I'm currently strongly considering putting down a deposit for a CEC I know of, but just wanted some opinions on it with regards to engine in particular.

The engine I have been told is a Toyota Mr2/corolla 1600cc twin cam (HPI check shows year of manufacture as 1988 - i presume the year of manufacture is regards to the engine?) In any event I know that engine is quite old - MK1, and the original milage is unknown. Theres been 4000 miles sinse the car was built/registered in 2002. It is also supercharged.

So my question is, should the age of this engine put me off? (I intend to drive quite spiritedly and do track days). It would cost to buy circa £6k.

[Edited on 6/2/13 by p2ccolo]

Best to check the condition of the engine, as age is not relevant.
How often has the owner serviced the engine and do they have receipts (for the parts) to back it up?

Check it if smokes on start up, on boost etc. and if possible to a compression check.

I think the 4age is a great motor in our type of cars. Looks great, loads of character - a real gem.

Have no direct experience of an S/C version but I've heard plenty of good stuff.

It's a Toyota from when Toyota were at their absolute peak in terms of manufacturing (relative to their peers at the time) too.

[Edited on 6/2/13 by TimC]

If you're that worried, price up a known good engine, and deduct that and a bit more for labour, from the asking price, and there's your offer price. Its not the time of year when the phone will be red hot with offers.

Ok great, my biggest concern is that if the engine was to die, due to the age how easy would it be to source the same engine/direct replacement or replacement parts? and refitting to the current setup/supercharger and at what sort of cost would I be looking at? Unfortunately I'm not mechanical at all, so have to ask :-)

Thanks!


[Edited on 6/2/13 by p2ccolo]

Parts for the 4age engine (cold be a 4agze if factory s/c) are easy to find. Fensport, RAW Engineering and ebay are your friend. Never had any issues with mine, some of the parts are stock items at the local Toyota dealer. That said, the stock engine is pretty bullet proof. Mines run some tricked cams and ITB's and never had an issue.

What car is it in? What S/C conversion does it have?

Mine is heading off in 2 weeks for the RAW Rotrex conversion

Thanks for all the responses, It's in a Stuart Taylor. Going to out down a deposit tonight then I think.

Hpi check will likely reveal age of donor, not the engine. Whilst the donor could have been source of the engine, its more likely the donor was a sierra (assuming it has a type 9 and a ford diff).

I used to be involved with The Red Dragon MR2 racing. The engines are brilliant, free revving and pretty much bullet proof. Most of the drivers would tell you the engines are at their best after 120000 miles, so wouldn't worry at all about the age. They are also dirt cheap on ebay if you ever need a replacement.

4age is a cracking engine

Check to see if it has a modified sump though as i seem to remember the sumps being pretty deep as standard and you might have ground clearence issues ?

Is it one from Eastbourne as a friend has a nice blue Stuart Taylor with a supercharged 4age in it .

If the engine is a good runner don't be put off by the age. My Locost is running a 1980 Cortina 2L Pinto and runs/pulls fine

Not exactly a pocket rocket but fine as a first go for me. I will eventually get around to rebuilding my Balcktop 2L.

Hey Craig, yes I think it's probably the same car.

1988 may be the car but they did offer the MR2 MK1 SC in '88.

The difference between the normal 4age and the SC is only the pistons. They are lower comp (8:1) and are forged with ceramic coating. The super charger is a SC12 version and you should be expecting around 140bhp if stock. There are a few minor differencies but only slight (no TVIS).

If it has a rotrex or Eaton then it could have anything inside!

I would say that you should do the normal engine checks and if all is good then happy times.

I have a 4age 20V blacktop in my car and love it.

4age in my Mk1 MR2 has done 120k and is sweet as a nut. They take a lot of abuse!

Before RAW bought the rights to the Striker from Sylva they were an agent for Stuart Taylor I believe.

It's pretty likely that this car would have originally had something to do with Mel Coppock's enterprise.

quote:

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Originally posted by TimC
Before RAW bought the rights to the Striker from Sylva they were an agent for Stuart Taylor I believe.

It's pretty likely that this car would have originally had something to do with Mel Coppock's enterprise.

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Shouldnt the year of manufacture on the hpi check come back as 2002, from when it was registered?

Hey guys thanks for all the responses. The car in question is the one listed here: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/kit-cars/stuart-taylor/stuart-taylor-kit-2002/1055315

I dont mind posting the link now sinse I have already arranged a small deposit and arranged with the owner to hold the car and am meeting with this weekend to finalise the deal.

The listing states the car is 190hp with the supercharger, does that seem about right? There's some pictures of the engine etc on the listing so I am sure some of you well informed guys will no better than I would at what your looking it, I am by no means knowledgable. I just want the fun of driving :-)

RE: The HPI, it shows two dates, date of first registration: 2002 (I assume this was the build year) and just after the engine number is says year of manufacture 1988..

I'm pretty much set to buy this, but if anyone thinks theres anything off or something I should be aware based on the listing I would love to know, sinse as I say I am not mechanically minded in anyway. I can top up the fluids and thats about it :-(

Cheers!

[Edited on 7/2/13 by p2ccolo]

Find out why it's running crazy ride height - bottom wishbone should be roughly parallel to the ground.




[Edited on 7/2/13 by TimC]

quote:

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Originally posted by TimC
Find out why it's running crazy ride height - bottom wishbone should be roughly parallel to the ground.


[Edited on 7/2/13 by TimC]

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quote:

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Originally posted by blakep82
Shouldnt the year of manufacture on the hpi check come back as 2002, from when it was registered?

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Does ride height look wrong? Apparently it was all setup by raw engineering? Can this not be adjusted easily anyway?

just a keep couple of point thats dont seam to add up on this car.
A 4age N/A engine is only 135bhp so how can one that is low compression to take a supercharger be 140!! also a standard 4agze is only 160!! so doing well to be pushing 190!
Does it nt seam odd to you that the engine can run to very different power bands on just one ecu? and from the looks of it that doesnt look like an omex ecu, which raw only use.

Dont take in what he says about the supercharger kit on thier web site either, that seams only a kit for the 20v,

Some thing about this car doesnt add up

Ok. Can anyone shed any light in the above comment? Does the claimed bhp seem wrong? Since I've no idea about mechanics at all could someone clarify about r1_strikers comment about "the engine running to two different power bands in just one ecu?"

The guy recons he has all the paperwork etc from raw engineering for all the work done which states 195hp. Though has never himself had it dyno'd.




[Edited on 9/2/13 by p2ccolo]

Hi guys, went to see the car today, all seemed ok, and I really liked it, however I noticed a small thick amount of white "mayo" in the oil cap, and a very tiny little puddle of what looked like oil in what I think is a core plug on the side of the engine? I took a photo which I will try to upload. The owner seems certain its not an issue and that its quite normal to get this build up of white stuff on the filler cap due to the weather and lack of use and that the slight leak in the core plug is nothing and just needs a new part to sealant which he said was nothing to worry about.

Does this sound right to you, should I be concerned about head gasket?

[Edited on 10/2/13 by p2ccolo]

the different power bands could be SC clutch engaged or not which i think some eaton chargers do have but not rotrex or stock gze (4age supercharged ).

i would of thought a well mapped car would run like dog though if it was in a non SC setup. some one may know more. either way that switch would stay in one position for me, on !

if you get no advice on this post about milk and leak core plug then start a new post. its quite crucial you get an answer.

my gut feeling is any milk is bad milk.

oh and the polished rocker cover only means it is 16v. no tell tail of what SC it has or history. but if it was originally mr2 SC engine the cover would say supercharged on it so why grind the gloating points off?

dont mean to sound negative, just being analytical.



[Edited on 10/2/13 by bi22le]

the standard toyota superchagers do have a clutch'd pulley, but as bi22le a well set up would run like a dog if the charger was turned off.
that core plug in the head seam to be where the dizzy used to be, so not a great problem if there is a dribble of oil. Would of thought thats easy enough to seal.
Why dont you try giving raw a ring, they may be able to help or sell you a proper car lol

Hi

IF the car has been done by Raw then the power output is quite believable, not so sure why you would want it switchable and I would want to know what ignition set up was on it to make the mapping switch over at the same time to make it run OK.

Rather than chat to the owner - get the registration and ring Raw, speak to Martin and find out what they've done with it

That core plug location seems to collect a dribble of oil - personally I reckon you'll find its weeping under the corner of the rocker cover and just collecting there, mine did anyway

Think the rocker covers are aftermarket ones (you used to be able to get ones from Japan with 'Cosworth' cast into them to make it look like a BDA!) have seen plain alloy ones before but don't know where they come from.

Agree with the ride height queries, looks wrong - but the bloke might have loads of sleeping policeman down his way - or it could be a bit high as it's got a standard sump on it - you can get a lowered 'big wing' sump easily and cheapily enough though (Raw can supply) or it's possible, but expensive, to dry sump them (you'll only need the latter if it's going to see a Track with slicks or ultra sticky track day rubber.

You can get a little bit of gunge under the oil cap if it's been stood a while as it's not unknown for a bit of damp to get in there, have seen that a couple of times - but it's not much - literally anything more than a smear of it and I would be wanting to do a sniff test on the coolant.

Hope this helps

Thanks for all of the responses. Spoke with RAW (Very nice guys indeed and very helpful!) they confirmed that the engine work would not have been carried out by them however some of the other bits and pieces may well have done (I have seen receipts of around £4k for various bits of work carried out by them but no receipts for engine work), but they dont rememebr the car, though this is not suprising seeing as it would have been 10 years ago.

Martin at Raw also said that the white gunk can be quite common in these engines and probably not anything to worry about.

He did however say that he doubted the claimed BHP.

As for ride height, when I looked at the car on a flat surface on the weekend the height was around 5-6 inches from the ground, but was roughly level/ the same distance form the ground at the front and rear. He said is brother had adjusted the height using the settings he rang up stuart taylor motorsport and acquired.

Bit of a dilemma, now for me I suppose. I think for the information that Ive had head gasket should be ok based on those symptoms, but parting with this much cash and no comeback obviously make me a bit weary.

I like the car and left a deposit, with the view that next weekend we would be going out for a test drive (weather permitting) and provided it drove well I would buy it, which if this is still a good car I would want to do, but sinse I am new to kit cars and by no means knowledgable on mechanics, really weary of buying a bad car.