4A-GE engined KE 70

The first car I drove for in my college days was a Toyota Corolla KE 70. The car was passed down from my mom to me. Dad got the car 3rd hand from the owner and it was bright orange! Not many cars were orange those days and yon can spot the car a mile away. The KE 70 is a 3 door hatch back with a low a roof. The design of that era. The original KE 70 came with twin carburetors OHV engine. Although it has twin carburetors, it lacked real power and was only a pretender. Stomping on the acceleration would see the rpm needle zooming up towards the redline but it is not translated to speed you would expect of it.

After several years of owning that car, the engine grew tired, requiring frequent timing adjustments. Later after reading some articles and checking with our mechanic, we found that many people transplanted a Levin engine into Corollas. We knew it as the Levin engine but later I realized it is designated 4A-GE that powers more than just the Levin or AE86. The 4A-GE engine came from a design from Cosworth and Toyota had collaboration with Yamaha to tweak the engine. At a time when variable valve timing was unheard off, the engine came with variable inlet geometry, TVIS. In the days where single overhead engines were just starting to be the norm, the 4A-GE engine with its twin-cam multi-point electronic fuel injected, was a big leap forward.

After dad saved up some extra money, the car went for a heart transplant. The old engine was taken out and the new power plant went into the bay. Transplanting the engine and hooking up the necessary plumbing took 4 days. After a final check to ensure all the wiring and sensors were in place correctly, we fired up the engine. What a glorious sound it was. We snuck the car out to the exhaust shop to fit a 4-1 header. The KE 70 had a re-circulating ball steering system and the exhaust actually ran very close to an arm. There wasn’t any choice but later on, someone manufactured a 4-2-1 system that clear all the part beautifully.

We used back the original gearbox and that was a mistake. At high revs, the original gearbox could not take the stain form the engine, causing vibration. It might also have been caused by the prop shaft as the prop shaft from the 4A-GE engine comes in 2 shorter length shafts rather than a single unit. I had the time of my life with the car. Fuel consumption was good, the power from the engine, good enough to give many newer cars a run for the money. Too bad, after about 6 years, we had to sell the car as rust was eating into the rear mudguards requiring extensive repair.