by Chinky420 » Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:57 am
what's the matter with your current engine?
if you want a 1mz-fe solara, then you would probably be better off selling your I4, and then buying the V6 (at least, after reading some of your posts and making a guess at your mechanical knowledge). doing the swap (yourself) would be time consuming, mechanically challenging (if it's your first), and would leave your without a ride (if the solara is your primary) for at least a weekend (if you know what you're doing/have someone who does) or a month (if you don't know what you're doing, and don't have lots of free time to do the swap yourself).
if you're going to pay to have it done, then you're probably going to be looking at dropping around over $4k (guesstimatation) to have it swapped. and that'd probably be for just the engine swap and making it run.
and for THAT money, you might as well make it a turbo project instead of doing an engine swap.
plus, i'm not sure, but the frame and suspension (as well as brakes and sway bars probably) may have to be upgraded to deal with the extra engine weight from the 1mz being swapped in. which means that it'll be even more money if you want the car to handle and feel the same way, with more power available from the engine.
all in all, if you're not mechanically inclined (or if you're just learning the joys of working on cars), then your best bets are to:
1) sell the i4 solara and buy a 1mz v6 solara
2) scrap the swap idea and instead do a custom forced induction project (or you could add nitrous for cheap)
3) and if i'm totally off about your mechanical skill level, then i'm sorry, and you should/could go ahead and do it yourself. with lots of know-how and experience, you can potentially swap in a 1mz v6 for a little bit cheaper than it would cost to buy one. this is considering the fact that you will be doing all the troubleshooting yourself and not paying a shop to figure out the little quirks associated with the swap. so lots of time and cursing will be involved.
btw: do you at least have the 5spd manual? i don't know jack about the I4 tranny (if auto), so you may have to swap that out too (i dont' know if the I4 manual is the same E153 that comes on the 1mz, anyone care to weigh in?). if it's a I4 auto, then you may want to double check that the tranny can handle the power upgrade on a daily basis. otherwise your swap may end up costing you the price of a tranny as well. if the I4 came with the E153 manual, then you should be alright, as this is the 5spd tranny that works the the 1MZ v6 solara.
also, if you're planning on doing a swap, why on earth would you choose to go with a factory setup? if you're going to swap, then you should think about putting something with some serious performance potential in it (2jz, ls6, sr20, etc), since you're going to do it anyway. it just doesn't make sense to me to try to 'hook up' your ride with a better engine, when that 'better engine' has almost as much a performance limitation (when it comes to modding and parts) as the I4.
because either way, going with a toyota 1mz or some other brand of engine, you're still going to run into hangups regarding making the new application work with the current setup.
the toyota MR2s do it because the mid-engine design allows chassis reinforcement to be minimal, while allowing a larger displacement (and usually supercharged) engine squeeze into that tight space, as well as having the tranny mount right up to the 1mz. oh yeah, and also because the mr-2 wasn't offered in a v6 platform.
if it were me, i'd try to do something special, and not try to emulate something that could have been bought, out of the box, from the dealership. because, after all, at best you're going to be swapping your engine so that it can run like mine did (when it was stock).
read that again
you're going to be swapping your engine so that it can run like a stock v6.
so...you're going to drop thousands of dollars to get a 'stock v6' (which may have more problems than a stock v6, since the chassis is suited for the I4)
now, since i have said all that. don't let me damper your dreams. i'm just trying to give some perspective on your plans. if you're still determined to swap it out, then more power to you (pun intended), and take lots of pics so we can see the process.
but like i said at the top: what's the matter with your current engine? if it's just lack of performance, then you should consider doing some sort of forced induction upgrade, instead of an engine swap. at least with a turbo/supercharger you won't have to upgrade the suspension/brakes/chassis to accomodate the larger/heavier motor.
food for thought.
if you want a 1mz-fe solara, then you would probably be better off selling your I4, and then buying the V6 (at least, after reading some of your posts and making a guess at your mechanical knowledge). doing the swap (yourself) would be time consuming, mechanically challenging (if it's your first), and would leave your without a ride (if the solara is your primary) for at least a weekend (if you know what you're doing/have someone who does) or a month (if you don't know what you're doing, and don't have lots of free time to do the swap yourself).
if you're going to pay to have it done, then you're probably going to be looking at dropping around over $4k (guesstimatation) to have it swapped. and that'd probably be for just the engine swap and making it run.
and for THAT money, you might as well make it a turbo project instead of doing an engine swap.
plus, i'm not sure, but the frame and suspension (as well as brakes and sway bars probably) may have to be upgraded to deal with the extra engine weight from the 1mz being swapped in. which means that it'll be even more money if you want the car to handle and feel the same way, with more power available from the engine.
all in all, if you're not mechanically inclined (or if you're just learning the joys of working on cars), then your best bets are to:
1) sell the i4 solara and buy a 1mz v6 solara
2) scrap the swap idea and instead do a custom forced induction project (or you could add nitrous for cheap)
3) and if i'm totally off about your mechanical skill level, then i'm sorry, and you should/could go ahead and do it yourself. with lots of know-how and experience, you can potentially swap in a 1mz v6 for a little bit cheaper than it would cost to buy one. this is considering the fact that you will be doing all the troubleshooting yourself and not paying a shop to figure out the little quirks associated with the swap. so lots of time and cursing will be involved.
btw: do you at least have the 5spd manual? i don't know jack about the I4 tranny (if auto), so you may have to swap that out too (i dont' know if the I4 manual is the same E153 that comes on the 1mz, anyone care to weigh in?). if it's a I4 auto, then you may want to double check that the tranny can handle the power upgrade on a daily basis. otherwise your swap may end up costing you the price of a tranny as well. if the I4 came with the E153 manual, then you should be alright, as this is the 5spd tranny that works the the 1MZ v6 solara.
also, if you're planning on doing a swap, why on earth would you choose to go with a factory setup? if you're going to swap, then you should think about putting something with some serious performance potential in it (2jz, ls6, sr20, etc), since you're going to do it anyway. it just doesn't make sense to me to try to 'hook up' your ride with a better engine, when that 'better engine' has almost as much a performance limitation (when it comes to modding and parts) as the I4.
because either way, going with a toyota 1mz or some other brand of engine, you're still going to run into hangups regarding making the new application work with the current setup.
the toyota MR2s do it because the mid-engine design allows chassis reinforcement to be minimal, while allowing a larger displacement (and usually supercharged) engine squeeze into that tight space, as well as having the tranny mount right up to the 1mz. oh yeah, and also because the mr-2 wasn't offered in a v6 platform.
if it were me, i'd try to do something special, and not try to emulate something that could have been bought, out of the box, from the dealership. because, after all, at best you're going to be swapping your engine so that it can run like mine did (when it was stock).
read that again
you're going to be swapping your engine so that it can run like a stock v6.
so...you're going to drop thousands of dollars to get a 'stock v6' (which may have more problems than a stock v6, since the chassis is suited for the I4)
now, since i have said all that. don't let me damper your dreams. i'm just trying to give some perspective on your plans. if you're still determined to swap it out, then more power to you (pun intended), and take lots of pics so we can see the process.
but like i said at the top: what's the matter with your current engine? if it's just lack of performance, then you should consider doing some sort of forced induction upgrade, instead of an engine swap. at least with a turbo/supercharger you won't have to upgrade the suspension/brakes/chassis to accomodate the larger/heavier motor.
food for thought.
- Chinky420
- SolaraGuy Street Racer
- Posts: 1131
- Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:32 pm
