A 2GR in a MK1- Am I crazy? (yeah, yeah)

Hello MR2 experts from across the globe!

I've been crazy busy with moving shops twice and then building like 10 vintage trucks in the past 2 years.

Somewhere in there, I've done a GEN4 3SGTE swap into a MK2. Which, by the way came out amazingly well. The old guy that owns the car absolutely loves it. We've become good friends and after building a decent car- that's a bonus.

He says "It's a rocketship". :)

The BodgeWerks guys posted an MKII to the states. CDwood and I road tripped it on a trailer from the docks to Washington DC just for donuts and photo ops. I then drove it around a bit before getting it to it's new owner in 'Merica.

SO-
Amidst all of this crazy business, a guy rang me up and says he's got 3 good MR2 cars and 3 donor parts cars. He also has a mountain of MK1 and 2 parts. A supercharged version, a wide body shell with coil overs- I mean, it's like an entire back garden full of an MR2 breaker's paradise.

I drive over to meet him on a freezing cold day last month and we rummage through all this shit for a couple hours.
He has one MK1 that is his baby. It's a driver and it's VERY nice. Not original, but a very nice car.

He also has a 2005 Camry that he took the 2GR and all the gubbins out of. This guy, Rob- he's older, like maybe early 70's.
For years he's been collecting this stuff. Does very little on the internet. Knows about Gouky. Sort of. He knows about V6 swaps, barely.

Does not sell on ebay, doesn't text and from what I can gather- he only reads enough online to be dangerous. He has the 2GR on a stand, in a shed. An actual shed. He spent a year making his own headers for the 2GR. Out of random bits of tubing.

He has not touched the parts cars out back, for 10 years. He doesn't know what to do and is now in a position where he just needs help figuring out what to do with all of it.

We talked for a long time. Ebay'ing all the parts, is the way to go. Selling the three project cars as rolling shells, is what I would do. Strip the rusted donor cars for all their worth and scrap the metal.

Now- I discussed a buyout. The whole shooting match, less his MK1 driver and the 2GR camry & bits.

As it turns out--

He wants me to install the 2GR into his MK1 and get him a fast, reliable little driver. He has agreed to give me all the stuff, in exchange for this task. (He might try to have me add money to the deal, I don't know the exact numbers yet)

Who has done a MK1 with a 2GR? I know I've seen it somewhere, I forget where. I thought there were several of 'em out there.
I've done several 3VZ MKII swaps and the Gen4 swap, a dozen HEMI v8's and several 5.0L coyote swaps. I aint scared.. ;)

I come to the place where the knowledge of this team on TwoBrutal- can save me time and money, so 'Oh masters of the universe and all that is Toyota- What can I learn??

Lol. Brilliant.

:)

"Reads enough online to be dangerous"

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji23]

I've done it half a dozen times or so, certainly i think the only one in the UK to have done it, probably only a handful exist outside of the UK too.

What do you need to know?

I know I'll have to make the mounts and the exhaust. I'm sure the wiring will be a bit of a challenge because there's no plug and play harness available, right? The next thing is cutting the boot. I assume I'll have to cut it? Also- he's asked about putting the wheels and tires from the camry on it. I don't know if that's possible. I told him I never build a car based around the wheel/rim size, I build the car first and then find wheels that fit.

So, these are the first things that come to mind when laying this thing out in my head. I expect to hear back from him in a few days and we can work out the deal itself, as well as the specifics of the clean out.

I wonder if me missus knows there's a good chance we're going to have a junkyard out back of the new place... :eusa_angel:

Well I build plug and play harnesses for all homebuilt conversions worldwide, so I can supply you with a turnkey 2gr mk1 harness.

That just requires you to send me the 2gr engine harness and the mk1 engine harness plus all immobiliser equipment from the 2gr etc.

Also send me the tacho head and that will work too, I can also help with the dbw pedal, its wiring and all dash gauge sensors etc

I can also send you a jig that will place the hangers in the sweet spot and save you a lot of work.

Pm me if you want to take any of this further.

Yes sir! The costs will be transferred over to the guy I'm doing it for. He's paying for all materials. Once again TB is making my life easier! I'll update this when I have new news! Thanks!

Ok- Spoke with old guy Rob about the deal.

We're WAY too far apart on values.

lol

I kinda had an idea that he thought his pile of parts was worth more that it is. I made him an offer, he did not like it. So he's going to attempt the 2GR install in one of the parts cars he has in the garden. I saved his number, in case I need a plastic trim piece.

Keep on keepin' on I always say!

Thats usually how someone manages to keep a large pile of parts.....charge to much, and nothing moves....

He's attempting it himself? Can he weld/fabricate? Does he know what he's doing on cars/engines etc?

Good luck to him, if he's wise he will take up your offer to do it for him as you know what you're doing.