Engine Swap - Putting Big Motors Into Little Cars. I can read your mind. Your darkest secrets and deepest desires. Your fears and phobias. That incident in your junior year of high school? That homemade Gymkhana video and a recent chat with a friend made me remember what a classy, attractive car the Subaru Impreza GC coupe was. Toyota Tercel; Overview; Manufacturer: Toyota. In August 1980, the Tercel. Curb weight: 909 kg (2,005 lb) 1,002 kg (2,210 lb). 1980 Toyota Tercel Sudden Drop in Power?? Curbside Classic: 1979 . My very first NEW car was a 1980 Toyota Tercel 2-door sedan. Bentley Continental GT Speed gets more power, new Black Edition. With 12 cylinders and two turbochargers under its regal hood, the Bentley Continental GT Speed is. But there was a time when Honda was on fire. Just hope that I never decide to blackmail you. Don't concern yourself with that. Within your id, ego, and superego, I have determined this: You want a fast car. Easy enough. How are you going to do it? Found on eBay: 1980 Toyota Corolla Tercel. Tercel (thanks to the weight savings achieved. Toyota Tercel Paseo, if different Sera, if different from Paseo; 5E-FHE Engine: Twin cam. The Toyota Tercel was originally named. Arriving in the United States in 1980, the Tercel was a latecomer to. 1980 Toyota Tercel Ignition Parts. 1980 Toyota Tercel DLX Ignition Parts; 1980 Toyota Tercel SR5 Ignition Parts;. Well, maybe, if your name is RJ. But it's not, so you will have to keep the car you already have. I know your car is a normally aspirated slug. It can't get out of its own way. It gets humiliated by factory turbocharged Chrysler minivans (had that happen to myself, actually). What are your options? A nitrous oxide setup is one choice. It's inexpensive and effective but requires a vigilant watch to keep the bottle full and the engine from leaning out. A turbo or supercharger are the other choices. But again, care has to be taken in making sure the engine stays healthy. You want power that you don't have to worry about. This brings us to today's classroom discussion: an engine swap. The basic concept of an engine swap is installing a large engine into a small car in the hopes of having a vehicle with a very high power- to- weight ratio. Usually this means creating a vehicle configuration that is not factory original. Much of hot- rodding's history comes from engine swapping. After World War II, kids started dropping flathead Fords and Y- blocks into their Model Ts and As. In the musclecar era, special dealerships like Grand Spaulding Dodge and Don Yenko Chevrolet put engines in cars that they were never meant by their respective manufacturers to have. The most famous type of engine- swap car is Carroll Shelby's Cobra, consisting of a lightweight AC body and a 2. Ford V- 8. Today, Honda is the most popular make for engine swapping. The most positive aspect of an engine swap is the gain in horsepower without a loss in reliability. If a stock Honda Civic (1. L engine with 1. 06 hp) receives a stock Acura Integra GS- R engine (1. L engine with 1. 70 hp), the Civic gains an instant 6. And since the GS- R engine is completely stock, it should run for years without your worrying about its general health. Installing a larger engine into a car also creates a better base from which to build power. Using our example again, the stock 1. L Civic could be made to generate more than 1. But as more nitrous or turbo boost is used, the engine will reach the limits of reliability and power. With its extra displacement and generally stronger construction, the GS- R engine can handle more boost or nitrous than the Civic engine. The GS- R allows engine output to be taken to the next level. An engine swap brings with it a couple extra bonus points as well. Even people with little or no interest in cars know that a Ferrari 3. But a mid- '8. 0s Toyota Corolla? Consequently, the Corolla's lack of respect and its economy car (lightweight) status can be used to create an ideal engine swap vehicle. Nobody expects this car to have a 1. An older car is also ideal in that it is generally lighter than its modern- day counterpart. More- rigid frames, additional safety features, and more standard luxury items are to blame. The current VW Golf carries 4. Rabbit's curb weight, for example. An older car is also likely to have an aged powertrain. Rather than having the original factory engine rebuilt, why not just buy a larger engine and install that? First, let it be said that you can swap in anything if you really want to. A Monster Miata (Ford 5. L V- 8- powered Mazda Miata), a Shogun (a Ford Fiesta with rear- mounted Ford Taurus SHO V- 6 driving the rear wheels), and a Legend- powered Civic are proof of this. About 1. 5 years ago Car And Driver magazine featured a Honda CRX with two 1. L Accord engines. One Accord engine was in the stock position; the other was in the rear cargo area driving the rear wheels. It was built by Racing Beat of Anaheim, California. The point here is that any engine or car can be used. But the more extreme the swap, the more money and expertise will be required. For most people, the constraints of income and a good shop severely limit the possibilities. So what is possible? Certain cars just make better engine- swap candidates than others. A '9. 7 Prelude comes with a 1. VTEC engine. What possible engine could be installed without much hassle that would provide a serious increase of horsepower? No, not much potential engine swapping with a new Prelude. The cost- efficient thing to do is gain power through bolt- on parts. The same case could be made for a factory turbo Eclipse. Only one Mitsubishi engine is more powerful than the 2. L engine- -the 3. GT VR- 4's 3. 0. L V- 6. But that engine is already a really tight fit in the larger 3. GT. For the Eclipse and 3. GT (and a lot of other factory turbo cars), money is better spent by upgrading the existing engines and turbos. These cars also serve as a good example for cars that have trim lines with wide- ranging degrees of performance. The base 3. 00. 0GT comes with front- wheel drive and a 1. V- 6. Would it be possible to swap in the VR- 4's all- wheel- drive and turbo drivetrain? But would it be cost- effective? For the price of pulling out the base 3. GT's engine, acquiring a complete VR- 4 drivetrain, and installing it, you could buy a factory VR- 4 for less total money. A first- generation CRX is a different matter. It's lightweight, relatively old, and can accept more powerful engines from the Honda/Acura lineup without much problem. A same- generation ('8. Acura Integra engine will fit, as will the Japan- only 1. Civics and CRX Sis. Well, people have gone out and done it. It has been tested and then duplicated by other first- gen- CRX owners. Honda owners are fortunate, because there are so many people out there trying engine swaps. Most likely someone has done a swap before you and has learned what fits and what doesn't. But what if you own an '8. Mazda 3. 23? Will the '9. MX- 6's 1. 64hp V- 6 fit in your car? To be honest, we're not sure. It's quite possible, but we've never heard of anyone doing it and therefore have no basis to go either way. In this case, the ball lands in your court. You can try to find someone else who has done the V- 6 swap, but most likely you will be on your own. OK, let's say that you have a car that you are willing to perform some engine- swap magic on. Images of a reliable 1: 1. First off, you need an engine to install. If you are having a shop do your engine swap, then the shop most likely already has a line on obtaining surplus engines. Good shops sometimes have access to an engine importer, allowing the option of installing a Japanese- spec engine. Japanese- spec engines often produce more horsepower than their American counterparts. If you are locating the engine yourself, salvage yards and engine rebuilders will be your best sources. If you live in a part of the country where the import scene hasn't quite caught on yet, finding a rare engine might be difficult. In this case, contacting a mail- order engine rebuilder is the way to go. While it's distasteful to think of, there are stolen engines out there. If the price on an engine is too good to be true, it probably is. If this is something you are considering, be prepared to live with the risks and your guilty conscience (remember, I can read your mind). Before you purchase any engine, take the time to make sure it is in good condition. You will need pretty much everything including the block, head, accessories, transmission, wiring harness, and (most likely) matching computer. Keeping your engine swap legal is very important. Examine your state's vehicle code or contact the DMV to see what's legal and what's not. In California, the law says that an engine must be of the same year or newer as the car and be California emissions- legal. To avoid any hassles, it should also be of the same engine type that was originally available from the factory in that particular body style. Hmm, that's kind of a problem. Besides sidestepping the law (and we would never do anything like that), there are a couple options. The best is to have your entire car certified by the state by going to your local referee station for examination, testing, and BAR Vehicle Identification Label approval. You can call 8. 00/6. The other option (and definitely more work) is to keep the original engine on hand and swap it back in when you have to make a trip for the smog test, but we don't recommend doing it (legal reasons and all). Determining the dimensional needs of the bigger engine is the next step. Hopefully, you already know how hard it will be to install your new engine. Some engines will bolt directly in utilizing the factory engine mounts. Other more extreme engine swaps will require moving and welding new engine mounts, fabricating new engine mounts, and possibly cutting or modifying the frame. Even if an engine physically fits, it is not the end of location problems. Proper mounting is very important. Make sure that the engine is level, tight, and in the right position. If the engine is not tight or located in the right position (the right position being determined through trial- and- error of engine- swappers before you), normal engine movement can cause it to rub or even damage various accessories within the engine bay. Improperly installed Honda Prelude engines in Civics are well- known for banging their intake manifolds on the firewall when the engine torques. Engine position is also important for the transmission and axles. On front- drive vehicles, increased wear and diminished performance will occur if the axles are not aligned as straight as possible. Getting the wiring and computer right on an engine swap is probably the hardest part of the job. The engine management computer that matches the engine being swapped in should be used if at all possible. If not, the computer that's in your car might not be able to operate the new engine properly. This can range from limited performance (going into .
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