July 2009

Lately, I have been getting a lot of inquires asking if I am still working on this project. Yes I am. I am sorry for the lack of updates. I have been busy with work, life, and lately I had an accident: I was run over by my truck while I was working on it.

I have also decided that I will NOT be selling a book on doing this swap. Instead, I will make all information available for FREE!

All of the hard stuff is pretty much done. The engine and trans mounts are all completed. The engine and trans go into the car without any clearance issues. I recently had the hardened steel axles made. They are splined GM on one end, and Toyota MR2 Turbo on the other end. These are very unique parts and the pair of them cost more than the engine!

Currently, I am designing an adaptor for the flywheel, as it is not thick enough as it was made for the Northstar to Fiero 5 speed trans. The GM 6 speed that I am using (the F40) has a slightly deeper bellhousing. This is not an expensive part, and I can continue working on this aspect of the project while I recover from my accident.

October 2009:

I don't have a lot of time these days, so I am now doing a video newsletter instead of a written newsletter. I am posting videos in the subscriber area of my site.

Project Into Video:

I wanted a mid-engine exotic car like a Ferrari, or Lamborghini, but could not afford one. My idea was to build my own super car.  Sign up for my free newsletter to receive updates on the progress of this project.  I will cover all the progress I have made so far, and as I complete each aspect of this project, you will receive updates.

The ultimate engine swap for the Toyota MR2 is a V8. Maybe even with a turbo!

Imagine building a super fun, rip-snorting, fire-breathing, tire shredding super car on a beer budget.  The car will out accelerate, out-handle, and out-stop most hyper exotic super cars.  If you are like me, you want a car that can surprise the exotic car guys, and smoke everyone else. The 2nd generation MR2 is a great handling chassis, but its a little on the heavy side (2700 to 3000 lbs with engine). So, if it just had more power and torque from a "manly" engine, it would be transformed.

• To save you time
• To save you money
• To save you the frustration
• To make it as easy as is possible for a project like this.

Welcome to Project MV8R. This is a V8 MR2 engine swap. This V8 engine has been swapped into a 1991 Toyota MR2

An example of how I can save you the time, money and frustration can be illustrated with a simple example.  Suppose you wanted to do an engine swap in a car that has never been done.  You will have to figure out what engine, transmission and axles to use, and how to fit them all together.  Usually, you have to have the car, the engine, the transmission, and the axles just to figure out if the project will work.  Sometimes, you can buy all that stuff (thousands of $$'s) and discover that it WON'T work!

Another example is finding a flywheel and clutch kit that will work for this MR2 V8 swap. You need a flywheel and clutch that will work with the engine and the transaxle. The transaxle was NEVER offered on this engine from the factory, so you can't just run down to Napa and buy them!

Also see the Project Background page with new photos of the world's first 2nd generation MR2 V8 engine swap (nope, its not MV8R. I wish!).

Well, initially with this project, I was planning on using an Audi ABZ for my V8 MR2 engine swap, and after about a year, I realized that it was creating more problems than it solved. I went so far as to buy an engine. Unfortunately, I did not and could not know that it would not work. The large dogleg in the Audi V8 block skirt was hidden by a huge cast oil cooler/filter housing, and so even though I looked at the engine at the wrecking yard before buying it, it was not possibly to know the block skirt, oil pump, and oil pump drive pulley (which is driven by the timing belt) was in the way.

Here are some videos where I talk about all of this. In the first video, I have already removed the HUGE oil cooler/filter housing from the side of the ABZ V8 block.

In this last video, I start off by looking at the existing 3S-GTE (Toyota MR2 Turbo engine) and the rear suspension and crossmember. The question is, if a V8 is put in the car, is there room for the intermediate axle shaft and right side axle?

Epilogue to the videos above:

So I went back to the drawing board. I went out to the wrecking yards and starting measuring V8 engines again for length and width. Back before I bought the Audi V8, I had measured a Northstar. At the time, I knew a lot less about what I was doing and looking for. It turned out that I measured the engine wrong. My notes said it was an inch longer than it really was! This was probably because I was not careful enough with the straight edge as it is difficult to measure an engine length at the center of the crank because you have to measure the engine about a foot away from the crank because engines have a lot of width and a lot of stuff sticking out sideways.

In addition, I learned some new information about 6 months after I bought the Audi V8. I learned that the Northstar V8 bolted up to the GM F40! However, their is one exception of 1 bolt that is misaligned by around 1 inch. Because of the arrangement of these misaligned holes, it is VERY easy to just fabricate a bracket to line up with both of these bolt holes! So, the Northstar did NOT require an adaptor plate, saving even more length (actually width transversely) on the overall drive train!

At that point, I bought a Northstar V8 and was able to make huge progress very quickly.

If I already had a shop manual, plans or guidance from someone that had already done this project, I could have saved a year and a lot of money (over $2500) that I spent on the wrong engine, flywheel ($400) and clutch ($160)!

Also consider:  How much time would it take you to do all of the same research I did?  How much money would it cost you to buy the necessary parts (required because you need to measure them)?  How much do you want to budget for buying the wrong parts?  

When doing a project that is this unusual, you will end up buying parts you won't be able to use.  It's just reality.  Wouldn't you rather have the knowledge of which parts work and which don't ahead of time?  

Even if you did this project without any guidance, do you want to spend that much time on it, when you could simply sign up ?

You will find out what to expect in terms of cost, time, and effort required BEFORE you spend any money on work, tools, cars, or parts..  This will let you make an informed decision about whether you really want to commit to a project like this.  Some people get into a project without understanding what they are getting into and waste a LOT of time and money on something they won't be able to finish.

l will cover all aspects of this project.

1. Tools required
2. Skills required
3. A discussion of engine choices
4. A discussion of transmissions (transaxles)
5. How to join the two together, and source a flywheel and clutch
6. Axles -- and modifying them.
7. Where to get the engine, transaxle, axles, and other parts
8. Where to get parts modified because not everything can be done in your home garage (most of the work can be done by you, if you can weld).
9. How and where to save money on various aspects of this project.  The areas where you should NOT try to save money.  I will discuss costs as well.

 

This project CAN be done in your garage

I don't want to discourage anyone that wants to take on this project.  I just want you to have a full understanding of what it is you are getting into, BEFORE you get into it.

Welding is required.  If you cannot weld, you should take some lessons and/or practice.   Alternatively, you could have someone else do the welding for you, possibly a mobile welding guy.  Cutting of the MR2 chassis is required.  It is absolutely necessary to cut portions of the sub-frame (pseudo frame rails that are part of the uni-body) and possibly the right shock tower, and the bolt-on cross member. Fortunately, there is not a lot of cutting, and none of the car's visible parts (from the outside) of the body are cut.

Please understand, that when I say "in your garage" I do mean that some things will have to be sent out to a specialist.  The axle re-splining is a good example.  Fortunately, axle re-splining is NOT expensive.  About 95% of the project can be done with hand and power hand tools in your garage. I do use a drill press, bench grinder, and band saw.  As of June 2009, the only thing I had to send out was the axles.  No other machining has been required.

You might be wondering why you just don't use the information in the build threads that I have going on the MR2 and Motorgeek forums.  Well, the reasons are several.

1. In some of my older threads, I posted the best information I had AT THAT TIME, but I have since learned new information.  Some of the old information is incorrect or incomplete.  The forum threads were closed and it is now beyond my power to update the old, incorrect information.
2. As of June 2009, this project is not complete yet, and new information is still being learned.  
3. I have not posted every detail in the forums.   In other words, there is far more information in my newsletter than you can find in my build threads. My threads were not started to provide instructions.

Please use the form at the upper left side of this page, and sign up to receive my free newsletter.  I promise not to spam you, as I hate spam myself.  I also promise not to give, sell, or rent out your e-mail address.  I promise to send you information only about this project.

Chris Bulen
Last site update:  06/19/2009