my first choice was a fiat twin cam motor with a 16v head but to find one of those heads is near impossible let alone buy one that if in good condition. I originally restored a fiat 124 BC sport and put the 2L Fiat/lancia block in it with the 1600 heads with all the works and acheived a 13.2 quarter mile aspirated. So I know what these babies are possible of, if only I could get one, cheapest prcie for a 16v head I have seen was $2500 euros with a set damaged cams. Hopefully I will find a great relaible motor to put into the car shortly, but as D say's I want a great power to weight and still have it corner really well.

13.2 quarter in a one tonner is fantastic for the little tc engine! Imagine a snail on it?
Well Rigoli has put a turbo 8v fiat tc in a 132 fully optioned 1600kg sedan and its regularly runs 10 second quarter day in and day out.
So I see why these engines are monsters.
Just to let you know that there where frontcuts of 16v tc for 2500 au in sydney I cant find the link but they are in sydney and they are fairly reasonable at that price. Gearboxes are 400+hp capable of ZF make from the cheap 131 and 132 fiats. The business that supplies these 16v tcs are some kind of alfa or fiat business or to do with import/recycling italian sportscars.
http://www.fiatclubnsw.com/classifieds/class.html
Im not sure about the thema 16v in the above link?

Sorry it took me a bit longer than promised. I had a hard time getting to the shop with other obligations.

I took few measurements that I think might help you in determining the ease of fitting an SR16VE to your 1000.

First of all, as has been mentioned, the SR series engines are big physically, particularly as compared to an A series. These measurements have been taken from an SR20DE but as near as I can tell and from what people have said here the external dimensions should be similar, if not exact.

The crankshaft centerline to the bottom of the sump is 7".

The rear of the cylinder block to the front of the sump is 21".

The rear of the cylinder block to the centerline of the crank pulley is 19 3/4".

The height of the complete engine is about 23". (from the bottom of the sump to the top of the cam cover.)

The cylinder head overhangs the rear of the block by about 1 1/4".

The distributor protrudes from the back of the head by about by about 5".

I'm not familiar with physical dimensions in a 1000 as we don't have them in the States, but I hope that this information is of some use to you.

and now for someone to translate to real measurements you know cm

only joking,

but its way too big anyway.

yeah the rear mounted dizzy kills the idea of the VE motor in a rear drive install.
I have done alot of research in this...as the HP from factory is outstanding and for me to drop it into my 1200 racecar would have been great. However the hassle was huge and insomountable.
Even the S13 SR20 in the 1000 and even the 1200 is a huge task.
A well worked A series even with a turbo in a 1000 is outstanding....jog before you sprint...

sr20 is not going to fit well not without major $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and time. Think I might have to go with a ca16det or otherwise a 4age toyota motor as I am running out of options to keep weight and size down. Could possibly go L16 I guess but not sure how hard it is to get a block. what cars did these engines come out of anything locally. More news on my shed they finally put down the two pack epoxy so I will be able to move in and start strippping the 1000's I have in 2 weekends time. I can't wait to get reall measurements in the engine bay and transmission tunnel etc. Will post all the dimensions for future info when I do it.

It won't be too hard to get your hands on an L16!!!

There is hardly a datto 1600 with the L16 still in it so there should be heaps sitting on garage floors! They also showed up in Stanza's which aren't too hard to find at wreckers etc.

Cant the CA16 have the CA20 crank fitted ?
I don't know much about these engines so I don't really know

As everyone has mentioned... keep it light
I'm going with a CA18et in one of my coupes.
Size wise by my measurements it will be easy......... but I haven't tried it yet
Too many other projects in the way

I talked with some guys from Japan at the PRI show in Orlando last year. Inquiring about GA16DE RWD applications, they said that there were none in Japan. What does that come out of, maybe they were mistaken. My original thought was to use a GA16 as well.

Why not try the turbo a15 conversion... u may be suprised.
Headworx at Yatala, Gold Coast have put 190 hp at the rears with their custom injected a12turbo.. he now has a celica box behind it as it was desroying 3rd in the old datto one's..