MRolla Project Launch

With much fanfare (none), Paul and I met for breakfast Saturday to discuss the issues we need to resolve to graft the front of an '89 Corolla GTS onto the V-RAM MR2, then we started taking measurements. Cutting should start soon. By the May Reno race we should have something exactlyish like this:


Here are a few of the bigger issues we are faced with:
  • Where to join the cars: Just behind the Corolla firewall, keeping the Corolla pedals and steering shaft.
  • Transmissions: Manual at one end and automatic at the other.
  • Throttle: One pedal linked to both engines. Simple.
  • Cooling: Put a radiator on the roof or over the rear for the rear engine.
  • Fuel: Separate tanks and pumps.
  • Brakes: System just needs to be spliced.
  • Exhaust: Exhaust from the front engine must be routed.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Man, I was just talking about this exact idea with another team that was too lazy to pull it off. I hope you guys actually do it.

Some advice: No need for separate fuel systems. If you have two tanks and two pumps, one will run out before the other, and you'll be stuck dragging around a dead engine. I suppose this means you'll always be able to drag yourself back to the pits, but your sessions will be shorter. Besides, where will you put the tanks? Hell, where will you put ONE tank? Passenger's seat seems the only option, which means FIA certified cell and serious firewalling...

Cooling: Give the two engines a shared cooling system. Put a HUGE radiator in the front of the car and tee the hoses together. I've seen this work on a 600-hp twin-engine Hyundai. You'll only be making 300 hp, so just use a radiator from a 300-hp car.

Just side-dump the front exhaust rather than letting it throw heat into the rear engine bay.

Which end will you put the Automatic? I think I'd go with the rear, since that seems like it would give you more control, but that's certainly open to debate.

-Dave
Eyesore Racing

Larry said...

Thanks for the suggestions, Dave. We've been toying with the idea since before you (think it was you) suggested it with the FX16 I posted on Facebook. Very excited it is underway.

Cooling: That would simplify the radiator, but if we get one leak (what are the odds on an MR2?) we probably will have two over-heating engines. Will research further.

Fuel: Latest 24HL rules probably won't allow a passenger side fuel bulkhead. We're stuck with the 10 gallon OEM MR2 tank and whatever we can put in the rear trunk.

Exhaust: yep.

Auto in rear: Yep. Wouldn't speculate which end it would suck the least on, but we think it will be easier to keep the Corolla clutch pedal controlling the Corolla clutch, and linking the throttle pedal to both engines.

What I wish we could figure out was a way to keep on the automatic throttle during accelerating while shifting the manual. The acceleration would be great.