Modding a 240 Allion

[origin fixed]

Hi all, im an amature car enthusiast who’s looking forward to mod my mom’s car. 
i’m planning to swap the current motor with a 2zz motor preferably coupled with an automatic transmission. Any advice on how to proceed with this build i havnt even sourced the motor or have any idea on what other mods are required for this. I know the suspension setup need some real improvements… If you guys know any people who have done similar builds or know work shops that could do a good job please mention them. 
Also any rough idea of how much is it gonna cost would be much appreciated

 

 

[iRage]

Welcome. It is nice to see people slowly getting in to projects and making their (uhumm..or their mum's ) car their own.

An engine swap is quite a drastic modification. For starters:

• it is a heavy investment, requires competent people to do it : you will need everything from the harness to the ancillary devices to the engine mounts and refurbish the second-hand engine you will be buying.  Parts are not easy to come by in SL and skilled labor is even harder (there are good garages who can do the echanicals but they will cost alot.)
• a legal rollercoaster: you need to get permission for the engine swap, then after the swap go get the book updated,

and after all that the car will be somewhat unreliable for some time until all the run-in niggles are sorted out (your mum might not necessarily appreciate the car not running well whenever it is needed). It is something that will require you to have some know-how on what needs to be done. The reality is none of the garages are going to do the research required to do the swap (there won't be many people with prior experience doing a swap on an Allion)

Might I suggest you go about it the other way around?

You know the engine you want. How much power it will produce. Based on that, perhaps start with appropriately upgrading the suspension, chassis, and brakes. Then, if you wish, move on to doing upgrades to the existing engine (do you have an A15 or A18 ?) like upgrading the air intake, fuel/ignition system, remapping the car or even upgrading the exhaust which are easy no-frills paths to take to improve the responsiveness (and maybe even slightly increase the power and torque) of the existing engine.

Then, with time, you can move on to looking for a proper swap. This will give you some experience and knowledge of how things should be done and how (poorly) things happen in SL.

This might also show you that a high-power engine is not necessary for your car to be interesting. Improvements in the car's handling and response can actually turn it into a fun little daily runner. Let's be honest....where exactly and how often will you be using 180-190 hp on your daily commute (without breaking the law and being a danger to everyone, including yourself)? 

 

[tiv]

14 hours ago, origin fixed said:

Hi all, im an amature car enthusiast who’s looking forward to mod my mom’s car. 
i’m planning to swap the current motor with a 2zz motor preferably coupled with an automatic transmission. Any advice on how to proceed with this build i havnt even sourced the motor or have any idea on what other mods are required for this. I know the suspension setup need some real improvements… If you guys know any people who have done similar builds or know work shops that could do a good job please mention them. 
Also any rough idea of how much is it gonna cost would be much appreciated

 

 

Wow these posts bring back memories, most of the current kingpins in the motor trade, racers and some senior members came to this forum with similar queries, including myself.

Back to OP,

to add to what iRage said, be careful as there are heaps of conmen in the trade, who will ruin your car and drain you of your savings. Do a lot of research, I suggest reading minkara and model specific forums to start with. There are a few industry professionals who may supervise you on your project, I can share their details via DM but, these people also charge hefty for their equipment or services, but at least you won't get conned with an ebay turbo.

 

[matroska]

12 hours ago, iRage said:

it is a heavy investment, requires competent people to do it : you will need everything from the harness to the ancillary devices to the engine mounts and refurbish the second-hand engine you will be buying.  Parts are not easy to come by in SL and skilled labor is even harder (there are good garages who can do the echanicals but they will cost alot.)

I would also echo these sentiments. I did a swap on my old EP71, it involved a bit of travel around the country sourcing parts .In my case had to source Axels, Radiators, AC Compressors, fuel pumps (since I did a Carb-EFI swap) and what not - (met a lot of people made some contacts and friends along the way too.) in addition to the Engine, Gearbox, ECU Harness etc. 

Be prepared to embark on this journey if you intend to keep the car for a while. If you are selling remember you will not be able to recover the cost. 95% of Sri Lankans will not be willing to fork out extra for a mechanically modded car , when they can buy a stock car for a lower budget. (ironically they'll be ok spending on cosmetic mods, spoilers and everything else - that's sadly how the Sri Lankan mind operates) 

Edited August 29, 2024 by matroska

[iRage]

@origin fixed actually you skipped out on telling us the most significant point for this whole modding business.

WHY do you want to mod the 240 ? What is wrong with it right now ? What are you hoping to gain with these mods ?

Start by answering that and then we can help you with a reasonable build plan that would help you get your feet wet and slowly work towards your eventual goal.

[origin fixed]

4 hours ago, iRage said:

@origin fixed actually you skipped out on telling us the most significant point for this whole modding business.

WHY do you want to mod the 240 ? What is wrong with it right now ? What are you hoping to gain with these mods ?

Start by answering that and then we can help you with a reasonable build plan that would help you get your feet wet and slowly work towards your eventual goal.

240 cuz my family won't sell the car. the power is decent for these roads tbh. i just feel like it could have some power improvements and the engine isnt that fuel efficient, even though its an economy engine. it does 11km/l in the city and 15km/l in the highway. its an a15 btw with the 1.5 .

[iRage]

1 hour ago, origin fixed said:

11km/l in the city and 15km/l

that seems quite normal for a 15+year old petrol car after wear and tear. 
if you just want a bit of ooph....then I would suggest you start off small. Do some improvements to the intake and exhaust. Remap the car. It will improve the engine response, give a bit of extra hp and potentially improve fuel efficiency. Then move on to suspension and brakes.

Remember...2ZZ engines are not cheap anymore. After the 4AGE 20v the Corolla boys go after the 2ZZ for upgrades.

[origin fixed]

1 hour ago, iRage said:

that seems quite normal for a 15+year old petrol car after wear and tear. 
if you just want a bit of ooph....then I would suggest you start off small. Do some improvements to the intake and exhaust. Remap the car. It will improve the engine response, give a bit of extra hp and potentially improve fuel efficiency. Then move on to suspension and brakes.

Remember...2ZZ engines are not cheap anymore. After the 4AGE 20v the Corolla boys go after the 2ZZ for upgrades.

After reading all the posts and your previous post starting of small is the most sensible just don't want to mess up it's market value after a hefty investment. Any recommendations for a place to do a remap and suspension work. I thought of saving up more and get myself an aa60 and a 4age. I know I'm a very impulsive person lol i mean i have thought about it before tho. Thank you for your advice.

[iRage]

12 hours ago, origin fixed said:

After reading all the posts and your previous post starting of small is the most sensible just don't want to mess up it's market value after a hefty investment. Any recommendations for a place to do a remap and suspension work. I thought of saving up more and get myself an aa60 and a 4age. I know I'm a very impulsive person lol i mean i have thought about it before tho. Thank you for your advice.

Suspension work...yes..several good garages are around. Most of them do up the cars for the official drag racers and hill climbs and various other motorsports events. So they are quite visible. 

As for remaps and tunes...there are individuals. I know of only 2 and one has left the country. I will send you the FB link of the other guy. Maybe you can message him and find out if he can do anything. He has designed intake and exhaust systems for cars and done some basic tunings with quite impressive results. I believe motormag lanka did a feature on all the cars done by him sometime back.

[tiv]

On 8/30/2024 at 10:30 AM, iRage said:

Suspension work...yes..several good garages are around. Most of them do up the cars for the official drag racers and hill climbs and various other motorsports events. So they are quite visible. 

As for remaps and tunes...there are individuals. I know of only 2 and one has left the country. I will send you the FB link of the other guy. Maybe you can message him and find out if he can do anything. He has designed intake and exhaust systems for cars and done some basic tunings with quite impressive results. I believe motormag lanka did a feature on all the cars done by him sometime back.

You are referring to Kelum Wijewardena innit? was gonna refer the same

[iRage]

16 minutes ago, tiv said:

You are referring to Kelum Wijewardena innit? was gonna refer the same

Yes....Kelum W. @origin fixed since Kelum is not running a fulltime shop with 1 few dozen cars coming in and going out on a daily basis, he actually takes the time to baseline your car, talk with what you want and what can be achieved and engineers a custom solution.

[tiv]

9 minutes ago, iRage said:

Yes....Kelum W. @origin fixed since Kelum is not running a fulltime shop with 1 few dozen cars coming in and going out on a daily basis, he actually takes the time to baseline your car, talk with what you want and what can be achieved and engineers a custom solution.

Yup, highly recommended, have done heaps of work on my car with him and a he's close friend of mine. 

 

Edited September 2, 2024 by tiv