Dear List,
I'm standing at a relevant crossroads with my own car. Recently I was given
a Toyota 4AGE 1600cc twin cam engine; that's given, as in free.... Several
years ago I replaced the badly smoking 1147cc lump with a 1500cc out of a
parts car (I believe the 1147 was a replacement for the original 948cc
although I've not yet purchased a heritage certificate for either of my
cars).
At the time of my first engine swap I also did quite a few mods to the
suspension for autocross, so you can see the direction I've been going with
this car. Now the 1500cc is down to ~5 psi oil pressure when it gets hot so
I know it's days are limited. The Toyota engines physical dimensions are
almost exactly the same as the Triumph, and it should put out at least twice
the power. This thing is basically a Japaneese copy of a Cosworth BDA, it's
the same engine design as used for Toyota Formula Atlantic so there's some
serious horsepower potential if I so choose.
Obviously the main component that needs to be remediated is the third
member. I broke the original Herald pumpkin with the 1147 so I expect
replacement with a Mazda RX7 straight axle would be the recommended
procedure. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this sort of thing to a
Herald or Spitfire. I know there's a few rotary Spits out there, and at
least one rotary Herald so what did you do to get power to the ground? Those
of you who might belive that Heralds should be preserved as original
examples of the fine automotive engineering that they truly are can line up
to bid on my car before I bastardize it. Bidding starts at $6000 usd :^)
Cheers,
John Matthews
'61 Herald
'63 TR 4
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