MG Sports Cars

So anyway, been doing alot of research on the various Toyota twincam conversions that folks have done. One I have seen is a 1st generation 4AGE from a Corolla GTS the RWD one with the distributor driven off the front of the head from the exhaust cam. A nice 16v motor that makes 115 or so stock. The other has a Japanese market "Silvertop" 20v engine and those make 150 stock, but, the distributor is driven off the back of the cam so the heater tray may have to get trimmed out or removed.

Then,,,, dah dah dah,,,, there is the "BEAMS" 3SGE that is physically not much larger than a 4AGE and displaces either 2.0 or 2.2 liters and makes 210 friggin horsepower stock.

Any of these motors is relatively easy to acquire from the many JDM motor dealers for quite a bit less than it would cost me to build a 100hp 1275. A 1275 that would probably be shorth lived.

Opinions anyone?

BTW, before I decided to pursue the swap idea I succesfully installed a Rivergate 5 speed conversion kit with a nice Datsun 210 transmission. So the 5 speed setup will be for sale after the swap is complete if anyone is interested. I have $1100 in the trans swap including the kit and trans,, will be open to offers.

Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/23/2009 11:16PM by jayrz.

Jay, all three engines sound interesting. Have you checked the height from the crank centerline to the top of the cam cover on any of them? That's the problem I found when looking at a lot of OHC engines for swaps, too tall to clear the stock hood at the front because of the rather steep downward slope of the Midget hood. You can set the engine back some, but unless the bell housing is pretty small you'll get into a lot of footwell mods. Not that I'm against modifying hoods of course, but a lot of guys want to retain the stock look if possible.
Engine height is one of my recommended three measurements to see if an engine would make an easy swap. I check to see if the bellhousing will fit between the foot wells at the firewall, the length of the engine from the rear face to the front pulley, and the height from crank center to top of the cam cover or valve cover. If those three will fit the car then the engine is usually an easy fit with a minimum of fabrication.

They look to be a good fit.

Another pic

Georgous fit. Looks like the US answer to the K series swap the guys over in the UK are doing. I almost wish I'd found this engine combination before I did my V6.

I can't wait. The body of the midge is black and pretty straight and the interior is all new in red. Door panels didn't match the seat kits i got from Moss so I had them recovered in a vinyl i matched at a local shop.
Car still as the drums in front but I have the disc brake control arms, spindles and calipers from a later disc brake car to install. It just needs to get warm enough out here so that i can tear into it all and get the stuff ready to install. What i really want is a split master with a seperate front and rear master and an adjustable bias bar. It's only money right?

JAYRZ
Fit looks fine. Any pictures of engine compartment prior to engine installation with frame mounts and engine mounts also pictures of clearance between crossmember?
Thanks Joe

How would the 3SGE engine be converted to RWD? Supra components?

Bolts to a W58....

My choice would have been a "BEAMS" 3SGE but they are still pretty new and pretty pricey.

3SGE to RWD,

The locost 7 guys have used/ investigated using this motor as have the RWD drifter crowd.

Check out this link to a very helpful page on the subject.


[www.geocities.com]

Jay