Good afternoon!
I have just come back from viewing a Daihatsu Sirion 1.3 (K3-VE2) which unfortunately was blowing white smoke and had the MIL lit for O2 sensor so had to leave it.
Though after driving it, I’m still on the hunt for one.
Ultimately I would be looking to swap that engine into an L251 Mira/Charade. Any advice on this swap would be greatly appreciated, and will be having a look through the forum for any related threads.
Many thanks!
Hi, And welcome, also from uk.
Hey mate Welcome to the forum.
as for your project the only one I know of that has been done it the one on skid factory on youtube.
I have been on track with that car at Queensland Raceway a few years back and it was quite quick.
Skid factory did not own the car it had been sold a couple of times by then.
There is not much info around besides what is on skid factory that I know of but then again I haven’t looked either.
Hi, thank you for the welcome.
I’ve found a thread from 2019 of someone attempting the swap (albeit with a K3-VET as opposed to the K3-VE2), and have replied to hopefully get an update.
I’ve watched that series to best try and understand what the swap entails. Seems as though physically mounting the engine involves swapping the timing cover from the M300 1.3 Sirion engine, and cutting and welding an additional mount from the M300. Unsure on subframe.
With regard to ECU, electronics etc, I believe the Skid factory used a standalone ECU, but I’d like to understand if the swap is feasible without a standalone ECU. Hopefully will get a response on the aforementioned thread.
I am very much a novice with regard to engine electronics, ECU etc so I may not have realistic expectations currently. Hopefully someone can enlighten me.
Skid factory used a standalone ecu as they added a turbo. You would be able to use the stock ecu. With using the stock ecu you will need the ecu, immobiliser, the key and the key reader for it to work. Using the loom that comes with it would be a good idea to I would imagine.
I’d suggest the electronics will be simple, just use the ECU, loom, sensors and everything from the K3-VE2 engine. You would be sensible to use the instrument cluster from the donor too.
Issues I can foresee would be clearance for the steering column or rack placement; almost certainly you will need custom or significantly modified driveshafts, especially if you end up using a 3SZ-FE gearbox; you will want to fit the best brakes you can, which will necessitate changing the hubs and probably front struts; wheel clearance issues potentially with bigger brake calipers & discs.
All of this is solvable, but it is expensive fabrication work by skilled professionals, not a lego set.
What I would suggest is zooming out a bit and asking why you want to fit a K3-VE2 into an L251. You’re still not going to have that much power and its a monumental amount of work. The brakes will be rubbish, unless you do something like an MX-5 conversion which is possible, but not for the faint-of-wallet, the engine is comparatively heavy so you’ll likely not gain anything over an EJ engine power-to-weight wise.
However, what I will say is that for a lot less money and engineering headache, you can make the car handle fantastically well. With Daihatsu’s of any type, the huge advantage you have is low weight, so making a car that handles well allows you to put the power down far earlier, brake later and turn in far more sharply than anything else comparable. One of the lightest cars you can buy today is the VW Up! family, with 60bhp on tap with the 1.0 MPI engine - thats the same as a serviced EJ-DE - but you have a 200kg (20%) weight advantage in a stock L251! Take out the rear seats, swap the spare tyre for some goo, fit some lightweight alloys wheels from something like a mk1 MX5 and you’ll have another 50KG (5%) advantage.
Fit some bracing from a tuning firm like Ultra Racing, polybushed suspension, some performance brake pads and discs from Black Diamond, maybe a rear sway bar and some semi-slick tyres like Nankang NS-2Rs (total budget here £600 at most) and you will have a total B-road blaster that will humble some considerably more expensive cars. You won’t win a drag race but you’ll have a car that you can hustle along a B-road at an impressive lick. Got a bigger budget? Bilstein dampers, lowering springs and a lightened flywheel (maybe another £600?) will have something that will win trophies at Autosolo events.
Play to the Daihatsu’s strengths and you can make a very impressive car indeed for relatively little outlay. Fitting a bigger engine or turbocharging it is looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
Where abouts are you in the UK? I’m in South Hampshire, if you’re nearby then give me a shout and you’re welcome to come and try out my M101 Sirion Rally with the 110bhp K3-VE2 engine and some handling mods to see what its like. All the modifications I have done have been on the handling side, I’ve felt no need to add any more power, and 80% of the time I’d have as much or more fun with 75bhp on tap - not least that the brakes are not really up to the job!