Brilliant job !!

Looking at all the posts on this subject, I have an S1 Elise but miss my Mk1 like crazy at the moment (it has been laid up in a sorry state for over 3 years now). The Elise and the Mk1 have so much in common with each other I place equal value on both one is not better than the other. One thing I will say is that a "shed" of a mk1 will outlast a "shed" of an Elise. Unless you pay upward of 10k for a good S1 Elise you will have all manor of spend to come.

Last night (fueled on by monitoring your conversion) I hooked up a battery to the mk1, turned on the ignition, watched all the lights come up bright as the battery loaded, turned the key and to my utter amazement after only 2 or 3 cranks she sprung into life ! its been over 2 years since that engine last ran ! and it has 250k plus on it and never had the head off ! Not bad for a car that until last night has sat under a mound of boxes and stuff and been used to rippen off tomatoes in !! I think she will get a good wash for that !

I don't underestimate the restoration task ahead, she needs alot of welding so it will be a nut and bolt rebuild job all new suspension / brakes etc but I know that i want to increase its power and keep the characteristics. I toiled with the idea of supercharging, then the blacktop but this conversion makes so much sense to me. I don't want to hack the body about so the only thing that is a niggle is the right hand engine mount. I guess there are options for this ? Is a machined block bracket to make the mk1 bracket fit a total non starter ?

I have a lot of saving and searching to do so will probably not start until next year now, but maybe start cleaning and stripping the car to start with this year

Keep up the good work Paul !

Hi,

Forgive my impatience. I would like to enquire as to whether this project has been completed and invite Mr Woods and his client to comment on their satisfaction with the result.

Gentlemen?

We were very happy with the way the car drove, it was very responsive and revved like a madman, basically the same characteristics as the 4age except more power. The 6 speed box with the LSD we added was perfect for a Mk1 although the position of reverse takes some getting used to.

This build was a big learning curve, even more so than our V6 builds and there are several things we would do differently next time. The torque mounts also require a little fine tuning to get a fine balance between engine movement and chassis vibration. We also found a wiring anomoly in the information that is currently out there that causes a battery drain if followed to the letter.

Needless to say not all internet information should be trusted!

In all we were happy with the outcome on a first time build like this, barring a few teething issues the car drove extremely well and i loved the feeling of it coming on cam when the VVti kicked in.

Mark will no doubt be along to tell you what the car feels like to drive compared to before.

Hi Paul, I'm new to this forum, but seen and read a lot about your work earlier (you are a true Mk1 legend ).

Anyways, I've done a conversion to a Japanese 20V Silvertop engine with Blacktop electronics on my AW11. Being a relatively costly build (probly around 2000£ in total...) I wasn't pleased with it at all really, it was just a bit more power, and a bit nicer sound. To top it off the engine broke down on me 3months after investing all my savings on it...

I was in a bit of a bad mood because of this, and considered either importing another engine or doing a costly rebuild of the one that broke down on me. None of the alternatives would give a huge upgrade in power seeing that I've allready driven a 20v engine and not really understanding the big hype about it. Also it would cost me another shitload of money...

So I woke up this morning and someone at TS-ogn (Toyota Sportscar - OwnersGroup Norway) forum linked to this crazy guy putting a Audi V8 into a AW11. So I just had to read up, and wow what a build.

Midways into the thread you linked into this 2ZZ thread, and thats when my sunday mood changed from mild AW11 drepression to a fiery "Holy **** this is what im gonna do next!!!" mood!

Anyways, thanks for enlightening me on this possibility, I've never considered it an option before, and i must say I truly belive in it! I'm starting a new savings account, and when I have the cash in my hands I'll give you a call and transport my poor AW11 into your workshop.

In the meantime; Keep up the good work!

From up north,
ArildM

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- 1987 AW11 StyleAuto 20v ST/BT...
- 1976 Corolla KE30 2-door 3K!

Double post, sorry!

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- 1987 AW11 StyleAuto 20v ST/BT...
- 1976 Corolla KE30 2-door 3K!