NA engine lid vs supercharged lid

[Kevin mr2 1985]

are they the same and if install a 4agze to a na car will the lid close?

[Timon]

No they are not the same. The SC engine lid is noticeably different since it's fins stick up about an inch or so, where as the NA's fins sit almost flush with the lid. Yes they are interchangeable, and it will close fine if fitted properly.

I'm not sure, but I don't think there is any real gain other than looks with the SC lid. The average Joe doesn't even know what our MKI is, let alone the difference between the NA lid and the SC lid.

[Kevin mr2 1985]

oh yah good point ty for the help

[Timon]

By all means if you find an SC lid laying around, scoop it up and put it on. I personally think it looks great, and is a good improvement over the NA lid. Some people are asking upwards to $200+ for the SC lid, which is the only reason I wouldn't get one at the moment.

[Kevin mr2 1985]

here is what im thin king about trying to do... you know how the evo's have that mesh on their hoods well what about the same thing on a mk1 engine like this... sry about the crap quality.

[curvesrgood]

Latches won't line up... you'll have to relocate the latch, do something with the different cable length (or get an S/C cable) or you could do what is done to mine (I've got a Supercharged swap in an N/A chassis in one of mine) and use two gas strut rods that generally hold it down OK and remove the latch all together. I bought one of these for my N/A, checked it out, and sold it the next week. It was kinda heavy and didn't look that good to me, so I never even put it on the car and then we just designed a custom one with what should be better airflow characteristcs . Don't get me wrong, they're fine, it just didn't do anything for me at all visually to the car. I've just gotta do a few last finishing touches and I'll be really happy with it... this is our design.



On my S/C the lid only flies up when the sunroof is popped open (not out or down), otherwise the gas struts seem to work fine and hold the lid down.

[Timon]

Really? I know of someone that has an NA here in UT with the SC lid and to my knowledge he never had any problems with it.

I'd go with what curves says lol, if it isn't a direct swap then make it work somehow.

[curvesrgood]

I can post up shots of both... the latch has to move over a couple inches then there's the issue of having the right length cable. Mine had some high quality packing tape over where my latch used to be, lol. Needless to say I pulled that off, but haven't relocated the latch since the gas struts were already on there and they seem to hold it down ok. Otherwise I'm pretty sure Paul wouldn't have pulled a working latch off the car and said it needed moving/welding. You can make it work for sure, several ways. Could use hood pins (I considered this in addition to the gas struts), or the gas struts usually hold it down (it has only ever flown up while doing 80+ and while the sunroof is open... it hasn't flown up under other normal circumstances). I don't think the hood pins would look bad at all back there and the fiberglass shouldn't be too bad to drill, so that is another option. I'm sure folks can think of many other solutions too (and probably already have).

[Timon]

As mentioned, I trust your word - you own 3 of them as opposed to my 1 lol. The one I knew of had a hardtop with the SC lid, so maybe he never latched it down? I'd be afraid not to do something to prevent it from flying up, the last thing you want to do is pull over on the freeway to go retrieve a now broken engine lid or pay damages to another vehicle.

Anyway, back to the topic, I think that would look pretty good if you do it right. Just please, do not do chrome mesh... I personally think it'd look extremely out of place on any MR2.

[Kevin mr2 1985]

yah it would be black mesh for sure.. and all the stuff on the bottom of the NA lid that looks like its there for structural integraty will be gotten rid of to make this look the best as possible.

[mr2tim]

There are some engine cover issues not addressed yet.(?)

1. Be cool with those vents like on the "curvesrgood" car, if you don't put a pan under the engine section you can rest assured the cylinder head will fill with water and short out the spark plugs (Been there, done that on my #4 car)

2. The S/C fiberglass cover is vented for the intercooler's stock location under dem holes, if you transplant the S/C engine into your N/A think carfully where you position the intercooler ahead of time.

3. The stock steel cover pours water DIRECTLY into the guts of the N/A (4a-ge) alternator decreasing the life of the alternator dramatically! (remember these guys lost WW2)

4. Intercooler air in the stock S/C car moves up from the engine (hot air) and out thru the intercooler (bad design?) and lid, and cool outside air does NOT go in the engine cover vents (good design?).
a.) cooler air=more horsepower?

Just wanted to add some more discussion topics.

[Kevin mr2 1985]

okay well when i can ill look for one of those hood is guess

[Timon]

Originally Posted by mr2tim

There are some engine cover issues not addressed yet.(?)

1. Be cool with those vents like on the "curvesrgood" car, if you don't put a pan under the engine section you can rest assured the cylinder head will fill with water and short out the spark plugs (Been there, done that on my #4 car)

2. The S/C fiberglass cover is vented for the intercooler's stock location under dem holes, if you transplant the S/C engine into your N/A think carfully where you position the intercooler ahead of time.

3. The stock steel cover pours water DIRECTLY into the guts of the N/A (4a-ge) alternator decreasing the life of the alternator dramatically! (remember these guys lost WW2)

4. Intercooler air in the stock S/C car moves up from the engine (hot air) and out thru the intercooler (bad design?) and lid, and cool outside air does NOT go in the engine cover vents (good design?).
a.) cooler air=more horsepower?

Just wanted to add some more discussion topics.

1. True.

2. I'd have to say place it on the driver's side of the engine bay.

3. How would you suggest this problem is fixed? Honestly I've never heard of this until now. Why did they not just set up a drainage system like the sunroof has going down through the c-pillars?

4. Hot air moving up and out through the engine bay - good design. Hot air already rises, so forcing it to rise up faster is a good idea.

The so called "hot" air coming off the engine isn't really hot, at least not compared to what is inside the SC/TC. Air from the engine is obvious already very hot, but compressing it makes it much hotter. So in turn the ambient air in the engine bay is still cooler than the air inside the SC/TC. Putting the intercooler on top, nearest the vent, allows it to release the hotter air from it's fins directly out of the engine bay.

There are other options of course. You could route the intercooler into the trunk, but then you're basically lock boxing all the hot air it gives off. I've seen people cut a hole in the trunk with the intercooler sticking up to allow airflow. You have a few different options, but the stock setup is not that bad imo.


Kevin, I remember reading somewhere that the hood scoops really do not have that much of an effect, because you're simply canceling out the engine's natural cooling (air rises from under the car and out the vents). If you somehow made the air from the hoodscoop directly cool the intercooler it might work better.

[random_tox]

NA cover would not clear an intercooler in stock location without modification as it has some structure on the underside.

SC cover is fiberglass. Little lighter.

SC cover is fitted and vented to maximize draw upward through the intercooler. Seen people try to fight the physics of this with fans, but high pressure under the car and low pressure behind the cab make for decent upward flow.

I haven't confirmed latch location.

[mr2tim]

I found the cure to the bad N/A steel engine cover design drowning the alternator is to fiberglass in a small diverter under the opening on the engine side..cheap too.

To increase pressure in the engine compartment, which in turn passes more (cooler?) air thru the intercooler these scoops from the Toyota P/up truck did the trick.