NW WA Meet / BS Thread

Yep, in the tumwater area now. Time to start exploring the OP

 

Damn time flies as you get older I guess. Hard to believe it was 4yrs ago this weekend that I finished up my motor swap after throwing 2 rods. Seems like it was just last year.

 

What was the cause of two thrown rods?

 

Decided I don’t need long travel or a doubler, etc, etc for how much actual wheeling I do and got myself a project car for sunny days.

Plan is to either swap a 2GR or a K20 + turbo after I sort it out.

 

Why not a 3s-gte? Seems like the obvious choice.

 

Fun! Love mine...though I have the aw11 not a sw20.

 

Old tech and heavy. For turbo, the k20/k24 completely eclipses it in power output and support. Also a lightly modded 2gr is just as fast as a full bolt on 3sgte.

Plus the 2gr just sounds awesome with some headers…

 

frankenstein motorworks is doing some pretty cool things with the 2AR for the mr2

 

I started down that route of determining the cause but since it was my only vehicle at the time, to maximize my turn around time I cut the cause search short to get the swap finished sooner than later. From time of implosion to back on the road again was 2-3wks which included a few days at first deciding if having a shop install a reman engine would be more long term beneficial or just find a newer low milage motor and DIY route. Within a week I had a 40k used motor in hand and shoe-horned it in myself. My boss allowing me to do it in the shop at work after hours and on the weekend greatly help to speed up the entire process vs wrestling a cherry picker in my gravel driveway in the December weather. Btw, I was quoted ~$10k out the door for a shop to do the job, with warranty obviously, but I decided on the DIY route which came in just shy of $3k all said and done. That also included a trans and tcase swap from a 2012 t4r that had reportedly 80k on it. Since I was that deep into it, it made sense to do also for convenience.

I pretty much credited it to unknown prior maintenance, or from what little available info I found after purchasing the truck and it's prior history, narrowed it down to neglect/abuse. The truck mysteriously had 45k on it in it's first 14-16months of service and inconsistent service records that I found through Toyotas Vin database hinted to that conclusion also. I can't say I babied it or drove it like a grandma, but add it all together and it was a recipe for disaster. IMO it threw one rod initially, possible spun crank rod that long term starved the crank bearing of oil, and as the first rod was celebrating it's new found freedom encouraged the second rod to join the party and together exited the party in opposing directions.

 

it would also seem that the 2gr is available to be sourced from a smorgasbord of toyota/Lexus vehicles from 2005-2016ish, and can be complimented with the addition of an available supercharger when spending fuck you money.

That's gonna be a bitchen sw20.

 

I really want another car. I definitely miss my LS400, and have been low key searching for either another 90's luxury land yacht, or something like a sw20 or even st204/5.

I'd even consider an early Focus ST.

 

The SW20s have been skyrocketing in value now that more people are realizing how easy it is to make power with the k20/2gr. Clean examples are going through the roof and I had to get one now before they become even more scarce. The hard part now is to find a e153 trans with LSD that isn’t an arm and a leg. I’ve been looking forever for a fun/project car and decided the mr2 will be my poor man’s nsx (something I should have bought 10 years ago…oh well).

What about a Cressida with a 1jz?

 

You can still get new e153s from toyota. Though these days there are around $3500. But wait for a sale and I know people have gotten them for closer to 2500 or less. Which isn't bad for a brand new lsd transmission.

Is yours a turbo already?

 

Oof. There are built ones from mr2 specialists for less than that. Mine is N/A, just hunting for parts now…

 

Stopped by the old workplace today to do a few things and found out they either chucked or lost my old soft jaws. So I “borrowed” a block of aluminum and cut some to use to protect my shock shafts while I swapped the ends.

 

Use a little heat too.

 

Who is offering built e153's for less than cost of a new one? And really there is no reason to go with a built one unless you are going >700hp

N/A definitely lets you pick and choose! Bit easier to pick when you have to get most everything instead of trying to reuse stuff lol. be fun to see what route you end up going.

 

Yep I read it wrong. It was a used e153 with lsd from a shop, not built by them. I’m still looking for a e153 since they’re pretty bulletproof like you said and there’s an adapter plate if you want to use the k series too.

My poor truck is parked outside for now until I reorganize my garage…

 

Came across a guy who hit some black ice on a bridge and spun then flipped his car…be careful out there! The cop was shocked someone stopped…it’s a shame our world is where it’s at.

 

Where did you find your motor