Vanman Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I had one of the 600cc Honda cars for several years, the Toyota looks better. linkey , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_600 vanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Was the Abarth version still 803cc? Oh, and the Cricket/Avenger was a different engine family from the 1725 Alpine. 1250 & 1500cc(US). I don't remember which year Cricket it was - but I woked with an old guy that owned one and was going to junk it. I put the engine in my 66 Alpine. Note that some Alpines had the 1600 cc engines with a single carb instead of the 1725 with dual carbs. Not common in the USA but they did exist. I had two. The Cricket also had a 1.6 with a single carb (but different). Fit right in and looked near the same engine. And yes -most Crickets had smaller modfied 1500 Imp engines - but not all. Back to Chrysler - they were part owner of Sunbeam when the Tiger first came out in 64. So there was always tension from what I've read. Mopar did not like being part owner of a sports car with an American Ford engine. They fully owned Sunbeam when the hottest 67 Tiger came out with the 289 an newer LAT options. Chyrsler later came out with another sort-of "Sumbeam Tiger" calles a TI. I never saw one in real life and we had no Internet back then. I remember very little technical details of my Abarth Fiat Spyder. We had a guy in town that owed two pizza shops and an Abarh Fiat shop (Alpine NJ). We were in a somewhat rural area yet only 10 miles from New York City across the river. I suspect his clients were from the city. I got most of my parts and advice from him. I had three Fiats in a row and all were constantly breaking. Great handling and poorly engineered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Toyota Sera http://www.carlustbl...ust--toyot.html The Imp was 875cc (could be bored out to 998cc, but never production). All aluminum SOHC design based on a Coventry Climax design. Rear engine, RWD. I learned to drive on the 'sporty' Sunbeam version (Stiletto). 875cc, Twin Zenith carbs, a whopping 55HP! Same as the 997 & 998 Coopers. Chrysler only took full control of Rootes Group in '67. F.I.A.T. = Fix It Again, Tony! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Hmmm. How did we all forget the MR2? Collective amnesia? I never fancied the early 'boxy' ones, but love the look of the 'mini Dino' ones! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Toyota Sera http://www.carlustbl...ust--toyot.html The Imp was 875cc (could be bored out to 998cc, but never production). All aluminum SOHC design based on a Coventry Climax design. Rear engine, RWD. I learned to drive on the 'sporty' Sunbeam version (Stiletto). 875cc, Twin Zenith carbs, a whopping 55HP! Same as the 997 & 998 Coopers. Chrysler only took full control of Rootes Group in '67. F.I.A.T. = Fix It Again, Tony! or . . FORD as found on road dead, fix or repair daily, etc. Chrysler had 30% control of Lord Rootes in 1964, 85% in mid 1965, and had 100% in early 1967. There were many articles written in 1965 about the unhappiness from Chrysler with the US Ford engine in a car they had controlling interest in. For the Crickets - they started out with a hybrid 1600 cc engine that shared parts from the original Imp engine and from those used in Rapiers and Alpines. Then got worked down to a 1500 cc engine. The "parts sharing" was as reported by Sumbeam-Chrysler at the time. Not something I ever made a study of. I did swap a Cricket engine into an Alpine with few problems. I know there are many things that go on with engines that the mainstream public does not hear about. Take the Sunbeam Tigers that sold brand new for $2300 back in 1965. Where did those 260 Ford V8s actually come from that Shelby used? They were different from any 260 I know of used in American production cars. They had heavy-wall cylinders in the Tiger 260s. Maybe Ford had some rejects they unloaded cheap to Shelby? Or experimental heavy blocks destined to become 289s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can't say I've ever heard of anything in common between the Imp and Avenger(Cricket) other than both being built in the same plant (Linwood) in Scotland. My father was Director of Manufacturing for Chrysler International from 1967 - 1970 in London (Bowater House). Unfortunately discussion to confirm this would involve a Ouija Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can't say I've ever heard of anything in common between the Imp and Avenger(Cricket) other than both being built in the same plant (Linwood) in Scotland. My father was Director of Manufacturing for Chrysler International from 1967 - 1970 in London (Bowater House). Unfortunately discussion to confirm this would involve a Ouija Board. When I was driving and working on Tigers, Alpines, and Rapiers - there was no Internet. Nothing even close. All my information was gathered from foreign car sellers like Long Island Auto Imports (in Long Island NY) that sold Tiges new, various guys at foreign car repair shops, car magazines, and from my club that I was a member of for many years. The Sunbeam Tiger club (C.A.T.) was an nationwide club that gathered and shared news with members. I joined around 1969 and it's still going. California Association of Sunbeam Tiger owners. I joined when a running Tiger could be bought for $500. Now more like $50,000. http://www.catmbr.org/ I got much of my news there and unlike my cultural-anthropological research that often requires primary documents with source citations - the info at that time did not. Nor does most nowadays on the Net. So - I will confess I get none of this 1st hand from CEOs of Chrysler or good old Lord Rootes. I DID read new articles ad nauseum around 1966 with Chrysler wanting to get rid of the Ford V8s and maybe wedge a big fat 273 in there. I remember thinking - why not at least a 318? Same size and weight. I can say absolutely that I installed a Cricket engine in my Alpine without many mods. I was not capable of doing any complex mods back then. I put a Chevy V8 into a Jag XKE around the same time and I wish I could have that Jag back with the original V12. Back then the V12s were considered garbage and often ripped out. The 6s were alledged to be much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Don't know who was pulling out the V12 they even used that engine in the retro Spitfire aircraft we had very few problems with them. I was in Wales and a farmer up in the hills had to show me his "E" type drop head that he had grafted a British Ford 6 cylinder diesel truck engine in it, actually was a really good job. The XK engine was a great engine but long in the tooth by the time the 12 came along, had a long life first one was 1948. Had a high school buddy that had a Tiger I couldn't drive it because the steering wheel was too close to my long legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 The radiator in my Sunrader looks good as in the fins aren't rusty and missing and the vehicle still runs cool, but the fins kind of dissolve and break away when I lightly run my finger across them. I assume it would be a good idea to replace the radiator before doing serious traveling, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Yes, a good time to start looking. The fins are no longer well attached to the tubes. Heat from the tubes will not transfer as well to the cooling fins. The fins will also sometimes flatten and air will no longer flow through the cooling fins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 yes derek i shure did forget the toyota m r 2 thanks for reminding us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 yes stevo he is correct that raditor is aculty rottenfor shure you might get six dollors for it at the recycing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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