6G Celicas Forums

I don't own a 6GC anymore, but I am attached to this place, so you guys are stuck with me.



The V6 is a swap that MR2 gurus are doing these days. I suppose when you get a bunch of guys in their 30's and 40's with handfuls of disposable income, this is the result. I know there have been a few V6 swaps into the 6GC, and since the MR2 shares a bit with the Celica, I am making this thread in the hopes that someone on here will find it and get some of the information that they need.

Why I chose the 1mz over a 3sgte

Simple, really. I see the MR2 as a cheap exotic, why not make it sound like one? Power is the same if not a bit higher than the 3s, but it has torque the moment you put your foot down. Good fuel economy, reliable, yada yada yada. It actually gives you more room in the engine bay than the 3S, too.

Why the 1MZ over other V6 options?

Weight, cost, and availability. The 1MZ has an aluminum block. It actually weighs less than the 3sgte. The 3VZ has a cast iron block, and people opt for those if going with a turbo, but I'm not. I have my WRX for turbo shenanigans - this car is meant for reliable enjoyment. The 2GRFE would be incredible - 275whp stock... Only problem is finding one, and cheap. Most places that have them are selling them at more than what my swap will cost me... plus I would need to upgrade to the E153 transmission, turbo axles, hubs, brakes, etc. Just pile on the parts. Seems like a more suiting swap for someone who is starting out with a turbo MR2.

I picked my 1MZ up from another NASIOC and MR2OC board member who decided to go for a Honda V6 swap instead. He pulled this motor out of a 94 Lexus ES300 with 90k miles on it. It ran great, just got t-boned. No sludge, either. Owned by an old couple, this car was just in to the dealership for it's 90K service. If it weren't for the fact that timing belts are cheap, I might just leave this one on there. The guy I bought it from had already gone through the trouble of sourcing a new passenger side motor mount from 4v6 on the MR2 boards to make the swap drop straight in. The ES300 never came in manual transmission, and because of the lack of an automatic transmission in my car, this will throw a CEL. I am still trying to think of ways around this, but it'll probably end up with some sort of EMS.


So I started my list of what I still need to source... after compiling the list I thought to myself, I probably should have thought about this more.

- Custom headers Brad Bedell makes a set for $300, but requires a bit of modification to the runners to not hit the oil filter.
- Flywheel Need to get a V6 flywheel for a Solara. Decided on a Fidanza unit. Why not, right? $310
- Clutch The V6 flywheel is the same diameter as a mr2 turbo flywheel, but my clutch isn't. To maximize the surface area and avoid slipping I need to get a turbo clutch kit with a custom 20 spline disk to mount my S54 to the 1MZ. South Bend Clutch can do a kevlar clutch kit with 20 spline disk for $300.
- Tachometer The v6 sends a different signal than the 5s, so you need to source a v6 tach board from a camry for this. Drops right in to the MR2 cluster, but I am having my stock tach modified and recalibrated. $50
- Wiring I know this is going to be a nightmare to wire, so that is a headache I'm passing to someone else. Dr_tweak wants $630 to do it.... WTF happened to the $300-$400 conversions? Luckily there is a mr2 board member who does the work for $430.
- Exhaust work I have headers outlined above, and already have a Greddy SP muffler, so my exhaust shop needs to build a y-pipe to connect the two. Speculated cost with my discount (I refer A LOT of business to them) is around $200.
- Misc. crap Timing belt, gaskets, fluids, etc. I am also bundling kirkosaurus poly mount inserts under this category. $300

I've got about $1700 left to spend on this trip. Already spent $750 on the engine and everything I'll need from the donor car. I've set a deadline of February 28th to have it completely finished. If it wasn't for this Christmas BS (Now I know why adults hate this time of year) I would be well on my way. No problem.

I'm writing all of this out from my cell phone, so its all a bit jumbled and unformatted, but I've been meaning to post this stuff for a while. When I get to my computer I'll organize it and get some real info going. Until then, gaze upon awesomeness.




Okay, I'm home from work... and now I can reformat.....



Alright, now that is over with... I pulled the harness off of the motor last night.... And it's substantially larger than my 5S harness. This thing almost spans the length of my car! I'm not going to work on it tonight, but tomorrow I am going to go through and label the harness, and try and source some injector clips - the plastic was pretty brittle on mine and I snapped all but one of them.

The guy I bought it from partially unwrapped the harness, so it looks nastier than it really is, but this harness has to weigh at least 30lbs. I'd like to see how much it'll weigh after I get it back.



This post has been edited by 95CelicaST: Oct 2, 2017 - 3:46 PM

I have metal knobs in the Celica and my Miata and it's not a problem with a sunshade.

Yeah but that would mean I need to get a sunshade. If it were sunny here more than 40 days per year I might have considered that.

Just toss a sock on it.

That’s what she said?

x2 simplest and easiest solution. Or if you want to be fancy can use one of those drawstring pouches for like earbuds or a Crown Royal pouch.

Or if you don't want people to think you're weird use a hat or beanie.

I’ve had this suspension geometry correction kit from Wilhelm Raceworks sitting in my living room for a few months and decided that yesterday I’d tackle the front portion of the kit. The rear was ordered with the specs of the 93+ rear subframe, which is different than the 91/92 rear, so those can’t be installed until I swap the subframe.

The players:


The arena:


The kit for the front consists of a heim joint outer tie rod that accepts a tapered stud, that spaces it the knuckle from the toe rod, and thus the rack. This is coupled with a 1.75” roll center adjuster. This negates the effects that lowering has on a MR2.

Easy enough to install, but now my toe is WAY out. I scheduled an alignment for tomorrow AM.




I did notice that the boot on the right side of the rack was ripped, so I’ll have to tear that side back apart today and replace it.

Mmm, Heim joints.

The bummer was that I couldn’t use the endlinks. They were a bit too long. I’m going to try dismantling them and changing out the center section.

Alignment has been sorted. Yesterday was the first warm day this year, so of course I went topless.


Wish I would have washed the car...

Wow I'm back from the dead and yeah....I have a mr2 now going to do this 1mzfw swap soon after I freshen up the 1m first.

After I get done putting the 3S in I’m going to start looking for a nice shell to put the V6 back into and build a track car.


No updates from the last couple weeks, as I’ve been in Panama. I don’t know if anything will get done this weekend, but we’ll see. I did get a message from my tuner saying my new LinkECU is in. They’re going to load a base tune based on a 3rd gen MR2 they did previously, and configure it for the ID1050’s. Basically just something that I can use to fire it up and make sure it’s all good and then tow it down to the shop for dyno tuning.

All you 3S people, is this section truly necessary to keep after fitting the engine?

My car wizard says yes, and from an aesthetic standpoint I want to say no.

Doesn't it also attach to the motor mount bracket and then put 2 bolts into the head and one into the block?

Just into the head.

I would say if it bolts to the engine mount bracket then you should keep it on. Doesn't mean you can't grind the cash finish down smooth and make it look nicer though. Or just design a whole new part with a removable installation hook on it. Some bar stock and tube could accomplish the same structural purpose. Nothing goes to that threaded ear on the bottom of it eh?

Nothing goes there at least in the MR2 configuration. Maybe something off of Air Conditioning, but I don’t have any of that.

Well I pulled the intake manifold back off so I could install the harness to check to see if it still fits with the top feed rail...

And it doesn’t, so I’ll have to pull the harness back a fair amount and try to re-route it behind the intake manifold. I’ll probably end up needing to extend the harness a little bit, but I was planning on moving the fuse block into the trunk anyhow, so that was going to need to be done a little already.

i cant get over the rusted turbo manifold

Because, you know, it’s totally visible and it’s gross.

Started looking at relocating the harness under the intake manifold today. Looks like I’ll only need to have two connectors extended (to reach the throttle body). I have new sleeving to finish the harness when we’re done. The fuse block will be relocated into the trunk as well.

Not the best picture, but you can see what we’re planning to do.


I also ordered an OMNI 4 bar map sensor. It is PnP with the stock map sensor connector. When the car gets tuned I’ll swap it in.