Two MR2s, two projects.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Azuremen
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ND4SPD
Whats the point of hood vents on an MR2, when it is an MR car?!
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:dopey: There is no point to it in the aftermarket arena duh.. that's the point to all aftermarket.

I have always liked them is that a problem?


Oh... btw, what's the point of hood vents on an NSX like in JGTC?
 
The Lotus Elise and Ferrari F50 also have vents in the hood. If they are functional (and many of the ones on MR2s are), they allow better airflow through the radiator.

Edit: Man I wish my MR2 were as nice as yours... one of these days I'm going to have some money to get mine in better shape.

Any reason why you went with the Toyota logo on the hood over the bird? My bird got stolen, I bought a new one to replace it but I considered a Toyota one... thought maybe it would be less likely to be stolen.
 
Just something the previous owner did. The car does need the body kit pieces remolded and the paint redone... cheapy work by the last owner...

But the mechanical is great... simply destroyed ricers tonight... and some stupid Probe V6 with primer on it, dual exhaust pipes... Massive one... kept trying to beat me... and I would get lengths on it with just first gear :D 40 MPH in first or so...
 
VipFREAK
Nice... just switch out those ambers for clear. :D:tup:
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No. No no no no no. And no.

Clears only look good on light colors. Clear + black =....

you guessed it! NO!
 
I may be picking up a black Mk1 5-speed in a few days.

I can't stand the SW20s. They look nice but... that's it. Not a fan of the Spyder either. AW11 is the best MR-2, my opinion.
 
I might be completely wrong here, but don't bonnet intake son MR cars allow air to flor through the bumper-through teh bonnet- and over the roof? Kind of like a front spoiler.
 
Well, I ran mid-high 13's at the drag strip in the MR2 20V. I'm sure just replacing the O2 sensor and adjusting the CPU a bit could bring it down to sold mid 13's.

My demise on the strip was a VR6 powered Golf GTi... :indiff: Though at least it wasn't a Honda...
 
I am sort of curious how much of a PITA (or not) it is to replace an engine in an AW11 MR2 in your own garage. Keeping in mind I have access to an engine hoist and also any tools you can imagine that would be required.

And how common are the engines that go in them? Do you need a 4A-G, 4A-GE, 4A-GZE, 4A-FE? Do all these engines fit in with the same motor mounts or do they need to be replaced/moved?

If anyone is curious, then engine that is in it is burning oil. It's not dripping onto the ground, but somehow oil is escaping into the cylinder and burning off there. Is this indicative of a beat-on car?

I'm possibly buying one, and looking into the PITA-factor of an engine swap. If I can get an engine out of a Corolla and put it in there, that's excellent. I don't need a 4A-GZE swap. (Maybe later :sly: )
 
My MR2's engine died last summer, I swapped it out over the summer break. I believe it took me about a month to do it, which isn't too bad considering that my experience working on cars at the time was limited to oil changes and changing brakes. I also was working full time... you could probably do it faster if you wanted.

I don't think the engine swap would be much more trouble than your average car. There are a few little things that will take a bit longer... you'll have to remove some trim pieces from the front and rear trunks to get to wiring and coolant lines, but that shouldn't add much time.

Removing the engine is a bit trickier, as it has to be dropped out the bottom of the car. An engine hoist will work though. You have to build a small cart and drop the engine onto it, then use the hoist to lift the back end of the car up in the air and slide the engine out the back.

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You should be able to get a low mileage 4A-GE from an importer fairly cheap, I got mine for $600, came with a 1 year warranty, supposed to be under 40k miles on it. Mine was from a FWD Corolla.
 
I'm seriously considering doing it. Would a regular old 4A-FE fit in? It would be cheaper than the GE (around here anyway) and get better gas mileage.

4A-FE's are found in the countless millions of early 90's corollas all over the US. I want to find out what engine is in there and replace it with the same. I'm guessing its a GE, but an FE is the same, just with fuel injection instead of carbureted... right?

Thank you very much for your reply, its good news. :)
 
slowman
I'm guessing its a GE, but an FE is the same, just with fuel injection instead of carbureted... right?
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MR2s have 4A-GEs or GZEs. I don't know anything about the FE. The GE is fuel injected, can be found in the MR2, Corolla GTS and FX16.

I forgot to add, pretty much only the engine block and head off of the Corolla will work on the MR2. A lot of stuff from the old MR2 motor will need to be swapped over to the Corolla engine... I swapped both intake and exhaust manifolds, all of the brackets for A/C and alternators and such. The MR2 also comes with an oil cooler, so you'll have to swap that gear over to the Corolla engine, including the oil pan.

Esentially if you order a JDM Corolla motor it will look nothing like your MR2 motor when you get it :) I'd say about a week of the time I spent on my swap was moving parts from my old MR2 motor to the new Corolla motor.

Again, none of this is particularly difficult, just unbolt parts and bolt them back in the same spot.

edit: mr2oc.com if you get the car or want more info, you can find anything you would want to know about MR2s there.
 
And if you a get a JDM 20V, you'll just scratch your head.

Why would you want a 4A-FE? The difference is in the head... Yamaha helped build the G heads. FE is good for less power. Better milage though. It will built to the tranny from what I understand.

FE's don't have the T-VIS system, run on a different ECU, are fuel injected. Take note, the 4A-GE's are all fuel injected... All 4A and up are from the best of my knowledge...

The GZE will not just fall in the car. Unless it has one to begin with :p Sure some other stuff needs to be worked on. And you would need the transmission, since supercharged used a different tranny.

The engines in the Corolla GT-S and Geo Prism GSi are 4A-GE's. They also use the same Tranny as the 87-89 MR2.. the C52. However, you cannot use a tranny out of a FWD 4A car, as the linkage's are on the other side for shifter.

Just get a 4A-GE if you feel hte need to swap... will be cheaper as you won't need to get the ECU and other crap to deal with for the other engine options.

BTW, how many miles are on this MR2? And what year is it?
 
The MR2 was an '86, with 90,000. It is silver and the body is absolutely IMMACULATE! The engine just sounded like too much work for me. I was amazed at the condition of the car though when I looked at it.

If anybody is interested, I can give you their phone #. AFAIK they haven't sold it yet. Seriously, all it needs is an engine and it will be a perfect car. Interior is perfect.

I bought an '84 BMW 325e, BTW. :) More usable, and it attracts less attention. Cops around here love pulling people over that look like they're under 21. I figured I didn't want the shape. A 325e is a little more mundane :)
 
Ahh, the 86 is more problem prone anyhow. I'm only interested in 87 ups, and more so in a 88 or 89, since they have a revised transmission I need. 325e is certainly more practical, I will say that.

Still, so few miles... just the car is so far away.. but how much was he asking for it?
 

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