I've seen such a conversion in a 1500 Spit. I don't know the letter of the
Toyota engine. All I know is that it was an engine & trans from a mid to
late 70s 1.6 liter Toyota (Corolla I think?). Very clean. Original Spit
bonnet with no mods, and IIRC, no cut on the firewall. Maybe some brakets
for the engine supports and something about the trans cover. The shift
lever was almost at the same location as the original transmission.
Very clean indeed, looked factory (I had to take a double look to noticed it
wasn't the original engine) and the guy said that reliability was what you'd
come to expect from Toyota with the added bonus of a 5 speed transmission.
I'll try do get more info on it but it may take a while (I probably won't
see the guy, which I don't even know his name, before next Spring)
Cheers
Steph
Ottawa, Canada
'69 Spit - Hers (Parked for the winter)
'71 TR6 - Mine (In pieces!)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Norby, Mark A" <NorbyMA@LOUISVILLE.STORTEK.COM>
To: "'Nolan Penney'" <npenney@mde.state.md.us>; <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 11:51 AM
Subject: RE: Toyota conversion available
>
> There was an interesting site on the net, detailing putting Toyota engines
> and gearboxes into Spridgets. They were using the T-series engines, and
> required a bit of cutting on the Spridget, but no external (bonnet) mods.
I
> wonder if it would work for a Spitfire, and if the separate transmission
> tunnel would eliminate most of the cutting necessary on the Spridget?
>
> I can get engine and trans anytime for $150, and I see lots of performance
> pieces reasonably priced. Apparently, they last a long time when putting
> out 125hp.
>
> There are good pics here too.
> http://www.team.net/www/mg/tech/midget/engswapa.html
> <http://www.team.net/www/mg/tech/midget/engswapa.html>
>
> Don't know of any of these that have been done - anyone heard of this in a
> Spitfire?
>
> -Mark
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nolan Penney [mailto:npenney@mde.state.md.us]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 6:00 AM
> To: spitfires@autox.team.net
> Subject: Toyota conversion available
>
>
> Lying in a junkyard in Maryland is a complete Toyota engine and
transmission
> converted
> roundtail Spitfire The junkyard is Voughts, and it's northwest of
Baltimore
> by about 20
> miles.
>
> This is no jewel in the rough! It's completely stripped of all trim and
the
> entire interior.
> The paint is long gone, and has been replaced by rust. Though the car is
> not terribly
> rotted at all. There is the most god awfull ugly hoodscoop covering most
of
> the
> original bonnet to allow the engine to fit.
>
> Voughts being who and what they are, probably want at least a grand for
the
> car.
> It isn't worth it. But it is worth looking at and studying. The
conversion
> appears
> to be quite well done mechanically. It's also a great case study of why
not
> to do
> it. The engine is either an L series, or possibly an 18R. With the
engine
> back
> against the fire wall, it still sticks as far forward as a GT-6 engine
does.
> It's
> also tall, real tall. That's why the hoodscoop was used. Not even a GT-6
> bonnet would clear this engine. And clearing the valve cover is only part
> of the battle, the next part is clearing the carburetor. The installer
made
>
> an interesting custom intake system on it, but it's still high. The
> transmission
> tunnel is custom fabricated, but looks quite nice. A series of flat
> pannels,
> much like a Cobra or other kit car would use. Stock rear end was left
alone
> it appears.
>
|