v8 ta23

[sushixpress]

hi, iam a new member and thought you might like to hear about my ta23. this is my third ta23 having moved up by engine size over the years! coming to an end is my current project which i have pro streeted with ford 9" axle and all steel 383 stroker motor. i have ditched the steering box and changed to a rack and pinion, plus loads of other mods. purists please dont get upset, the car was a complete shed having been hit and badly repaired. the monocoque was checked with a tremel bar and found to be 11/2" on the p*** so the only option was to back half it or throw it away. are there any other v8`s in the club? i know of a couple of drag cars around. i will post some pics when i get round to it

[mrbishi]

Sounds a great project......come on,get those pictures up!!

What parts have you used for the rack conversion too?

[sushixpress]

hi, should get some pictures up soon.

steering rack conversion was tricky as i had to ensure that the correct caster and ackerman angles were in place. i used a mk 2 escort rack as it was the correct length. i will go into the coversion in more detail if anyone wants to do the conversion.

[oldtoyotafan]

Hi mate,

I have exactly the same idea since long long time (over 20 years), and over the years I were able to pile up the mechanic stuff from a Lincoln Continental Mark IV, a 1972 Ford Galaxie 500 and Rover SD1 and P6.

So I have one Ford 460ci, one 400ci, 2 C6 boxes and 2 9" rear ends, 2 Rover engine with autobox... I have the P6 and SD1 rear ends too, but I think the P6 one is no good for the swap...

By the way, do someone know if SD1 came with LSD diff?

Among my Celica's, I have one which is too rusted to repair and I will use it for the swap.

As I had lots of things to do before the swap (house and so), I still don't know which engine/mechanical stuff I will use...

Please can you tell me if your V8 fits straight betwwen the front struts of the TA23??

[sushixpress]

hi mate,

i did originally swap in a 302 with a c6 but the c6 is a big old girl and required major mods to the bulkhead and i had to fabricate a new trans tunnel. plus the sump is a pain in the rear as it hits the front crossmember. i assume your 400 is a chevy engine, to be honest iam a ford man but the chevy route is the easiest by far, but you will have to do mods - remove the steering box and fit a rack, cut and shut the front cross member. you have a choice regarding the cross member as it locates the tca`s. you can either do as i did which was turn it round so it faces forward and weld new mounting plates onto it which are drilled to suit the existing bolt holes on the chassis, this gives you clearance for a rear sump. then cut the middle out and re box it using the piece cut out on the underside to put the strength back in, essential, this gives you clearance for the sump and the front pulley. the other way that i considered was to lose the original crossmember and make brackets for the tca`s to mount onto, then fabricate a crossmember to mount the rack to. the rack is mounted ahead of the crossmember, so the steering arms are swapped side to side, these need to be heated and bent to ensure that your ackerman angle is correct. these must be crack tested after this to ensure that they ok. i used a mk2 escort rack mounted on fabricated brackets welded to the crossmember. it is very important to consider two things. 1) that the rack centreline is the same distance from the ground as the steering arms are to the ground
at the desired ride hight 2) that the pivot on the rack is the same as the tca`s so they both follow the same arc as the suspension compresses and rebounds. if these are not correct you will get horrible bump steer.

the above will get the engine in the hole!

hope this is of help to you, drop a line if you need any more info

[oldtoyotafan]

Hi,

thanks for the inputs.

The 400 is a Ford engine (M block): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_335_engine

It's somewhat unknown but has a lot of potential.

I really appreciate you explanations about how to fit the engine into the engine bay.
I forgot to say the plan is to modify a TA22, and yours is a TA23 which is a bit longer.

As far as I still have not the time to check how to do it, I don't know the way I will go.

But considering the weight of the "new" engine/transmission will be much more than the stock stuff, perhaps I'll won't use the stock MacPherson's struts. If I do, I'd use struts from a heavier model and stiffen the Celica sub frame.

I still have the Galaxie500 frame (cut in 3 pieces 'cause I need some room) so if I fell it's necessary I could use the front part and modify it in order to bolt it to the Celica body like on the Camaros.

This will need a lots of work and welding but it's not a problem. Or I could modify the Galaxie 500 frame to put the Celica body on it. Of course, I'd need to narrow it a lot.

The advantage is I have the double wishbone front suspension and huge ventilated brakes from the Galaxie. No need to stiffen the body on every corner. If so, I could eliminate the struts towers and this will let a good clearance for the exhausts.

For the steering, of course I prefer the rack&pinion option. Let see the way I go for the suspension. Right now I have the SD1 and a Camry CV10 power steering. When things will be together it will be far easier to make a choice.

As said before, I have 2 9" Ford axles, but they both are completely different.
I'm curious about yours, and how did you narrow it.

Thanks in advance and happy new year