18RG to ????? Conversion

[Silly Rabbit]

In the future I will be wanting to convert my current TA22 road car to a track/racecar and in the process hopefully change the engine to something that will be semi easy to buy/replace/service and still have a few ponies as well. The 18RG in there at present is still strong but I know how hard they are to replace/fix or buy parts for. If anyone could suggest a good engine that would suit this application and the price of one that would be greatly appreciated. Oh, I have a W55 gearbox already and I would prefer something either N/A or turbo but easily available. Is a 4AGE of some description the way to go so i can mount it close to the firewall and have a good weight balance also????. Here's hoping people can give me a few pointers in the right direction. Cheers.

[thechuckster]

track/racecar => 3SGE or 3SGTE

[Silly Rabbit]

...how readily available and costly are these things???........i pretty much want to have it so that i run a close to bog stock engine so i don't need to spend bulk dollars and then i can bin it and fit another when it goes bang........i won't be doing anything psycho in it cos i know no standard engine is built for motorsport purposes

[thechuckster]

'don't need to spend bulk dollars' does not equate to 'track/racecar'

in fact they're a contradiction.

in some respects, you'd be better off staying with the RG or going backwards to a 2T or 3T (GE?) and running the car in classic categories.

[Silly Rabbit]

...yeah I have thought about that........the guy who built my RG made it bulletproof and i have taken it out at Winton and Phillip Island.....did what the speedo said as 200kmh down the front straight at PI too....don't know how accurate it was at the speed though ...damn quick though and i was running full interior as well.....good times

[o_man_ra23]

Rebuild kits for the RG arent hard to get, nor are they greatly costly... its just the pistons which are. Buy a set of oversized high compression pistons (about 11:1 or so), some lumpy cams with micro adjust cam gears, new chains etc, some 45mm webers or solexes and make the RG sing properly... dyno tune is a must. Tune it a little rich, and it will last till the cows come home. I know a few blokes who had a stock RG in a dirt track sprint car (the ones that go round in circles) and it lasted a full season sitting on 7000rpm, no work done (it was about 20YO at the time) never changing oil etc, before the rings fried... no other problems. Heres to the unbreakability of the RG

Cheers, Owen

[Silly Rabbit]

Thanks Owen........i have 44mm Solexes on there at the moment and they are never in doubt as to running lean........maybe i will have to think more about the old RG....and the timing chain and tensioners were done about 10K ago so they are still ok......Hmmmm more food for though.......seems like the 18RG fraternity is fiercely protective of these engines

[o_man_ra23]

Unfortunately I am switching from the 18RG frat to the 3SGTE frat, as i like the factory turbo hi tec motor that the 3SGTE is, and am willing to shell out the wads of cash for one. The 18RG is, however, as i stated a super reliable hard to kill motor, and has great merits from there. Also, they have a very nice torque curve, and a lovely sound when run with higher than usual compression.

Cheers, Owen

[Norbie]

Sounds like you have a pretty good setup as it is. The phrase which comes to mind is "if it ain't broke, don't spend arseloads of money trying to fix it".

[Silly Rabbit]

...*laughs*.......yeah seems appropriate..........i suppose if i strip the interior out and get the suspension sorted it would be quick enough for me for the time being.....just wanted clarification in case i was missing anything or people had a lot of success with another engine in a TA22...thanks muchly to everyone for their input.