MR2sday (in progress)

"MRtwo" (MRtwo)
01/13/2015 at 11:48 • Filed to: None

Have a pic of my in progress 4th gen swap. Should be done this weekend if my replacement manifold gets mailed to me in time. The one that came with the swap was cracked and made this horrendous squealing noise from the air leaks.

That powdercoated valve cover sure does pop with the freshly painted engine bay. (car was dark red from the factory). I was orginally going to get the intake manifold done in the same wrinkle red as the valve cover but I may just give it and the throttle body a nice coat of aluminum colored paint.

DISCUSSION (11)

uofime > MRtwo
01/13/2015 at 11:56

are you going to clean up the turbine housing and exhause manifold as well?

It'll look so nice and clean!

MRtwo > uofime
01/13/2015 at 12:05

No, for now, those will be covered up by the OEM heat shield which is not pictured. The turbo was rebuilt/upgraded so that is why the compressor side looks new.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > MRtwo
01/13/2015 at 12:07

I'm not a 3SGTE expert by any means, so I had no idea there was a 4th gen. I know in the US the first generation Celica All-Trac had the Gen 1, and the SW20 MR2 and ST185 Celica had the Gen 2 which went to a twin-scroll turbo, and in Japan they went to a ceramic turbo Gen3, but I didn't know there was a 4th.

uofime > MRtwo
01/13/2015 at 12:09

well if nothing else, put a nice coat of paint on that then and a blanket on the turbo if it isn't covered.

MRtwo > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig
01/13/2015 at 12:40

It might be because the Gen4 and Gen5 engines never were available in the MR2. They came from the ST215 and ST256 Caldina. The major differences are in the electronics, turbo, and intake manifold for the Gen4. There is coil on pack ignition with crank and cam position sensors therefore no need for a distributor, cap, rotor, or plug wires. The turbo is a CT15 which has the exhaust housing cast as one piece with the exhaust manifold. It is a little smaller but revs much faster. There's a popular upgrade (which I had done) from some MR2 shops which brings the power back up to around ct20b levels but keeps the great spool characteristics. Finally, the intake manifold which I'm sure you can tell is now a side feed. For the Gen5 engine, they went back to a center feed manifold.

This swap has become the new Gen3 swap. Prime Performance in NJ popularized it as they specialize in this swap. The major swap items are a new/modified engine wire harness, Gen3 water neck,alternator and bracket, and AC compressor and tensioner. You'll also need an NA throttle cable or at least have cruise control and you can make an intercooler pipe kit, order one, or re-use the top mount intercooler. Im re-using the top mount intercooler until I can have my intercooler pipes welded up.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > MRtwo
01/13/2015 at 12:51

That's really cool. The whole turbo cast into the manifold thing sounds like PITA though.

swaptastic > MRtwo
02/07/2015 at 14:59

Is there any place to find more info on your build? Build thread somewhere?

MRtwo > swaptastic
02/09/2015 at 11:22

No not yet. I was thinking of putting one up on here sometime. I still have the top mount air/air intercooler until I can fab or buy the intake pipes for the side mount that I already had. The pipe kits from tcs/prime are so damn expensive. But once I have that, they bay will be more fun to look at and what I would consider to be its final form.

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

swaptastic > MRtwo
02/09/2015 at 13:12

Thanks for responding. I do have a few questions. What year is your MR2? When you say 4th gen you are referring to a fourth-generation 3S-GE/3S-GTE correct?

MRtwo > swaptastic
02/09/2015 at 13:41

It is a 91 NA chassis and yes, 4th gen refers to the 4th generation of the 3sgte which came from the Caldina, a car not sold in the US.

swaptastic > MRtwo
02/09/2015 at 15:40

Sounds like a great project. Any place to see more images? Would you mind if I wrote an article about it?