Final Form - MR2
There is a sacred number every petrolhead has. For better or worse, this number defines them. It will rank you amongst your fraternal petrolheads, and you have the means to increase it, or heaven forbid, decrease it.
What am I talking about? Bank account? Credit Card debt? Credit card limit? Horsepower? Llamapower?
Nope, I’m talking about the all-so-important cylinder count.
Never heard of it? Simple, add up all the cylinders you own (running engines only). Hopefully you’re above 4. Hopefully you’re in the double digits. If you have A LOT of toys (like my boss), you’re well above 50.
I’m at 14. Not that good, but not too bad. The Tundra has 8, MR2 has 4, mower 1, leafblower 1 (I know, yard tools shouldn’t count, but when you’re below 20 we let it slide). Over the last 2 years getting more and more into track days, it’s occurred to me I should really bump that number.
I’m half joking here. But really, modern engines have come a very long ways in reliability, driveability, and power. Ever since I got into MR2s, I always thought the turbo was so cool. Over the years, I’ve become much more aware and open to other options. After driving MR2s with other engines, I’ve been very surprised how well they accelerate, sound, and overall, just easier to hop in and go.
All this foreshadowing means I’m making a big change. About a year ago I drove a friends freshly swapped MR2, and it really impressed me. Torque was instant, held all the way to redline, and the sound, my god, the sound. It was intoxicating, almost exotic.
If you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about a minivan engine, a SUV engine, a commuter engine. The Toyota 2GR-FE. A 3.5 liter v6 that was really overlooked by the aftermarket world due to never being linked to a manual transmission from the factory. It has a big trick up it’s sleeve, with dual VVTI. Cam timing would advance higher in the RPM range, giving you a noticeable kick in the pants. Did I mention they’re readily available at any junkyard in the USA for under $2000?
I know you’re thinking, “Mike, you live and die by the 3sgte!” Well, yeah, I do. Because mostly it’s what I know. I’ve spent the better part of 6 years learning and playing with the hallowed 2 liter. I wanted to try something new, something much more modern (the original 3sgte was designed in the 80s!). Mostly, I’m sick and tired of turbo issues at expensive track days. It’s difficult to focus on your driving when you’re constantly wondering if every noise you hear is something breaking.
Pros of the 2gr:
With bolt ons, likely the same power as my gen3 3sgte (300whp)
Hacked stock ecu keeps everything OEM reliable, and easier to drive
Lighter than the 3sgte
NO BOOST LEAKS, NO COUPLERS TO POP, NO BOOST CONTROL ISSUES!
Better MPG than 3sgte, even at track lapping (I’ve missed track sessions due to refueling before)
Less oil and coolant routing, less leak potential
MUCH better powerband, meaning less shifting (probably save 4-5 shifts per lap)
If I break anything, Toyota still makes parts, and they’re readily available anywhere in the USA
The sound is fantastic, not nearly as droney, I’ll probably drive the car much more often
Cons of the 2gr:
I’m “stuck” at 300ish whp unless I really want to destroy my credit limit
The entry cost is expensive (much more than gen3/4/5 typically)
No more turbo noises, loss of cool guy credit from teenagers when they ask if its a 2JZ
I don’t know these engines…. at all
Along with an entirely new powerplant, I have some aero mods, lightweight additions, and many other ideas I want to put into this car. Call it my “Final Form MR2.” Once I go through this car completely again, I will likely be “finished” with it, and just drive it. I have tons of other ideas for builds I want to pursue, but don’t worry, the car will still be under my ownership.
I’ve done a fair amount of 2GR snooping over the last year, and am now somewhat acquainted with the swap, Alex Wilhelms’ swap guide is a HUGE help.
Read it here.
So, with my new sparkly shop ready for a test drive, it was high time to pull the engine.
I pulled the car in under her own power for the last time with a turbo on the engine. It will likely be on the lift for a few months.
Because I now have a lift, I was antsy to start the hard stuff under the car. The exhaust, subframe, axles, yada yada. Motoring around under the lift with a little work stool on wheels is actually perfect. You can scoot around at the ideal height to wrench.
Parts piles started stacking up quick. I actually have room for all this stuff without tripping over it! I love the look of my Phoenix Power single exit exhaust, but was ready for something a bit more refined for this chapter of the car. After an hour in the car I always had a headache. Yes, I’m old. I currently have no idea if the diffuser will fit my new exhaust, stay tuned on that one!
At a leisurely pace, I soon had the subframe out along with the axles. It’ll need a clean up before putting back in.
Since the car sat outside in the rain for a few months with the garage build, it was filthy. Before getting crazy pulling it, we had to disassemble the intercooler and intake manifold setup.
The intercooler setup came out pretty quickly, within 30 minutes. Then the ECU and wiring was carefully pulled.
Before I knew it, I was hooking the engine hoist up to the motor in preparation to drop it down. I realized I should build a sort of heavy duty engine table on wheels. This way I could lower the car on the hoist down to the table, disconnect the engine, and lift the car back up. Something I might build for the install.
OF COURSE I spilled coolant all over. I think it’s impossible to to drain this system entirely.
I just like this picture. 3sgte saying goodbye.
For the most part, this has been a great engine. No major issues, no major leaks. I beat the crap out of it, and it never failed completely on me. The 3sgte is a fantastic street car engine, it just doesn’t like the gigantic buildup of heat and wear and tear track lapping does to it. If I wasn’t bit by the track bug, I would keep it forever.
I am keeping the e153 however. So that had to come off, along with the clutch.
The clutch appears to be wearing nicely. It’s a Clutchmaters, stage 3 I think? I would like to measure the friction material left and see how much it has worn over the last 3 years, and what I have left in it. Anyone know or should I contact Clutchmasters?
With the engine out, I took off the stuff I plan to keep, and prepped the entire longblock for sale. I actually had the engine sold to a friend up in Canada as of last fall, so he was VERY patient with my garage delays to get into his possession. He also took a lot of the cool turbo engine parts I can’t use on the 2GR, like some of the RacerX stuff, exhaust, flywheel, etc. I planned to sell the intake manifold, intercooler, and piping setup all as one package, and one lucky guy on the East coast picked it up quickly off the for sale thread I made. Overall, almost everything “turbo” is already gone to new homes, which is great to see the parts used in other cars.
With the engine pulled, and gone to Canada, and all my other parts packed in boxes speeding across the country, it was time to pull the trigger on tons of parts and of course, a new engine! Christmas in April!
First, an engine. The 2GR-FE came in everything under the sun from Toyota and Lexus. Generally, all the motors are mostly identical, with the later models having a few upgrades and some had more bells and whistles. The Rav4 engine works well because the wiring harness routes very similar to the OEM MR2, along with the Sienna. The Sienna also came standard with a water-oil cooler. Some models had intake manifolds that made 10hp more than others, but those were most of the differences, the longblocks are essentially identical.
We had a lot of options to search the junkyards. Having the engine in everything under the sun really opens your eyes to the parts availability versus the 3sgte. Using car-part.com I found some local engines, one being a 46k Avalon motor listed for $1600. I was on my way to check it out/pick it up, when Mariners opening day traffic stopped me dead in my tracks. I realized I wasn’t going to make it before the junkyard closed for the day.
Frustrated, I logged onto eBay to see what was available. I found a 2013 Sienna engine with only 32k on it in California. Hmmmm, asking was $1600 but it was missing a few key components like the alternator and idler pulleys. I decided to test the water and put in an offer for $1450. A few seconds later my phone dinged, they had accepted my offer! I guess I had just bought an engine! The eBay listing pics made it look almost brand new.
Looks pretty clean, eh? The coolant lines to the oil cooler really had me impressed, they looked spotless. The next day I was sent tracking from the seller, and a few days later I received a phone call that my engine was ready for pickup locally.
That’s where we’ll leave this chapter. Next we’ll get the engine on a stand and prepped for the MR2. We have lots of packages in route with all sorts of goodies, so it’ll be an exciting month! Remember, there’s no replacement for displacement.