Well I'm getting my old Cosmo back (DETAILS HERE) and I would like to do something a little different...

The plan is to source a 20B shortblock that has lost compression, and do a carbed N/A build... This won't happen for awhile, but I'm excited, so I'd like to throw my idea out there and see what people think... I mean what better engine for a Cosmo than a 20B right?

I do have welding experience, and my old man is a professional in the field of fabrication, so we can pretty much make most of what we need here... Just wanna get an idea of what all this entails... I'll post a list of ideas, and see what people's input is on the matter... Feel free to clue me in on anything I may be overlooking, or anything that I need to make my ideas work! Keep in mind this will be a longterm project, as I'll also be taking baby steps to restore the car in the meantime...

I'm going for a track feel with streetability, and the ability to travel some distance, so please keep the suggestions coming!

20B shortblock
VERY LARGE streetport (maybe a halfbridge)
S5 N/A rotors
51mm Weber downdrafts (how many?)
Intake manifold for the Webers (custom?)
20B distributer from Rotary Shack
3-1 header going to 3" straight pipe (passenger side exit just before rear wheel)
Fuel cell (and associated extras?)
Fuel system (???)
TII transmission
Flywheel/clutch (???)

Anything I'm missing here other than the obvious? HELP PLEASE!

Here's a couple pics of the car btw:

 

No replies hm...

Is it the fact that I'm asking stupid questions, or the fact that nobody believes it'll ever get done?

 

I think most were like me, and read what you posted, and you seem to already have it figured out. But, I will go into detail for you, and give a few pointers anyway.

You are going to have a hard time finding a shortblock, so just buy a long block and sell off the extras

Streetports are great, and will make up to 330-350rwhp, if you want more go bridge

yep

Carbs are cool, I too was thinking of going carb at the begining of my project. If you do want to go carb, the webers are small potatoes compared to these-http://www.pmocarb.com/ you will have to order a "half" kit, using just three barrels. Be prepared to spend some cash, I think it was about $1,300 for them. Still easier to do than webers. Now, I think will find in cold weather, cost, and simplicity, Fuel injection is best, your long block will come with injectors and the primary rail ready to go, that will save alot, and you can tune on the fly inside the car.

Yep, custom anyway you go.

This will work if you go carbed

Might want to re-think this one. 3-1 is great, but straight pipe will leave you with ear bleeds everywhere you go. Put on at least two to three silencers.

Yeah, if you have this, definitely go Fuel injection. Pick up a supra denso pump and your ready to roll

done

yep, good choice

Have to go lightweight flywheel to retain the 20B rear counterweight. Then slap on a high performance TII clutch, use the TII starter, and TII slave unit.

Yes, your a lucky bastard and can simply use a 12a front cover, and mount it in there like stock, just shove the motor and trans back 4" and reweld the cross mount 3" forward.
Oh and pick up a Microtech LTX-12 with bosch coils if going EFI>

I really like that car, nothing like old school, so go have fun!

 

Wow man that was a big help!

I'm gonna stick with carbs just because I already have a TII and a N/A 7 and both have EFI... I would also like to do something different and keep this one old school all the way... I've always been a fan of the old school Japanese "muscle car" style, so I think going carbed will maintain the integrity of the concept... Thanks for the pointers though! That was a really big help! I'll keep you posted if I run into any problems with it... It'll be a little while before I can start on it though... Stay tuned!

 

I remember that car. It did pretty well at the track I think. It would make an excellent home for a 20B. I once considered installing my 20B, carbed, into my Cosmo. I decided against it though because the Cosmo was all stock. Maybe I ought to reconsider now that it's not as uber-stock as it once was?

Wouldn't that be interesting? Us performing parallel CD23C Cosmo 20B installs...

 

Haha yea that would be nice... The CD's are very underestimated!

 

Upon further consideration, it just doesn't seem realistic for me to put my 20B into the Cosmo. The heater core is in the way preventing the tranny from going rearward the required 160mm. Plus the shifter location is already forward of an FB/T2 which requires relocation of about 4" forward just with a 13B. The 20B would be an extra 6 1/2" on top of that. The e-brake handle is in the way making it difficult to relocate the shifter position in the car, while retaining the e-brake.

Of course you could try having the front of the engine go forward. That could solve some of the engine length issues. You'd need a custom radiator and there should be enough room up front for the stock oil cooler (which is pretty big) to be relocated up behind the grill. Watch out for the hood raising torsion bar type springs.

 

Hmm that's some food for thought... Well I'm going to do it either way... Even if I have to build a tube chassis around this bitch...

 

YOU DO NOT WANT A STRAIGHT PIPE.

seriously, i know you're thinking 'it'll be loud! cool!' but honestly, no, it wont. im 18, i LOVE loud cars, im not a dried out old coot with sensitive ears. but ive ridden in gtorx7's car and he has THREE (3) mufflers and that thing is still loud as *****. honestly you cant carry a conversation without shouting past 1500 RPM's. its by far the loudest car ive ever seen/heard/been in EVER. i cant even imagine if it were just a straight pipe, you would die.

 

LOL I hear ya... I just want the sound to match the look... I mean it looks like a muscle car... It would be nice for it to sound like a Harley... hehe

 

Wow, that car is pretty sweet. Got any more pictures of it?

 

I have a few more, but they are hardly high quality...











Needs some seats!

 

If you do decide to go through 20B conversion and have a good header and exhaust for that cosmo, let me know because as you know I just picked one up recently.

 

i would love a cosmo....

 

Well the person I sold the car to actually used the engine, full exhaust, wheels, and tranny... No no spares... I'm just glad to be getting the roller back...

 

How's the project coming? I've gotta tell you it'd be sweet to put a 20B in my Cosmo. Only time, money, the heater core, and shifter position are holding me back. If I could solve those...

 

Oh it hasn't even become a project yet due to time/money/etc lol... Still dealing with the 10AE now, but when it's done I'll start tearing into the Cosmo and probably doing a ground up restoration on it, although I'll be keeping with the "race" vibe...

 

So you don't have a 20B yet?

I looked long and hard at my Cosmo yesterday and it appears the shifter issue may be solved. I'm not 100% sure though because I don't know where the stock shifter sits due to the automatic selector sitting there.

 

I have a picture of a manual Cosmo on my hard disk. From what I can tell, the shifter is really far forward and had to be bent rearward. My bro's manual RX-4 is like this. The SA22C 1st gens were also like this.

Fortunately for us, this megaforward positioning will allow the tranny to be moved back some without interfering much with the e-brake handle.



I still haven't solved the heater core issue. Any ideas?

 

I took a good long look at the Cosmo yesterday and the heater core is simply in the way. As of right now, I can tell you that if you were to remove or relocate the heater core, then cut a section in the tranny tunnel where the firewall curves into the tranny tunnel, you could keep the front of the 20B in the stock 13B location (swap front covers to an earlier one with front motor mount capability) and the rest of the engine's length and weight would go rearward. There is about a half inch more length between the firewall and the waterpump thermostat housing than in my 20BGLC. Therefore 20B installation in your Cosmo should be easier than it was for me in my GLC. The Cosmo firewall, once devoid of heater core hoses etc, should allow the stock 20B UIM and LIM to fit with less drama than in my setup. You'll still probably have to trim here and there, but if rotaryboyz can do it in a 1st gen, you can do it in a Cosmo.

Because I'd like to retain my heater core, and the GLC's core was up out of the way, I won't be putting my 20B into my Cosmo. It will stay in the GLC with a functional heater for now, and may eventually find its way into an FC or something. My Cosmo will get a stickshift and an engine rebuild, and if I need more power, I'll probably do a supercharger. I know the Cosmo cooling system is beefy enough for either a 20B or an SC producing moderate output (not sure about the smaller radiator potential in the GLC).

So the final word is Cosmo+20B–heatercore=yes