Triumph Sports Cars

engine swaps and other performance upgrades, plus "factory" V8s (Stag and TR8)

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bowtie6
Joseph Grant
Greenville, SC
(6 posts)

Registered:
12/14/2007 10:58PM

Main British Car:
72 Triumph TR6 Chevrolet 3.4 SFI V6

TR4 now with ECOTEC power...
Posted by: bowtie6
Date: May 09, 2010 10:29AM

The TR4 ECOTEC is alive and well. It went out on the road for the first time this week. I have made a video and posted it on YouTube for all to watch and I thought you might find it interesting.

Before you start being very critical of the car from what you are about to see, understand the context of the video: the car is not finished by a longshot. It is street legal, but needs a considerable amount of work including interior, exterior (bodywork & paint) and detailing out the engine compartment as well as many other details. This was a trial run to shake out the concept and make modifications if needed. At the time when the video was made the car has less than 100 miles on it. Matter of fact, we 'set' the electronic speedo on this very same run - that is why the speedo magically starts working at the start of the video.

It works and works very well out of the box. The frame was scratch built and is very stiff. The rear end is not off the shelf: it was specifically made to fit the car - it is a narrowed 9" with a 3.70 PosiTraction solid axle. Very nice hookup. Brakes are Wilwood as well as the pedal box. Wheels are 16" Panasports.

The ECOTEC is a 2.2 Litre from a FWD car with a Solstice 5 speed. A very long time ago, we bought a bellhousing from Quad4Rods so we could use a T5 with it. The bellhousing is expensive and take a substantial amount of work to make it mate to the T5 so that is why we are using the Solstice five speed. The intake on the ECOTEC has been made from scratch as well as the headers. The engine works well, but needs tuning. We have HPTuners and have already begun tuning it. Dyno time will be in our near-future.

The bonnet and bootlid are scratch built aluminium. The dash is a mahogany with an engine turned aluminium gauge cluster. The gauges are a little misleading: the tach is canted so the shiftpoint points straight up so keep that in mind when you see it in the video. The interior needs a lot of work obviously and soon we will take the car completely apart and prep it for paint.

The exhaust is quite nice. It is a little loud but the sound comes out in the video, however it sounds even better in person. There is a small resonator and Supertrap diffusers on the tip of the exhaust. However, we might need to tune this a little better so it is not so 'loud'. The Supertraps will remain but maybe an different resonator needs to be used.

So how does it compare to BOWTIE6? The TR4 is considerably lighter - 1600lbs vs 2400lbs on my TR6. The ECOTEC does not have the torque the V6 has, but it redlines much higher. We have actually pegged the rev limiter (set at 6900 revs) several times. The TR4 hooks up different than my TR6 - the difference between the IRS and a solid axle. Finally, the frame on the TR4 is considerably stiffer than my TR6's. So at the end of the day, I think these two will be matched with a nudge to the TR4 since it is so much lighter than mine.

Well - here it is: [www.youtube.com]
_________________


BWA


(344 posts)

Registered:
04/13/2010 08:13PM

Main British Car:


Re: TR4 now with ECOTEC power...
Posted by: BWA
Date: May 09, 2010 11:26PM

I watched the video and I am impressed. In my research for an appropriate engine for my 76 TR6 I have narrowed down my search to either an ecotec/t5 transmission or a Gm v6/t6 transmission. I am presently getting my garage ready for the transplant so in about a month I may have the engine and transmission to work on for the next phase. I may be asking you some questions in the not too distant future. Keep up the good work.
I found another guy on the web that is putting a supercharged Pontiac v6 in his TR6. Here is the link to his website. [mpenny.com]

Have a great day.
Byron


Danimal
Dan North
Shuswap, BC
(1 posts)

Registered:
04/01/2009 12:39AM

Main British Car:
'72 Triumph Spitfire 2.2L L61 Ecotec

authors avatar
Re: TR4 now with ECOTEC power...
Posted by: Danimal
Date: May 13, 2010 04:10PM

Love it - and you're a shred ahead of me:

[sideways-technologies.co.uk]

'72 Spitfire, 2.2L L61 Ecotec. I'll be retaining the stock intake manifold (for now, anyway). The custom exhaust header is about 1/2 built now. Rear end is stock Spitfire, but I'll upgrade that to rotoflex / CV / Coilover / upper link setup later, perhaps with a different differential (Toyota Supra / Ford Sierra / ?)

I went with the Quad4Rods bell and had no problem mating it to a GM T5 - but I know it won't fit a Ford T5; maybe that was your issue?

I still have a long way to go to "finished car", but I'm shooting to have it power down the road before the summer is over.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2011 01:32PM by Danimal.


Moderator
Curtis Jacobson
Portland Oregon
(4576 posts)

Registered:
10/12/2007 02:16AM

Main British Car:
71 MGBGT, Buick 215

authors avatar
Re: TR4 now with ECOTEC power...
Posted by: Moderator
Date: May 17, 2010 12:10PM

Very cool video. The engine sounds great!

Take lots of photos... we need more Triumphs in our photo gallery.


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