My vote is also for the quad four but if you have a dodge/mitsubishi 2.6 hemi layin around . . . . .swaZZie
My first car was an 84 toyota corolla that was so much fun it ended up upside-down on an old country road It was RWD and carburated and ran pretty quick
beeep beeep beep beeep beeep.............this just in...............................quad 4s suck..............beeep beep beeeeep beep beep.... nuff said.
Didn't the late 70s ealy 80s AMC Spirit/Gremlins have the same 1.8 they put in VWs? Not that many around, but nobody wants them anyway.
79-80-81 toyota corolla 1.8 hemi. i have had several. absoloutely indestructable. alum valve cover that can be polished out nicely. this is the motor of choice in puerto rico for import racing. we actually were coing to build a track t with this motor until a t-bird turbo coupe fell in our lap. now that was a quick little car. 1700 lbs 195 turbocharged hp, what a rush. short stack
The six out of the 240 nissan, rear wheel drive 5 spd, you can find em at junkyards everywhere, after kids smack them up.
I've set aside a L24 inline six and a 5 spd out of a 73 datsun 240z for future use. It's a good looking motor that would look good in a track style T. Datsun/Nissan made the same basic motor in a 4 cyl setup as well.
A few more details: These engines went to Spica FI in '69 with the 1750cc engines; in '72 they went to 2000cc and these are the most common. '82 and up are Bosch FI. The '72-79 Spica FI has individual throttle bodies and would look good with velocity stacks. In fact the stock air cleaner box has them inside. The pump will probably need rebuilt; Ingram Enterprises in Seattle does it. http://www.wesingram.com/ . Alfetta transaxle cars have the same engine with a conventional oil pan; Spiders have a mushroom-shaped front sump. '80 and up engines have a hydraulically-controlled variable cam timing device on the intake cam for emissions purposes; you can ditch this if you don't want it. The transmission needs straight mineral oil with no EP additive; the second gear synchro problem is a result of the too-slippery oil the factory used starting in the early 70s. Change the lube before you spring for a trans rebuild; it might cure the "bad synchro". All '72 and up axles had the ZF limited slip diff; ratio is 4.56 to 1 from 72 to about '80; later ones are 4.10 which really suits the very undersquare 2000 better. I always thought that the whole Alfa drivetrain fully polished would look great in a T roadster and I've actually seen a few.
Wow Steve Ray... You really know your Alfas! The ZF Posi's are a lot more common than I thought. And I didn't know about that Tranny oil trick either ( that would have helped the Factory Purple 1750 GTV Bertone I used to own ). Thanks for the extra Info. BTW, I see Weber intakes for them on Ebay every once in a while...
Ignorance here... How is straight mineral oil labeled? You don't mean the same stuff as in the drug store for old bird's laxatives do you? So many cool engines to put in so many cool cars... I better go out to the garage now and get moving on them.... Darn it's after 10:00 PM!
I looked at this for a long time and eliminated a lot of engines before choosing one. Things I didn't like: Timing belts, plastic cladding over the timing belt, hugely complicated webbed castings that were obviously modern and non-cross flow heads. I want carbs on one side and exhaust on the other. Lots of popular engines like the Datsun L18 and L20, Mazda BP and B6, Quad4, and all Hondas didn't make the cut. The engines that I liked were the early Toyota 4cyl Hemi, The late '80s-early '90s Nissan SOHC KA24, many of the '60s-'80s Volvo engines, and some '70s Mercedes engines. Of all of those, the Nissan wins out. It's a 2.4 liter engine, has no plastic cladding, runs a timing chain, is a cross flow, makes decent HP stock, and is easy to find. It was in lots of Nissan trucks and 240SX models. If you have to have a distributor, an L18 distributor is easily adapted. While the casting isn't as simple as it could be, it's miles better than most imports. There are a few different 5-speeds and shifter setups and if you have NO footroom there's even an automatic (blech).
I know where you can find this Vega. To it's right is this Elky. The Vega was for sale when I saw it.
The only problem with the B16 is that they are a reverse rotation motor. To go RWD with one of these, you need a reverse rotation trans ($$$$$$$) and would need a special setup for the rearend (?) Drag racers are facing this problem when uing these motors in a RWD car for the import races. What about the Ford Focus motor? Ztec i believe. Zane from Creative Concepts used one on his board track '32 and it looked pretty cool!
For inspiration, I'd check out "Locost" Lotus 7 replica sites. Check out the ones with the motorcycle motors, Hayabusa and such. Scary fast. Speaking of motorcycles, something else that looks cool is the 4 cylinder setup with 4 motorcycle throttle bodies. Not carbs, but still cool looking. Anyway, small pickups would seem a natural source, RWD and all. I wanna do something with an S10. I don't know what, but I expect it will look ridiculous whatever it is. Otherwise, I'd say air cooled VW. But that's a whole other game.
I would say Nissan KA24, Mazda BP, or the old Haichi Roku corrolla 1.8 motor(whatever they are called). They are all already rear drive, can all make 200 hp easily, and I know they make weber conversions for the miata and corolla engines. If you decided to you wouldnt mind turboing it go Mitsubishi 4g63, buku power (400-500 horsepower on stock internals is common) and I forget his name but there is a guy on the import circuit that runs one through a chevy 2 speed powerglide (not sure what it took to adapt). And didnt Porsche use to make a 3 liter four cylinder for the 944 or something like that?
Seems the Toyota twin cam was used in the Atlantic Races Series? Looks like a mini Offy. Wasn't there a guy posting here from the midwest that had custom 4 cylinder blocks?http: //www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46917&highlight=cylinder http://www.kansasracingproducts.com/
I was trying to choose a late model 4cyl for my Morris project. My requirements were a little different (EFI and turbo OK) including easy availability in New Zealand. I also looked for somethat that was already RWD to limit hassles. I ended up with a 2.0 Nissan SR20det and 5 speed. It wouldn't look too go in an open sided engine bay, but I think its OK in a closed car. Horsepower is around 200 stock, with more available. Good luck!
Is that a traveller? Over here, they drop all sorts into them - one of the current popular engines is the Rover K series. I like Travs - would love to see one with a V8-60 - I think it's the perfect engine in these tiny Brit cars!!
I know the datsun/nissan lil' engine that could (sometimes) was dismissed by a few on here, and probably with good reasons, but for a cheap dependable 4-banger, they would be hard to beat. They came in damn near everything datsun/nissan made for a long time, and the same basic engine was still in the pickup trucks well into the 80s...maybe 90s? The parts interchangeablity between these are almost like the belly button chevy small block, you can swap heads, camshafts, cranks, rods, and come up with any combination of parts to do what you want, from a super efficient gas miser to a turbocharged and intercooled monster... there are several transmissions you can get for them, but I think the one most people look for is the one that came in the lil 2000 roadster, I think, I'm not sure, I can't find one around my neck of the woods to try it out. Mine will have the stock 4 speed that came with the 1973 620 parts truck I had... So has the blasphemy classification for those using import engines in vintage american tin been repealed???
Nissan 2.4l four banger. Torquey little beast that was used in millions of small trucks and the 240SX. All the 240SX speed equipment bolts on and its a factory North/South orientated motor. Easy as pie...... -Bigchief.
Find a Colorado or Canyon. They have the inline 4 and 5 cyl motors that are based on the inline 6 in the trailblazer. The trailblazer motoer is based on the old inlines from the late '60's and early '70's. Find a wrecked on with a 5 speed and do a lot of measuring. A intake for the old inlines may work. I don't want to take my daily apart to find out so I am waiting for my friend to find a wrecked one a the auction.
I'm playing with a '88 mercedes 4 out of a 190e,RWD,5 spd or auto,they're 16 valve with an exotic cast header on the right side. The dizzy is up top on left. I've changed to a 2.5 S-10 dist which looks kinda traditional and will build an intake with 2 TBI's hidden by a neat air cleaner. The engines kickass and you can buy the cars CHEEP! The GM electronics are simple and easy to get/troubleshoot/troublefree.
I don't think I saw it, but the Mitsu 4g63 is about the best bang for the buck when it comes to a DOHC turbo motor. You can pick one up real cheap in 90-94 Eagle talons, Eclipse, and Lasers (models vary). Stock they were 215HP on a 2.0L engine. With VERY little cost and effort you can get over 300HP out of them. I got mine over the 300HP mark spending maybe $800. They run for a long time, and Mitsu is still, and has been, using this motor in the Lancer EVO for a long time. It has been called Mitsu's version of the small block chevy.
EXACTLY the motor I was talking about. I just couldn't remember the numbers. great little motor and it has a good look to it. yeah the evo still uses the same basic motor..it's crazy. My buddy had one doing 11's in the quarter mile and that's about 1000 more pounds than you'd see in a modified. maybe 1500. Think he was dipping into the 10's before he got rid of it. but I can't say that 100%.
Jeez, Ryan must be so worn out from the new job, new house, new baby on the way he is too tired to hit the delete button ! Ted H
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