There are two important thing in this world; going fast and looking cool and more often than not one has to take priority over the other. That is unless you happen to be Eddie M. from Old series garage. This is Eddies ’73 Toyota Mark II wagon:
Mixing rat look paint, Boso styling and a massive drop over a set of meshies it certainly has the “looking cool” part of the equation nailed
I’d be pretty pleased with myself at this point. Window down and crusin’ in the Lynnwood (Washington) sunshine, enjoying the unstressed burble of the original 2.3l six-pot 2M block. The problem is Toyota six cylinder engines have come on a little bit since 1973 so the old boat anchor had to go…
To fill the new gap between the towers Toyota’s finest 2.5l, 24 valve 1JZGTE engine was employed. For those unfamiliar with this engine, not only do you get lots of valves and just under a hat-trick of liters, you also get a pair of turbochargers!
I’m not sure of the exact specs of the engine, but in stock trim it was a little shy of the big 300 (bhp) so, with the addition of a filter, exhaust and intercooler...I’m not even going to guess, let’s just say it will have more than enough!
So there you go, speed and style all in one; got the cake and eaten it? Well, not quite. I won’t spoil it for those that don’t want to know, but nature can be a cruel mistress. I just hope Eddie and Old Series Garage can bring it back faster and cooler; now there’s a challenge!
Check out the Old Series Garage MySpace Page for more pics and other projects!
That’s it for Transplant week on RSM. I hope we have given you some inspiration to get out there with the tape measure and start weighing up those engine bays! Don’t forget the clocks go forward this weekend so light nights in the workshop are back on the cards!