Hi Guys, Im new to the forum, ive had my acty for around ten years and it has a romahome camper body on the back. with the 545cc twin i struggle to get along at the same speed as lorries, so i have found a 660cc tripple, 12 valve and have swapped it into my acty. It cranks over now, just need to finish the fuel ssystem and coolant system, mount the coil etc. What is the blaco box with all of the vacuum hosses running into? im not sure what this box does. It has an electrical connector on it, my old acty doesnt have the wiring for this box so im wondering if i can just remove it and plug the vacuum hoses??? any thought? cheers!!!
545 to 660 upgrade - update No replies to my last post, but im going to update you anway even if i am boring you!! I now have the "new" 660cc engine in my 1981 acty and its running. Ive lengthened the exhaust to suit and modified the coolant pipework as its all quite different from the old 545 engine. The engine runs fine with the new wiring loom i have made for it (combination of both the 545 loom and the 660 loom), starts and runs well. Ive also swapped in the rear beam axle from the 660cc donor vehicle and also the front suspensions struts from the 660cc donor vehicle as these have disc brakes whereas i had drums at the front to start with. I had to strip the front struts and use the top mounts from the old ones on the new struts as the new strusts did not fit to my bodywork (different sized mounts) Tis all means that i can now run 13 inch honda civic wheels, i need to cut and lengthen the steering arms as my wheels are \ / at the moment looking from the top due to different geometry on the disc'ed hubs. the truck looks great with 13 inch wheels, much more ground clearance and doesnt seem to be any rubbing issues. I cant wait to get the romahome camper body back on the flat bed and get using it this spring.... Acty 660cc
excellent job...love to see some pics of your project...never saw the original post,but I doubt I could have offered any insight...did you figure out the vacuum hose box thingy?
Wow, You must really like your Acty to do all that. Sounds like a big project ! I've got two 1991 Acty's now and I really like them too ! Please share some pictures, I've never heard of anyone doing the swap you apparently did. I guarantee you're not boring us, I missed the first post also. Although like Fupabox, I don't think I would have had any insight either, but would love to cheer ! op:
hi guys! glad im not boring! the project is coming along well, i have the 660cc engine in and running - next step is to lengthen the steering control arms to get the tracking correct. I have lots of phots of the conversion - whats the best way to share them??? not too clued up with posting pictures etc.... what sort of speed do you think ill be looking at with the 660 cc engine? i havea romahome camper body that goes on the back of the pickup, im hoping to pull 60mph (100kmph) - do you think this will be achievable??? Merry Xmas acty 660cc
Acty 545cc, 660cc engine upgrade project update! Hey! My acty 660cc engine fit is coming along very nicely. Ive put the time over the christmas break to good use (much to my good lady's disgust i might add) to get the prject pretty much complete, it drives, steres cools, changes gear etc etc but doesnt stop just yet, i need to modify the handbrake cables and make up some brake pipes to fit onto the new front calipers and the rear beam which seems to be slightly different and site slightly lower than the old rear beam. Its been a big project and aswell as swapping the engine, i removed every removable part from the underbody and stripped the paint back / re-paintend it with bitumous paint to stop the rust, found a couple of holes and welded them up. Everything that has been re-fitted has been properly painted and refurbished so it looks smart underneath. When i first started then engine there was a worrying rattle, if i held it at high revs and then blipped the throttle there was a horrible metalic rattle, which worried me as i though that a re-build might be in order. This didnt worry me as i did just that on the old 545cc engine a few years back and have rebuilt many other engines but the biggest headach is that this egine had turned out to be an absoilute nightmare to get parts for here - even Honda themselves cant help me!! It turned out that one of the tappets was three times the specified gap, iadjusted this and it now sounds a sweet as a nut. So far i have: 1. removed old engine 2. removed fuel tank 3. removed radiato 4. removed metal coolant pipes and heater matrix pipes 5. removed cab undertray 6. reoved steering rack 7. remoed fuel pump 8. removed exhaust 9. removed and swapped in new front struts with discs - struts are a combination of the new and old strst (used the old top bearng) 10. removed and fitted the new rear beam axle to take larger wheels 11. fitted 13inch honda civic wheels 12. Welded two new engine mounts to body and modified all engine mounts to suit, then mounted engine and gearbox into van 13. Connected all control cables 14. welded the cable gearchange lever into cab floor, as old gearchange used a rod, this system uses two cables to change gear 15. removed choke cable, this engine has auto choke 16. welded extension to exhaust and changed attachment flange 17. Fabricated new engine wiring loom from combination of old and new wiring looms - works perfectly. 18. Removed engine vaccum pipework (black box control unit) 19. renewed all fual lines and mounted fuel pressure regulator and fabricated brack to hold new fuel pump (non standard pump) 20. Fabricated copper pipe coolant pipework to connect engine to underbody coolant pipes, with new rubber hoses joining the two. 21. mounted ignition coil accesible through engine hatch so dont need to get under van if needs changing 22. Fabricated new oil filler to be filled through engine hatch - moved from side door of flatbed to ease acces. 23. Modified dampers to have same top mounts as old dampers 24. modified mounts for dampers on new rear beam axle thats pretty much it, im bound to have missed a few bits. Changing the engine is one thing, but the number of other tasks needed to make it work is great but its been a fantastic project. still to do: 1. Handbrake – modify cables 2. Rear brake hose - extend to rear beam, original not long enough now 3. Front brake hoses - make new brake hoses with bajo connections 4. Fill and bleed brakes 5. Fit alternator 6. Locking pins for gear change and steering components 7. Air cleaner 8. oil / filter change - which filter should i use????? 9. Cambelt / water pump change how do i post pictures? ive got lots cheers Acty 660cc Gloucester, England.
