1MZ-FE(V6) MR2 Built Thread (Post-swap)

[QuinnR2]

Hello,
Just thought I'd post a kind of "what I did to my MR2" thread, to start off, I bought my 1991 NA MR2 in 2007.

I modified the car as I could afford, wheels/tires, suspension, the car got hit while it was parked and I ended up getting a free paint job from it.

Coming from a 1992 Celica All-Trac with a JDM swapped 3SGTE (JDM Cams, Gen 2) that I was pushing ~17lbs of boost through, the 5SFE was kind of a sissy, but the MR2 more than made up for it with its handling and overall tiny-ness/ "rarity"

Since I'd already had a 3S, I decided to look in to different routes (5SFTE, 3SGE, V6) and decided the V6 would be the most challenging and unique thing I could do in my own garage as a very amateur mechanic.

I pulled my V6 from a 1995 Lexus ES300 and without knowing it, sent myself in to a world of pain. The V6 swap is fairly well documented, but the 3VZ-FE is the most well documented. The 1MZ is documented, but really only in the 97-01 engine. Not the same, as I quickly learned.

I spent countless hours downloading electrical routing and comparing, wiring, rewiring the ECU. The 95 engine is similar, but just different enough that I pretty much had nothing more than the 97 info to go on as a gentle (VERY gentle) nudge in the maybe-sort of-kinda right direction.

I had LOTS of help from plenty of MR2 guys, and through our combined efforts (a lot of me complaining and them helping) the swap is now done! After all is said and done, I'm very mad at Toyota for not putting a V6 in these cars to begin with. WOW, does my MR2 move. It's not the fastest thing on the block, but it certainly is a zippy, fun DD.

In retrospect, honestly I would not do this swap again, it was the most grueling 7 months of my life and I learned a lot. I enjoy knowing that I've taking my car's mechanical components completely out and put them back in again, but getting in my car and turning the key is the most nerve-wrecking thing I do every day. It's a very love-hate relationship with my MR2 now.

[QuinnR2]

Now for what you've all been waiting for, pictures (just a few) of the swap progression, and engine bay and stuff. This thread is for asking questions if you've got them, giving me mad props, or making a very generous offer to take this very "special" car off my hands.

How my car looked the day I bought it:


How my car looked before I started the swap:

At this point in time, I had most of the car modified minus the engine: Koni Yellows, Tein S-Tech lowering springs, Enkei RSV wheels/Dunlop Star Spec tires, paint job...that's really it.

Booyah.


5SFE dropped out of the car:


Victory engine bay pose (total necessity to any engine swap):


As an experiment, I ordered 97-01 OBX (yeah yeah, I know) headers/y-pipe for a Toyota Camry 1MZ-FE and they fit! This y-pipe's flange was roughly at the end of my bumper before I cut it back:


I spent a shit ton of time replacing plugs, belts, snapped bolts all over the V6 and finally got the tranny (S54 reused from my 5SFE) on to the 1MZ. It's not a perfect 10/10 fitment, but 3/4 or 4/5 of the "major" mounting bolts of the tranny lined up with the engine, so I bolted them up and drilled the last one in. Since 95 1MZs are Autos, I had to put a flywheel on the engine and get a custom clutch made for the car(3SGTE clutch disk/pressure plate and 5SFE spline) Besides the short gearing, the S54 is an alright transmission for the 1MZ.

[QuinnR2]

To continue on with the story,

After many of hours doing prep work, the engine was finally ready to go in the car:


As many of your may or may not know, the MR2 engine is placed in the car easiest via the bottom, therefore, car goes up, engine stays down. As a nice comparison, I had to remove the exhaust grate below my bumper (as many people choose to do) and use 2 jacks to lift the engineless MR2 high in to the sky. To the right of my MR2 you'll see a 1985 Toyota Corolla.


This picture doesn't do the engine justice. However, it's the only photo I have of the engine going in the engine bay:


As I've already mentioned, this engine SHOULD have been a factory option. Just look at the fitments!




A glamor shot of my car, once the V6 was mounted without the cherry-pickers support


And BANG! ~20 hours of wiring later I had a running V6 MR2. Here's my sick-custom(and I mean custom) exhaust that I welded myself without realizing the consequences of doing until it was too late (I like it, just wasn't my initial choice):

The reason there is so much piping is to stay within legal sound limits for Colorado AutoCross, so the 180 degree bend was needed so I didn't have to fabricate a silencer and so I could hear my music and passenger at interstate speeds.


All in all this swap cost me approx. $3700, and about $500 is money I spent on things I either didn't use, had to replace because I broke, or just plain bought the wrong thing of. The V6 is a fairly inexpensive swap (if you use the 3VZ or 1MZ) or it can become very expensive.

Hope you found this interesting...or at least entertaining.
So, feel free to ask questions, gawk, request more specific pictures or anything!

[Russell D]

Good job doing everything yourself! If I started over with my mr2 I would do a 5VZ swap with a gt35r turbo


It would have come in handy before, but there are a couple of guys that were at the mr2 meet last weekend and two of them have V6 swaps(1-3VZ and 1-MZ) and they told me someone makes the mount that needs to be built/modified and he also sells wire harness' so the V6 becomes as easy of a swap as na-T

[QuinnR2]

Yeah! The 3VZ and 1MZ are very popular swaps, and if you buy the right year of motor they're practically plug n play if you've got the money. And if you don't they're so well documented that you can download step by step guides if you want.

95 1MZ, not that well documented

[MR2Jedi]

What did you do about motor mounts?

[QuinnR2]

The motor mounts were actually one of the easiest parts of this swap.

The front, drivers side, and rear mounts were reusable from the MR2 (since I reused the S54 tranny, same would hold true for any S or E series Toyota tranny). The passenger side mount and the only mount located on the V6 had to be fabricated.

A guy in the UK (4v6 on mr2oc.com) makes them for 1mz and 3vz swaps, I paid 145usd shipped, I think the latest price I saw was 160usd shipped.

The fabricated mount bolted in to the V6 location and maneuvers so it meshed with the MR2 chassis mount. I wish I had a picture of it, cause it's pretty neat.

[MR2Jedi]

I see.
I would love to see some more detailed shots of your engine bay....?

[QuinnR2]

Sure. Anything in particular you want to see?

[MR2Jedi]

That motor mount for one. A good top view.

[Jason.MZW20]

Originally Posted by QuinnR2

I pulled my V6 from a 1995 Lexus ES300 and without knowing it, sent myself in to a world of pain. The V6 swap is fairly well documented, but the 3VZ-FE is the most well documented. The 1MZ is documented, but really only in the 97-01 engine. Not the same, as I quickly learned.

Yes, yes you did. But we have a pretty supportive community, I'd say. I tried to help as much as I could, but there are a lot of little differences between the 94-96 1MZs and the 97-01s.

Personally, I think the 1MZ looks right at home in the MKII engine bay.





California has a lot more restrictions on this swap though.

[QuinnR2]

Sure thing. Super rainy today, but if it clears up enough Ill pop outside with my camera. Jason's top view is a much prettier version than mine, however I'll still take one, and see if I can get one of the motor mount!

[Luke_L]

Great thread.

I am considering a 1MZ swap for my MKII. Care to give me a list of things I need outside of the longblock?

I haven't searched very hard at this point but I can't find a checklist for the 1MZ.

I am also on MR2oc if you want to contact me there.

Thanks in advance.

Nice Two!