The Wankel Rotary engine is a controversial subject. To some it is one of the finest pieces of automotive engineering ever, others say its weak and over complicated while some just laugh at the name Wankel. However, whatever your opinion there is no denying that the lightweight Rotary has become a popular choice when it comes to picking a leftfield option for an engine conversion in the retro community. Thanks to its small physical size and aforementioned low weight coupled with the possibility for big power output the Rotary is perfectly suited to a massive selection of retro cars, and in this article I hope to show you just how wide that selection really is.
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Having been made popular by Mazda, Rotary conversions have become most common within the Japanese retro community. One of the most famous is Bryan Feldman’s Datsun 510 which runs turbocharged 13B engine. Taking influences from both the Hot-Rod and Motorsport scenes in its styling, this 510 has become something of an internet icon since it was completed a few years ago. Pushing out roughly 350bhp and weighing it at just under 780kg’s Bryan’s mission was to build the quickest 510 he possibly could while maintaining the cars handling and driveability. With those figures it’s easy to believe that he has achieved just that.

It’s not just the Datsun boys getting in on the action though, Rotaries are a popular choice for Toyota owners especially in Australia and New Zealand where the Toyota tuning scene thrives. This is where this little Corolla comes in, looking every inch the sleeper, this little KE20 packs a punch thanks to its 13B motor running 10psi of boost. Despite looking pretty much standard that package gives the Corolla just over 280bhp at the rear wheels, impressive I think you’ll agree.

Away from the Japanese scene Rotaries are also becoming more prevalent within the Air-Cooled Volkswagen scene. The Drag Racing fraternity have become especially fond of the little motor having realised that even a lightly tinkered Rotary can match, if not beat the majority of Flat-Fours. This one here is known as Black Mamba and manages to wheelie down the strip in an incredible 8.83 secs at 150mph while the Rotary hangs on for dear life out of the boot lid.

However Beetles aren’t the only cars to have had a Rotary stuffed into the rear. A few years ago this unassuming looking Skoda Estelle was one of the most recognisable and respected cars on the UK retro scene. Based on an ultra rare 1985 105 Lux model it was powered by a naturally aspirated 13b Rotary motor mated up to a 4-Speed VW Type 2 gearbox which barked through the massive Honda Fireblade can. This little set up apparently made it ‘loud, noisy and nothing short of dangerous’ which sounds just fine to me. Unfortunately this Skoda is no more, after some problems getting it running properly it was sold on a couple of times and later broken for parts leaving the shell in Belgium of all places.

Nowadays one of the best known Rotary powered cars in the UK and Ireland is this evil looking Toyota Corolla AE86. It belongs to Formula Drift driver Darren ‘D-Mac’ McNamara and built by his tuning shop MCNSport. As you’ve probably guessed the AE86 has been built to be a dedicated drift car, completely stripped of any unnecessary weight or luxury it now weighs in at a featherweight 766Kg. This coupled with the high-spec 13B turbocharged engine pushing out approximately 220bhp makes the little Corolla a very capable machine, especially at the hands of D-Mac who can be seen putting the car through its paces at various Irish trackdays and drift events.

However if you’re looking for the ultimate in Rotary conversions you’re going to have to head further afield than Mondello Park. That place is Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Islands. I know, I wasn’t expecting it either. However when it comes to Rotaries these boys know what they talking about. Packing high-powered, fire-cracking, turbocharged engines into just about any shell they can get their hands on when these cars launch it is a sight to behold. We’re talking about Toyota Starlets doing sub 7-sec ¼ mile runs while spinning up their massively wide rear slicks all the way down the strip. It’s down to these impressive runs that they are now proud to boast the wholly believable claim that are the home to the World’s Fastest Compacts.

 

Posted on: February 15, 2010 07:36

As regular readers will be aware, we love magazines here at RSM and have a fairly broad taste when it comes to our paper based reading.  Our individual collections cover a wide variety of subjects and countries, but there is one area of automotive magazine that has remained beyond reach, the trade mag.  Until now.
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Trade magazines tend to be much more focussed than your average high street news agent supplied fare, they also tend to cost a bit more as they have a much smaller distribution than most magazines.  High Power Media were kind enough to supply is with a copy of Race Engine Technology to check out, rather than selfishly enjoying this I thought I'd share with you my thoughts, who knows it may prompt you to order a copy.

My first thought was that I'm going to be very much out of my depth very quickly, sure I can tune a Webber and keep my car maintained nicely, but it may not have escaped your notice we spend a lot of time enjoying ride height and wheel adjustments here, not gas flowing heads and examining heat profiles of engine components for potential weight savings.  When reading through the magazine this showed, I'm not their main target audience, however I did find much of interest to read, the issue I received (September/October 2009) has their nominations for Race Engine Of The Year, it is great to see inside the engine building industry at what is impressing their top engineers, I also learned that the Corvette Le Man GT1 engine is a pushrod, just like my Datsun.  Okay so it is a 7 litre V8 direct injection engine, unlike my Datsun, but still... a pushrod engine, in this day and age, outstanding!

Other features included a detailed history of the Aston Martin V12 engine, Direct Metal Laser sintering as a manufacturing method and a 7 page feature on fasteners (screws mainly) which sounds like it should be the dullest subject on earth, but actually proves fascinating.  My biggest take away from the magazine is the advertisers, as someone who desires to build a racing engine the people in there who can supply valves, cams, engine management, coatings and a whole host of other services is great, sure they aren't going to be cheap, but you know you are using some of the best there are.

This isn't a magazine I would be served by with a subscription, as I mentioned I'm hardly the target audience, but definitely something I think those more serious about their engines should pick up, particularly those on engineering university courses and those already in the industry.  High Power Media also produced a one of Drag Race Technology issue which would be a great read.

Race Engine Technology is availble from : www.highpowermedia.com

Posted on: October 20, 2009 07:30

People have been mixing and matching motorbike and car parts for years in an effort to go quickly in a small, light but more than two wheeled package. Morgan started in business by doing this and by way of another example here is the "Halec JAP" seen at the recent Race Retro show. Built in 1955 for hillclimb and sprint competition it uses the front half of a Formula Three racing car, a bike type rear frame and suspension with a 1200cc V twin J.A.P. engine / Norton gearbox sandwiched in the middle.

The plethora of more modern high performance Japanese bike engines have become favourites amongst the newer generation of retro car fans to make superb sprint, trackday and most importantly fun vehicles. My own experience has been of this seven that belongs to a friend of a friend and is used for assaults on the Nurburgring. It is equally as good at summer time evening blasts into central London for a bite to eat. No room for shopping though.

The sensory overload in a car like that is incredible, the sound it is making seems at odds with the four wheeled layout and the clunky close- ratio sequential gearbox helping keep the revs where they need to be. Fantastic though that is, this carbon fibre Honda Z600 that was first brought to my attention by Bryn is in a completely different league. The engineering looks incredible with a Suzuki Hyabusa engine strapped to the tube chassis next to the driver and cantilever shocks all round

So where can I go to get some bike engined action for myself? Well one option is to pay a visit to Z Cars in the north East of England. (caution – noisy video loads on the home page!) Cars they have converted include Minis, Lotus Elises and a twin Hyabusa turbo engine four wheel drive Ultima. In their own words “Awesome!”

To finish here’s a couple of videos I came across while looking for information. It seems there is a class in an Italian hillclimb championship that attracts old Fiats and other cars with motorbike engines. Brilliant!

 

 

Posted on: March 26, 2009 04:23

If there is one site that epitomises the Transplant culture it is the brilliant British V8 : "The online journal of the modified British sports car community".  We have in the past featured cars from their pages, but as this is transplant week we shall celebrate the site itself, and give you a whistle stop tour of what makes it great.

For a start it is another online "magazine", the current issue of which can be found here.  This has car profiles, tech articles, race results and opinion pieces.  The "How it was done" features are a great source of information for anyone planning an engine conversion on a piece of old British tin.  The magazine also makes full use of being on the web by having a searchable archive.

Next up we have one of our favourite sections on all websites, the Gallery!  Jump in, select your particular poison, MG, Triumph, Healey, Sunbeam or Other, then prepare to spend a fair amount of time checking out all the engine conversion.  The sites name is a bit of a misnomer, as there are many non-V8 conversions in its ranks, like this Rotary powered Midget or this Jaguar V12 powered Healey.  We could in fact spend an entire article picking out great cars from this selection, we already did a bit of that for the MG section with our Attack Of The Killer Bs feature last year, the selection of great cars has grown even more since then.

Rounding the site off we have an excellent forum and details of forth coming meetings as well as photos and results from previous meetings.

The site is a great resource for anyone interested in engine transplants, or wanting to check out just what you can squeeze under the bonnet of an MGB.

Posted on: March 25, 2009 04:47

Our belated Transplant week start is here.  When thinking of entries for this week the obvious thoughts turn to engine transplants, but people have been transplanting parts from one car to another for years, better brakes, gearboxes, interior parts, even some wheel swaps can be considered a transplant.  Really though our main thoughts will be turned to the power plant, nowhere is it more obvious that you've taken a fundamental part from one car and stuck it in your project.

Considering how large a change sticking a different engine in a car are there is still some 'rules' around it, depending on how far you want to bend or break those 'rules' will depend on what you end up with.  Essentially these things break down into three different transplants, Keeping It In The Family, Anything To Make It Faster and Out Of Leftfield.

Keeping It In The Family

There is a school of thought that if you are swapping out large sections of your drive train, or interior then you should attempt to keep it in the family of cars that your car originates in, VW in VW, Ford in Ford, Opel in Opel etc. etc.  This school of thought can lead to some amazing machinery, like Ben Leach's Mk1 Golf with full Syncro transmission and 1.8Turbo engine.  It gets even more interesting when people start exploring the "family" that cars belong to, VW become VAG, so Audi and Skoda parts become fair game.  Or there are the numerous cars built on the GM platforms around that world that allow for a "family" swap of the Isuzu Piazza Turbo engine into an Opel Kadett.  In many ways it really is the true end point for any OEM+ builds.

Anything To Make It Faster

This is where you end game is more power, or you have a spare engine in the garage and want to stick it in something.  Often these transplants are dictated by what engines the builder knows best, or what is most prevalent in the local scene.  If you look to Scandinavia you find a lot of non-Volvos with fire breathing Volvo engines, or if you head to Australia it would seem to be Japanese 4-cylinder and Rotary engines getting swapped into all sorts of cars.  One of my favourite Anything Goes builds is this Volvo Amazon receiving a BMW engine, or this Cortina getting a Lotus engine, but not the one you'd immediately think of.

Out Of Leftfield

Remember those Electric engined drag cars?  Well those would be leftfield.  For my money though Filterteknik's Cummins diesel powered drag racing Cadillac is pretty much the epitome of leftfield.  Maybe you are trying to prove a concept, like the electric and diesel powered drag machines, or maybe you just happen to have a spare motorbike engine or something in the garage and a car to put it in.  Really leftfield transplants are all about the freedom to do whatever, sometimes it almost doesn't matter if its massively faster, just as long as its pretty interesting; your Polo is powered by a pulse jet you say?  Now that is interesting...

So where do you draw the line?

Posted on: March 24, 2009 04:22

When it comes to OEM tuners, links can be formed through businesses deals, acquaintances or the need to support a Motorsport program; Mugen on the other hand, was born through family ties. Hirotoshi Honda, son of Soichiro Honda, founder of the Honda Motor Company, formed the tuning company Mugen in 1973. His aim was to design and develop racing engines as well as to develop engines and tuning parts for Honda road cars. It’s always handy to have a partner to work with when starting out on a venture and Hirotoshi found his in Masao Kimura. With a CV stacked with experience in Honda R&D and Honda Racing Service as well as having 50 race wins for Honda under his belt he was well placed to help Hirotoshi establish the company.

Mugen launched straight into racing, developing the Honda 1200cc engine for use in the FJ1300 series. The engine won its debut race and the ball was well and truly rolling! The company was also heavily involved with both dirt and road bikes but, for now, I want to keep the focus on their four-wheeled story.
While Mugen achieved great success on the track it was still not really well known outside of the racing fraternity. Wanting to make a name for himself and Mugen, both off the track and within Honda, Hirotoshi chose Honda’s least likely performance vehicle and set about making it into a street racer! I am of course referring to the 1981 Honda City.

By modifying the internals to reduce compression, the addition an IHI RHB51 turbocharger and multipoint fuel injection the all alloy 1237cc engine was force fed boost at 12psi (which is fairly high when you compare it to something like the Metro Turbo’s 7psi!). All this aspiration gave the light weight little city car 100bhp which was more than enough when combined with very little lag. Honda was so impressed they put it into production!

The Turbo 1 ran from ‘82 to ‘84 and the Turbo 2 was built until ’86. Nick named the “Bulldog”, for obvious reasons, the “2” features wide arches, big spoilers and a full on 80’s graphic package that left you in no doubt that this little boost box meant business. Engine wise the “2” received an intercooler, revised inlet system and a bigger compressor. All this added up to another 10bhp

For more information on the City Turbo check out the Honda City 2 Fact book.

In 1986 Formula 3000 was introduced to Japan and by the following year Mugen had designed and built its own F3000 engine.

This engine was leased to 14 teams and by 1988 four of the top 5 drivers in the series were powered by Mugen. This success led Mugen into Europe and Formula one; by 1989 they developed their own 3.5 litre V8 F1 engines.

In parallel, Mugen developed and sold tuning parts, body kits and even wheels for Honda Road cars. With racing pedigree designed in, every aspiring Honda tuner wanted some of the action.

 

Check out more of these great magazine scans.

Today Mugen is still a must have brand for JDM Honda tuners and they are still working with Honda releasing tuning parts and after market specials. At this years Tokyo Auto Salon they displayed their latest NSX concept (another car they had a hand in designing from day one) proving the Mugen magic is still very much alive.

Throughout its 36 years Mugen has remained independent from Honda despite a messy Tax evasion case and Hirotoshi Honda inheriting a major share in Honda itself. From the vehicles and race victories I have only really touched on above you can see the company has really lived up to it name “Limitless”.

For more information on the History of Mugen check out this site:

http://scumotor.com.tw:8080/gemmore/Corner_Speed&F101JJTT&16

We couldn’t do a feature on Mugen and not link you to the official site could we! Check it out here:

http://www.mugen-power.com/

Posted on: February 11, 2009 03:29

Here at RSM we love nothing more than the sounds and smells produced when you combine nature’s finest ingredients and apply the Otto Cycle. To celebrate this we will be documenting some really special engines, engines that have been born out of engineering ingenuity and the will to win both on the track and in the show rooms.

The first engine I wanted to showcase can be firmly filed under “motorsport rarity” in terms of its production numbers and intended use.

In 1965 Toyota launched its new K-Series engine; a compact 4-cylinder unit with a cast iron block and aluminium eight valve head. Opening and closing those valves was a single cam nestled firmly in the block and chain driven by the crank. This first instalment of K-Joy, the 1k, was the first of a long line of K Series engines available in capacities of up to 1812cc and was built right up to 1988.

OK, enough history, let’s get to the good stuff and start talking racing! While the K-Series engine is fairly special in its own right (though I am bias!) it’s the Tom’s 3K-R that is the real star of the line-up. Based on the 3K, 1166cc, the Tom’s engine was bored out to 1293cc and featured a unique DOHC 16 valve cylinder head. The engine also featured a Nippon Denso mechanical fuel injection system and dry sump lubrication.

A factory 3K engine was good for 45bhp @ 5600rpm. The 3K-R produced 180bhp at a frenzied 9000rpm. Just think about that for a second...180bhp from less than 1.3 litres! Did somebody say “volumetric efficiency”!?

During the early 1970’s Toyota was heavily involved with touring car racing in Japan, but could not penetrate the strangle hold of Datsun and their Sunnys. With the introduction of the 3K-R in ‘73 the 717kg (around 100kg heavier than the Datsun) Toyota Starlet went on to claim the 2 hottest spots on the podium at the Grand Champion fifth race at Fuji Speedway.

 

It’s this turning point in Toyota’s racing career that shot the engine to stardom. However, if you’re looking to fill the gap between the strut towers of your own Toyota project I wouldn’t get to excited; only around 20 of the engines were built and while one did turn up on Yahoo auctions a few years back (it was largely incomplete), it changed hands for a considerable amount or money!

 

Still we can dream, and to help with that you should check out this link:

KP30 Hiro – A great Toyota KP30 enthusiast site from Japan with some great pictures (as seen above) of the 3K-R, as well as a great build up section of the owners KP30!

Posted on: February 3, 2009 23:52

To end rear engine week here comes a wild one! Turbonique was a fairly short lived company set up in the early sixties in the USA with the aim of providing acceleration freaks with a new way of getting high - with the aid of rocket fuels.. One product was the stand alone, self powered supercharger that used a rocket fuelled turbine capable of providing a massive boost to the intake charge at the touch of a button.

Fantastic as that is, the rear engine connection and focus of this article is the “Drag Axle”. Again this was a rocket powered turbine mounted behind, and connected to, the rear axle. The car could be driven as normal by its conventional engine but once the button was hit the rear mounted rocket would fire, supplying 1000hp or more direct to the rear axle through a second driveshaft.

The best photo I have found of this arrangement in action is this one courtesy of Hot Rod Magazine. Nine or even eight second quarter mile times were possible.

There is also an excellent gallery of various Turbonique equipped vehicles courtesy of The Rocket Man who will also sell you reprints of the original catalogues and technical manuals.

Last year a time warp condition Ford Galaxie fitted with a Drag Axle (and a very potent supercharged V8 up front) was presented at a Mecum auction in the US and realised $375,000 in the sale.

As a star lot they even provided prospective purchasers with a video on U-tube. Unfortunately I doubt that the new owner will ever risk pressing THAT button

A barn fresh Turbonique equipped Mercury Cougar race car also surfaced at a show a couple of years ago as blogged here:

http://blog.cardomain.com/2007/08/14/turbonique/

For more information on Turbonique and its products including “The Black Widow” oval window VW these links are a must.

http://www.almar.easynet.be/turbonique.htm

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2006/04/the_real_acme.html

 

We hope you enjoyed Rear Engine week, we certainly did, we will probably be revisiting it later this year for a second round.

 

Posted on: January 30, 2009 03:02

I for one am looking forward to our Mad Max future, where we fight for petrol and drive around in a post apocalyptic desert world in wild and outrageous machinery.  Finally the ability to stuff a Toyota 1JZ-GTE engine in a Morris Marina will become a useful survival skill.

However some people are taking steps to ensure that when/if the oil runs dry young (and old) men (and women) will be able to prove their speed on the quarter mile.  The National Electric Drag Racing Association in the US of A does exactly what it says on the tin, it races electric powered cars.  As you'd expect where there are drag races there are people shoe horning engines into retro cars.

One of the more widely known cars is White Zombie, a Datsun 1200 owned and run by John Wayland of Plasma Boy Racing.  One of the great things with electric cars for drag racing is the fantastic acceleration, 0-60 in 2.9 seconds for this particular vehicle, topping out at 114 mph as it crossed the line 11.46 seconds later.  Not bad for what started out as engines from a couple of fork lift trucks.

Talk is cheap, so check out these videos of the car in action :

Okay here is some more talk about how it all works :

So that has got my little brain going, do we have many/any in the UK?  What would it take to build one?

In the mean time read more about White Zombie, including full specs, here  : http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/whitezombie.php

Also be sure to check out the NEDRA here : http://nedra.com/

Posted on: September 25, 2008 21:36