# 2.5L in an MR2



## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

Hello, just thought I'd show everyone my project at the moment. I posted it in an mr2 forum, but those guys are only impressed by things that everyone is already doing -- pfft...

The car is my 87' junkyard mr2 which was originally a 1.6l four cylinder mounted transversely. The entire rear end, save for the quarter panels, has been cut out and is to be replaced with a partial tube chassis and an I5 mounted longitudinally with an audi trans. Once the powertrain is in place and the suspension is tuned, I will probably end up going turbo (also considering twinscrew).

Anyways, here are some pictures beginning when the car was only "lightly" molested and terminating at its present condition. Cheers.



















Initial mockup.









Firewall removed and lower frame tacked in place.









Firewall framed in. A few little bits of transaxle were cut off at this point to allow the engine to sit at its correct tilt.









As it sits now. The solid portion of the firewall is tacked in and ready to be stitch welded in. The open space will be a removable panel that will allow for easy access to the belt, water pump, #1 coil, etc. I should be able to complete that portion in the next day or two.


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## SocoJoe (Jul 4, 2009)

:thumbup:


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## logoris (Jun 8, 2012)

Subbed

Sent from my Galaxy Note


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## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Amazing. Happy to see new build threads coming up. 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## HollisJoy (Dec 26, 2011)

Wow! :thumbup:


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## URHank (Mar 19, 2009)

YES! A project I have been contemplating, different chassis, but same concept!!! Keep this project updated, and post on theprojectpad.com if you dont mind as well. The folks over there would love to see this

Hank


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks for the enthusiasm guys! It's good to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is a good idea.



URHank said:


> YES! A project I have been contemplating, different chassis, but same concept!!! Keep this project updated, and post on theprojectpad.com if you dont mind as well. The folks over there would love to see this
> 
> Hank


Nice! I'll definitely post there. If you don't mind me asking, what chassis were you thinking of?


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

I forgot some overall details of the project ---

Since the rear strut towers no longer exist, the suspension will be nowhere near factory. It will be a double a-arm pushrod suspension with the dampers mounted atop the transmission. For the time being I'll be using early mazda miata knuckles since they are suitable, cheap, and relatively common. 

The engine is mounted quite far forwards, but in order to avoid large angles on the axles, the wheelbase will need to increase by approximately 5". The track will increase by roughly the same amount. 

This car is originally somewhere around 2250 lbs, but based on best guess and examples of gutted mr2s, I'm fairly confident that I can achieve a final weight below 1900 lbs.


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## b1aCkDeA7h (May 27, 2008)

Good old transformers. A shame the legendary 4ag bit the bullet. I would love to do a crazy-awesome project like this but I've shacked myself to an early 90's Toyota sedan with a 2.5 with an extra cylinder and a massive turbo.


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

b1aCkDeA7h said:


> Good old transformers. A shame the legendary 4ag bit the bullet. I would love to do a crazy-awesome project like this but I've shacked myself to an early 90's Toyota sedan with a 2.5 with an extra cylinder and a massive turbo.


You've got the advantage of actually being able to drive your car though lol; I'm still a ways off from that. I still have a turbo 4age blacktop that I built for this car, but it just wasn't different enough to interest me -- so I decided to start over on the car as soon as the engine was finished... This project has been much more engaging.


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

Almost forgot, the rain stopped long enough today for me to finish up the removable panel for the firewall. It's held on with some plain bolts right now, but later I'll switch them out for some sexy socket head button screws.











As you can see, there's tons of room between the engine and firewall. I'm definitely putting a lot of sound insulation here since, for some reason I've gotten the impression this car could be loud.











Next order of business is to begin constructing the roll cage so that I may finish the frame surrounding the engine and trans. I'm also exploring options for mounting the engine. I'm currently leaning towards mounts at the nose of the engine, the upper portion of the bellhousing, and the end of the trans. The goal is to have nearly solid mounting points while allowing the engine/trans assembly to be dropped out the bottom of the car quickly and easily.


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

Oops, not sure what happened there. Here is the correct second picture.


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

i'll watch


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## 2.5_Twizz (Jul 26, 2012)

I was thinking this same thing but I have a 91 mr2....


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## b1aCkDeA7h (May 27, 2008)

2.5_Twizz said:


> I was thinking this same thing but I have a 91 mr2....


It sure would look sleek in an SW


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## 20vtmk1 (Feb 27, 2008)

2.5_Twizz said:


> I was thinking this same thing but I have a 91 mr2....


Dude, dooooo it...


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## tedward (Mar 11, 2011)

Awesome concept. Any updates or are you posting this elsewhere?


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