Which Engine For My Ke55 Coupe

[bennyjbelle]

I'm new to the wonderful world of corollas and I'd like to know what is the best engine for my ke55 coupe. These are my priorities:

 

- Want a relatively straight forward conversion ( nothing too crazy)

 

- I don't need anything too powerful, just hoping for more grunt than my 4k .

 

Any ideas?

[7000rpm]

Hi Ben,

 

A 5k is the most straight forward easy swap. Gives more torque due to larger bore size.

[B.L.Z.BUB]

Whats your budget and mechanical ability?

[oldeskewltoy]

Is it important to keep it "period correct"? Do you want an engine that was available at the time your car was built, or would you swap in a newer engine if that fits your criteria???

Edited September 27, 2014 by oldeskewltoy

[bennyjbelle]

Ok. My budget is about $2000. I'm becoming more mech savvy but wouldn't call myself competent. I learn quickly though. For that reason I don't want too hard a project. I don't mind having to change other components of the car, but I'd like to keep it on the cheap side because the body itself needs a couple grand thrown at it too. I'm not much of a rev head, just like cruising with a bit of guts.

 

I've also read on here that you can get good results thinking with the 4k? Is it worth just investing more time and money into my 4k or will the time and money be better invested into something else?

 

I'm not too worried about keeping it original either.

 

Oh and I should mention that it's a manual.

 

 

[Banjo]

Hi Ben,

For where you are mechanically, & budget wise, I'd suggest 5K, with 5 speed box, if your existing gearbox is 4 speed. Easy swap, well within your capabilities, with instant improvement. Also a very good starting point, if you want to take it further by upgrading ignition & carby components. The money you have left over should be spent on upgrading front brakes.

 

Also, once you've got the bits & pieces together, it's something you can swap over in a weekend. A swap to another type of engine could have your rolla off the road for weeks/months.

 

Let us know what you decide, and don't forget to take a few pics & post on here.

 

Cheers Banjo

[altezzaclub]

...and if you can't find a 5K just modify your 4K!

 

Single DCOE Weber, cam grind, extractors and sports exhaust, skim the head, some porting & lighten the flyheel. It doesn't have to be noisy or hard to start/drive, but it will make a big difference. Then you can bore the 4K out to 5K pistons if you're keen. A 3K head will do the compression increase if you can find one, or skim the block/4K head. That's all not hard to assemble and a great learning curve if you are starting out modifying cars.

 

As Banjo said, you don't want the car off the road for months while you sort all the motor conversion parts, and then it becomes a "never finished project" that you have sunk a couple of thousand bucks into..

 

Run that for a couple of years while you do the body and amass the parts for a 2T or 4AGE conversion!

[bennyjbelle]

Some great food for thought here. Thanks. I've actually got a second 4k sitting there that came with the car. Might start tinkering with that while I do the body. Will post photos soon.

[7000rpm]

Altezzaclub, can most 4ks take the overbore to 5k?

[altezzaclub]

I've got evidence of 5 or so in 'The Girls KE70' build from different forums which all seem very successful, so I was keen to do Richard's with his. We built a 345K last year, a 3K head on a 4K block bored out to 5K, and he runs the single DCOE and a cam. Its great! He's meant to update his build thread on here but hasn't done it yet.

 

The shallow-dish pistons have about 6ml in the dish (Richard has the measurements we made) and that cancels out the extra size of the cylinder with the compression. I'd mill a bit off the top of all the pistons and the block to raise the compression on the next one. The 3K head does that, or just skim the 4K head.

 

It remains to be seen how long they last, but no-one has owned up to having one fail from thin cylinder walls.

[7000rpm]

Thanks for that.

 

So you didnt find any flat top pistons in that size?

 

I'm building a track car with twin 40mm sideraughts, so comp is key

 

I have what seems to be a big port 3k head, ports been worked to 32mm

Edited September 28, 2014 by Had_ke30

[altezzaclub]

So you didnt find any flat top pistons in that size?

 

Nah, we looked through the online piston catalogue over shitloads of cars, but the gudeon pin diameter and height don't seem to match any flat tops. You could take 1.5mm off the block and the 5K pistons to help, or just let the pistons rise up that much if the head gasket will let them. The 3K has a different face shape around the gasket edge to the 4K, that could be skimmed flat too..