Spring swap

Vince · 03-13-2007, 08:54 AM

Summer is getting closer and closer and i just bought my 5th MR2, i finally found one worth putting a nice 4agze motor into, for a decent price.. It seems near impossible to find a supercharged mr2 in NY so ive decided to do a swap... i found a nice looking 4agze motor off of ebay for about 1200 dollars except its a jdm engine and i havent heard much about people and theyre results when buying a motor off of ebay. It is indeed from a company down in Ocala florida and seems to be a very good price, the motors come with 45-55k miles... has anyone had any experiance with buying a motor from ebay this way, if so i would like to know how it was and if the jdm 4agze motor will fit into my N/A 89 MK1 without any complications. These cars truly are amazing and im ready to dump some money so suggestions to increase performance while putting another motor in are all open for thought, thanks

toyotaspeed90 · 03-13-2007, 09:53 PM

heh... "spring swap".... i thought you meant suspension & was about to ask what the title meant..... anyways

i've never purchased a motor from ebay.... and unless it was a company I knew and trusted, I don't think I would... but that's just me...

I've had mixed results with JDM motors..... i paid $400 for the smallport n/a 4age in my ae92 and it burns oil at an amazing rate.... but then again, i paid $700 for the 4agze smallport in my 87 mr2 and it's an incredible motor and came with several TRD japan parts and was well maintained. I've also had a couple other mr2's that had/have JDM motors and they were in pretty good shape.... but the original smallport in the ae92 left a bitter taste in my mouth...

basically.... unless you're getting a steal of a deal (which $1200 isn't unless it's a complete cut and shipped) it's best if you purchase locally and are able to do some sort of compression checks and pull the valve covers.....

and most JDM importers will claim low mileage, but unless it's a 1/2 cut with gauges, it can't be proven.....

toyotaspeed90 · 03-13-2007, 09:59 PM

just to give you an idea of what i'm talking about...

the smallport n/a:

it got so bad with the sludge and small oil chunks that the pcv system built into the valve covers was clogged and caused the engine to have excessive blowby, sending plumes of smoke out the back of the car...

blurry pic warning... the ae101 gze in my 87:

you can see a HUGE difference....

when you get the motor.... ideally check for these signs:

pull the oil cap.... if it's clean then it's probably good to go (maybe shine a flashlight in there if you want.... pull the valve cover if you're anal like me).

check the oil filter..... if it's a Toyota filter that isn't a good sign... unlike here in north america where having a toyota filter on the engine generally means the engine was well taken care of and taken to the dealership.... on JDM motors it usually means the oil was never fully changed and that's the original filter (which is exactly what happend on my smallport and have seen more than once).

when i bought my gze, we did a group buy... and interestingly enough one of the guys in the group buy worked at another JDM importer and couldn't get the motor for that cheap.... but in talking with him, he explained that the equivalent of an oil change here in Japan is them spinning the filter off, draining the filter, then topping the oil off.....

03-13-2007, 08:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
Vince No Skills Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Blog Entries: 1 iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	Spring swap Summer is getting closer and closer and i just bought my 5th MR2, i finally found one worth putting a nice 4agze motor into, for a decent price.. It seems near impossible to find a supercharged mr2 in NY so ive decided to do a swap... i found a nice looking 4agze motor off of ebay for about 1200 dollars except its a jdm engine and i havent heard much about people and theyre results when buying a motor off of ebay. It is indeed from a company down in Ocala florida and seems to be a very good price, the motors come with 45-55k miles... has anyone had any experiance with buying a motor from ebay this way, if so i would like to know how it was and if the jdm 4agze motor will fit into my N/A 89 MK1 without any complications. These cars truly are amazing and im ready to dump some money so suggestions to increase performance while putting another motor in are all open for thought, thanks

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03-13-2007, 09:53 PM	#2 (permalink)
toyotaspeed90 No Skills Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 422 Thanks: 0 Thanked 32 Times in 32 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	heh... "spring swap".... i thought you meant suspension & was about to ask what the title meant..... anyways i've never purchased a motor from ebay.... and unless it was a company I knew and trusted, I don't think I would... but that's just me... I've had mixed results with JDM motors..... i paid $400 for the smallport n/a 4age in my ae92 and it burns oil at an amazing rate.... but then again, i paid $700 for the 4agze smallport in my 87 mr2 and it's an incredible motor and came with several TRD japan parts and was well maintained. I've also had a couple other mr2's that had/have JDM motors and they were in pretty good shape.... but the original smallport in the ae92 left a bitter taste in my mouth... basically.... unless you're getting a steal of a deal (which $1200 isn't unless it's a complete cut and shipped) it's best if you purchase locally and are able to do some sort of compression checks and pull the valve covers..... and most JDM importers will claim low mileage, but unless it's a 1/2 cut with gauges, it can't be proven.....

03-13-2007, 09:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
toyotaspeed90 No Skills Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bellingham, WA Posts: 422 Thanks: 0 Thanked 32 Times in 32 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	just to give you an idea of what i'm talking about... the smallport n/a: it got so bad with the sludge and small oil chunks that the pcv system built into the valve covers was clogged and caused the engine to have excessive blowby, sending plumes of smoke out the back of the car... blurry pic warning... the ae101 gze in my 87: you can see a HUGE difference.... when you get the motor.... ideally check for these signs: pull the oil cap.... if it's clean then it's probably good to go (maybe shine a flashlight in there if you want.... pull the valve cover if you're anal like me). check the oil filter..... if it's a Toyota filter that isn't a good sign... unlike here in north america where having a toyota filter on the engine generally means the engine was well taken care of and taken to the dealership.... on JDM motors it usually means the oil was never fully changed and that's the original filter (which is exactly what happend on my smallport and have seen more than once). when i bought my gze, we did a group buy... and interestingly enough one of the guys in the group buy worked at another JDM importer and couldn't get the motor for that cheap.... but in talking with him, he explained that the equivalent of an oil change here in Japan is them spinning the filter off, draining the filter, then topping the oil off.....