Camr2 V6 Swap: 1986 Toyota MR2
The first generation Toyota MR2 (1984-1989) was developed by Lotus Engineer Roger Becker and tuned on the race track by some guy named Dan Gurney, which meant it had better handling than its contemporary competition, such as the Fiat X1/9, Pontiac Fiero, Honda CR-X, or Ford EXP. But with a small 1.6 liter 4-cylinder engine, it didn’t go very fast on the straights, so people have figured out how to shove larger V6 engines into the little mid-engine run-about. Find this 1986 Toyota MR2 V6 Swap offered for $7000 in Portland, OR via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
From the seller:
1986 Toyota MR2
condition: good
cylinders: 6 cylinders
drive: rwd
fuel: gas
odometer: 1000
odometer broken
title status: clean
transmission: manual
1986 Toyota MR2 V6
Motor swap with 1mzfe engine or 1997 v6 camry (200hp).
Wiring ,transmission, etc. All in working order .runs great and very fun car to drive .
Has quick release steering wheel, cold air intake ,r888 tires. Also have 2nd set of rims.
All the hard work is done needs finshing.
Paint is in bad shape and windshield has large crack .needs a few other small things fixed.
Pricing is 7,500 obo.
Possible trades vw, chevy or something fun.
See a better way to drive something small? tips@dailyturismo.com
The problem becomes maintenance of the 3 firewall cylinders. Look at almost any V6 Fiero and those plugs are terrible. Also cold air intake? Interesting looks pretty close to the exhaust to me.
Not specific to this car, but I can remember when pulling the plugs on an engine was a regular thing. Are the carbs too rich? Too lean? Haunted distributor? What the hell’s going on in there with the valves and rings anyway?
We had a tiny little sandblaster just for cleaning spark plugs and would keep a spare set in the toolbox.
It seems like about the time obd II and needing to go 50,000 miles without maintenance to get smog certification came along, messing with spark plugs became a thing of the past. There are a couple cars in the driveway with 150k on them with the same attention to spark plugs as my old diesel Mercedes, ie never been touched.
Messing with spark plugs seems to have gone the way of spending your Saturday lapping the valves.
LOL, putting spark plugs in the bead blast cabinet brings back memories of high school and working on my 72′ 510.
Dan Gurney fit inside these?
What do you think that sunroof is for….LMAO
They are surprisingly roomy for a 2 seater. My buddy has one and I thought “no way I fit”
Turns out not only do I fit, but with the t-tops there’s room for a helmet!
I’m 6’8″
It seems to me these projects are always completed 75% and the last 25% never get done and finished because the owner is looking for a new “project”. A larger 4 cylinder with DOHC would make plenty of power and be more reliable.
I knew someone who got into a very bad car accident in one of these and everyone was amazed how well the interior of the car held up. You couldn’t even tell what kind of car it was post-accident, but the driver only got minor injuries. Amazing considering how small these are…..