20V BT Questions

[stu4u3]

1. Will the stock mr2 trans work on the BT engine? Will it be able to handle the power?

2. If I get a BT WITH a trans - will all my stock axles work if they are not included with the engine? And, will they handle the power increase from the 16V to the 20V?

3. I realize the exhaust manifold from the 16V will not work, but will the 20V manifold fit when I raise the enigine in? It's my understanding the entire exhaust will need some work but I just want to see if the manifold can be used off the 20V BT.

The cheapest BT I'm locating with a transmission is around $1300-$1400 shipped. Some ae upwards of $1800! Any feedback here?

Thanks.

[mr220v]

1. Yes

2. You actually must reuse your mr2's original axles. The increased power is not an issue.

3. There is a slight modification that can be done to make the 16v header work on the 20v. It's not ideal, and will cost a bit of performance, but it works ok. The 20v header fits just fine. It just requires a bit of custom work. One thing to keep in mind though, you can't use the exhaust side starter with the 20v headers.

[stu4u3]

Originally Posted by mr220v

1. Yes

2. You actually must reuse your mr2's original axles. The increased power is not an issue.

3. There is a slight modification that can be done to make the 16v header work on the 20v. It's not ideal, and will cost a bit of performance, but it works ok. The 20v header fits just fine. It just requires a bit of custom work. One thing to keep in mind though, you can't use the exhaust side starter with the 20v headers.

Thanks. So that raises another question. How easy is it to move the starter to the other side? What else is involved? Thanks mr220v in advance,

[mr220v]

If we're talking about an 89 mr2, the 89's c52 has the intake side mounting hump. You don't have to do anything to get that working. The 85-86's don't have the intake mounting hump.

[Raptor13x]

Yeah, the best trans to use for the 20v swap is definitely the 88-89 one with the spot on the intake side where you can mount the starter. Then you can use the better 20v exhaust manifold and just have a shop make a custom exhaust for you. If you use the earlier trans, you'll be left screwing with manifolds, and if you use a trans from the 20v engine, you'll need to extensively modify the shifter linkages to get them to hook up to the MR2.

Oh, and mr220v knows his sh*t when it comes to these swaps. He's awesome.

[stu4u3]

Originally Posted by Raptor13x

Yeah, the best trans to use for the 20v swap is definitely the 88-89 one with the spot on the intake side where you can mount the starter. Then you can use the better 20v exhaust manifold and just have a shop make a custom exhaust for you. If you use the earlier trans, you'll be left screwing with manifolds, and if you use a trans from the 20v engine, you'll need to extensively modify the shifter linkages to get them to hook up to the MR2.

Oh, and mr220v knows his sh*t when it comes to these swaps. He's awesome.

When you say "the spot", are you referring to an opening when I can mount the starter? What would that really entail when moving the started from one side to the other.

The I believe I have the C52 trans, so that sounds easier to mess with for sure. But isn't the C56? transmission better built for the BT engine? I've seen the write ups (MKI MR2 Write-ups) and it doesn't look that difficult.

Yeah, mr220v is a badass. I'm going to have him do the harness when I finally save up a small fortune for the BT and the fee for the harness PNP

[Raptor13x]

Yeah, I was referring to the opening where you can mount the starter. Unless you plan on getting crazy with fabrication, you can't put the starter where there is no opening. If the trans has the opening on both sides, it's really easy- you can just put it wherever you wish.

[328FTW]

I managed to get my starter under the exhaust on my silvertop by beating the starter heat shields a little then putting the header in a vise and levering it with a BFB to remove some of the curve. Then I ground a bit off the bottom and it fit. That sounds not quite as simple as it was (well simple to me anyway) I had a later box but the old box has the locked diff which I want.

[mr220v]

I've heard that some of the silvertop manifolds will juuuust clear. The BT manifold is going to be more of a problem.


The approach I take is to change the center casing of the c56 transmission with the one from my 86's c50. It's not as bad as people think, though takes me about 5 hours.

If you're lucky, you get a c56 with the casting for the oilseal. Then you can use the drillout trick which is faster and less risky.

[stu4u3]

I know it means getting under the car, but can anyone post pics of their solution for moving the started or the aftermath of beating the starter heat shield? It sounds like I really want to use my c52 transmission but I eagerly looking forward to some pictures. Thanks.

[328FTW]

I can but not till the weekend cause my engine is still on the floor 100km away. ECU arrived this week so I'm deciding if I put it in the 2 next week or later on.

[muffinman]

this might be helpful to you
MR2 Technical Knowledgebase - All You Need to Know About Swapping a 20v by...

[boycelaforest]

Originally Posted by stu4u3

I know it means getting under the car, but can anyone post pics of their solution for moving the started or the aftermath of beating the starter heat shield? It sounds like I really want to use my c52 transmission but I eagerly looking forward to some pictures. Thanks.

You should be able to swap starter over to intake side because the c52 has the provision for it?