V8 conversion on 73 mark 2

[coronaclassic]

Hi everyone, new to this site.just putting some ideas out there for my plans. I've got a 73 mark 2 import (MX10), the one with the curved tail light set up, mint car, 3rd owner. It's got the original 2L six cylinder. also has E type diff (unfortunately). I've got plans to swap it out with a 253 blue motor with a trimatic. that engine has been fully rebuilt,worked, with no more than 5 k's on it, show room quality, out of a WB bla,bla,bla, and getting it for next to nothing. this will be my first rebuild, although i've done alot of work on my 77 RT118 corona wagon and between myself, a mate of mine and my old man i'm pretty confident we can make it work. and once it's done, i can always slot a bigger V8 onto that box down the track. but all i'm after atm is a bit more power, that V8 note, and something different, seems like the only info on conversions to MK 2's i can find are 1JZ's,etc.

the way i see it is after i clean out the engine bay, i'm going to 'dummy fit' the 253 and box, the first set of problems i'll prob come across is the clearance between the front cross member and steering arms. the engine has got a mid sump so that might give me a little more play, plus the engine is shorter than the 6 so that'll work in my favor. if i have to cut the front cross member i can always strengthen it up or fabricate a new one up. same deal with the rear cross member, also make up some new engine mounts. next up is the tailshaft and diff, if i can't get hold of a F type diff for now (out of an MX13 or MX23) , i'll keep the E type. i'll have to either use the tailshaft from the corona or the WB, and fabricate whichever so the yoke suits the gearbox, and the tailshaft fits onto the diff. i suppose i could also get a totally fabricated tailshaft if worse comes to worse. also to upgrade are the front disc rotors to later model corona ventilated ones, new front struts and springs, a larger capacity alloy radiator, also get the speedo cable calibrated, get linkages made up from the box to the selector. another problem might be the brake and clutch master cylinder, if that gives me any hassles clearance-wise i'll have to find a substitute. apart from that extractors and exhaust, and the wiring should be a piece of piss. after all thats done a new coat of paint (prob metallic gun metal grey) and some nice rims, and the interior is already mint. the more and more i research the project, the more straight forward it's looking. so any ideas you guys have on the upgrade, especially if anyones heard of anything like it being done before would be appreciated. cheers.

[79Corona]

Welcome to the Corona Forum. Sounds like you have a lot of plans there. Good luck with that and keep us informed.