Greene Posted August 29, 2007 Report Posted August 29, 2007 Hi all i just bought a 82 KE70 5 speed and i am looking at a heart transplant on the cheap. a mate of mine has an L20 their willing to part with for free and i am wondering how straight forward this conversion would be??? any help would be much appreciated :D Quote
7shades Posted August 29, 2007 Report Posted August 29, 2007 x 2 L20's are a boat anchor. Don't bother. The time/money ratio would not equal the perfomance gained. Quote
anastasios Posted August 29, 2007 Report Posted August 29, 2007 yea u will notice the difference if you do suspension mods first, use a worked k series motor or even a 4ac, or evennnn a ge Quote
jamesrolla Posted August 30, 2007 Report Posted August 30, 2007 go fro it man, woudl be bloody awsoem, even stokc l20's get going allright especially in a tiny little rolla, if ya can get all the aprts liek engine, box mounts bit of tail shaft and all that gear it wont take much to chuck it all in and you could do it really cheaply, the only problem you might run into is the height of the l20 due to increased stroke, nothing a bit of a bulge in the bonnet cnat fix, and you may eventually decide to go back to an l16 or an l18 and they should fit fine height wise just my 2c Quote
7shades Posted August 30, 2007 Report Posted August 30, 2007 L18 is a MUCH better motor... loses a bit of torque over the L20 but loves to rev... Problem with L motors is they require twin carbs and headers to provide any useful power... that kinda blows a hole in the budget right there. Oh and the gearbox won't fit in the ke70 tunnel without flogging the snot out of it and cutting the chassis reinforcement away for the shifter hole. Quote
NoPsi Posted August 30, 2007 Report Posted August 30, 2007 I had one in a 1200 sedan. Yeah we flogged the snot out of the transmission tunnel. As was stated above not a bad motor. L18 does rev better as it has a shorter stroke and yes you will need to look at twin carbs and headers for more power. The best option we had was L18 block and rods with l20 crank (I think) and L20 pistons. This way we got L18 short stroke combined with L20 capacity. Quote
Jordan Posted August 30, 2007 Report Posted August 30, 2007 (edited) he best option we had was L18 block and rods with l20 crank (I think) and L20 pistons. This way we got L18 short stroke combined with L20 capacity. Now lets just look at what you've said: swapping cranks/rods/pistons between blocks is common place so that ok :D However when you change to a longer stroke crank (in this case the L20) you increse the stroke, which is the whoe idea. Jordan P.S: spending money on a L20 is like spending money on a toyota R series engine (-RG virsions excluded, we're talking iron, non-crossflow heads here, stuff like the 2R, 4R, 18R.) It sounds like a good idea, it even feels like a good idea, and when people tell you not to it makes you want to do it all the more. However as all have found out, unless your class racing (and you're not) it is a bad idea. Especially when you have to go to the effort of swapping one into a different chassie. Edited August 30, 2007 by Jordan Quote
jamesrolla Posted August 30, 2007 Report Posted August 30, 2007 twin su's are cheap enough for l series motors on ebay now and you should be able to pick up a set of cheap old extractors for an L motor pretty easy, go for it man Quote
tas_ae71 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Posted August 31, 2007 dude, you could put a 2tc or 2tg in or 3tc/2tg hybrid.. think baout it alot better and reasyer options... t series k series and a series motors all bolt in! as do the box's and tailshafts with very minimum that would have to be spend on custom parts and hours of labor. the money you save on the engine conversion you could be spending getting power for of the motor that just 'bolted in' be smart go with toyota or buy a datsun for your datsun motor.. Quote
NoPsi Posted August 31, 2007 Report Posted August 31, 2007 Now lets just look at what you've said: swapping cranks/rods/pistons between blocks is common place so that ok :cool: However when you change to a longer stroke crank (in this case the L20) you increse the stroke, which is the whoe idea. Aha there that is why I said 'I think.' That means it was still L18 crank. It was a while ago. Thank you for correcting me. It was for class racing. Quote
Badger Posted September 4, 2007 Report Posted September 4, 2007 hey mate id go for it somethin diffrent the l series motors are a good motor when built right i got an l20 in a 1200 ute pushin 200 horsies at the wheels good fun! they are a tall motor so make shore you mount it right try to keep the sump bulge high as ya can. thats my 2 bob anywayz good luck with it. Quote
Corolla1 Posted September 4, 2008 Report Posted September 4, 2008 L18 is a MUCH better motor... loses a bit of torque over the L20 but loves to rev... Problem with L motors is they require twin carbs and headers to provide any useful power... that kinda blows a hole in the budget right there. Oh and the gearbox won't fit in the ke70 tunnel without flogging the snot out of it and cutting the chassis reinforcement away for the shifter hole. the l20 are better than l18 its all in the flywheel l20 more responsive than l18 both are all good engines ive had em both in this buggy i like l20 more Quote
machg Posted September 5, 2008 Report Posted September 5, 2008 I reckon you'd be dissappointed with a standard L20. They are a tough engine and handle mods well, but that all takes $$$ Quote
Redwarf Posted September 6, 2008 Report Posted September 6, 2008 I reckon this thread is over twelve months old, too........ Quote
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