Thoughts on old cars with new engines

[pryantcc]

Hi folks,
I'm restoring a 1948 Alvis and contemplating changing the engine & 'box. Here's why, I'd be interested to hear what people think.

The Alvis engine and gear box work. I've had it running, fitted a new head gasket, compression tested, etc, & all seems OK at the moment.

I have found an old Toyota engine from the late '70s I think with a gear box from an unknown source & I'm contemplating fitting them to the Alvis. My main reason for doing so is to save the Alvis engine from wear. I could never afford to fix it if anything bad went wrong, and it seems a shame to put miles on something so old & relatively scarce. I hope to fit the Toyota one without needing to make any permanent modifications to the chassis. I'll have to bodge something together for a clutch, but other than that, things should be relatively straight-forward.

What do you all think about this? Would it be the ruination of an otherwise nice car?

Thanks,
Paul.

[SirTainleyBarking]

I can see your train of thought, but I think it would be at best a Kludge. If the original engine is still in OK nick you'll be surprised how well they now last with the advances in lubricant technology.

Engine swaps for something none standard are probably best reserved for classics that aren't that rare. Yes I'm contemplating a TDi in my landrover, but thats a 6 cylinder at the moment, which to be fair, is a nice engine when its working, but the fuel consumption and reliablity are horrific even by Solihull standards.

I think it would spoil the car IMHO

[bnicho]

It depends what Toyota engine it is. If its a small one you may have less power and worse economy. Post up the first four digits of the engine number and we can identify its type and possible origin.

[Grumpy Northener]

If you were to use the the vehicle on a daily basis I could see the sense, but I get the feeling that this is not the case - I therefore think that to go to all the trouble that you have so far with the restoration is going to be somewhat very much downgraded by the fitting of a non original engine / gearbox to it. Needless to say laying the engine up in one corner of a garage is not going to do the engine any good either.

[OneCarefulOwner]

As someone in the process of making an upgrade swap, I'd say keep it standard. I'm doing it to make a daily driven car more serviceable & economical in modern traffic cycles, and I'm doing it to something with at least a few dozen other examples that are perfectly stock Sell the Toyo engine & box to fund the hypothetical repairs.

[TriumphDriver]

Personal opinion?
As a very last resort, ie where the original engine is missing or worn beyond repair and no similar models are available, then as an alternative to scrapping the car I'd allow it - but it would always be a botch. As far as my own personal likes or dislikes go, you can talk all day about improved reliability and performance, and that old chestnut 'keeping up with modern traffic', but it destroys the character, maybe even the soul, of the old car it's going into. Yes, it may look original from the outside and the average man in the street won't know any better, but it just leaves me cold.

[rich.]

once you have more power there are brake & steering upgrades to think about will the engine be heavier/ lighter etc..suspension etc?? id hate to see all your hard work sail into the ditch..
change by all means k series rover/mazda rotary? unleaded conversion not requred

[pryantcc]

Very interesting to read your comments guys, thank you for taking the time to post!

I have no interest in keeping up with modern traffic, I fully intend to go slowly everywhere!

The replacement is a 1.6L engine from a late 70s Toyota Carina. I've agreed to buy it, but not collected it yet, so don't have the engine numbers, etc. yet. I think I'll buy it either way as it's a rare enough thing these days and I'm getting it cheap!

If I stay with the original setup, and something nasty happens to the Alvis engine (the gear-boxes are reputed to be fairly tough) I would end up doing the swap anyway as I couldn't afford thousands in repair costs and I would then have a busted Alvis engine festering in the corner of my garage, rather than a known-working one.

Having said that, I'd be devastated if I managed to finish the restoration after all these years and people like all of you were dissappointed in it because of the alien mechanicals lurking beneath the bonnet!

I'm torn!

[pryantcc]

I'm torn!

....but very glad I asked you all!

[OneCarefulOwner]

Any engine lurking in a garage is "previously fine", but still useless. "It used to run great" means nothing when it comes time to re-install, even if you took the greatest care & did everything by the book regarding mothballing it there's nothing that says the recommissioning process won't kill it just as dead as ignoring it, or even continuing to use it. If you decide to sell the car on, you'd achieve the best price by re-installing the original engine; if it's died due to lack of use then you've defeated the purpose of leaving it out.

If the engine you're looking to install is almost as rare as the one you're trying to save, you're likely to end up in a similar situation should things go "pop"; either a high repair bill, or fitting yet another replacement with a different heritage, which will mean more adjustments to your original chassis etc. If you really want to future-proof things, go for an engine that's cheap & in plentiful supply so you can at least trade like-for-like if it fails.