Going Back in Time...Toyota's Baby Hemi Engines

[CrewDawg15]

A few months ago, a fellow modeller bought a couple of Toyota 22RE engine kits from me. He was happy with the purchase, and asked what other engines I cast. I have a few completed scratchbuilt engines in my collection, and named them off. He wanted one of my Toyota 2T-C engines, but unfortunately, my molds were old and tired. He told me to hit him back up when I had some new molds made, and was ready to start casting.

Fast forward a few months, and I have my resin, and silicone, but after looking at my master, I saw a few details that I could improve on. So instead of immersing the parts in silicone, I decided to rework a few things. Then, after a few more days, I decided to finish what I started, and fab up the complete (...well, almost complete) Toyota "T" series engine line-up. This time, I would work backwards and start off with Toyota's final street incarnation...the 3T-GTE turbo engine. This engine powered the early 1980's Toyota Celica's to victory on the European ralley circuit, and was also the base for Toyota's TRD 4T-GTE engine that powered all of Toyota's group/formula cars in the early 1980's before being replaced by the 503E engine.

Here's a recap of the fab process of the 2/3T-C engine:




I started it all off by mastering three head blanks...one for each major version the the twin cam engines:



Next, I fabbed up two different valve cover blanks to represent what I need to make all of the engine versions:



Toyota used the same basic block for all of these engines, so I'll be using my original block master as the base, and making subtle changes to the cast copies for my new masters...why re-invent the wheel, if I have something that already works?


I progressed on the mods to one of my head blanks, and added details that were specific to the 3T-GTE head like ribbing detail to the undersides of the cam fairings, siameesed intake ports, and a distributor boss to the intake side of the head (the normal T-G engine's distributor comes out of the block.)



I then proceded to fabb up an intake manifold. Finding good references for this particular intake is like finding a needle in a haystack. It has become a popular transplant engine, but it was originally non-intercooled. To take advantage of modern technology, owners replace the inward facing, mid intake throttle body plenum with a custom front inlet plenum to make intercooling piping easier to route. However, I want to make a stock engine, and the custom route was not an option...at least not for me. I did manage to find a few obscure pics of the intake, and fabbed up one based off of these pics:






I did have to make a couple of compromises on the original design as I found it a bit hard to get the right curve of the intake runners. Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out.



That's it for now...thanks for looking.

Jimmy

[kaho]

That's a crazy amount of scratchbuilding! How do you model the ribbing on the head and the sunken bolt patterns on your valve covers?

[CrewDawg15]

Thanks Kaho!

The indentions are really easy to make. I use as razor saw to make a guide cut (just a couple of passes) of where I want the indention to go. Then I take out my pin vise drill. I lay the drill bit in the cut and use it like a file to make the indentions. Sorry I do not have pics, but I do have to relocate a couple of cut outs, so I might remember to take a few shots while I'm doing it.

On another hand, I got the timing chain cover about 95% complete...just a couple of minute details to add. For some reason, my original timing cover master got lost, so I have been using a cast resin copy for mock up purposes. As with the rest of the build, I saw this as an opportunity to improve on my original master. This time, I got the correct shape of the cover, and was also able to replicate a more realistic water pump with rib detail...sorry for the bad pic:



I'm reusing my original fan belt assembly, alternator, and oil pan masters. Also, this engine originally had a W55 5 speed transmission which looks very simular to my original W58 5 speed tranny master...so I'll be including this one too. A couple more shots of the progress so far:






That's about it for this weekend. Next, I'll be moving on to the turbo, and starting to wrap this one up.

Thanks for looking.

Jimmy

[star21]

Your scratch built engines are always truly amazing. I'm still in love with the 4G63 you made.

[CrewDawg15]

Thanks! That 4G63 has been a stalled project for a few years now. I was looking at it a few days ago, and just like this engine, I found quite a bit that I was not happy with. I'll probably start all over from scratch when I eventually get back to it.

Jimmy

[CrewDawg15]

Time for another update

I pressed on with the working side of the head...I added exhaust ports and welsh plugs before pressing on with the exhaust manifold:



I then pressed on with the turbo. I'm trying to keep this motor as stock as I can. If I wanted aftermarket upgrades, I can make them at a later time. I fabricated a stock...ish style cast iron turbo manifold. Then proceded to fabricte the stock CT20 turbo:





I fabricated it up in three main sections (compressor housing, turbine housing, and down pipe) for ease of casting when I get around to it. As you can see, I included as much detail as I can for realism. Smaller pieces like the wastegate actuator are easier for me to just make than to cast.

Now a few more glamor shots:




Just a few more details to fabricate up before this master is finished.

Thanks for looking!

Jimmy

[CrewDawg15]

It's been a while since I've got a chance to work on the G-TE, so I dug it out this weekend. I'm to the point where I can start casting my parts. I made up a set of prototype molds. I use these prototype molds to decide where I make my mold lines for the parts I cast up. Overall, I'm happy with the molds, but I have to re-do the turbo mold as the parting line is in a place on the compressor where it take away a few of the details once they are sanded away. Here's a few shots of the first test casting of the engine:







I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I do have to tweek up my master a bit as I was using double sided tape to hold the parts together during the fabrication stage. The fit was a bit off on the casted parts as a result of the loose fitment. Plastic rod was a bit of a pain to get the cuvature of the turbo piping, so I used solder instead. That's it for this one...stay tuned for the next engine in the series...

Jimmy

[geist_casper]

AWESOME....you did make all the engines scratchbuild? with Plasticsheet? or did you have an CAD System

[CrewDawg15]

Originally Posted by geist_casper

AWESOME....you did make all the engines scratchbuild? with Plasticsheet? or did you have an CAD System

I make all of my masters the old fashioned way...they're all made by hand with sheet, rod, and tubing styrene. I also throw in a lot of hard work with a little bit of imagination for good measures

Jimmy

[crisjr]

Hi Jimmy.. do you intend to sell some engines?

[CrewDawg15]

Originally Posted by crisjr

Hi Jimmy.. do you intend to sell some engines?

I do sell engines, but right now I'm too busy to cast them. I usually contact people that post in my threads that they want one when I do get around to casting them.

Jimmy

[crisjr]

Originally Posted by CrewDawg15

I do sell engines, but right now I'm too busy to cast them. I usually contact people that post in my threads that they want one when I do get around to casting them.

Jimmy

Ok Just let me know when you have some time available to cast, i would like to order some

Thanks and good lucky

[MidMazar]

The turbo with manifold looks great. Im sure i will be looking to get some of the sr motors and maybe some of these. Lately my budget for models has gotten lower.

[petesy]

I can sure use some engines as well. I have all these Aoshima engine-less AE86 kits that are yearning for a transplant.

[prortiz80]

sign me up to that list....