Hi peeps, long time occasional lurker here but have only just realised I've never actually posted...
Anyway, this isn't strictly retro but I'm reliably informed you guys will be interested in this project, so as instructed by Penski here is a thread. I wont bore you with a long history, but basically just over a year ago I bought a 2001 Shogun, and after a few choice mods this is how she stood:
All had been good, I was really enjoying it and have been impressed with it's capabilities, but unfortunately lately it has been showing early signs of the dreaded fuel pump failure, all the symptoms point to the fact that the TCV timing has probably gone to ****, and the TCV valve is integral on these pumps. This is never a cheap fix, new pumps (if you can find one) from Mitsubishi are £2k plus, and even recon units are £1500+. I was pretty gutted to say the least, I took ages to find a really nice example with full mitsi service history etc.
Anyway, after doing some thinking and looking around, I didn't want to sell it as faulty and lose a lot of money, and after some research it occurred to me that I can do a Lexus 1UZ-FE V8 conversion for similar money to buying a new fuel pump, and being a long time modding addict I thought 'what the hell', I'm going to bite the bullet and get stuck into another little project.
So I found one on eBay from a seller who has a good rep with selling these engines, and bought it.
This an early engine from a Soarer so includes the rear-bowl sump that is needed to clear the front axle.
From my research I was able to find just two examples of a mk3 with this conversion, one of which was a manual like mine. Luckily, the guy had posted CAD drawings of a flywheel and transmission adapter to the forum thread. I downloaded the drawings and got some quotes for the work, but was getting crazy quotes, way beyond what I wanted to spend. Working for a steelwork company, we have some half-decent CNC machines, one of which I figured was probably up to the task of doing the transmission adapter. I imported the CAD file and the final result actually came out pretty good, especially considering our machines aren't really made for this kind of precision stuff.
It's a little rough around the edges as far as the profile goes, but the important part is the hole positions, and they are absolutely spot on.
For the flywheel, I decided to order a solid flywheel conversion for the 3.2 engine and compare it to the CAD model I had of the custom 1UZ-to-Mitsubishi flywheel. It wouldn't work as-is of course, but I drew a flywheel adapter and had my son make it for me in college (he's an apprentice engineer with Renishaw). It came out great (raw material on the right, finished product apart from tapping on the left):
I took the flywheel to a local machine shop to be machined to fit to the hub, overall cost was considerably less than having a flywheel made from scratch.
In the mean time whilst waiting for other parts to arrive, I gave the engine a bit of a spruce up. I removed the intake manifold and throttle body, and painted it in black wrinkle paint:
And I removed the cam covers, and did them in bright red:
And here is the engine with them refitted, and a bit more of a clean:
Pretty much all the parts to make a start are here now:
I'll keep this thread updated with my progress, and sorry for the random sizes and quality of the pics, I asved them from my FB uploads. Pics will be better from now on
Anyway, this isn't strictly retro but I'm reliably informed you guys will be interested in this project, so as instructed by Penski here is a thread. I wont bore you with a long history, but basically just over a year ago I bought a 2001 Shogun, and after a few choice mods this is how she stood:
All had been good, I was really enjoying it and have been impressed with it's capabilities, but unfortunately lately it has been showing early signs of the dreaded fuel pump failure, all the symptoms point to the fact that the TCV timing has probably gone to ****, and the TCV valve is integral on these pumps. This is never a cheap fix, new pumps (if you can find one) from Mitsubishi are £2k plus, and even recon units are £1500+. I was pretty gutted to say the least, I took ages to find a really nice example with full mitsi service history etc.
Anyway, after doing some thinking and looking around, I didn't want to sell it as faulty and lose a lot of money, and after some research it occurred to me that I can do a Lexus 1UZ-FE V8 conversion for similar money to buying a new fuel pump, and being a long time modding addict I thought 'what the hell', I'm going to bite the bullet and get stuck into another little project.
So I found one on eBay from a seller who has a good rep with selling these engines, and bought it.
This an early engine from a Soarer so includes the rear-bowl sump that is needed to clear the front axle.
From my research I was able to find just two examples of a mk3 with this conversion, one of which was a manual like mine. Luckily, the guy had posted CAD drawings of a flywheel and transmission adapter to the forum thread. I downloaded the drawings and got some quotes for the work, but was getting crazy quotes, way beyond what I wanted to spend. Working for a steelwork company, we have some half-decent CNC machines, one of which I figured was probably up to the task of doing the transmission adapter. I imported the CAD file and the final result actually came out pretty good, especially considering our machines aren't really made for this kind of precision stuff.
It's a little rough around the edges as far as the profile goes, but the important part is the hole positions, and they are absolutely spot on.
For the flywheel, I decided to order a solid flywheel conversion for the 3.2 engine and compare it to the CAD model I had of the custom 1UZ-to-Mitsubishi flywheel. It wouldn't work as-is of course, but I drew a flywheel adapter and had my son make it for me in college (he's an apprentice engineer with Renishaw). It came out great (raw material on the right, finished product apart from tapping on the left):
I took the flywheel to a local machine shop to be machined to fit to the hub, overall cost was considerably less than having a flywheel made from scratch.
In the mean time whilst waiting for other parts to arrive, I gave the engine a bit of a spruce up. I removed the intake manifold and throttle body, and painted it in black wrinkle paint:
And I removed the cam covers, and did them in bright red:
And here is the engine with them refitted, and a bit more of a clean:
Pretty much all the parts to make a start are here now:
I'll keep this thread updated with my progress, and sorry for the random sizes and quality of the pics, I asved them from my FB uploads. Pics will be better from now on