1uz in a mk1 capri

[racingbrett]

hey all, well iv been searching round for ages for a decent all alloy modern V8 engine to stick in my 69 capri, i was starting to think id have to settle with the high cost low performance and low reliabilty of the rover unit or go with the heavyer american V8's which would kinda ruin the handling a little. Anyways then i found this great site and im now planning on the 4.0 ltr from the ls series or from a *** import source. The cars currently a lowly 1600 GT with bw35 auto box so im figuring on using the lexus slushbox aswell (are they big units).. rear axle will be upped to a 3.0ltr lsd one (hope it will cope) the only other option i know of is a shortened 8.8 muzzy..
Any one got one of these inside the capri bay yet, and where are you mounting the engine (crossmember or to chassis rails). id love to free it up with a turbo or 2 but i reckon ill have to stick to NA tuning in the order of exhaust n intake, heads n cams then the 8 TB setup iv seen elsewhere looks promising.
i read in another post about a 10mm spacer between the rail n crossmember, why?

Cheers all Brett

 

[Peewee]

How you mount the motor and what you have to do to get it in there is determined by the shape/size of your engine bay, and the shape/location of your crossmember.

Make sure you source a sump that will require minimum modification of to fit your current crossmember.

You can't compare one install to another, unless they are similar cars.

As for the engine mounts, some people grind the current mounts off the crossmember, and weld on brackets to suit the mounts that came with the motor.
Whereas other people leave the factory mounts on the crossmember, and make new brackets to suit the motor.

How you do it is entirely up to you, and the person engineering your car

 

[racingbrett]

thanx for the advice

well im engineering the car so it will be done correct....
i realise every engine swaps different this is my 3rd one and hence why the question of where it was mounted rail/crossmember was directed after "Any one got one of these inside the capri bay yet, and where are you mounting the engine "

 

[BlownV8]

Brett,
I am doing the same project to my 70 capri. It also started life as a 1600. 1st thing to do is stiffen up the chassis, the capri is very weak and was poorly manufactured originally. In oz you can buy a rail kit for them, i guess someone in the UK would do one as well. As for diff, a 3l V6 diff is not that strong, and will not last long with a 1uz, especially after modification. Most people go with a 9", but i have chosen a toyota hilux diff. Only prob with this is the ratio selection. They range from 4.1 and up, most are 4.5. 2002 and newer diffs for hilux available in 3.71, but not as strong as the older units. The have standard 30 spline axles, and once shortened for capri, very short, and very strong.
Once you have the 1uz in the engine bay, you wont fit much more, even the std intake manifold will have troubles clearing the bonnet, you will probably have to cut out the bonnet support in the middle of the hump in the GT bonnet to get it too close. As for engine mounts, cut the ones out of the donor car for the engine, attach them to the engine, and dummy fit the whole init in the engine bay, tack the std mounts to the cross member, then remove engine and cross member, and weld them up, from memory you will need a wedge style spacer under the mounts to get a proper fit.
With the trans, i am not sure, as i havent fitted mine yet, but you will probably have to cut out the trans tunnel a little to get it to fit, the other option is a turbo 400 or 700 from GM. They are a much smaller unit than the a340/1 and will fit much easier.

Good luck with the project, keep us updated of you progress.

 

[racingbrett]

thanks Blown just what i was looking for,,
id been told by english companys that the mk1 chassis wasnt so bad and was good to around 500, more with a full weld in cage, unfortunatly no one here makes a chassis rail kit and a one of fabbed item from a shop will cost a small fortune, i have been in touch with the castlemain rod shop (i think thats right) tho and there prices seemed verry reasonable, i guess ill get one of there strengthening kits on order
ill try find a mustang 8.8 then, although i suppose a hilux unit may be easyer to obtain but i dare say the muzzie will have more available ratio's,, the 9" here costs stupid money and is out of the question.
is there any room up front of the engine, theres a spot id been looking at behind the lights for a turbo, either side and in front of the original radiator area (seperate to engine compartment n close to intercooler posistioning). Guess ill also be needing a new bonnet mine has no power buldge.
are you using the rear sump pan?
any idea on the size of the a340/1 trans and i pressume an adapter will need machining if i go for the turbo 400 or 700 trans?


Cheers Brett

 

[Peewee]

Adapter to Turbo 700/400 should be available from Castlemaine Rodshop, or Dellow (www.dellowauto.com.au).
But I just checked the site, and its not there.
Not sure now.

 

[BlownV8]

Dellow do do an adapter for the turbo series trans for the 1uz, i have a copy of their cattledog and it is listed, you need to ring them.

As for sump, not in yet, haven't fitted as yet, as i am not sure whether i will run dry sump or not yet.

Muzzie diff is good for ratios, and also more styles of centres available too like tru-trac and gold-trac. I went hilux, as i will be using 4.1 gears and detroit locker, and they were both available for that diff.

I have the castlemaine rod shop kit in my car, makes a huge difference to rigidity. They reckon their good for around 1200HP. Wouldn't that be nice in a capri.

 

[racingbrett]

lol 1200 would be something, would be worse than a puppy on a lead tho gimmie

 

[racingbrett]

Blown V8 what does the rail kit consist of, trying to picture where n how it bolts up,

 

[BlownV8]

Blown V8 what does the rail kit consist of, trying to picture where n how it bolts up,

The rail kit comprises of a few bits.
The first too go in is the rear tie bar. It bolts in at 4 locations. The front suspension mounts and the upper contral arms for the diff. It is a bar the loops down under the tail shaft and acts as a rear tail shaft catcher.

The rails them selves go in next. they bolt to the rear tie bar, and run up to the front of the car, and bolt inbetwwen the factory chassis rails and the front mounts for the front sway bar. There is also a plate on each rail that goes between the cross member and the chassis rails. There is also a u shaped bracket that cradles the factory chassis rails just infront of the factory gearbox crossmember, and botls go thru the new rails and the factory items. You need to remove the factory gearbox cross member as well, or channel it to allow the new rails to sit flush with the floor pan.

The rest is easy, just a new gearbox crossmember that bolts to the new rails and a tail shaft loop member that bolts injust behind it.

Thats about it for the rail kit.
You also get a crossmember strengthning kit. This comprises of a flat plate that you weld to the bottom of the crsoo member, and 4 angle sections that weld on at the mounting hiles for the cross member.

The kit also comes with windsor engine mounts for the cross member and a rotor conversion kit for the front struts. This is for either falcon or P76 rotors. I chose the P76 rotors, as the sit furthur inboard on the car, and looks better.

Thats about it. I can take some photos of the kit if you like and post them up. I only just took the kit back out of the car on the weekend, as i am having it modified to mount the rear springs furthur inboard. The car is also going infor paint soon, and i didn;t want to have the kit infor that, as it would have left unpainted secionts in the engine bay.

I will also take photos from under the car, and point out where eack section mounts if you like.

Regards
Adam.

 

[Zuffen]

I think Overkill Engineering in Sydney are doing this conversion. I was in their shop in April and they had an engine plus the car and were getting ready to start then.

Check them out on www.overkill.com.au

Let me know if the address is bad as I only have their business card at work.

 

[racingbrett]

That would be great if you could cheers Adam.

Ill check them out thanks zuffen (address is bad but ill have a search around)

 

[V8Celica]

Done it two years ago

I put a lexus into a capri in 2002 and drag raced it at local tracks for 12 months. I couldn't get it engineered because it was only a 4 cylinder body. Now I've found a V6 body but don't know if I should put it the capri or a bluebird wagon I've been given.
If you guys have any question please feel free to ask?

 

[crazy_rich]

Hey, Im also putting a 1uzfe into a facelift mk 1 capri. I found that rotating the crossmember 180 degrees and swapping the struts from left to right and using a toyota starlet steering rack would enable me to use the front sump engine, doing this also moves the standard engine mounts forward a few inches therefore lining up with the mounts on the v8, so all i have to do is make new mounts adapting the engine to the standard xmember and new mounts for the steering rack. seems like a long winded way of doing it but it'll look neater in the long run.