 Toyota Corolla KE36 van in my spare time. It's been my only constant companion and my workhorse ever since I passed my driving licence in 2005 till present. So, any potential breakdowns will always be taken care of immediately and "unjustified" mods will not be entertained at all.
Without further ado, here are the current specs:
Engine: 1166cc (71ci) 3K-HJ 4-cyl overhead valve, slanted, reverse-flow cylinder head and with mechanical tappet;
Speed gear: K50 5-speed (0.865:1 overdrive) manual;
Gearbox: 4.55:1 open differential;
Fuel system: Unchoked, carburetted, and fed through cam-driven AC pump;
Cooling system: 2-row with 5/8" tube copper radiator and belt-driven pump with a direct-drive, 7-blade fan;
Ignition: Electronic type with ballast resistor coil;
Spark plugs: NGK BPR6EIX iridium;
Charging system: 12V70A alternator with external electronic cut-off relay;
Brake system: 4-wheel brake drums with vacuum-assisted booster pump;
Steering system: Manual with Pitman-type steering gearbox;
So, thats about it for now. Thanks for your time and have a nice day.

[freebeard]

Welcome to Ecomodder.

What is a example of an 'unjustified' modification? And a justified one.

[Mr.427]

UnJustified
- ear-splittingly bad exhaust noise;
- K&N stuffs and cold air intake kits;
- outrageously large wheels and "rubber-band" tyre sizes;
- non-functional big rear spoilers;
- dangerously jacked up 4WDs and SUVs;
- head polishing (waste of hard-earned money and useless for a street-oriented engines);
- HID headlights on any unsanctioned vehicles and angry headlights;
But hey, who am I to complain?? Their money, their honey... lol

Justified;
- lighter and more durable brake disc assembly (billet callipers come to mind);
- lighter and smooth wheel (requires custom wheel fabricator to make or diy?) or hubcap;
- smooth underbody, like that of a shark;
- shaved IN/EX valve guide boss for a better flow without sacrificing its service life (refer to the machinist for more details)
- tulip-shaped EX valves with fillet edge at the bottom of the margin, nail-shaped IN valves with a 30° back cut above the seat and a thin margin with a chamfered edge (refer to the machinist for more details);
- camshaft with lesser overlap and exhaust duration, earlier IN open/close, earlier EX close, EX close later, and lower EX valve lift (talk to cam grinder about this);
- 100% demineralised water with small quantity of non-glycol corrosion inhibitor for the cooling system (works fine in all-year round tropical weather but not those areas with <32F ambient temperature at 1 season or another);
- LED-equivalent bulbs substitute, wherever possible;
- slightly lower ratio gearbox (4.11:1 or 3.9:1 instead of 4.55:1). but for me, the necessity to regularly carry goods and passengers at a total weight of 700 to 1000lbs on mountainous, uneven, and unpaved roads for almost everyday sorta necessitate the use of the standard 4.55:1 gearbox;
- spark plug gap balancing (slightly wider gap with short HT leads, recommended gap for longer HT leads);
- hot air intake;
- 4-2-1 smaller short headers, with anti reversion chamber at the end of the last collector and progressively bigger pipe towards the end of the system.

ok, that's enough ranting for now. all of the points mentioned above are what I considered as such.. cheers

[freebeard]

Thanks, good answers. Maybe a little light on aerodynamics, but that's just me.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

A jacked-up 4WD/SUV might be quite useful under some circumstances, but a more austere approach seems to make sense too. Sometimes, those good old irons simply refuse to die, so why bother replacing it for something you would eventually not be so comfortable to perform maintenance by yourself?

[Piotrsko]

I would suggest that if you are hauling heavy things, a modern transmission with more lower closer ratios would be a good value as opposed to odd differential gearsets.
Don't know if you can do tranny swaps like here in US without making adapters.
Accelerating heavy masses is where the better efficiency helps, once in steady state aero becomes important
Drove a close ratio tranny with a close ratio brownie and except for rowing the gear sticks made heavy stuff better to run on the streets but you never have a perfect gear.

If you're shaving the guides, doesn't that include some porting?

[Mr.427]

@freebeard I'm into all sorts of stuffs related to vehicles and welding. Physics, chemistry, and maths of them. Still not really good at them, but just enough to be able to partially hold my own when they're being discussed in-depth. We'll see how it goes... Have a nice day...

@cRiPpLe_rOoStEr Hahah yeh, but dangerously jacked will be a road hazard to themselves, other motorists and pedestrians. We can't really deny that those old irons are actually quite thick and heavy. The only thing that'll kill it is rust, which is all too common for production vehicles of the "nostalgic" era. Not to mention that mine is a rust bucket too, with the underbody partially treated to contain it. Lastly, I prefer to do my own maintenance for my own personal satisfaction of saving money and getting the job done right.... Cheers

[Mr.427]

@Piotrsko yeh it's possible, however, to do tranny swap to T50, W50, W56, and W58 variants. Adapters are not readily available, but its not impossible to fabricate one. However, space is limited. The distance between the handbrake lever and gearbox stick is rather too close for my liking. So, instead of going through the hassles that will later become burdensome, I sticked with the speed gear that I currently have.
Also, when I send the head for valve boss guide shaving, I make sure that the machinists did "valve bowl blending work" (pocket porting) on both IN/EX sides. The purpose is to limit turbulence, improve the A/F mixture quality and increase mixture flowrate entering and leaving the cylinder. The net result is a increased usable torque at lower rpm, which in turn increases fuel economy and "slightly" lowers emissions.