[barros]

excellent choice my mate had one years ago revved like hell .now get started on it drag old lump out its winter so nothin else to do

[Christian]

barros, on 02 December 2009 - 05:21 PM, said:

excellent choice my mate had one years ago revved like hell .now get started on it drag old lump out its winter so nothin else to do

Already one step ahead of you! The engine's out balancing on some beer crates in my garage.

Now who knows someone that can make me a box adapter?

[barros]

there are some good laser cutting sites around its not that hard to do honest most important part is getting thickness correct block to gearbox shaft to make sure its not ramming through the engine lol.

This post has been edited by barros: 02 December 2009 - 06:15 PM

[Christian]

Major Update (Project U-Turn!): 27th January 2010

I've not made much progress on the Imp front since I last posted - too much on at work, too cold etc (too many excuses) But I have been collecting parts and tools to crack on once the evenings get warmer. Notable purchases include some lovely 18v tools for the garage, including a cordless grinder and an awesome impact wrench, but most importantly, one of these - a Daihatsu designed, Toyota 1KR-FE (http://en.wikipedia....oyota_KR_engine) as fitted to Aygo's, C1's and 107's.



Probably not the first engine you'd expect, but these are actually the lightest mass-production engines ever made - even lighter than the standard imp engine! And despite only having 65bhp, they can be safely boosted to more than double that! Plus they're cheap - I got mine from a 6000 mile, 2 year old 107 for just £200!

[delmastiff]

Inspired choice I'd say!! Slap a blower on it and 120 horses should give you an awesome power to weight

[Christian]

delmastiff, on 27 January 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

Inspired choice I'd say!! Slap a blower on it and 120 horses should give you an awesome power to weight

That's the plan. Banzai magazine supercharged an Aygo last year and got it making 120bhp on the standard EFI and engine management!

[Christian]

The Aygo engine arrived last week so I began working out how i'm going to mate it to the Imp box. Looks like my easiest option will be to make an adapter plate for the Imp box to fit the Aygo bellhousing. That way I should be able to get it fitting perfectly and also keep the Aygo starter motor & cable clutch assembly.




The Aygo flywheel mated up to the Imp gearbox - definitely isn't going to fit!



Imp flywheel on the Aygo engine:



The two mated together:




The next step is to track down an Aygo gearbox to massacre. While that's happening i'm refurbishing, cleaning up and POR-15'ing the underside.

[Blackbullet]

Great progress and interesting engine choice

[Christian]

Thanks mate. Hopefully one day my engine will end up looking like this...

 747b475b5b079cca76034de430cf34b9.jpg (95.25K)
Number of downloads: 2

[slammed 66]

Very very odd engine choice Christian.

I really like it :-D

it's odd projects like this that keep me interested in classic cars and also frustate me for my own lack of ability/motivation.

What are you using as your daily now? Did you ever sell that mx5?

[Christian]

slammed 66, on 17 February 2010 - 01:59 AM, said:

Very very odd engine choice Christian.

I really like it :-D

it's odd projects like this that keep me interested in classic cars and also frustate me for my own lack of ability/motivation.

What are you using as your daily now? Did you ever sell that mx5?

Thanks mate. It is an odd choice, but just as long as my accelerator doesn't stick it'll be a good'un

My daily driver is a '03 Civic Type R, not very retro but great fun. I sold the MX5 for peanuts about a year ago.

Here's some pictures of last nights progress or should I say metallurgy!

I started off with one rusty rear trailing arm (this pic is after a quick wire-wheeling) -



And ended up with this - all thanks to POR-15 Marine Clean and Metal Ready



I got a lick of paint on it, but my camera batteries died before I could get a picture.

Can anyone suggest how I might get a decent amount of paint inside the arm itself?

[vauxsenb]

Just a thought . . .rather than paint . . .
How about some cavity wax type product injected from an air-line pressure fed gun with a long tube nozzle, and drill small holes in various places to complete the job??

[Whiteblock]

Have you already ruled out using the (smaller/ lighter?) Imp flywheel and starter motor?

Wouldn't it clear the Toyota Block?

Are you planning to keep the new motor more upright, or alter it to alow it to lay over inclined a bit more like the original?

Permanently mating the engine and gearbox looks like by far the biggest job ahead.

[Christian]

Whiteblock, on 20 February 2010 - 10:07 AM, said:

Have you already ruled out using the (smaller/ lighter?) Imp flywheel and starter motor?

Wouldn't it clear the Toyota Block?

Are you planning to keep the new motor more upright, or alter it to alow it to lay over inclined a bit more like the original?

Permanently mating the engine and gearbox looks like by far the biggest job ahead.

Was there a smaller lighter Imp flywheel?

[Whiteblock]

Sorry, a bit confusing.

I just meant that the Imp flywheel being smaller than the Toyota one and already lining up with the starter motor mounting might mate up to the Toyota crankshaft, but if the engine is to sit at a different angle the starter would most likely foul the block in the original position.

If you are thinking of butchering a Toyota gearbox/ bellhousing it sounds like you plan to keep the Toyota flywheel though?

You could have the Toyota flywheel turned down in diameter to accept the Imp ring gear if that helped?

You could even mount the starter motor on new brackets to fit alongside the gearbox rather than alongside the engine and reverse polarity at a push?

Or just bracket the Toyota starter motor to the engine (in combination with a DIY gearbox adaptor plate) and cut away clearance in the Imp bellhousing for its nose?

If you keep the Toyota unit upright, will it clear the bootlid for height?

[Christian]

Whiteblock, on 21 February 2010 - 09:28 PM, said:

Sorry, a bit confusing.

I just meant that the Imp flywheel being smaller than the Toyota one and already lining up with the starter motor mounting might mate up to the Toyota crankshaft, but if the engine is to sit at a different angle the starter would most likely foul the block in the original position.

If you are thinking of butchering a Toyota gearbox/ bellhousing it sounds like you plan to keep the Toyota flywheel though?

You could have the Toyota flywheel turned down in diameter to accept the Imp ring gear if that helped?

You could even mount the starter motor on new brackets to fit alongside the gearbox rather than alongside the engine and reverse polarity at a push?

Or just bracket the Toyota starter motor to the engine (in combination with a DIY gearbox adaptor plate) and cut away clearance in the Imp bellhousing for its nose?

If you keep the Toyota unit upright, will it clear the bootlid for height?

Ahh right I understand. Yes I've looked at using the Imp flyweel but it's heavier and not much smaller, and although it fits, the Imp bellhousing is quite out of line of the Toyota block. I'm quite keen to use the Toyota bits so replacements and maintenance are easy, especially regarding clutches and starter motors.

The Aygo engine naturally sits about 10 degrees to one side, so I plan to tilt it over as much as I can so I don't have to butcher the Imp parcel shelf.

[gurnsimps]

That is one solid Imp mate,what a find! Imps in that condition are VERY rare they almost all need work due to the dreaded tin worm, love the choice of engine conversion,theres a k series thread on retro rides. Have you joined the Imp club yet mate?

[Christian]

gurnsimps, on 27 February 2010 - 06:50 PM, said:

That is one solid Imp mate,what a find! Imps in that condition are VERY rare they almost all need work due to the dreaded tin worm, love the choice of engine conversion,theres a k series thread on retro rides. Have you joined the Imp club yet mate?

Thanks mate, I couldn't really believe it myself when I came across it. It was even harder to believe that two other people had viewed it before me and hadn't bought it!

No haven't joined yet. I keep meaning too though.

[moomin]

Liking the engine choice!

Might be able to help you out on the adapter plate just spent 20k on heavy engineering equipment for new workshop

[Christian]

moomin, on 01 March 2010 - 07:03 PM, said:

Liking the engine choice!

Might be able to help you out on the adapter plate just spent 20k on heavy engineering equipment for new workshop

Thanks for the offer mate but I think i've found a company to help me out - hopefully I can crack on with it next month.