MGB: Bugeye Sprite With Toyota Engine Project

My latest project, what do you all think ? Its close to running now, should be going in the next day or 2, messing with the computer settings, so far about 200 hrs into this conversion/restoration, floors, rockers, a posts, smoothed firewall, ect

upgrades are
Toyata 20 Valve Twin Cam
Mazda RX7 LSD disk brake rear
15x7 Panasports
Panhard Rod
comp springs rear and front, urethane bushings
Toyota Supra front vented rotord and calipers
Hydraulic throw out bearing
Megasquirt w/Injection
Chevy/pontiac Master Cylinders w Willwood prop valve
Auto Meter Sport Comp Gauges
Ford Coils fired in wasted spark mode, no distributor
Custom cooling system using VW radiator mounted like NASCAR, w Flex Lite fan

more pics

WOW! Do you have any idea of what the HP will be? Looks like you will have a rocket!

Very, very cool. Is it right hand drive?

Wow,

Nice work, right hand drive sure gives you nice "off the shelf" header options! With LHD you have to custom build a friggin header!

the HP is about 170, ene wity RHD the header was a problem, I had to make the one you see myself, nothing availible for this engine in ther US as it was never imported here in anything, I made almost everything for this, except the driveshaft

the car should be quick, but bit as quick as it was before with the 280hp Rotary, but should be the only one like it !!

here are a few more pics

more, I wish I knew how to add more pics to a post

suspension was modified and I ended up cutting the weak fulcrum pin off and adding to heim joints, camber is not adjustable with out those crappy offset bushings

Brakes in the pics are Toyota Supra and are just mocked up with washers and spacers, going to make the adaptors this weekend

the clutch hydraulic is a custom made adaptor we made and took a few hours to make, so far with the pre install tests it works great!!

I did this to avoid cutting the car, this car was cut worse to put the Rotary in, I actually replaced metal that was removed for the Rotary

Brian,

nice work! I am doing the same engine and I'd like to see how you dealt with the rear cross member and rear trans mount when you get a chance or have any pics of those areas.

is this your car ?

no real pics of the rear mount area right now , but here you can see the rear addition I made for the mount, I used 1x3 rectangle tubing , I had to remove the factory trans mount area and box the ends in, then I welded the rectangle to the remainng portion inside the car followed by some end plates on the ends rectangle tube with bolts thru the floor with heavy plates on the underside

Brian ,

yes that is my car,,, and it is taking forever!

if you need anything let me know, I have done all the hard stuff already...should be running this weekend, if I can get the ECU programed right, There is another sprite using this engine on the web...I will see if I can find the link for you

Cool Brian thanks,

Are you going to narrow that RX7 rear end?

For a trans I have the GTS T-50 with an early Corolla shifter housing on the back to move the stick forward.

rx7 rear end is already in and done, been in the car for 3 years with the other engine

Brian I'm going down this road also. I've just finished collecting all my major parts. Are you going to run an oil cooler? Also are you using a custom fuel tank, how about a swirl pot? Looks like no heater. I might need one here in MN. Right now I'm freakin out about the wiring. But enough questions I'll PM some more. Great looking job so far!

All I have to say is... WOW.
Three years for a project such as that seems pretty quick to me
Looks very nice, sigh.

Rick,

for a heater look at Marine applications. Many small waterfed heaters that will fit easily on the console in front of the shifter area. I haven't bought mine yet, like to have the car running forst, but they are pretty reasonable.

Thanks Jay, I would have never thought of that, but it make sense, everything is made small for boats.

Rick,

were you still looking for a GTS bell housing for your 4age?

found one for sale on the 4ag forum for sale.

http://forums.club4ag.com/zerothread?id=35101

$125

less than what I paid for mine dang it!

Jay

How did it turn out? Came across this one in Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco.

Oops! Try this

Boze Wrote:

OldBloke Wrote:

Here ya go Brian, one more pic.

Brian,

Lots of folks seem to love Megasquirt I'm sure you'll get it going. I can't wait to hear your report on how much fun it is to drive. Move pics would be great too.

Thats Rods car, I sold hom a few parts over the years, sold some to John(red car) and the speedwell blue guy too...forget his name right now, lives in Santa Cruz, I know most all Bugeyes in the Bay Area

Got the brake adaptors made today and the brakes test fitted, these are some real brakes...not some weenie Mini Mania kit, ECU is back from the Co I got it from all fixed, should run tomorrow afternoon, had a few issues with the Megasquirt but all is on track now

more pics

2 more

that looks like some serious stopping power. What size wheels are you running?

wheels are 15x7 Panasports. brakes are not that big, but alot bigger than stock, the brakes will still clear a 14 inch wheel easy

What is your brake set up?
IE: What components?

Here is my header,,,,,,,

Nice job Jay, looks like it clears the steering shaft with room to spare. Got any extras laying around :-)

No, no spares yet but I did have the guy build a jig of it so we can make more.

How many do you want?

nice work, glad I did not have to deal with the steering column in my project, got the Bugeye started this week, runs ok...needs the Megasquirt fine tuned now, please post more of your project if you can

jayrz Wrote:

guess you can't imbed you tube on this site


Bugeyev8 Wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSIwxGDIHA

Brian,

Good Lord that thing sounds awsome! I can't wait to hear mine run.

I don't have any additional pictures yet but should soon. Had to do a short trip to the desert last week so haven't been out to see the car in a while.

Music to my ears! What are you running for muffler(s)?

Its got one Borla on the rear with 2 inch pipe from the header, more or less a straight shot, going to road test it this weekend I hope




Boze Wrote:

More pics taken tonight

More pics

Before Pics

A little late now, but on the racing Spridgets we cut the center out of the steering rack cross member to be able to acess the crank bolt, makes for a easy place to turn the engine over by hand. Brian, your car looks real good.

Brian, that engine bay is looking very good. Where did you hide all the wires? I'm impressed you were able to keep the battery out of the boot. I also see that you ditched the standard double crank pulley for a single, but I'm not familiar with the gear thing on it. Looks like you found a way to remove the idler pulley for the alternator also.

Hap you wouldn't happen to have a picture of the cut steering rack cross member?

Where are the wires!? That looks and sounds very nice.

Pete

you hear of blue tooth for everything right...lol

the wires are hidden very carfully some run thru the tubes for the fender support struts then up the in side of the fender others under the bat tray into the old heater duct hole, the fuse box and all ecu and wiring is under there, cruise control is under the dash, not done with the wiring but when I am done you won't see but one or two wires

there are no switches or anything on the dash either..all hidden away

NOHOME Wrote:

the crank pulley is the stock double row and I milled the outer one off, the front gear thing is a crankfire, there is no distributor in this car anymore

all the mounts for everything I made, so the alternator is a custom bracket, so no room for a idler pulley, its also a Suzuki alternator, vey small, the Toyota pne was hige and not much more amps , a real lifesaver on several of my cars see pic below of another car


Boze Wrote:

Wow what a great looking install Brian!

I may look into doing the distributorless ignition thing just for how clean it looks.

At the moment I am using foam socks on each individual air horn but I'll probably use a piper airbox enclosure with a single large cone filter for a larger "stillair" volume.

really like the way it is all tucked, looks great dude!

That alternator is very small, good tip. I've got a long way to go but here is the 5 speed I just got back together. I still have to figure out a way to straighten that shift lever. Next, mount it to the 20 valve with new clutch components.

Looks great. I wish I could keep mine that clean. I've been trying to keep it a "running" project, but it might have been worth it after looking at yours. Thanks Brian for leading me here- it looks like there are a few people I've talked with over the last couple of years here. Mine is the 69 Midget at www.home.earthlink.net/~roethler and http://picasaweb.google.com/Brust.Roethler The picasa site has more updated pictures just because I don't know how to build a webpage or update the original. So much has changed.

I've just spent the day re-designing my independent rear and have laid it out on plywood for jigging. I'm going to purchase one of those metal cutting miter saws this time to make it easier and more accurate. Pictures are at the picasa site.

Oh, Rick- when you cut the gearshift to make it shorter, just cut it at the bend and grind both ends flat, then re-weld it straight up and down. Piece of cake.

Great to see you all in one spot.

Brust

I just heated oxy/act and bent the shifter

Brust,
It was your car that inspired my conversion, bought the engine from Venus auto listed from your site, the place was top notch, nice guy...small operation and he allowed me to choose what engine I wanted , what ecu are you running now ? still stock ??

my friend has a Morris Minor with a 1600 16V 4AGE and thats what really got me looking at the Toyota 20V, almost was going to use an SR20 and rebuild the entire front end around it, looked at the Miata engine, but its got no poop and its so big, saw the 20V and knew It would fit

I started about 6 months ago, most of the work was the replacment of metal and rust repair, as well as making adaptors and brackets , I have made so many parts for this car its crazy

the megasquirt was a learning experience and is not over yet, still messing with the spark and fuel maps, but got it driveable tonight, now to get the doors and hood back on and tune on the road, despite what some say on the other forums...megasquirt is a very tuneable unit with abillities to run anything you could ever want or need

I bought a cheapo chopsaw from Harbor freight and it works great, don't get the cheapest one, get the one thats about 100$ been using it for a year HARD now and works great

I also have a cheaper metal bandsaw that works good too but not accurate enough for precision, I just get things close and tack things together then weld, better for the welding with a gap anyway,

This is really cool- we've got four in the same spot doing the same conversion. Brian- I'm especially happy you're blazing the trail with the megasquirt. I've been back and forth on whether to go this way or not, but I'm not very electronics/computer savvy, so I end up getting lost a lot when they get technical in the MS forums. I get all the theory, but again, am apprehensive about soldering my own unit.

Anyway, it looks like you went through the same thought process I did and came to the same conclusion. I hope we weren't crazy, but I'm beginning to believe it. I didn't expect to have to fab so many parts either, because I got it running and driving with relatively little. Years go by and this or that needs to be improved and before I knew it, quite a bit of the car is custom. I'm really interested in your concentric clutch bearing, which part you used, what kind of adaptor etc etc.

I had what I believe to be a headgasket problem, so I ordered a cometic gasket and studs from paradise racing. The order is a month overdue now but I've got assurances from the owner that its "on its way". I think I messed up by using normal green (with silicates) coolant with the toyota head gasket. After taking the head off, the non-metal part was all mushy and soft and had apparently covered some oil feed holes to the head, and dicked up my intake cam bearings and girdle. I'd heard that you only want to use the toyota red coolant with the stock head gasket, and I assume this is why.

So I hope to get that fixed and just drive the damned thing for a while. I have an MS map or two that I'll have to find and send your way. Give me a couple days.

Brust

Hey Brust welcome the the MG Experience. Thanks for the warning on the coolant. My engine is still dry but I'll be sure to use the red stuff when I get there.

Thanks Rick, there are so many out there, I'm surprised we all ended up in the same place. Finally I can "cheat" off you guys when you inevitably come up with better solutions.

I had an inspiration regarding tuning the megasquirt. I have (or will in a few days if my head gasket comes in) a running engine. What if I hooked up an MS and wideband to datalog while actually running the stock computer. I would think that I could get a good idea for starting AFR's in all the cells. The ignition timing would be somewhat more challenging, as there's no way to really datalog that.

I have heard of people running two ecus, but I don't think its necessary, I have loaded the VEs that you sent me from DR Heiss and we will see whats going on now, I drove it with someone elses Maps and its drivable now but not really good, WOT is ok idle is ok, but coughs between

I am sure that these tables will be off due to altitude,exhaust,ignition system ,driving styles, ect

I am sure that my specs once sorted will be close for you being we are running same weight cars, with not much room I am sure that exhaust would be simular too, what have you got for pipes?

If I can get this thing close, I may take it to a dyno and have it fully tuned, may be worth the peice of mind

as far as the coolant, I heard that Prestone has a universal coolant for new cars like Totota and Honda, have you seen this ?


Brust Wrote:

Brian- my idea was that the MS wouldn't actually take any part in running the engine until I was able to get a full datalog of the OEM ecu's habits. Then I would make complete replacement with a good oem fuel map. After thinking about it, this might be more trouble than it's worth.

My header is 1 3/8 primaries going in short order to 2" until past the rear axle it goes to 2 1/4". It's a 4-2-1 header, but I don't remember the secondaries right now (1 3/4?). They're definitely pretty short though. I'd imagine we all have something pretty darn close.

As to the tuning, I had another idea- since my friends and wife don't share my "car habit", I thought I might be able to tune a little at a time with the rear wheels in the air and using the brakes to make a sort of static dyno that I could tune individual cells with. I actually think this would be more accurate than basing tuning off a dynojet style dyno wherein you run a WOT pull. Sure, I'll burn through a set of rear pads/rotors or two, and piss off the neighbors, but it was a thought.

Anyway- I did purchase toyota red coolant ($23/gallon) and I'll be using that from now on. I'm not sure if that's what did it, but I did see the evidence of a mushy head gasket, so I guess I'll drink the (red) Kool-aid this time.

Brust