i'd go the starlet, but i like toyota's.
resale......hhmmmmmm

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real men race downhill - keiichi tsuchiya

Might I suggest that if you are worried about resale value then a conversion may not be the best option.

Keep you mini standard. They seem to keep going up in value these days. Then just buy a Charade Turbo or Starlet GT.

Should be cheaper too!

Madmorrie

No, i'm not that worried about resale value. I am currently restoring a boat and there is no way i would ever break even with that!

I would like however to be half smart about it all.

Ie, which engine will i lose more money on? Will i lose equal amounts on each engine?

I figure the starlet engine conversion will be far more expensive to do than the daihatsu but also feel a start engined mini would sell for more. I am just trying to work out the pros and cons for both engines before I invest this much money in the project.

After all, spending a few hours researching is nothing in comparison to the hundreds of hours involved in the conversion itself.

Just one more question... What sort of age of engine and # of kms should i be looking for when purchasing a 2nd hand engine? Is there anything in particular i should be weary of with an engine already pulled out of a car?

Cheers

Nick

Hi Spargs,

Age of the engine is a bit of a minefield. A low km Jap engine might have been sitting at the wreckers for two years or more.

Dont buy an engine in excess of 100K km if you can help it.

Look towards the Jap importers if you cant find one locally, as they bring stuff in all the time and most of it is relatively fresh.

Cheers,
Tricky

P.S. Go the Daihatsu!

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

Thanks tricky,

I had a feeling you would go with the daihatsu:lol:

I have just sent off about 20 emails to places asking whether they have any engines for sale. got one back already saying "Sorry mate the old 3 clylinder is extinct now" this was in relation to the cb70."

Also, I know that i am mainly doing the engine for reliability, but how would a tuned daihatsu compare with an A series engine?

Thanks

Nick

Tuned Daihatsu compared to an A-series..............

More power, more torque, better fuel economy, better throttle repsonse, lighter, more compact, 5-speed, LSD, more reliable, longer service life..........

Need I go on.

If you cant get a CB70, grab a KV-3E instead. And if you can swing it, try and get one with F-speed.

Cheers,
Tricky

_________________
"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"

Yeh i think its definately the daihatsu option...

I called a few wreckers today and they're wanting pretty big dollars for a KV-3E engine/gearbox combo. They are wanting around $2k for those...

Apparently the CB's are getting old. I can grab a late model (2003) EJ-VE for less than 1 k but these aren't turbo. I presume that if i added a turbo then i would get similar figures to that of the cb70?

After speaking to member stephenianjames (who is keen to do a daihatsu conversion also) I reckon i am pretty set on the 3 pot as I have no real desire to grab a F-Speed transmission and they are that much lighter than the 4's...

Cheers

Nick

Ok... me again!

I headed down to Daiautoparts today in Braeside. Spoke to the boys down there who are great blokes...

The first thing they mentioned to me was not to touch an EJ motor. They reckon they're only good for 150,000 km's. They also mentioned that adding a turbo to one of these is asking for trouble and piston rings would be done in no time.

They had nothing but great words to say about the K3 engine. They seemed to think it is a very similar engine to the startlet (if not the same).

Apparently the CB's are a good engine but now are hard to find and getting old.

I'll tell you what, this has really changed things. The K3 would be great to do, but if its the same engine as a toyota startlet, i dont see why i just wouldn't do that....

Cheers

Nick

Hi Spargs,

Agree wholeheartedly with the guys at Braeside, dont get the EJ motor.

The CB70 is still a great motor, even if a little dated, and they were built for boost, with larger bearing journals and oil galleries etc.

The KV-3E is very similar to a Starlet, but not the same. Do something different!

Cheers,
Tricky

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"Not Speeding Officer..........Qualifying"