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Crikey that sounds compliqué. I can barely change a light bulb, let alone an engine.
Although to be honest I did buy the MR2 with a view to upgrading (with professional help, obvs) so wasn't really bothered about the state of the engine, I was looking at bodywork and interior. But so far and despite my best efforts the car refuses to go wrong in any way. The only problem which came with the car was high speed vibration and that was solved by Road Force wheel balancing on a Hunter machine (£39).
I do wonder how the car would cope with all that extra power but when the day comes I'm going to try it anyway.
rw101-
I've spent a lot of time in a 1zz MK3, some time in a 2zz MK3 and a tiny bit of time in a 2gr (V6) MK3 and in my humble opinion, the 1zz is plenty if you upgrade the handing package.
Bracing, bushes, suspension, and diff will all help you exploit more of what the 1zz has to give, and for me the best interior upgrade is ditching the lower dash panel (bit underneath the dash in the middle). It then has an interior like an Elise or an older 911 and it feels much roomier inside.
NurseHolliday
The engines blocks are the same, so is a straight swap. Didn't have much choice, as finding a MR2 engine block/engine was difficult as they are also used in the elise which seems to get blown up a lot. Tho I looked and there are a lot of damaged block/liner engines as the sleves are composite lined in an aluminium cast block.
I got the front of a Celica that had been rolled. But had heard the engine running and done a compression test so the engine was good. The engine ECU were a straight swap. There was an issue with built in immobiliser but that was solved by reprogramming the key in the car. That lot cost me £500 delivered (not to London) and guy came back to collect the scrap, fancied fitting the 6 speed box but wasn't sure if it was damaged as there was a lot of suspension damage
Did all the work myself over odd weekends over time, needed help to get the body off the engine as I dropped the whole lot out of the bottom as I intended to replace suspension with Gaz adjustables and do all the bushes but that idea died a death as I had an offer of second hand Gaz shocks from a mk3 race car but the shocks weren't a straight swap and would need revalving for road use so didn't happen. Also remember that the upgraded anti roll bars were something like 18mm.
Once engine swapped MOT and ran for a couple of weeks and then it was sold. Chap turned up paid cash and didn't even haggle.
Have had a MK1 and 2 MR2 and the mk3 was the closest I had to to the MK1. Lots of fun and eager. Think I wanted a cheap reliable Elise, but have a soft spot for the MK1 t bar.