Engine Swap Options

[corollaTE27Fan]

Have been reading oodles of stuff about Ke20 engine conversions and had hope that the 4AGE route was the way to go but I am now having second thoughts.

 

The reason is that here in the UK 4AGE stuff is becoming hard to get hold of, not long ago you could buy a 'crate' rebuilt motor and gearbox complete for around £2k but shortage in supply of good secondhand engines and boxes is pushing up the price to around £5k.

 

Whatever I do i don't want to go much bigger than 1600cc to 2000cc and would prefer a twin cam as it just looks so right in the Ke20 engine bay.

 

Current thought have switched to Ford engines, especially early Cosworths, Mazda/Miata MX5's and Vauxhall 'red tops' which are plentiful in the UK.

 

Whatever I do I will be doing from scratch with no prior experience.

 

Any thoughts you folks may have would be appreciated.

[altezzaclub]

Start here-

 

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/64432-how-to-tackle-that-engine-conversion/

 

It will be harder if you use non-Toyota parts, every manufacturer has parts in common over their range, but if 4AGEs aren't around then go for what you can get.

 

There are some great non-Toyota builds on here that will point out pitfalls before you run into them. The obvious things are often the easiest, the engine mounts, the hydraulic clutch setup. Other things turn into real headaches, like getting steering clearance organised, finding an LSD diff and wiring an ECU into a basic carbed car.

 

If you are also going to upgrade the suspension, brakes etc I'd suggest you do that first and maybe swap the 3K for something hotter like a 4K or 5K using the usual cam/carbs/exhaust. That is a lot more achieveable if you're starting out in the engine conversion game, allows you to keep the KE20 on the road while you prepare a faster motor, and you can sell it later when you're prepared for the twincam conversion.

 

I like the Miata idea, RWD, 6-speed g'box, good motor, lots of research and aftermarket parts sorted out.

 

Good luck!