cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,580
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Since the Weekender all I've been able to think of is Engine conversions... every day!  . Mainly as my Car was so slow on track then when I got home my 2.0 Capri felt only a tiny bit quicker than the Escort! I did just notice theres a new thread on unusual conversions but i've been thinking, what modern engine conversions are people doing (such as Vauxhall Red Tops into 80s Cavaliers) to their older Cars? I was really impressed by paulwoolley91 VW Passat Estate with the 1.9 TDI conversion, never seen that before! Are people using these Audi/Vw engines and putting them in older Audi 100s etc? I can imagine Audi A3s would be a great doner Car for some conversions unless its too hard with the ECU? Also, I can imagine some older french stuff must be ripe for some modern engines swaps? Its a world I don't know a lot about. Back to Fords I had a great chat with Mike (FPE) at RRW about what can be done to make a budget conversion etc. (i'm deep in Zetec threads/videos as we speak). Although, it looks like the engines are getting a bit more expensive now from looking online? I've noticed over the last few days i'm seeing less mk1 Focus's you could buy for cheap to harvest the engine from. Anyway, heres a pretty cool sleeper Cavalier to kick off with... |
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Alot of engines such as the redtop, zetec, ect now come with a "scene tax" which has pushed prices up. Putting an engine from another make into your car is becoming more popular as you get more bang for your buck.
You can find alot of family saloons with 200ish hp for cheap if your willing to think outside the box.
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1988 Mercedes w124 superturbo diesel 508hp
1996 Mercedes s124 e300 diesel wagon
1990 BMW E30 V8 M60 powered!
1999 BMW E46 323ci project car
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rodharris83
Club Retro Rides Member
Day Dreamer...
Posts: 760
Club RR Member Number: 4
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No help on the technical side but some inspiration?  Linky |
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A very common engine to swap in the vag world is the 1.8t from the mk4 golf/tt.
The one with the engine code bam is 225 bhp.
The aaz turbo diesel is another popular vag engine used in swaps.
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pow
Part of things
Posts: 110 
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I had a Golf Mk3/Audi 80 TDI 90bhp motor in a VW T2 - that went well for what it was.
Just finished putting a 1.7 from a Puma into a KA and started it yesterday. Engine conversions always seem to fail at wiring. As the KA is a track-focused car, I stripped the entire looms out of both cars and have put 99% of the puma loom (front to back) into the ka, I've only jointed the headlights, rear lights and fuel pump to save dropping the tank.
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Depends how deep you want to go really. It's possible to get pretty much anything to fit pretty much anything, but how much is left of the original car I'm not sure! You could probably work out the difficulty with a bit of a list like so: - How handy are you with fabrication/how much are you willing to learn? (if you're not handy and not willing to learn, best keep to the first 2 yesses)
- Has it been done before? Or something similar? (RV8 swaps into MGBs are very well documented, whereas I've never seen a Toyota V12 put into an MX5)
- Is the donor engine the same basic block as the original? (Triumph 2.5TC engine into a 2000)
- If not, was it used in different models of the same car? (Triumph I6 in a Spitfire)
- If it's different, does it bolt up to the same gearbox as was used in the original? (say, various XU blocks into Peugeot 205s)
- If it's different, does it physically fit in the engine bay? Would it with minimal cutting? (M62 V8s will fit snugly in E36 engine bays, 1UZs will fit in RX8s with a minor chop to a bulkhead stiffening plate)
- If it doesn't fit on the stock gearbox, is it in the right configuration (longitudinal/transverse), is there a version in the right configuration, or can conversion kits be bought? (O-Series engines are normally transverse, but can bolt up to SD1 or Leyland Sherpa LT77s)
- If it's got electronic injection/ignition, will the ECU be happy just plonked into another car? (Jag AJ6 ECUs are coded to manual/automatic but otherwise swappable, E46 ECUs will need mapping to et them to ignore all the missing body modules)
- How much other stuff will need to be changed to make it work? (cable to hydraulic clutch, weak axles, fuel tanks etc.)
I'm sure I'm missing some considerations, but it's a good ballpark to go out and find out what you fancy doing  Another knack is finding desirable engines that were put in undesirable cars. Things like 206 GTIs can still be had for very little money, and they've got awesome 2.0 16v engines. 90s-00s Peugeot engines in general are excellent things. Or if you've got a 205, you can get a 2.0l turbocharged XU10J2TE from minivans like the Lancia Phedra (not so common here, but if you have a mate who can speak French or German then there's lots on the continent). It's probably a better starting point to find a car you like (or alternatively a car that's cheap) and then go searching for what's swapped into them. Or perhaps you could start with an engine package that could work well and go searching for a car to put it in. |
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,864
Club RR Member Number: 58
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I've never seen a Toyota V12 put into an MX5 Ahem 👀 |
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I've never seen a Toyota V12 put into an MX5 Ahem 👀 ...wow. So you can find literally anything on the internet  |
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rlw7w
Part of things
Posts: 30
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As i wanted a nice reliable daily that would be fast and economical i engine swapped my alfa giulia.
LPG was an option but soon discarded die to the extra tank needed.
Alfa had a nice 2.0 TS engine from the 75 that fits with some modifications but these fetch serious money nowadays.
In the end i got an alfa 156 2.4jtd for 100 euro's as a donor. I used engine, wiring harness, dials, steering column and fuel pump from it.
Since the 156 is fwd with a transverse engine and the giulia rwd with a longitudinal engine it needed some work to make it fit. Custom sump, motormounts and an adapterplate to fit an Opel Omega rwd gearbox to the engine were made. Then i needed a long final drive because of the diesels lower rev range. Long ratio small solide axles don't really exist so i made an irs with various BMW parts..
The car is made of about 30 different makes and types of cars. It works remarkably well considering that. Common sense and daring to try something out of the box will help you. But for a first project i would recommend a smaller project...
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. Mainly as my Car was so slow on track then when I got home my 2.0 Capri felt only a tiny bit quicker than the Escort! 
