Toyota powered

[SpeedCostsMoney]

Hi,

I'm new to the site and saw that some of you have used Toyota motors in your Cobra's. I would like to know what modifications you have done to get this powerplant in the car and how did you get the computer to work? Any information would be great. I want to put a Tundra or Lexus power train in a cobra kit and want to see if it can be done.

Thanks in advance,

Speed

[tonyvda]

The Toyota/ Lexus V8 is extremely popular in Australia for powering Cobra replicas and I'm presently building two Cobras in the UK powered by Lexus V8's.

The computer is really quite simple to wire up once you have done the research on what the pin outs are on the ECU. You can even buy a kit with a loom already prepared to spark up the Lexus V8 from Ozvenom on this site.

Theres a vast amount of info available from guys who have transplanted the Lexus V8 into everything from Cobras to Pick-ups, to BMW 3 series, 4 wheel drives, boats and even into self built aeroplanes on www.lextreme.com.

Spend a few hours having a search on the lextreme site and all will become clear.

It took me 18 months to get the BMW V8 engine and box working properly in my first Cobra, and about 6 hours in the first Lexus powered Cobra. Off the top of my head you need 4 fuses, 3 relays and 7 or eight wires connecting out of the ECU.....

Welcome to the madhouse,

Tony

[SpeedCostsMoney]

Thanks for the info, How about the mounting of the motor and tranny, is that a huge poblem?

[Bryan Wilson]

SCM,
Check out OZVENOM's gallery and email or PM him as he is an expert at getting huge amounts of horsepower out of the Toyota Lexus V8.
Cheers,
Bryan

[fastraxsg]

I think alternate power plants are great and glad to hear there are others out there still being creative and not afraid of drifting off center. You must be prepared though, you many not be able to recoup your money with a non-Ford car though, as they don't seem to sell as well as the traditional, belly button cars. That and sooner or later, you will get some "purist" with a "replica" trying to tell you that only a Ford should be in the hallowed rails. Do your own thing, enjoy the labor and the end results. Build it for yourself and don't get sucked into the debates on Ford motors. Glad to see another new car joining the ranks...whatever ends up front.

[tonyvda]

Originally Posted by SpeedCostsMoney

Thanks for the info, How about the mounting of the motor and tranny, is that a huge poblem?

The motor and standard transmission is relatively easy to fit in that the motor fits inside a 750cmx750cm box and the auto box is no bigger than a manual box. I had their Cobra chassis adapted slightly from the normal Chevy/ Ford engine configueration by the kit manufacturer, AK Sportscars in the UK ( an excellent set of people btw) , to allow the oil filter/ cooler to stay in the same place and I had to shave 30mm off the bracket holding the accelerator and cruise control mechanism to the inlet manifold, but thats all we had to do.

The engine mountings come off the two standard nicely engineered cast lugs and mount onto two plates welded to the Cobra chassis and the gearbox attached using the standard Lexus rear gearbox crossmember ( onto which the gearbox is mounted on h/d rubber bushes) which is already drilled to accept four captive studs welded into the inner chassis rails on the Cobra.

Best bet would be to take the engine and gearbox with the rear gearbox crossmember to your chassis manufacturer and get them to set the chassis up to accept the package. Either that or buy a kit from AK who have already got the jigs etc to manufacture a Lexus Cobra chassis and body.

Cheers,

Tony

[SpeedCostsMoney]

The issue with this is I live in the United States and putting a Toyota motor in a Cobra is unheard of. I was thinking of using a Factory Five Kit but they only use Ford and Chevy motors. I'm not sure what I need to do to get a Toyota engine in there. It might be worth it to import the kit you speak of and then put the motor and tranny in.

The FFR kit can't be too different from an AK kit. It's funny you are the only guys who are doing this and it's purely awesome. I can't wait to finish this car and go to car shows around here. It will blow people's minds.

Speed

[mj_duell]

Originally Posted by SpeedCostsMoney

The issue with this is I live in the United States and putting a Toyota motor in a Cobra is unheard of. I was thinking of using a Factory Five Kit but they only use Ford and Chevy motors. I'm not sure what I need to do to get a Toyota engine in there. It might be worth it to import the kit you speak of and then put the motor and tranny in.

The FFR kit can't be too different from an AK kit. It's funny you are the only guys who are doing this and it's purely awesome. I can't wait to finish this car and go to car shoes around here. It will blow people's minds.

Speed

Give us a call or email. We can build custom mounts in our EVO 4 or 5 chassis for you. Custom orders is what we do best.

www.turntenracing.com

--Mike / Turn Ten Racing, Inc.
mj_duell@turntenracing.com

[tonyvda]

Originally Posted by SpeedCostsMoney

The issue with this is I live in the United States and putting a Toyota motor in a Cobra is unheard of. I was thinking of using a Factory Five Kit but they only use Ford and Chevy motors. I'm not sure what I need to do to get a Toyota engine in there. It might be worth it to import the kit you speak of and then put the motor and tranny in.

The FFR kit can't be too different from an AK kit. It's funny you are the only guys who are doing this and it's purely awesome. I can't wait to finish this car and go to car shows around here. It will blow people's minds.

Speed

The FFR kits I believe are engineered to take a Mustang as the donor vehicle, the AK kit uses Series 3 / XJS Jaguar suspension/brakes etc with a custom steering rack.

It shouldn't be too difficult to adapt a chassis from a Ford/ Chevy engine configueration into a Toyota friendly chassis and I'm sure most kit builders would relish the challengeas a chance to use their engineering and problem solving skills rather than churning out clones of one kit.

Once built you can then slap on one or a couple of Turbos, an aftermarket fuelling ECU, perhaps an intercooler, and you're all set for 450 bhp out of a 4 litre without touching the internals.

If you then want to spend some cash on decompressing pistons and other trick stuff you can get over 1000 bhp out of a 4 ltr Toyota engine..........some mad Swedes have put a dry sumped Lexus engine with a lowered compression ratio, special cams, aftermarket ECU, twin large turbo's and a Porsche transaxle into an Ultima and are getting over 1000bhp out of the thing........now thats scary!!


Cheers,

Tony

[Lowell W]

Speed,

If you're really serious about putting an unusual engine in a Cobra, I'd suggest going in a slightly different direction in search of information. Try looking in some hot rod publications and perhaps on hot rod-related web sites. You should be able to dig up stuff you need to know regarding height, mounting angle, front to back distance, driveshafts, etc. You'll then likely want to look at kits which allow you to R&R the body with a minimum of effort (ie. F5) and/or manufacturers who are willing to help you with your project.

Good luck,

Lowell

[fastraxsg]

A good magazine for sourcing ideas is StreetRodder which is available at most supermarkets in your area. They have over the years shown a lot of different motors in street rods, granted most of the cars have a bit more room in the engine compartment but they have shown cars with Lexus motors, Toyota baby hemi's and a heap of others. They have in their back issues even done things like setting the pinion angle in relation to drive train so if you can find some one close by with back issues, you might be able to locate a lot of info there. I'm sure KitCar and Kit Car builder could help you out too.

[Three Peaks]

Speed,
Most of the manufacturers will comply with your request for a non-standard engine implant by simply not supplying motor mounts on their chassis and let you design and install the requesite mounts. It is pretty simple really once you have the engine/tranny in hand and placed in the chassis to take measurements.
Mike's offer to make up a custom mounts on their chassis is the perfect opportunity if you aren't into fabrication/welding, etc... to accomplish your goal. Their chassis and body are very nice and would be a perfect platform for what you want to accomplish.
Time to start looking for an engine/tranny and get started!

[SpeedCostsMoney]

Thanks for all the info. You guys have really put me on the right path to get this thing started. All id left is saving a little cash and getting the right engine.