1980 Corona LE Liftback.. and perhaps some troubleshooting help??;)

Hi, my names peter! got myself a 1980 corona LE Liftback! Lovely little car! Cute as sh*t!! haha. Got the 20r, new timing chain, msd igniter, did a little tuning on the carb and ignition timing and am planning on getting rid of the vacuum snake pit, AC and air pump when i switch to a Weber 38. Also has an oil leak from where the head meets the timing chain cover which i plan on fixing this coming weekend:O
Im currently trying to turn it into a reliable daily driver til i get out of school and have the money to start having some real fun
That leads me to a question i have for anyone whos willing to help me out. Everyday the car starts just fine. I warm it up, the thermo opens and it idles down and i can drive it to work and back. HOWEVER, sometimes on the weekends, I like to head down into Portland oregon, about a 45 min drive. And everytime i do, after about 20-30 mins of highway speeds Ill experience a sudden loss of power(anywhere between 30-60%), misfiring, sometimes some minor backfiring, "hiccuping", very hesitant acceleration with lurching, and if i dont keep giving it gas it will idle extremely poorly until dying. Also, the coolant gauge doesnt read anything out of the ordinary but the engine feels a little hotter than it should to me.. But im not a professional so maybe thats normal
First time it happened I had it towed home and changed the fuel pump and filter. Started it fine but i never drove it for extended highway speeds til the next weekend and it happened again. Let it sit for 8 hours and it started up and i took it home no problems. One of my buddies then suggested the igniter, so we put in an msd to no avail.
Im running out of ideas? All fluid levels are good and clear. No smoke or steam from engine or exhaust. Im thinking the ignition timing is to far retarded? Or maybe the ignition coil?
But then there is that mess of vacuum lines and the stock carb which im suspicious of as well
Any ideas?

Let's see. First, why a timing chain? That has a double row with steel guides, so should last 400,000 miles - at least the one in the ex's '79 Celica has, and mine has gone well over 300k with big cams and severe (ab)use.
When you put the MSD in, did you eliminate the igniter?
Fixing that oil leak - I'm assuming that you are replacing the head gasket? Don't forget the 11th head bolt!
A Weber DGAS 38 is a lot more carb than a 20R needs. You'll get better mileage and drivability with a DGEV 32/36.
As for the cutting out, if you did eliminate the igniter, I'd say it is probably related to the carb and spaghetti factory. The sooner you get rid of all of that, the sooner your problem will probably go away (but don't hold me to that). The ex's had all kinds of weird characteristics like that until I swapped on a 32/36 Weber and eliminated the spaghetti factory, at which point the fuel mileage went from about 16 to mid 20s. It improved from there when I swapped out the A40 trans for an A40D, where the OD made 3 MPG.
When you pull the AC stuff off, I'd love to take it off your hands for the ex's '79 Celica!

Oh, and welcome aboard! I'm in the Pdx area, so if you need anything, I may be able to offer assistance, as I do for guys on classic-celica.com and celica-gts.com. Where are you?

Welcome to vintage corona

Can u post some pics

And our resident expert a2ndopinion is a huge help, has great knowlege and expertise with 20/22r

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Only because I've spent a great deal of time studying, researching, working on and experimenting with them over the last 17 years. And I'm an ASE certified Master Tech in four different areas with coming up on 40 years of studying and working in the mechanic field.

Would post pics.. The site is saying said pics must be no larger than 0kb though.. O.o
Wow, thank you for the thorough reply, a2ndopinion!! I'm not a mechanic and I don't think I am, but Im head over heels for this car and I love tinkering with it! So I try to squeeze every last bit of info about the 20r out of every mechanic I meet, haha.
I wasn't the one who put the new timing chain on. A friend of mine did very shortly before giving it to me. He was doin a semi-rebuild and changed since he was already in there. But I'm well aware the 20r with its duel row timing chain will survive the apocalypse, haha;)
Did eliminate the igniter.
Yes, I do plan on changing the head gasket. A mechanic friend from my work suggested using an aluminum or copper crush gasket. However, my local o'reilys guy who was a Toyota mechanic in the 80's said to use a felpro with an additional thin line of ultra grey around the whole area where the head meets the timing cover, he says leaks from this area are very common if sealant hasn't been applied. I'd love your opinion on this?!
I'm aware of the 11th head bolt. I have the Haynes Manuel for my car and the fsm for the 20r, so I think the head job should go smooth. Any other tricky stuff I might run into though?
As for the weber, my amateur-ness shows. All I thought was bigger carb, better carb. Haha. Will definitely go with the 32/36. However, I'd love to know why this is? In a nutshell if possible.
I can't wait to get the vacuum mess off. I've been told its as simple as putting on the weber and plugging up everything but the EGR. I've heard you don't need the EGR, but it improves gas mileage?
Also, I'd like to take off the air injection pump instead of just plugging it up, but I can't tell if I need a longer motor mount..?
I was gonna get an a40d until A buddy of mine told me he's got a five speed out of a 70-something corolla that he's willing to help me put in. I understand this is a difficult job, and I'm totally willing to put in the time. So some point down the road id like to do that. What's your experience been with swapping auto to manual trannys?
And of course, when I get it off I'll definitely let you know and we can meet up. I kinda switch between south Vancouver and north Clark county.
Again thanks for all the great info and I apologize for the avalanche of questions I just hit you with I look forward to hearing back from ya!

Right on! good luck keep us updated of course.

On the topic of auto to manual, Id suggest buying a parts car. For the main reason that youll have everything you need to do the swap, but you'll also be able to break it down how it will go back in. I helped on a cressida and it was easier to see where everything came from.

DAMMIT ALL TO HELL! I'd just typed up a whole bunch of info, and then moved something and lost it all, so I'm typing it up in MSword. Stay tuned for a buttload of info.

Thanks lope! I'll definitely consider getting a parts car. One of my biggest questions about the manual switch is wether or not I'll need a new drive train?
I'm not very mechanically savvy and I'm studying an auto mechanics fundamentals book I picked up from amazon for $5 right now. I just haven't totally been able to grasp all the concepts and components involved with trannys and drivetrains yet.
A parts car sure would be awesome, just something I can mess around with without fear of really ****ing anything up, haha.
A2ndopinion: I hate when that happens.. Thanks though man! Looking forward to it!XD

In order to post pictures upload them to a third party like photo bucket and use URL link that has IMG and paste it here

Pics:)
I really want fender mirrors.. Im thinking i could just take the ones i have and move them down. Maybe put some accents over the holes that would be left.

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Did you detail the motor, or did it come that way?

Also I've seen a few of these 80's liftback style coronas for sale lately. I truthfully don't think they came in a manual. But being it has the 20r, a manual trans should be pretty easy to come by. The w50 I believe it was your looking for.

And on the topic of fender mirrors. I wouldn't put those things on your fenders. Just spend the $20-40 and get something a little more legit. Or search around the junk yard for some older chrome mirrors.

Lastly you must tell me what brand of shoe did you take that first photo with.

I've done a little cleaning but it was pretty damn clean when i got it
I dont think they did either but thats not gonna stop me! And Im about 85% the manual my buddy has is the w50.
I wouldn't mind buying fender mirrors its just i cant find any for sale that arent either, A: $300-400 and straight from japan or B: $18-23 and plastic Sh*t.
Ill check out some junk yards, should I just be lookin for old celica mirrors? I doubt any will be fender mounted though.
Any other suggestions?
And sorry, but "shoe"??

Check this place out [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I bought mine off the website they have some fender mirrors

And sorry, but "shoe"??

I just want a better shot of the whole car. But its no big deal, just joking with you on the picture quality.

Yea celica mirrors wont do...well atleast I dont think they will. Datsun, mazda, toyota. Ive seen some decent chrome mirrors that might work. And i'm sure there are some that I dont even know of....be creative. I found mine on Ebay ($20) under vintage car parts and just simply search toyota mirrors.

Lope70Mark2 wrote:Also I've seen a few of these 80's liftback style coronas for sale lately. I truthfully don't think they came in a manual. But being it has the 20r, a manual trans should be pretty easy to come by. The w50 I believe it was your looking for.

A W50 or a W58 would be best. The W58 was a closer ratio trans and has aluminum cases, whereas the W50 was all steel - about 10 lbs difference is all though.
You need to get the pedal assembly AND the support that goes to the firewall, and you can get them out of about any 2nd gen ('78-'81) or 3rd gen ('82-'85) Celica, plus grab the clutch master cyl and the hard line that goes down to the slave cyl.

Just found out the tranny my buddy has for me is a w55. Thoughts?

Here's about all of the head gasket info you could ever need:
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w55 according to Wiki

Got the weber and Ive got a question about the egr block off plates. Just took a video, it was easier than trying to type it out.

Easy enough. You have a 20R with the "blow fish" exhaust manifold. The holes on you exhaust are not EGR, they are for the A.I.R. (air injection reactor) pump. The first plates you showed would be correct on a later manifold, but won't work for you. There are three good options. One is make plates for the manifold you have (I could whip some up in about 30 mins). Two would be to get a later manifold (which is a tri-Y, so is actually better) that would use the plates you have. I have one here if you want to come down to Hillsboro and get it. Lastly, the pipe that did connect there - if you cut it right at where it turns to go around the back of the head, then flatten the end with a hammer, then fold it back, hammer it flat again, then fold it back again and hammer it flat again, it will be sealed!
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The second plate you showed is to block off the intake where the EGR connected on a 22RE, so does you no good. That makes me wonder what you have to block off the hole on your intake where the EGR connected? That would be between the carb and the head. I'm assuming you got the plate that bolts on there and has a fitting for you PCV valve to connect to now?

Yeah, I know I'm an F'n genius, right?

You are a f***in genius! haha. Id love to get that other manifold, but wouldnt be able to pick it up til next weekend:/ You available next sat or sunday? How much?
I think for the time being ill just do the hammer method.
Yep, sent the PCV to the intake EGR

So i put the weber in and the fuel inlet nozzle was about 2mm away from touching the thermostat housing. So i just took out the brass cap on the left side and the nozzle on the right and switch them. Is this ok? I cant see why not, but i dont trust my amateur mechanic skills enough to not ask some old pros

Yeah, I'll be around. $45.00

Peter_TEQ wrote:So i put the weber in and the fuel inlet nozzle was about 2mm away from touching the thermostat housing. So i just took out the brass cap on the left side and the nozzle on the right and switch them. Is this ok? I cant see why not, but i dont trust my amateur mechanic skills enough to not ask some old pros

I don't think so, as I believe the other "hole" is restricted. You have to live with it next to the t-stat. You can try it if you've already done it.

Changed the weber inlet to the other side and it worked fine:)
However, one of my thermostat housing bolts snapped and I tried to drill it out and ended up cracking a piece of the mount off to the point where there really isnt a way to get another bolt to hold it down.
So now im looking for a new 20r intake manifold.
Anybody got one?