VVTi Goodness into a Triumph Stag

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BPrasil

New Member
Hi All,

I have been lurking on the forum for some time jealously watching you getting on with your conversions and collecting lots of good information in readiness for my own project.

The time has finally come and I have embarked on what I suspect will be a lengthy and challenging conversion.

My aim is to shoehorn 1uz vvti goodness into a 1974 Triumph Stag. These vehicles have been the recipient of many different engines and some are easier to fit than others. I know some of you will think I’m mad because it would be easier to put something like an LS1 or hotted up Rover motor in the car but I like the idea of an overhead cam fuel injected V8 as I think it is in keeping with Triumph’s original objectives. The original engine is a 3 litre overhead cam V8 with alloy heads and twin Stromberg carburettors. Triumph had originally intended to use fuel injection but couldn’t get it to meet the US pollution requirements. They also developed four valve heads for the Dolomite Sprint motor which is effectively half a Stag motor. It is a shame Triumph did not have the resources to refine the Stag V8 with fuel injection, four valve heads and improved reliability for it would have become a cult classic. In a way I hope to create the car that could have been.

I will be using the standard 5 speed auto and ecu as I think I will have enough challenges without trying to convert to a manual and/or an aftermarket ecu. With 215kw and 400nm torque I think the performance will be sufficient for my needs. As the intention is to make the car an everyday driver I will be trying to keep the air con.

In doing this conversion I will be drawing on the excellent work Andrew (Sparrow010) has done in fitting a non vvti 1uz into his prize winning Stag. If I can achieve half the quality he has I will be happy.

Enough chit chat – here’s what I’ve managed so far. The motor has been trial fitted to identify clearance issues and there are a few. I have attached some photos to show the issues.

The 1uz is approximately 30mm taller than the Stag motor so to get it under the bonnet requires dropping the cross member, complete with steering rack, about 25 to 30mm. Doing this means there isn’t much meat left in the couplings so some trickery may be required here. Looks like I will have to drop the sway bar mounting too.

The cross member sits towards the front of the motor so a rear sump is called for and thanks to Zuffen I now have one of these hard to get items. Even so it will need some modification and I am hoping the mods Andrew made to his will give me the clearance I need. To fit the sump behind the cross member will necessitate keeping the motor as far back as possible. To achieve this I might have to redo the wiring around the back of the motor and get rid of the plastic cable tray.

The inlet manifold on the vvti unit appears to be the same height as the non vvti one but is wider and extends further forward and back which means it fouls the bonnet catch.

Output from the A650 transmission is via a 150mm dia donut for which there is no room under the Stag. I have removed the yoke and am hoping to use a spline drive to the prop shaft similar to the original Triumph approach.

Keeping the a/c compressor means there isn’t a lot of room between the chassis rails but I think I can just squeeze it in if I grind a lug off the alternator.

There won’t be much room for the exhaust headers either so I will need some that are tight against the heads but hoping to avoid log style headers.

Just to make things even more fun the right hand engine mount will have to be located directly over the steering gearbox.

That’s enough for tonight. Of course any advice and/or assistance will be greatly appreciated. Will I have the resources and stamina to complete this? We’ll just have to watch and wait.

Cheers,
Barry
 

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Yep. Keeping that side of things standard to reduce the complexity of setting up custom ECUs, etc.

Making slow progress - will post more pics later.

Cheers,
Barry
 
Barry,

Be aware most engineers will require a minimum of 10mm clearance between engine engine/components and chassis. Are you using Athol for your engineering?

You also need to keep in mind the motor moving under torque load, which may require increased clearance.

One option may be to look for a smaler alternator so you can shift the engine over a little.

From memory I think a Corolla alternator is smaller and still has a reasonable output.
 
Yeah the clearance between the alternator and the a/c compressor to the chasis rails are my main concern. I have bolted the engine in using make shift mounts to finesse the height a bit but there still isn't a lot of room. I like the idea of using a smaller alternator - just hope they are small enough to get the clearance I need.

I am in the process of making some cardboard prototypes for things like sump and headers so the engineer can provide advice before I fabricate things.

I don't know how Andrew got the rear sump to fit without modifying the lower bowl. With the engine clearing the firewall by 10mm the corners of the bowl foul the cross member.

Keeps me off the street I guess.

Cheers,
Barry
 
It's been a while and I know many of you are dying to know where I am up to. :)

The engineer checked out my mock up and was basically happy with everything I was proposing barring dropping the crossmember. This was a bit of a blow as everyone else who has done a conversion on a Stag has been able to get away with simply dropping the crossmember. He was concerned with the impact on the steering geometry.

As a result I had to make a custom crossmember. This has been a time consuming task as it is a complex shape and I had to make sure I didn't introduce bump steer by lowering the steering rack. To do this I had to make custom steering arms.

I have finally finished the cross member, the steering arms and the engine mounts.

To get the clearance to run the air con I did as Zuffen suggested and got a smaller alternator from a Celica and made up a an adapter. The original alternator had an output of 100A whereas the Celica one only has 70A but I figure the Lexus had electric everything but the Stag is pretty basic so 70A should be sufficient.

I am now onto the diff upgrade. It is proving challenging to work out what diff to use. I am looking for something in the R200 size preferably with Torsen type LSD. Not many out there and they ain't cheap.

In addition I want to replace the splined driveshafts with CV joints and upgrade the rear brakes to discs. The front discs and calipers will be increased also.

Again any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 

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Barry, don't lose heart. This will be one of the nicest swaps out there when you're done.
 
Hey Barry,

How are you getting on with the yoke? I'm putting a 3uz/a650e into an RX7 convertible, and I've run into the same problem (space is too tight to fit the donut of doom).

I know some models of toyota and lexus (like the altezza) that use the A650e have an extended housing, which allows you to use a slip yoke. I've purchased an altezza prop shaft, and it has a spline count of 23. I wouldn't suppose you could take a count of splines on your yoke? (I haven't been able to get mine off yet)


Short housing:
http://www.partsbase.org/toyota/cel...ohc-efi-2000-2006-jp-2-extension-housing-atm/

Long housing:
http://www.partsbase.org/toyota/alt...efi-atm-1998-2005-jp-2-extension-housing-atm/


Cheers,
Alex.
 
Hi Alex,

The output drive shaft has 26 splines.

I figure I will need something like the attached. It will need to extend a fair way to clear the chassis reinforcing box section. The drawing shows the dimensions and the picture shows one I found on the web.

Gloverman, is the one you make likely to be suitable?

Cheers,
Barry
 

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yep mine is suitable. I do one unit for the 4 speed boxes and another for the larger spline 5 speed boxes. All done to NZ certifaction standards.
 
stagerin along

hi barry,
i have been 1zu ing my stag for nearly two years of and on when time suits,i also have used andrews valuable advice and photos we are using a 5 speed supra box have dropped my crossmember 30mm and modified the ali sump with a step in it, using log headers, at the moment trying to adapt stag mounts by moving chassis brackets along a bit think it will work trial and error really
will post photos soon,what diff did you end up going with!
cheers nev willcock
 
Sounds good. Work has come to a bit of halt at the moment as we have just built a new house and are in the process of doing all the landscaping and setting up the new shed. I will have a lot more room to work on the car when the shed is finished.

I am going with the Toyota diff - here is a picky of it in situ.

I have sorted most of the heavy engineering stuff and just need a few bits machined up. Then I can do the "easy" stuff like radiator, wiring, plumbing, etc.
 

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