V8 Mk1 6 speed with power steering

[PW@Woodsport]

299 teeth long

[PW@Woodsport]

Another first for Mk1's here, i am running very big wheels on this car (for obvious reasons) and as a result some power steering would be a very nice option to have. I retro fitted a Mk1 years ago with a Mk2 system with all of its rack, pump, control systems etc etc, which worked but was all pretty heavy and i couldn't fine tune it. So this time around i have gone for a completely different approach.

Quite a few modern cars these days use an electric motor on the column to give a variable amount of power steering so i bought a Vauxhall Corsa column with this sort of setup and then proceeded to make a hybrid Mr2/Corsa steering column.

The lower half of this column is Corsa, the top half is Mr2, this means i can retain ALL of the Mr2 switchgear, my ignition barrel, the cowling, and even the adjustable rake will all work as before.





The icing on the cake with this mod is that there is an adjustable regulator box that plugs into the Corsa PS ECU, this is then mounted on the dash and i can control wether the system is completely turned off (will just feel like a normal Mr2 steering) or any amount of assistance can be dialled in right up to full assistance.

Now before anyone gets excited about the prospect of having power steering on their Mk1 i must stress i have other mods to do to the tube framing around the steering column on my mk1 so that this assembly will fit, so it is never going to be a kit i can offer unless your car is brought to me for surgery.

So i now have the worlds only PS equipped Mk1.... not that the V8 made it unique!

[PW@Woodsport]

A good friend of ours called Jay who is really into his photography came to Woodsport today and had a bit of a play on my V8 engine....

[System-G]

That is looking very lush mate

[PW@Woodsport]

Seeing as today was a bank holiday naturally means it's V8 time! I get so little time to work on this project that bank holidays are a blessing.

Todays mission was to make an alternator bracket and adjuster from scratch. I started by cutting the mounting point off a 4age alternator bracket, just the pivot point part. I then made an angle iron piece that bolted onto the top two block holes, aligned the mounting bracket so the alternator was square to the crank pulley and tack welded it on.

Then made a lower section on the bottom two block holes as a support for the top bracket. Here is the completed alt bracket...







I also made a lower adjusting bar, nothing flashy, just a slotted bar with a 90* bend in it and pivoting off the block.



I have a brand new Mk1 alternator that i've been saving for a rainy day.... well today it rained



The completed alternator assembly... everyone's happy!



Just for giggles, here is my v8 next to a 1mz-fe....

[PW@Woodsport]

It doesn't look like i did a lot here today but progress all the same. I made my hardpipe heater lines that go around the engine bay, i could have just slung rubber going from the engine all the way to the matrix at the front but that is not how Toyota do things and i like to copy their way of doing things as much as possible. That is household copper piping, it was the only thing i could find that would let me add bends in all the right places and form the pipework to contour the bay ( and no i'm not going to be fitting a combi boiler in the frunk! )



I have also cut off the old V6 engine mounts and i'm not far away from getting the engine bay painted and engine rehung for the final time.

[cantfindausername]

I made my hardpipe heater lines that go around the engine bay, i could have just slung rubber going from the engine all the way to the matrix at the front but that is not how Toyota do things and i like to copy their way of doing things as much as possible.

What like shoe horning a 4.2 litre engine in the place of a 1.6?

Amazing work though Paul. Your attention to detail leaves most lagging behind.

[PW@Woodsport]

LOL Yeah, that sort of thing.

[alfiembra]

Your at it again Mr Woods that adjuster bracket for the alternator doesn't look up to the task to me Can't see that staying put with only one bolt on the block and the length of the plate. Is there anyway you can get secondary fixing. Although I see your logic to give yourself rotation on the bracket to tension it up. Perhaps a short knee brace which hangs loose until the belt is tensioned then tied back to the bracket you have fabricated.

Alan

[PW@Woodsport]

Hi Alan, yep ideally it needs more bracing on the adjuster but there just isn't anywhere else on the block to pick up from in that area. I am going to add an adjusting bolt assembly to it so that it tensions up like a Mk1/Mk2 alt and i'm hoping that will be enough. Part of the problem is that the alt normally lives on the other side of the engine, but i can't have it there.

Phase two of the build now looks more like it will be a large supercharger sitting in the Vee, so if i go down that route i could solidly mount the alt and tension the belt elsewhere... just have to suck it and see i guess!

[skinthespin]

Hi Paul,

Good stuff with the project!

I am putting one of these engines in a 1988 Audi Coupe Quattro, looked at putting a supercharger in the Vee from a 4.2 Jag, its amazing how compact the Audi engine is as the SC from the Jag wasn't even close to fitting!







And in the Audi (my project hasnt had the time on it yours has!!)

[PW@Woodsport]

Cool project skin, what variant is that engine? ABZ? It really is amazing how compact they are and how much power they produce. It made the Wards top ten list for three years in a row

Would the Jag SC have more chance of fitting without the coolers?

That audi is going to absolutely fly when you get it finished!

[skinthespin]

Hi Paul,

Yeah it surprised me how compact and light an engine was, phenominal achievement when you consider how ol the engine is now!

Mine is the 4 valve head (ABH???) not the 5 valve as is yours, although interestingly speaking to people in the know power wise there isn't much difference, the extra power in he S8 was due to low friction ancillaries and a cam, whn mine has a decent exhaust and individual throttle bodies it should still be knocking on the door of 400bhp, so I am guessing yours will be similar.

This is part of the reason I junked the SC, as the extra load it puts on the engine will affect reliability (the SC takes 70bhp just to run it) and I want to use mine as a fast road car rather than a track weapon so give a little bit of a t**s about it being reliable!!!

[PW@Woodsport]

Twin turbos is the "saner" route without it costing you BHP, just a big bucks installation cost... but i think these engines will support a lot of boost before needing internals etc.

I'd probably go for that option but my chassis is a major concern and while 700bhp would be relatively achieveable with this engine and a huge wall of torque i don't think the gearbox/shafts or clutch assembly will take that. I think i'd need a Porsche transaxle and major driveshaft upgrades, plus a parachute and underpants

[PW@Woodsport]

Today saw a little more progress, i got my new spigot fitted to the flywheel, had to travel to the Audi dealership for that little part, it was very expensive as well!



Also got my battery cable fitted, i'm front mounting the battery to even out the weight a little.



Biggest job today was sorting out my new fuel filler assembly and pipework, nothing clipped up properly but everything fits, so just the cosmetics to do on this and its finished.







Just need to paint the bay now and the engine is back in.

[PW@Woodsport]

I have done a lot of work to the rear crossmember and added trusses to the sides of the pickup points for the subframe, this triangulation will give a lot more strength in a key area....





Also i took Alans advice and beefed up my alternator pivot bracket (added a triangulation to the rear of it) and added a manual tensioner at the same time.... best i can do with it.





I'm now a lick of paint away from refitting the engine and transmission.

[SuperRedMR2]

plus a parachute and underpants

Gotta love you, man!

[PW@Woodsport]

thanks.

My suspension subframe, gearbox subframe and air filter housing have all been shot blasted and painted.

[PW@Woodsport]

Mega update today, i think i got more done today than any other day i've worked on the car, the weather was nice, i got left in peace and just cracked on with it.... so much for resting on the Sabbath!

Anyway i got the engine bay repainted, Supra Quicksilver of course, the colour the car is going to be when it's finished, and immediately hung the freshly overhauled V8....



As you can see i fitted the flywheel and new clutch assembly as well.

Not long after that the gearbox went on as well as the gearbox subframe and the new suspension subframe...





I made a mounting point for my oil filter relocation kit which also has my oil temp and oil pressure senders on it...





The air intake pipework went back on for the final time, still a few clips to add here....



Gearshift assembly refitted... i'm very happy with the outcome of this linkage, it just works really well.



Someone advised me to add a gusset to this area, now that my subframe is back on i can see i have space for that, so i will add one shortly...



I then plumbed everything up and added lots of finishing touches...



No self respecting Mk1 V8 would be complete without a Jimi bracket now would it....



The bay as it looks now, just the exhaust to rehang, add heatproofing here and there, and finish the boot off....



Right i need a beer, been on this thing since 6am.

[MartG]

Stunning work there Paul