From: paulp@bu.oz.au (Paul Pyyvaara)
Subject: Re: Toyota Engine
Organization: ITS, Bond University
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 00:38:50 GMT

muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au (Murray Chapman) writes:

>In <1992Sep7.045129.21085@griffin.itc.gu.edu.au> phillip@kraken.itc.gu.edu.au (Phillip Jones) writes:

>>I am writing to you requesting some information that is extreemly difficult
>>to get here in AUSTRALIA! I am tring to get some information on an old
>>TOYOTA engine model 18R-GEU.

There are a few places which I have dealt with - Motorama at Moorooka
(they give trade prices to Brisbane Sporting Car Club members as well as
good advice) and I think Torque Toyota at Redcliffe who are a TRD
(Toyota Racing Developments) agents and they have been most helpful with
any queries I have made.

Motorama supply everything I ever needed for my 2TG  (in a Corolla not a
Celica) - full gasket kit, bearing kit, shims and rings without any hassles.

>>This engine was in some japanese cars about 4-8 years ago. It has efi and I
>>am interested in obtaining the EFI unit for this engine. TOYOTA AUSTRALIA
>>DO NOT want to have anything to do with the engine as they NEVER imported a
>>car with this engine. 

>I'll give you the benefit of my experience:

>A friend of mine is a Celica guru (he's designed and built his own turbo
>system, but that's another story), and cautioned me against trying to fit
>the Toyota EFI system onto an 18R motor.  He said that since Toyota never
>imported them into Australia, Toyota Australia won't have ANYTHING to do with
>them: ie they will not talk to you about them, they will not point you in the
>direction of someone who will talk to you about them, etc.  If you need parts,
>you gotta send overseas.


The other option is to go after market. There is a place at Nerang (I
think it is Austmore in O'Shea Dr) who have made an after market Engine
management system for a friends Corolla which has a 3TGEU (twin-cam
fuel-injected, turboed 1800) for about $1500. The other option which I
have done on my Corolla is just to ditch the EFI and go for twin
webbers. (They came out with factory Solexes - a webber copy. Webbers
bolt straight on to the same manifold and give a marginal improvement in
performance. Apart from the noise factor (especially with a worked motor)
the performance difference is minimal. It is also legal to put the
webbers on whereas the Dept of Transport does not like fuel injection on
cars which were never brought out with it. There is another place on the
Gold Coast (which I cannot recall the name of ) who make a fibreglass
air box which does an excellent job in cutting down on the induction
noise.

>Why not buy yourself a reconditioned twin-cam (18R-G)?  You can have them
>fitted from about $800, and they are an excellent engine.  The difference in
>performance that you would get from EFI is NOT worth the trouble.

The best solution by far. The 2TG is also another option and in the
experiences we have had (rallies, sprints and hill-climbs) the 2TG will
out-perform the 18RG.

>If you still want better performance from your engine: have the head ported and
>shaved, and fit a set of decent-sized extractors.  Find a really wicked
>camshaft, or fiddle with the valve timings.  Install a heavy-duty clutch and
>an oil cooler.

There are plenty of places which will do the above and really make the
twin-cams haul. Definately the way to go. Also join a car club - the
experience of other members is invaluable as well as the contacts you
make in the industry. The other bonus is that the racing moves off the
street and into legal circles. There are a number of clubs in Brisbane,
the Gold Coast and Ipswich. 

>the 2Ts and 3Ts are only 1600cc, and even turbocharged, they will will only do
>the quarter mile in about 12secs.  With a little bit of work, you can get a
>13 sec quarter mile out of an 18R-G.  (Reference: V8 Kingswood: 17 secs).

The 2T can be bored and stroked to 2 Litre (then they really move) and
the 3T is an 1800cc. I have heard of them being taken to 2.1 but am a
little doubtful about this. A friends Corolla did an 11.9 second run a
couple of years ago with a nice warm 2TG. (The Corolla is a KE25 which
weigh only 850 kg with the 2TG :-)

>(Then again, you could just whack a Garrett turbo on an 18R-G, and hope you
>don't get caught.)

>Besides that, Garrett turbos cost about $4000 fitted, plus you gotta look after
>them really well: warm-up/cool-down period, oil seals, regular inspections,
>etc....  (You can pick up an '86 Turbo Pulsar for $6000).

>Anyway... hope this helps.  Until they change the law here in Queensland, I'm
>gonna stick with a twin-cam!

Most definately! They are reliable, easy to get parts for and they are
still being imported by the container loads. No problems getting Dept of
Transport approval either. That way when the law queries the engine you
just wip out the approval notice :-)

Cheers,

Paul.
-- 
===========================================================================
 Paul Pyyvaara                                     e-mail : paulp@bu.oz.au
 Network Programmer                                Phone  : +61 075 951412
 B O N D  U N I V E R S I T Y     Gold Coast, Queensland, 4129 - Australia