Mark_Dorman's 3VZ V6 Project

My initial interest:

So as many of you know I came to the MR2 community from a 3 year stint of owning BMW's and 1 year with a motorcycle (Yamaha R6). When looking for another car that fit my budget I searched long and hard before I finally remembered the MR2. I always wanted one when I first started driving but couldn't afford one back then (2001). Before I even bought the car I knew I wouldn't be happy with the power output. Now of course the Turbo was my first thought. 200 hp isn't anything to scoff at...but I have driven several turbo cars, and they are a blast...but not what I wanted. I got over straight line speed a long time ago and have become obsessed with twisty roads and track road racing (thanks to my Bimmer's and R6). Now i know the turbo can be driven in such a manner, however I am not a fan of the power band. The V6 provides a more linear power band that I was used to in my bimmer's as well as great torque . At this point I had decided I wanted to go V6 even before I bought my first MR2.

V6 Plans (the evolution):

So when I first planned on doing my V6 swap I had picked the 1mz as my power plant of choice. It was as light as the NA motor essentially and got good gas mileage. The only thing i was ever worried about was the wiring. This remained my plan for over 8 months.

A few months ago I pondered it further and decided that if I wanted to make a smog legal (California) V6 MR2 the 1MZ wasn't gonna be the easiest. Considering this was going to be my first engine swap I decided to take the easier route and throw a 3VZ in the car. Knowing that a lot of people never even get the swap done I just wanted to throw it in there and get it running. I will be getting it cleared by the BAR so it's smog legal. After that I will build a separate motor to swap in later (fully built 3vz).

Pulling the Trigger:

After making my decision to go with the 3VZ-FE I found a 92 V6 Camry for $600 on Craigslist. The car had a lot of miles on it but the engine was still strong. The reason the owner was selling it was he was buying a new Camry and the transmission was going out on the old Camry. This was perfect for me because I did not need the transmission. After procuring the Camry I began collecting the rest of my parts for the swap.

I was given a e153 transmission (thanks Ji) to mate to the V6. I soon after purchased the clutch and a few other small parts I still needed. More recently I picked up a set of turbo hubs and axles. I also ordered a set of 93 turbo synchros to rebuild the transmission. I really wanted an LSD but I can live without it for now.

Crunch Time:

So I had planned on getting the swap done as soon as possible. However it looked like it was going to take a few more months to save up for the rest of the parts and find a place to do the swap. This is where my father's misfortune became my good luck. He drives a 00' Camry with ~82K miles on it. For some reason his 5s developed piston slap and needs a rebuild. The dealership said they could rebuild it for around $3500. Now of course this is a bit much considering the economy. So I suggested letting me rebuild it. I could use the bottom end from my MR2 (which has good compression and everything) and just do a simple rebuild for him and get his car running. Of course this sounded like a much better proposal than the dealership's $3500 quote. The catch was that I have to do my V6 swap first because I need the engine out of my MR2. Boom...now I have the space for the swap and a little bit of encouragement to finish it quickly.

The Swap Begins:

To be continued...