Hey everybody, I'll keep this brief, since I don't have much to report at this point. I'm just an auto enthusiast who doesn't see the point of having a car you can't drive every day, and I like getting as much efficiency as I can out of a car while keeping it fun to drive (I watch Top Gear, but am not interested in supercars).
I find myself increasingly disappointed with new cars, having so much excess and heft bolted on to them, and completely missing the point of a vehicle (which is transportation of people and goods, right?). I tend to admire modernized older cars that combine the light weight and simplicity of older cars with the efficiency and tight tolerances of modern engineering.
That's why I purchased the ugliest car I've ever seen, and decided to turn it into (what I consider) the ultimate daily driver. Here's what it looks like:
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to source the correct starter motor for it (after 3 tries, and snapping off several starter cog teeth because I was sold the wrong part) I've decided to throw away the old, complicated, ineffective, inefficient ca20e motor and replace it with a slightly more modern but MUCH better engineered ca18det. It may seem strange to expect to go from a 100hp engine that was touted for being very efficient (it has two EGR systems and 8 spark plugs on a 4cylinder engine) to a turbocharged little workhorse of an engine, but the resolution of control I can get out of the ca18det will give me the best of both worlds:
- Driving conservatively nets great mileage from the low-displacement engine
- Driving aggressively lets the engine stretch its legs and produces plenty of power (200whp is the very attainable goal)
Right now the car is up on jackstands, and is waiting for me to yank the old engine out so I can pick up the new engine on the 19th, then I get to spend the weekend swapping engines and working out the kinks with that. I've removed as much weight as I can, and will revisit the suspension setup after the new engine is in.
My end goal is to install a more efficient turbocharger, alcohol/water injection system (to combat detonation), and megasquirt3 (megasquirt1 and 2 do not control coil-on-plug systems effectively, and megasquirt3 allows for easy sequential ignition AND fuel injector control). I'm excited to finally see this on the road, and see what kind of mileage I get out of it. I highly doubt that it'll be any worse than the epa-estimated 21mpg average that seems so disappointing to me.