Hi Scott:
You may have noted that I earlier mentioned a friend of mine who is doing a
4AGE conversion to a Spit. He didn't make a custom oil pan because he felt
that it would be too difficult. He removed the existing crossmember and
replaced it with two on either end of the new pan. They were made out of
rectangular tubing and are even stronger than the original. He also
lowered the steering rack 1" so that he could maintain a stock exterior.
The other mods involved cutting and reshaping the right front
suspension/spring mount in order to mount the stock alternator and using an
angle drive to provide clearance for the speedo drive.
You cannot use the stock Corolla trans but must use the one designed for
the 4AGE engine thus you need one from a GTS the same as the engine came
from. You will also need to modify the fuel tank to accept the correct
in-tank fuel pump if you use the stock fuel-injection system.
If anyone is interested in pursuing this, my friend said he'd be willing to
talk to people about it. He is not on-line however and would need to talk
by phone or through me.
John
>I've been following this thread for a while and thoght I would chime in...
>
> The spitfire/TR series cars were 4 bangers.... Light, good
>handling, well
>laid out cars. Easy to work on. The GT-6 added the extra grunt, but made
>things slightly more tight..... But what it comes down to for me is that
>these cars can really use a change of heart, a new powerplant.....
>
> My personal preference is to keep the car the way it was designed.
>Light,
>fast, well handling. Straight line power is great, but if you can't take a
>corner worth a damn I'm not going to enjoy driving it....... Therefore, 6
>or 8's aren't my idea of a good swap.
>
> So far, the only powerplant that I have heard of in this discussion and
>been interested is the rotory. The ford/chevy/rover motors are just too
>damn big for me...... My spit is a dream to work on compared to most cars
>because you can get to everything. These 6 or 8 cylendar motors change
>that quite a bit....
>
>>> LOT) lighter than the six, close to the fours in fact, and the five
> Weight..... Another point worth mentioning....
>
> So when I decided what powerplant to change to, the 4A-GE (Toyota 4
>banger) was logical and fit into the design criteria. These motors in
>stock trim range anywhere from 112hp to 165hp.... And have been outfit to
>go much beyond that (into the high 200 range) with aftermarket parts. The
>best part of the whole thing is that the size and weight of the motor is
>such that they fit in with little or no additions- maybe even a weight
>savings.
>
> The transmission for these can be taken from a Corolla, which are
>plentiful, and available in the 5 speed version. Overall, the swap should
>cost tons of time, but not much money (under $1000 is my budget). Custom
>oil pan has to be made to clear the crossmember, a new fuel line has to be
>formed, new fuel pump for the EFI system, Custom driveshaft, plus mounting
>brackets, but it's a feasable project.
>
> The car, when finished, will be street legal, handle as well as the
>original, have at least double the horses, plus EFI reliability. That's
>starting with the lowest rated hp motor of the series- there's much in the
>way for improvement.
>
>>For a Spitfire or a GT6?? I don't know.
> I would argue that the 12B or the 4A-GE are better alternatives.
>Handling, weight, reliability. Or if you feel like starting at 250+hp, go
>3S-GTE (2 liter turbo'd motor). These are all small motors......
>
> Differentials are the parts that i have yet to figure out... Either I
>will put in a GT6 diffy to handle the extra torque, or try to retorfit a
>Supra IRS/LSD unit.
>
> My swap will start sometime in Late Feb, and I will be putting all the
>neccessary parts on CAD for future fabrication.... This swap has so much
>potential for the car that I'd like for it to be readily availble to others
>who want to do the same swap without the research. The end result is a spit
>with a 1.6 liter motor, faster, lighter, 5speeds, and highly reliable.
>
> Just my 2 cents worth....
>
>Scott
>
>Some people are alive simply because it is against the law to kill them.....
>
>http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~ssdavis1
>80 Corolla GT-S TE720408517 4A-GE T-50 4.1:1
>80 Corolla Wagon TE7250* 3cylendar 3T-C (soon to be 13T-U) Automatic
>79 Triumph Spitfire 1500 convertable Soon to be 4A-GE/T-50
>85Coupe/85LB Corolla GT-S parts cars
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