sebatron Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 hi. probably a bit forthcoming as a first post, but i've got an opportunity to pick up a ke25 for cheap. i've had a couple of fastish cars, i'm into bikes at the moment but looking for a runaround. ke25 sounds good :D anyway. i'm a mechanical engineering student, looking for a whacky project as well as a runaround... now, i'm all for putting newer engines into classic cars, but i dunno, a 4AGE doesn't really appeal to me. sooo.. since they came with 1.3l engines (i think?), and they're RWD, i'm thinking an R1 or hayabusa motor conversion. R1's were carbied in the early days, which makes things a little simpler. in any case they'd produce a fair whack more power and torque than 3k or 4k. obviously i'd have some messing to do mating up a gearbox to it, but i could probably get away with some crazy-ass diff ratio and make it work (and be fun) but i'm just wondering, has anyone done it before? an r1 engine being a yamaha, sorta keeps it in the toyota family.. :doublebird: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demuire Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 In case you're thinking of putting this into a road car, you won't be able to get it engineered, due to different emissions standards for cars and bikes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebatron Posted April 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 grimwolge: i was going to look at removing the standard transmission and getting a bell housing made up to accept a car rwd transmission. not sure whether i'd prefer (financially) to get the gear ratios changed, or just change the diff ratio and get a "tough" tranny to start with. demuire: the thought had crossed my mind, but i'm kinda thinking despite there being different sets, that an r1 or busa motor, particularly the EFI busa motor, would have better emissions than a corolla from 1973, regardless of it's 2 wheeled status. i haven't looked that far into it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demuire Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 (edited) Nick: I'm not certain on this, but I was talking about this to someone the other day, he was showing me some 3-wheeled motorcycle-powered kit "cars" in from America and the UK. Anyway, the problem is the engine has to meet emissions of the engine itself (which I'm sure it won't have a problem doing), and motorcycle engines aren't tested for emissions the same as car engines are. So, in order to get a car like this engineered, you'll not only need to get all the mechanicals engineered (which would likely be a nightmare), you'll also have to get the engine tested for emissions under "car regulations". That, as you can guess, would cost a lot of money. Some Locost people down south had to get a modified silvertop 4AGE tested awhile ago (to comply with current emissions, since the silvertop is an older engine and they're putting it into a "new" car), and I remember it taking a lot of time, and ending up costing a lot of money. But now they sell the modified computer etc to other Locost builders who want to use silvertop 4AGE's in their cars, so they're slowly getting the money back... Or something along those lines. Just the same, to get my car engineered it had to comply with regulations of a 1991 4AGE, not a 1975 Corolla... Edited April 19, 2005 by demuire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demuire Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 (edited) Well yes, if it's a track car (or non-road-registered car), then by all means, GO FOR IT! :D On the other hand, if it's a road car, then I'd say apart from "cool factor", the costs vs value of such a project would probably be rather skewed, and it would be a lot easier to just start of with a car engine. Or build a 4 wheeled "bike" or something. I think to qualify as a "bike" in Oz, it has to have handlebars, and you have to sit astride the engine. And I think it has to weigh less than umm... 400kg? Or some figure like that. I don't know of any other restrictions, but I don't think it matters how many wheels you actually have... Edited April 19, 2005 by demuire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coln72 Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 I think Fast Fours and Rotaries had an article on an Escort that had something like this done to it. Don't know what edition it was in. I think it was a track car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Jamie Posted April 19, 2005 Report Share Posted April 19, 2005 street registered, no however there's an escort racecar which has a turbo motorbike motor in it, and it friggin hauls ass! ben posted a video of it somewhere :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebatron Posted April 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 i definitely want to keep it front engine rear drive. as for keeping it streetable, emissions wouldn't be a problem as we've kinda established... as for noise, well, being an old car it'd be allowed 96dB at 75% of peak rev's... a busa revs to 12,800rpm, so assuming that, it'd have to be below 96dB at about 9600rpm should be doable. what i'm worried about is the gearbox conundrum. might go talk to a gearbox guy about adapting an rx7 box to a busa motor. since they rev fairly high anyway, adapting the diff ratios to suit shouldn't be terribly difficult. anyway to summarise: -street car -front engine, rwd -stripped down as much as legally allowed to minimise dead weight if it can't be done relatively affordably, i'm more likely to go down the 20v 4age way. but i really, really don't wanna do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerhead Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 Hey guys, watched a escort a while back, some vids for download. Think i read about it on here or some other forum. http://www.situne.no/ Enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Jamie Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 that's the escort i'm talking about! turboed cbr900rr engine, using the original 6 speed bike gearbox with a custom flange onto the output shaft, then a lengthened 2-piece tailshaft to the live axle i don't think a motorbike engine would be that good in a street car. like have you actually ridden any of the top end bikes these days? or even ridden ON one? sure an R1 makes 180hp or whatever, but it makes it at like 15000rpm. riding around "normally" at 7500rpm the thing's still sputtering because it's not even on cam yet! maybe a cruise bike motor like an FJR1300 would have more torque and linear power delivery, but i still think it would be too peaky in a street registered car. you could always turbo or supercharge the motor but how much money do you want to spend? a forced 20v would give a much more driveable car. and if you don't want to do that, then there are plenty of other street car motor options too. FR-mount a 4G36 evo motor like the jett racing datto 1200 ute, THAT would be a different project :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kangaroosa Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 I don't know if anyone has thought about the "Aussie Legends" race cars. These run a 1200cc motorbike engine with a motor bike dog box and yes they do have reverse. They even run a modified toyota diff. :D The link below will answer most of your questions. Hope it helps. http://www.aussieracingcars.com.au/faq.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Jamie Posted April 20, 2005 Report Share Posted April 20, 2005 (edited) travis edwards (of much 4age ke10 fame) has an aussie legend, he was one of the first oldcorollas people who partook in the meets we started having pre-rollaclub. you'll see him on tv, i sms him when he has a bit crash and i see it :D he reckons all up, the series costs him about $50k/year. i got the original 1K motor out of his car and a few other spares which i still have lying around aussie legend reverse is a ring gear welded to an axle flange, and a starter motor that spins it, hence the rear wheel turns in reverse Edited April 20, 2005 by Super Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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