swapping 3sgte into na mr2

Hey guys im new to this board, and to Mr2's and i have a few questions for ya.

I am a honda owner right now, but will soon be getting rid of my civic for a 1991 mr2 non-turbo. I am going with the non-turbo because it is $600.00 cheaper every 6 months to insure, lol. Well i was wondering how hard it is to swap the 3sgte engine into the NA mr2? what all do i need?

Do i need....New motor mounts? ECU, Axles, etc...

Also where is a good place to find a 3sgte and about how much should i expect to pay for one?

If i get a JDM 3sgte what year should i look at getting? Is there a big difference in the years? Do most of the engine swaps come with turbo, and intercooler?

Thank you all for your help, and sorry if some of these questions are noobish.

i am not exactly sure about the instalation of the engine but i do kno a few things...

you should expect to pay $1,500 to $3,500 depending on what ear it is and what the condition is...

another thing is that the T in 3s-gte stands for turbo the N/A engine is just a 3s-ge, and i believe all the turbo mr2s come with an intercooler...

to answer another one of your questions is that yes there is a big difference between years depending on where it is from also...

usa: 90 + turbo 200bhp
usa: 94 + some minor upgrades but no hp increase
jdm: 90 - 93 225bhp
jdm: 94 - 98 245bhp (ct20b turbo)

(usa 90 + & jdm 90 - 93 = ct26 turbo)

also the newer the engine the better because every year they made changes to the engine to improve certain things...

also if you see that N/A mr2s have 2.2L opposed to 2.0L turbo, its done for a reason, go for the 2.0L :smile: i hope that helped a little

i have the same idea for my mr2 that ill get, i think ive explained this before but its :

91 red n/a t-tops cloth interior
90k miles (should i keep this motor in til it blows up, lol)

i dont kno...if you kno someone who owns a turbo, maybe u should ask to drive it to see how big of a difference it really is and if u just "have" to get it... thats what i would do if i wasnt sure if i wanted to spend the money

Well yah i know that the 3sgte is the turbo engine, i know that the t stands for turbo. I really just want to know how hard it is to do the swap. I would like to know if i would need to get new axles, ECU (im pretty sure i will need an ECU out of whatever year engine i get), new motor mounts, transmission..etc.....

I dont need to hear the basics of the engine, cause i know most of that, although i appreciate the extra effort, and i am sure people who are newer to cars will appreciate it also.

I dont need to hear the basics of the engine, cause i know most of that, although i appreciate the extra effort, and i am sure people who are newer to cars will appreciate it also.


Ok, heres the real deal. What you would need. is the engine, with trany it's better this way. You would also need the axle from the turbo. also need to get ecu, get fuel pump, and fuel pump relay, resistor pack for injectors.

You will need to rewire the fule pump relay setup, also splice a few other wires which is not on the NA for the Turbo engine to work.


This has been done by my friend and me.

^^ight thanks a lot man....i will ask more indepth questions once i actually get the mr2, and the engine. Thanks all for the help.

not to say the 3sgte is not a worthy engine ( i have one and love it) but wouldnt it be cheaper and faster to just bolt on a third market turbo?
if your werent going to sell your 2.2 engine might as well beat that in first ,cuz the 3sgte swap would cost you a considerable amount more

turboing the 5SFE is nto worth it.
i installed a JSpec 3sgte into my 1991 mr2 NA.
get a rear clip and go from there. that is the easiest thing to do.
www.speed-source.net (http://www.speed-source.net)

do a search on the board for my name and a thread about 2 years ago for the swap info. (about 500 posts and 3 threads long)
by the way, i am brandonthomas91 on the mr2 boards.

[QUOTE=mr2fasterthanyou]turboing the 5SFE is nto worth it.QUOTE]

Really what makes you say that? i believe turbo-ing a car is always much easier than swapping. Is it the product issues or compatability?
please state reasons

installing 3S motor into an NA isn't too difficult
the only thing difficult it the wiring.
I know Jarco is a very good company to order from in Georgia. allways make sure the wiring harness and ECU comes in good condition.
http://www.jarcoinc.com/
http://www.jarcoinc.com/media/img_Halfcuts_2.jpg

just not worth it really to turbo it. While it is a strong engine, you wont be able to run that much boost on it. it would be just as expensive to buy a turbo engine as to turbo the NA engine correctly

it will also take much longer to turbo and modify the internals on the 5SFE (breaking the motor down putting new interals in, putting it all together correctly) than just slappin a 3S in there.

hi. what were those other wires which are not on the na mr2 for the Turbo engine to work please? it is the last thing I need to do to finish off with swapping. Thanks, Guys:)

hi. can you please describe in detail about those few wires please? the last thing for me to do to finish off swapping. Thanks a lot, Natalia

With doing swaps and general mr2 info this website I'm giving you will become one of your best friends. Its mr2oc.com. great website again

MR2OC.COM