TA60 (1983 Toyota Carina) 2TGEU Swap - A complete story!

[thechuckster]

Are you guys in Dubai? Am just curious about the location - DXB ?

Timing I can help with: the adjustor in the dizzi rotates the plate with the contacts on it - in effect it adjusts the base timing so if you dial in an extra 2 degrees, the timing at all revs (at the same manifold vacuum) will advance 2 degrees. It doesn't change the advance curve except for moving timing across the whole range.

I would suggest keeping the vacuum dashpot on the dizzi - you folks would get really high ambient air temps (compared to us) and thus have engines prone to detonation/pinging. When you floor it you don't want the timing advanced to the max (and then ruin pistons/rings) and the dashpot will keep the timing advance to the minimum amount forced by the mechanical advance weights.

To adjust I would:
- warm up engine
- unplug the vacuum feed to the dashpot and block that hose off (the airleak will alter idle speed)
- allow idle to settle
- dial in as much timing as you feel comfortable with (given how you will use the car)

Full mechanical advance should in by about 3000-3500 rpm so if you list revs to that point you should see what the max mechanical advance you are getting. Unblock and plug in the vacuum dashpot and you should get even more advance. And obviously the more timing advance the harder it will be to start.

I'd also get the guts out of an electronic ignition dizzi (22RE from a hilux or are they too big?) and coil/ignitor from same motor so you don't have to worry about setting and checking points ever again. It'll also help if you go EFI as you then just lock the mechanical advance mechanism, remove/lock the vacuum advance bits and you have a 4-tooth reluctor-style trigger for the ECU.


Personally, I'd get the engine on EFI and then some kind of aftermarket/tunable ECU. I'd also get some cold air feed to the carbs.

Suggestion? grab a set of throttle bodies from an RB26 (ex Nissan GTR), remove two, get someone to adapt them to the manifold you already have, make up an air box that goes to a pod/panel filter up the front of the bay which in turn is fed air from outside the engine bay. The ECU could be any aftermarket unit - but I'd suggest talking to a dyno shop in your part of the world about their preferences and abilities - this will to a point dictate choice of ECU.


btw: BBQ paint will probably work for a while in the engine bay but it's probably not petrol safe and may eventually come off if splashed with fuel.

[xGrapher]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Yes we are from Dubai. I'm pretty sure you've been here as well.

I did a lot of study on the dizzy - pretty good information can be found across the internet, including videos. I can say that I tuned it to the optimum judging by the runs we did and timing them, as an alternative to the dyno. It is sad however that 2TG is not as mighty, especially for drifts. It sure would do a better job if cammed, stroked, etc. but that goes against our budget principle. This is why we decided to go another way: 4A-GE!

Yes, we bought a 20V Blacktop 4A-GE complete engine with accessories, wiring and an auto ECU for just USD 270/- We could have gotten the front wheel tranny for an additional 50 bucks but who needs a front wheel anyway. They don't sell bellhousings here and therefore we'll need to buy a complete RWD tranny (much better than custom-making a bellhousing). We were told that we can actually source a TRD RWD tranny that couples directly on this 4A-GE for USD 165/- and it has smooth shiftings.

As for the ECU, I can easily buy a Manual ECU for USD 50/- and go OEM or I have an MS2 (MegaSquirt) laying around that I had ordered pre-assembled for 20V 4A-GE last year. Do you think I should go the MS2 way?

I've tried BBQ black earlier and was very impressively intact but silver is kind of like how you said. Anyway, since this engine was a "trial" one I didn't hesitate to do it.

Please guys keep your input coming...

[thechuckster]

oh, I've never been to Dubai. Hottest places I've been to are Quilpie & Mt Isa in Queensland. Personally, I prefer a cooler climate

There's a guy in town here who rallies a Celica with a 3TGTE, he was considering changing back to a 2TG head as the ports on the 2TG head are a more direct path from throttle body to valve. They're a grunty motor but to get a rally-suitable motor requires a lot of effort and parts. (he's now going for BEAMS 3SGE motor & 6-speed box and not going turbo).

I'm a fan of the MegaSquirt ECUs so I'd always consider it when choosing ECUs. The factory unit will work when plugged in but if you want to tune the motor then you may as well use the MS2 rather than spend yet more coin.

Interesting to note that the Black BBQ paint worked

Just thinking about the car in general - is this a IRS or solid diff rear-end?

[xGrapher]

The looks itself of the Beams is mind blowing leave alone the performance. It would be quite difficult to find it here. Also it appears that in order to drop it in some custom mounts and stuff needs to be done. What 6 speed do they use, W58? If yes, that's very expensive here and also rare to find.

I'm determined to install the MegaSquirt. I'll be relying on you to tune it up properly inshaa Allaah.

I seriously have no clues about the rear end. Why, does it matter?

[mattysshop]

sorry i'm still not understanding why the engine bay wasn't cleaned when it was at it's easiest stage! it looks like there is 45 kgs of sand in the car still...

[xGrapher]

Yeah we should have cleaned it up probably. But we have plans to paint the whole car and that should include the engine bay as well. Also we were in a rush to finish the swap as quickly as possible mostly because it was a friends place and the summer heat is no joke here. Another reason was that we were not much sure about this engines potential so didn't want to exert much effort before ensuring that we're sticking with it.

Now that we're planning to drop in a 20V Blacktop, we will try to do a cleaner job.