MR2 Mk2 Engine swap, help!?

[AlexTatar]

Planning on doing a engine conversion on a Toyota Mr2 MK2 1990 non turbo manual 2Ltr v4 engine, to a 1992 Toyota Supra Straight-six 3Ltr turbo manual engine.
I know that I would have to align the Supra straight six engine longitudinal even though the mr2 engine is aligned transverse, I am extending the rear of the car by 12 inches to fit the engine in however I need to know what parts I can keep the same and what parts I have to change.. such as transmission, differential, prop-shaft? and would it be possible to perhaps make the car all wheel drive?
Please also consider that I am going to be heavily modifying the engine to get as much BHP and therefore part will have to be upgraded.

Even if you cant answer all of this, advice and answers to parts of my question would be great! Thanks - Alex

[Paul Drawmer]

Ambitious plan. How exactly did you convince yourself that this was a good idea?

[Furyblade_Lee]

As much as I admire your ambition, I think you are taking on a lot of work needlessly. If you want to fit a monster Supra engine onto something make it front engine to start with! I suppose a Porsche or Renault transaxle may work. You may be better off using a Toyota / Lexus V6 turbo, I think somebody does this conversion commercially already. But you do know an MR2 turbo can produce 500bhp if your pockets are deep enough don't you??

[cptsideways]

The V6 lumps fit a lot better

[AlexTatar]

Thanks for all your advice, I am doing this project to build a Replica super car, hence why I am extending the length of the car to get a longer wheelbase and to fit a bigger engine which has to be mid engined not front engined. I will consider the Lexus/Toyota v6, although I was considering the supra engine as I know that i wouldnt have to modify as much to get good power out of it.

I have quite a high budget and i would just like to have a go putting a nice engine into this car! although most of the money is going towards carbon-fibre matting and resins etc - so i need to buy a car with a good engine for under £1000 hence why i thought supra. If not a supra engine, can you give me some other engines i could use?

[Mr2Mike]

Honestly you really need to think this through; the transverse engine in the MR2 sits a couple of inches behind the bulkhead. If you put a longitudinally mounted straight six with a transaxle into the same space you are going to need to move the entire rear suspension much further back than 12 inches. This is one of those projects in which I can see absolutely no positive attributes; the amount of work/time/money required will be extraordinary, and you'll end up with an ugly, ill proportioned car that will almost certainly have even worse handling than the original.

Step away from the Toyota and put the angle grinder down.

The 3SGTE in the MR2 is a very good engine anyway. If you put your budget into sorting the suspension and tuning the engine of a tidy MR2 turbo you'll have a very quick and fun car.

Edited by Mr2Mike on Wednesday 25th August 13:01

[FlatPack]

Which Supra are you talking about? Under £1k, '92 and 3.0l Turbo means I think you're on about the Mk iii (popup headlight) model. If I can't see why anyone would want to swap the 7M lump out of one of those into anything else, even if they could.

[AlexTatar]

ok ok ok, im starting see this is a bad idea, thanks for all your advice, im gonna re-think all of this.

[Mr2Mike]

The V6 conversion is much more worthy project if you want to make an interesting and quick MR2. Especially if you supercharge it...

[thetapeworm]

Big engines and MR2s work well, I just think your choice of a straight 6 is a little ambitious.

There is a chap finishing off the smaller details of putting an Audi V8 into a MK1 MR2 at the moment and various other V8 and V6 conversions for the various models from MK1 through to MK3 - it's all possible but you often need buckets of cash, time and skill to make it happen.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with the TwoBrutal forum but I would imagine most of the possible engine options have been discussed on there at length and if they haven't pop something up and those who have been there and done that will be able to assist you.

http://www.twobrutal.co.uk

The 3UZ-FE would be a bit more "supercar" looking IMO.

[AlexTatar]

hmm okay, could anyone reccomend some v6 and v8 engines that could fit (or be modified to fit) in to the mr2?

I was looking at some Lexus LS that have a 4litre v8, how about this car... http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1813507.htm ??