Let's talk about mr2s Veeky Forums

Let's talk about mr2s Veeky Forums.
I'm planning on building a car come next summer, but im having a hard time deciding what route to go with. I'm going with a zzw30, not an sw20.

My end game for the car is a 2zz/6 speed swap with billet rods, forged low comp wiseco pistons and a gt28 turbo kit from mwr. I'm aiming for about 300-350 wheel. All said and done the engine work will cost about 12k if I do everything myself.

I'm reading a lot of comments though that say it's not worth swapping to a 2zz if I plan on turboing the car. They say ill be better off building the 1zz to take a turbo despite its inferior design and oil burning issues.

I love boosted cars, but even if the 2zz/6 speed swap is the first thing I do to the car, it will get boosted eventually, no matter what route I go.

Wat do guys?

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ZZW30 owner here. If I had 12k to do a swap, I'd pick up a K-series and turbo it. You can make stupid power without having to open the engine up. But if you're a purist, then I say go for it. I'm planning on doing a 2ZZ swap too, but I'm staying N/A.

>going with a ZZW30, not a SW20
Then post a ZZW30 retard.

Anyways the 2ZZ is the objectively better engine and only costs 1k, and it does bolt right in. But either way if you're so autistic about boosting your engine you may as well do a K swap.

I'm a bit of a purist desu but I'll look into a k20 turbo swap. My only reqs is that it be boosted, making 300whp and be fairly reliable. If I can make more power for the same money, I'll violate a spyder.

I'm on the road and only had an sw20 from a car show on my phone.
I'd be buying a plug & play swap kit from mwr, including the harness, mounts and standalone ecu. The engine and related parts would come out to about 3k, but id be getting the 6 speed as well.

man if you want to turbo it then swap a k20 or a 3sgte

black one is mine, I've done a 2zz swap in a 3rd gen before and they're more than enough really.... but if you want turbo then k20 is really the way. Since you're a purist (not that it really matters in the end I'm, a good car is a good car) then a Gen3 3sgte swap will do

The only reason I'm not looking at sw20s is due to weight, age and living in new England. Shells here are beat to shit and clean ones are hard to find.

The K-series can reliably do 280-300 hp stock. (they come with 230). You can hit 300 hp and save money without having to rip open the engine and swap out the internals. But if you were intent on using all 12k, then you can easily hit 300-450+ hp.

i am so sick of hearing about MR2s on Veeky Forums

i cant believe i fell for this meme car

Whats wrong with your MR2?

I've had mine for 4 years and have no desire to give it up.

The only thing scaring me away from a kswap is that it won't be plug and play the same way a 2zz will be.

Understandable. MWR also offers the swap parts, but you're right.

wot

monkeywrenchracing.com/product-category/mr2s/mr2shondakserieswap/

literally everything you need to make it as plug and play as it can get

Ill have to look more into it, but mwr offers a literal plug and play harness for the 2zz swap, thats the main reason im more confident going that route.

im just sick of hearing about it on Veeky Forums
its every 2 and a half threads theres someone poopooing a thread up about his MR2

as for my car, i got it cheap and im paying for it. fucked engine, fucked top, fucked paint, you get it. i still like the thing, but damn is it a pain i the ass to work on

Sounds like a personal problem
Maybe you shouldnt have bought a piece of shit then

>drop is 2zz in
>get a hardtop
>repaint it
>???
>profit

Won't you be going standalone for this kind of build? At that point "plug and play" becomes irrelevant.

you drop a 2zz in you money machine, i work minimum wage

and by the way, i like my car.

better than Miata posting imo

it literally is miataposting. its just toyata posting with the 3rd gen

I got my aw11 cheap
I'm paying for it too.
It runs like a champ and the interior is amazing, but there is a ring of rust around the bottom end of the car, that will not be fun (or worth it) to fix. I want to fix it, but it's going to be a shit load of work and I'm pretty sure I'd save a lot of money just saving for a mint '87 (my favorite year) and swapping the interior from my '86 and going from there.

at least I can take my good interior to the next one...

Maybe you should get mad at toyota for building such a good car.
I like the AW11 but its just waaay too old for me to want to put up with it. Age and availability are two big factors for why the zzw30 is my favorite.

utter meme car

mid-engine layout benefits are so minimal and the inconvenience in maintenance is a joke

t. Miata owner

thats some nice citations you got there

owned one for two years. big mistake.

so basically you have a useless anecdote

enjoy dropping your engine to change the timing belt

Are mr2's really rare or is it just where I live? There's literally one on my local craigslist and it looks like a scam.

>enjoy dropping your engine to perform a service thats required literally once every 10 years
oh boy, what a hassle
depends on the area desu. generally the further into fly-over country you get, the harder they are to find because there's fuck all to do with an mr2 if all you have to drive on are flat straight roads. idk where you live though.

I actually didn't have to do that at all to change it lmao.

1zz in the spyder uses a timing chain. next?

can't speak for zzw30 or aw11, but the sw20 i owned was a pile of dogshit for all it's talked up to be

>> not wanting a 3SGTE

I actually have an SW but damn that's even better. from what I remember, dropping the engine in a mk3 is as easy, if not easier than a Honda

>wanting heatsoak: the engine

I bet you had a beat NA

turbo

turbo built 2zz to make the same WHP as a decat gen4 3S

Probably, but as I've stated ITT the 2zz swap is as easy as switching out the mounts and using a plug and play harness that mwr can supply with the build. Then you just switch out the ecu with a standard yota one or a standalone and you're good to go.

Why would I want to put a 3sgte in a spyder?
If I wanted an sw20 turbo id just buy one for the cost of a 2zz swap spyder, but I don't. Age and weight are the main reasons. I suppose i could do a 3rd or 4th gen 3sgte swap, but i like having something I can go to the junkyard and easily find parts for.

Its the proper engine for the car. Iron block does add weight, but it wouldn't be the end of the world and would help reliability.

Building an engine is always more prone to breakdowns than a factory engine you can get shipped to your door from an importer for 1,000 bucks if it breaks.

>swapping a 30-year-old turbo engine into anything
do not do this

>>tfw 3SGTE's were made until 2007

>Putting $7k into a $5k car

uses a timing belt

gen 4 engines are the better choice obviously (COP, bigger injectors, better turbo) but the basic block design is largely unchanged from the st165 and that was in 1986

12k and king of the toe gay

who here has actually dropped in a 2zz in themselves? whats all required for an engine swap? i dont want to get an engine an then get mouth fucked by other shitems that i needed

dropping a 2zz in a toyata of course

>3SGTE
>proper engine for ZZW30

The ZZW30 and SW20 are cars whose only similarities may as well be their name and their layout. The ZZW30 is an affordable, everyman sports car meant to compete with the miata, and has a peppy ZZ to boot. The SW20 was designed to be a baby supercar meant for the successful (a la corvette), and as such has a more powerful but heavier 3SGTE. As such, even though it will fit, the 3SGTE is not really the engine for the ZZW which prides itself on lightness and nimbleness.

Why in hell would you choose a K20 over the 3sgte? The 3sgte can make upwards of 500whp on the stock trans and internals? It's such an underestimated motor it's ridiculous. And you get to keep a Toyota motor in the car. And the engines are way cheaper.

I just find it hilarious that one of Veeky Forums's favorite cars isn't considered a worthwhile car without $5,000 in mods.

Must be a pretty shit car if it needs that much work to be good.

MR2 SW20 owners, how do you like them? I am falling hard for the idea of buying a Gen 4 swapped turbo as my daily.
How feasible is this? I'm tall at 6'3", and have heard I should be able to fit fine, I also live like 30 mins from Prime MR2 which should prove useful.
TL;DR, do I do it, Veeky Forums?
>inb4 >inb4 >>>/qtddtot/

idk about DD a swapped car (honestly I'd do that myself but I'm a nut). As far as my DD experience goes it's fine really, has more than enough clever space to go to the grocery store and can haul the most randomly long shit with the t-tops off. Also had plenty of interior space and cargo to take someone on a road trip. the ride is stiff but you should know that since you're looking at sports cars. the stock turbo seats are awesome, they have adjustable lumbar and side bolstering but the NA seats don't have that and that's okay. the center mounted arm rest is super comfy and hopefully you get the manual steering rack cause it's extremely sharp. like.... that low weight and sharp steering front and insanely grippy rear is something that always wows me. the cabin is small so the speakers will be loud and road/wind noise is somewhat noisy but not to the point of annoyance. viability is decent but checking over your left shoulder is a little awkward because small quarter glass. BUT, I would be cautious if it was swapped by a random owner. if there are documentations by a shop who swapped it then you're good. hell, if prime MR2 swapped it then you're fucking golden.
also you shoooould fit, it has an insanely large amount of leg room for what it is.

when you go looking for the car, check for rust on the side rocker panels in particular. also look for the plastic underside panels, they keep our cars minty. ask if the t-tops leak at all and see if the pop-ups go up and down well, the motors can break as most pop-up cars do. ask if he used a turbo tranny or an NA tranny and a turbo radiator vs an NA radiator, turbo parts is a must in this case.

optional stuff includes abs, lsd, and cruise control. doesn't hurt to ask for what it has.

Great, thank you so much. If that's your MR2, it's fucking beautiful.
I currently daily an NA Miata so I'm assuming it should be an all around improvement in NVH and I'm used to the small soft-top window's huge blind spots.
The car I'm currently looking at is a TCS Motorsports build, which seems to be pretty reputable and they say they make turn-key cars.
Pretty much every mod I would ever want to do to one with full documentation, 13" wilwood big brake kit + master cylinder with ABS, upgraded turbo, functional OBD2 port, ALL seals and gaskets replaced, koni+h&r suspension, new RPF-1s and tires, the works. An A/C leak and loose mirror, but for $10k ask it seems reaaaally hard to beat. Also a coupe, so +1 for headroom and I'm a lil bitch for rarity, esp slicktops.
/blogpost

Ok, hear me out OP. Why don't you run a VQ35? I hear the MT75 transmission is a good choice for that engine in the MR2.

Who told you it wasnt worthwhile without mods?

>Ok, hear me out OP. Why don't you run a VQ35?
Because I really want an easy swap. Thats why the 2zz is on the table. The main point of this thread is to explore whether its worth swapping to a 2zz if i plan on boosting it anyway, or just building the 1zz up for cheaper.
this has been said many times, but why would i go through the trouble of putting a 3s in a zzw30? I might as well just get an sw20 at that point, but thats not what this thread is about
except it doesnt

Are you sure you're looking at all of the related parts?

I looked at the swap kits to make my SMT manual and it was nearly $3k just for the four sets of parts I'd need.

Yes. Thats assuming im using a 5 speed car as the swap host. With the 6 speed included it comes out to 5 or 6k

Okay. It's probably my own sticker shock I'm projecting.

Taking mine to a mechanic next week for annual inspection and I'm on the fence about doing all the shit I'd need to do to get another 5+ years out of it or selling it and joining the Civic-driving unwashed masses.

desu i think you'd be better off just selling it and buying a 5 speed car. the smt in these cars is just bad
you're better off just loading it onto someone else before it breaks

I've already replaced the computer. I think the clutch might be slipping a little, but isn't that just as likely on a 14 year old manual? What else is going to break?

The reason the SMT in the spyder is bad is because it was early 2000's technology. Its not very efficient, it doesn't handle particularly well, It's unreliable and its very expensive to service whenever it does break. Yes, its not unusual to expect a 14 year old clutch to start slipping, but start calling up shops and ask them what the cost to service your transmission will be and you'll see what im talking about.

That's part of next week's exercise.

I wish I lived wherever people live who can call up a mechanic and get any kind of pricing information out of him. I've not met a motherfucker yet who'll tell me what anything might cost. They want my car in their garage, half-disassembled, and then they're ready to tell me prices.

If you have a kikebook you can join the toyota enthusiast page. guarantee there will be individuals there that can give you some valuable information

I'll give it a shot, thanks. The MR2 boards like Spyderchat and MR2OC look like they've dried up a bit.

What he said was good. I'm just about ready to finish my 4th gen swap and I have every intention of DD'ing it.im 6' and I fit comfortably with room to spare, so 6'3" won't be a problem. If you want easy mode than handing it over to prime would be the way to go. Also the 4th gen is an awesome engine. My buddy bought the diy swap kit from prime and it's a blast to drive. Here's what my swap 's looking like so far.

The 4th gen had quite a few block improvements, for example the redesigned coolant and oil veins to eliminate the cylinder #3 hotspot. But the noticable improvements we're to the head the st165 block looks ancient compared to the st215 though

Everyone and their mother says the stock 1zz mr-s is gutless and the first recommendation is a 2zz swap because apparently paying over $2k for 20whp is a good thing.