Please identify my engine.

[shaihulud]

I have just bought a Ford Prefect special with a Toyota Corolla engine.

The engine number is 4K 9039402 and moulded into the gearbox casing is 3 3111 12070.

Please tell me what year the engine is and what type of gearbox I have.

Thanks in anticipation.

[trentmeyer23]

I believe it is a 4K series block, is it carburetted or EFI?

Do you have any photos?

[shaihulud]

It's a carburetted engine. Sorry pics are a problem at the moment. Can't do for a while.

What I need to know is, is the gearbox a 4 or 5 speed?

I suppose that pics of the gearbox are needed to identify it.

[trentmeyer23]

It may not be the original box fitted to the engine. I am not familiar with that number stamped into the gearbox.

[Hiro]

The gearbox is most likely (I'm talking 90% here) a K40 4-speed. There are 5-speed K50 boxes but they aren't anywhere near as common, and a couple of even less common T-series and G-series boxes (from the AE85 and some vans), but most likely it'll be the K40 that came with the engine. 4Ks in Australia only really came out in the KE55 and KE70 and most of the 5-speeds came from the KE70.

[shaihulud]

Thanks for your responses.

trent. The gearbox has a meant to be there look, so I assume that it's the original.

Hiro. You are probably right about it being a 4 speed gear box. It's not very big.

Now that I've given you the serial number of the engine, can you give me an idea of how old it is?

That car is a non runner at the moment. The carby is missing, so I can't start it and the gearshift lever is missing, so I can't fiddle with it and count the gear positions.

The other problem that I have is that if I try to get it registered with the Corolla engine in it, it might be classified as a hot rod or Individually constructed vehicle (ICV) and I don't want to go down that road again. It's a nightmare.

[Hiro]

Hiro. You are probably right about it being a 4 speed gear box. It's not very big.

Now that I've given you the serial number of the engine, can you give me an idea of how old it is?

The 5-speed isn't much different from the 4-speed, easiest way to tell would be to jump in and try and select 5th...

I don't have a list of serialised production dates, but the 4K was made between 1977 and 1989, and came out in locally made Corollas between 1978 and 1988