Topic: Whoa! Revelation time...

so with all this talk of engine failure and epic JDM/Lemons failures...

Has there ever been a Ford Modular 2v 4.6 that's NOT lasted at LeMon's??

hmmmmmmmm...

____________________________________
Always running on E \ ' ' ' ' F 
Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws Official Ten+ Time Loser
Owner #132 Lancia/Toyota Beta/MR2 Scorpion

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Considering most are ex-Cop cars or taxi cabs with 250,000 plus miles they do make fine LeMon'isers.

Bill Hamilton
Infidel Racing
Team Number 3
1988 Mustang 2.3 liter with 88 Shetland ponies under the hood

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

I have never seen a 2V 4.6 fail at Lemons, and we've had at least a couple dozen of them. Both 4V 4.6s have blown up, however. Tip: after your MN12 eats the engine at its first race, swap in a plain ol' Crown Vic motor and enjoy IRS and reliability!

I'm trying to think of other similarly reliable engines that we've seen in large numbers and can't come up with anything that's been 100% reliable. The Mazda B engine has done pretty well at Lemons, but a few have blown up. Ford Windsors that haven't had the living piss cheatified out of them tend to hold together well... but very few V8 Mustang guys can resist the temptation to add a hotter cam... and maybe some more compression... and some head porting... so they make the 302 look flakier than it really is.

I'm trying to recall a Toyota M that has failed at Lemons and nothing comes to mind (though I'm sure you Supra guys have some horror stories). We've seen maybe three Chrysler 318s and they've never skipped a beat. Why doesn't someone do a 318-powered Z?

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Our 200SX's CA20E has 3 full races and counting....

Summer's Eve Racing - '09 Yee-Haw; '10 Gator-O-Rama, NorDal Hooptie, Yee-Haw; '11 Gator-O-Rama, NorDal Hooptie (Winner, Class A!)
TARP Racing - '11 Yee-Haw, Heaps; '12 Gator-O-Rama (Winner, Class C ... Looking for a Class B Win to Complete the Trifecta!), Heaps; '13 NorDal Hooptie, Gator-O-Rama

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

I wonder if I could shoehorn a 302 into the MR2. And eliminate the cooling problem.

What if we ran the radiator as the rear spoiler? Cooling and downforce all in one tidy package?

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

I am really surprised that nobody has done a roof mounted radiator on a MR2 like the one on the Fiero.  It would reduce the length of the cooling hoses by many feet and would certainly get enough clean air.  Done right, it could even be part of a theme so it didn't look like a rad on a roof.

Here's an idea - since the drivetrain is out of a Tercel, why not build a twin engine MR2 with a Tercel motor and suspension in front to compliment the Tercel motor in back?  What could go wrong?

BRE Datsun (Broke Racing Effluence) formerly Dawn of the Zed Racing
'74 260Z
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php … 2559430584

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

We have given this some thought. The fact that we can't keep even one engine from blowing up gives us pause, although some contend that using two engines would be like a double-negative and thus we'd have zero problems.

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

The Toyota 4AGE is a puzzler, it has won (FX16) and it has a rep as bomb that will never finish (MR2)  yet, haven't there been a couple of mister twos that have done well?     I owned an FX16, it was the only car I ever bought new... I drove, autocrossed and soloed the crap out of it, gave it to my nephews and nieces when it had about 250K miles on it, they drove it a further 120K mile before it got side-swiped on a freeway in Seattle.  Motor and trans were never opened, clutch was never replaced, it drove to its final destination at a wrecking yard (I didn't have the time to drive the 750 miles to pick it up, put it was tempting)    That engine always delivered the goods, spinning it to 7500 rpm was magic!    I always thought it would do well at Lemons...    Maybe in an AE86.  I wonder if you could put one together for under $500? Base RWD Corolla, rx7 rear, 4AGE, trans..   Maybe.  The Drift dudes have priced the real things out-of-sight.     ,  Hummmm, let's think about this.

Ford 302:   Ours has gone 4 races with no issues, but it has a small carb and is not asked to spin, the drivers shift well before 5K revs.  The motor goes flat thereabouts, anyway, we think that the valve springs are weak.   We also have a huge Mercedes radiator in the car and the motor runs cool.

Gosh, my business card says 'Tech Tyrant'

9 (edited by jimeditorial 2009-10-28 03:39 PM)

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Jeff G 78 wrote:

I am really surprised that nobody has done a roof mounted radiator on a MR2 like the one on the Fiero.  It would reduce the length of the cooling hoses by many feet and would certainly get enough clean air.  Done right, it could even be part of a theme so it didn't look like a rad on a roof.

Here's an idea - since the drivetrain is out of a Tercel, why not build a twin engine MR2 with a Tercel motor and suspension in front to compliment the Tercel motor in back?  What could go wrong?

We built the Fiero rad at Reno after the green flag dropped....it took something like 60 laps. The rad was unknown, (I pulled it out of the mud outside the wrecking yard office) and the hoses were early Taurus parts from the NAPA in town, connected with True Value hose barbs and clamps. Done with more than ten seconds of planning, it should be possible to do a clean, good looking job. It worked great, BTW.

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Jim, do you have any photos of it?

Pat Mulry, TARP Racing #67

Mandatory disclaimer: all opinions expressed are mine alone & not those of 24HOL, its mgmt, sponsors, etc.

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

http://picasaweb.google.ca/jamesaandert … directlink

I think this is Murilee's shot. It actually overcooled and you could fell the drag at the end of the front straight!

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....

12 (edited by troubleonwheels 2009-10-29 07:44 AM)

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Our 4age with 212k miles made two and a half races, along with a track day and autox before lunching a bearing on a suspected downshift overrev.  They can be reliable.  Well driven...that's another story.

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Mere words fail to describe the awesomeness of that kludge! Good work, gents.

Re: Whoa! Revelation time...

Thx, we were really screwed.....the bungees were actually to attempt to contain the thing if/when it flew off...you know the Men In Black have a sense of humor when they let us race the thing....it lasted the rest of the event. I think we finished 80th or so...I was laughing too hard to tell...

Jim "Endo" Anderton
30 years of racing and still not Brambilla.....