Post by yacrow on May 26, 2018 0:57:52 GMT
So first a bit of history. How a faded Rev1 MR2 became a 3.0L V6 Rev5.
I bought my first MR2 almost 20 years ago. A Rev1 uk 3SGE t-bar in red. I still remember every detail around buying it and driving it home and sitting staring out the window at it that night. The realisation of a teenage dream. I still own that car although I regret not putting a bit of time and effort into a light restoration a few years ago. It now sits as a semi stripped engineless shell, it’s best bits transplanted into H8GUT but maybe some day I’ll undo the butchery and put it back together, back to how it was originally
.
About 2 years ago I decided that I wanted one of those V6 monsters I had spent years reading about on build threads. Apart from simple maintenance and servicing I had never done much mechanically. I could change an alternator, change the oil and a set of brake pads or plugs but that was as much experience as I had. I’d gone through the “Max Muppet” stage in my early 20s of bolting on spoilers, speakers and spot lights to my first few cars but I had never done any engine work. But encouraged by the words of someone with wisdom beyond his years “people a lot more stupid than you and I have done this and made it work” I bit the bullet and bought a 3VZFE engine from someone who had already fitted it in an MR2 but didn’t complete the project. The source of those wise words then soon realised that he had misjudged the levels of stupidity he was dealing with and was bombarded with questions for the next couple of months as I bent that learning curve back on itself. And at the end of a few months of blood sweat and beers my old Rev1 was ready for its new lease of life with 2 cylinders more than Toyota intended. It fired up, ran to temp and all seemed well. Well until I put it into gear and let the clutch out. Something was catching, making a horrendous racket and vibrating through the car. I had done some work on the heads and replaced the timing belt and water pump but I bought it as an engine and gearbox straight from another MK2 MR2 and I installed it as I got it. Unfortunately the previous owner had left a spacer from the Camry Auto gearbox in place and the clutch now touched the bell housing of the gearbox but only when in gear and with the clutch released so it wasn’t picked up until everything was done. Bugger! It was all coming back out again but the setback dampened my enthusiasm and it all got shelved for a few months.
Whilst a few weeks into the project I started to get MR2 withdrawal symptoms and as I was anticipating this to be a long drawn out project I went out and bought another one to run around in whilst working on the V6. I also had half an idea of abandoning the original project as it looked like the end result was a long way off. The Rev1 needed a paint job, the V6 back out, gearbox off, clutch fixed and reassembled and .......... well it just seemed like it’d never get done. So I thought I could short cut it and pop the V6 into my newly acquired Rev4.
With its shiny paint and immaculate interior it seemed like that would be a much easier way to achieve the same end result. No painting or ascetic work required. But when it came to it I was afraid that i’d mess another one up. It seemed wrong to rip out a 54k mile 3SGE engine and interfere with a very clean and completely original faultless car. So I needed a plan C. Enter H8GUT. An autotrader advert for a scruffy and slightly neglected Rev5 car caught my attention. I viewed it and saw it had potential, all the tired bits were parts which I had good and upgraded versions of on the Rev1. Suspension, wheels, interior could all be donated from my Rev1 to give this scruffy Rev5 a new lease of live and a 125k mile 3SGE could be discarded to make room for my newly built 3VZ. Game on and this arrived (now MR2 #3 in the fleet.
