S1Steve Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Kiwi, Nice job of updating Grace. Like the others, I also enjoyed reading your posts. Cheers to you and your crew !!!! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 Looks awesome Stephen! Console didn't work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I like the way you routed the hoses... very clean engine bay. We are all waiting to some pictures of it being drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 21, 2010 Author Share Posted August 21, 2010 Looks awesome Stephen! Console didn't work? Hi Mike No it didnt and I was lucky as we found out it wouldnt work at a very early stage as I was really going to use it which ever way I could. The issue was because im using a remote shifter setup the remote shifter bars couldnt get low enouge to get to the center where the gear stick stuck up as the new Birkin console sits very low towards the front compared to the old console and it would have been a major project to get it there. Anyway its being passed on to a guy on my lotus 7 forums who is building a car so its going to be put to good use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Well the weekend has passed and I took the car back to McGregors today to finish of some small jobs and send it to get its cert done.. Over the weekend I coverd 257kms and used 22L of fuel giving me a return of 11.68 km per liter which isnt bad considering we did some pretty hard driving over the weekend and I wasnt easy on the throttle at all, on the way to Mcgregors I filled up with fuel the 35L fuel tank was full and I then went and weighed the car at the local weigh bridge and it came to 580kg with out me in it. At Mcgregors had a chat with Mark about the 2 electrical issues and no sooner had we finished Steve raced up in his Mcgregor 7 and jumped out yelling he had been reading my reports and knew what the problems were and was into it right away fixing them, The first one being a faulty key barrel turning off the car while driving and the other being a wiring issue between the old loom and new loom putting the ignition light on and not turning it off, both were fixed within the hour by Steve which is a tremendous job by a guy who really takes pride in his work, well done mate. Next up I fixed the new rear panel in place behind the seats to finish that area off and then left the car there to go of to hopefully get its cert tommorow. So whats left to do.... well the heater box still needs to be sorted out and fabricated by me which i will start on Wednesday, I want to replace the rear springs from 175lbs to 150lbs on Marks advice as we have dropped about 30kg in weight over all and Mark feels the back is too stiff even when the dampers are set to 0. We also have to get the car running hotter its currently only getting to 40-60 deg on a really hard run and it should be running up around the 8-90 deg mark where the electric fan would then turn on too cool the engine. Then its a matter of setting the cars ride heights back up as I discoverd on the Sunday afternoon that the rear ride height is sitting about 15mm higher than normal. Thats about it for now I think. I will give a full report of my car and what i think when all the final jobs have been done and its been on the Dyno too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Looks like, at 5300+ views, and counting, this is the 3rd all-time most popular thread on this forum, after "Southwind's 7" thread and the "So tell us a little abt yourself" thread. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 23, 2010 Author Share Posted August 23, 2010 Looks like, at 5300+ views, and counting, this is the 3rd all-time most popular thread on this forum, after "Southwind's 7" thread and the "So tell us a little abt yourself" thread. Good job! Well well I hadn't even noticed that I didn't really think my upgrade would create that much interest. Im really glad i did this upgrade diary though its been great to share my experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 24, 2010 Author Share Posted August 24, 2010 Car has passed the re-certification process today for the new engine so is road legal again I just need to wait for the new VIN plate to be issued but im still able to drive while waiting for that. Now on to finish tidy up the last few small jobs and it should be home by Friday. :hurray::hurray: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Well the car passed the re-certification process today with Wayne Martin (cert engineer) commenting on what a nice install the guys at McGregors had done. Today i went to McGregors to finally get the heater in the front of the car and get the hoses fitted up, Mark also decided to fit a new Thermostat in as he thought the one I had purchased with the Silvertop rear housing could have been playing up and causing us the over cooling issue, it seems to have helped the car jumped up another 10 deg while driving but we are still not reaching the desired 80-85 deg. I also decided too ditch the 7" sealed beam units today as they just are not bright enough at night time and now I have a more modern motor I would fit some new light units that can use some of the new H4 globes, the increased lighting to the front is great and will help with those night time blats. I also started to sort out the ride height today and get it sitting back to its ride height prior to getting the car re engined at McGregors i had noticed over the weekend that the car was sitting quite high in the rear end and found it was sitting 15mm too high, sorted out that issue tomorow ill do the front. Refitted the boot also today and then it was off to do some more testing. So back tomorrow again, im going to see if it can be put on the Dyno for a power run and to see if its lean or rich and then i just need the brakes sorting out a little as they feel a bit soft and hopefully i will drive it home tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 26, 2010 Author Share Posted August 26, 2010 Well I have taken the car home today and its finished, I didnt get on the dyno but have booked it back in for 2 weeks time when I take the car back for a check over at putting some KM's on it. I will post thoughts on the whole change to the car when i have had time to drive it some more and have good feel for the changes. Cheers Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 My thoughts on the Blacktop 20v motor so far. What I really noticed about this engine is its utterly solid power and they way it is deliverd strongly and smoothly across the entire rev range in every gear, the rev needle rips across the tacho and the car now hauls its ass right from 1st all the way up to 4th the power is so usable and the engine so free reving that its just so much fun to drop the clutch at 7000rpm in first and light the wheels up which just adds to the big grin factor as it keep spinning in second and third if you keep the foot firmly planted on the GO pedal, yet its quite happy pottering around town in 5th at 50km per hour which makes this engine a great over all package for a car that weighs less than 600kg. Sure I have lost that lovely burble the kent made with the webbers on and the noise from the engine just sounds like every other Jap engine now but the conversion has been well worth it for the power upgrade that has been planted into my car Im also pretty rapped at the extra fuel economy im going to get now, initial test are giving me 11.68 km per litre and that with me having a lead foot so far with most of the driving I have been doing the last couple of days but as its going now i think I may well get over 400kms out of my 34L tank which will be a massive improvment over the 280-300kms I got from the kent motor. The other thing about this motor is if it goes bang its now anywhere from $700-$1000 to drop another one in where as if the Kent went bang I was more than likley up for a $3000-$4000 engine recondition bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobone Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 I must have missed some of the posts, but what is the transmission and rear end (diff and axle set up) of your car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 I must have missed some of the posts, but what is the transmission and rear end (diff and axle set up) of your car? Hi Twobone The transmission is a Toyota T50 gearbox which is a pretty standard gearbox for use on a 4AGE the rear axel and diff I have been told is from a South African Toyota Corrola and is pretty standard to Birkins and is 4.11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Car went back into the workshop that did my engine swap on Monday for the new gearbox to be fitted so while it was there I took the opportunity while the engine was out to fix up the real big issue with pre 1999 Birkins.....the short passenger foot-well. This has been the one major thing that has bugged me since owning the car and I could see it being a real issue when ever I come to sell the car as anyone over 5"5 has real issues sitting in the passengers side of my car. First things first I had to move the battrie box which was located at the end of the foot-well I did this last week and have moved it up on the ali in front of the scuttle. So de-riveted the plate at the end of the foot-well. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension10.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension12.jpg Fabricated up a new ali box http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension13.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension14.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 1, 2011 Author Share Posted August 1, 2011 Test fit http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension7.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension2.jpg Final rivet in place and silicon sealed so its water tight. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension6.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/FootwellExtension2.jpg Now some one who just over 6" tall could sit in my car as a passenger really comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 Cars home which is great, new gearbox feels nice and the new remote shifter has a much better feel than the last setup the extra length in the passengers footwell is going to please a lot of friends. Anyway some updated pics. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/BirkinRebuild20011.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/BirkinRebuild20011_001.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/BirkinRebuild20011_002-1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 Couple more. http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/BirkinRebuild20011_003.jpg http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/Engine%20Swap/BirkinRebuild20011_005-1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MightyMike Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Your car looks fantastic! You've really done a super job with your engine swap and foot box upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanG Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 The car looks good. What is the aluminum box/cover over the brake and clutch linkage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiBirkin Posted August 13, 2011 Author Share Posted August 13, 2011 That's just to keep any water that may come in from the bonnet louvers coming into the drivers footwell. The other Ali box next to it covers the small heater that Birkin's have in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now