[REVN MR2]

After years of being very indecisive on what I wanted to do to the mr2 I have finally decided to just turbo it and have fun with the 1zz it’s got until it blows. I do however need help as this is the first time I’ll be doing anything like this and I plan to tune the car myself as well.

I am looking for some descriptive answers or pictures to help explain what needs to be done as I cannot seem to find a descriptive answer on how to do this. I plan to take pictures to walk everyone through my progress.

I ordered everything I could think of that I would need including a new fuel rail in order to run a return system but I do not know how to setup a fuel pressure regulator as well as a few other major things necessary to turbocharge the spyder. The total I spent for everything minus the used $1300 turbo that I already had and the $924 spent on various Intercooler parts which I ordered a year ago from frozen boost for my Subaru including the second zzp water pump which I’ll run in parallel and the zzp stage 3 heat exchanger is $2350. I pretty much spent the money where it matters and cheaped out on a few things but overall it cost a bit more than I expected for all the fittings and misc stuff as there’s so much involved. Someone could definitely turbocharge the mr2 for less money but I wanted to go with a return fuel system with a new fuel rail, pressure regulator etc which upped the cost quite a bit.

I will need help figuring out the o2 sensors, I bought the innovative wide and o2 kit and have two o2 sensor bungs on my exhaust. I will also not have a cat and may tune in e85 in the future.

This is a list of parts I have ordered, I plan to use a blouch 18g turbo from my previous Subaru build. Hopefully I am not missing anything: Td05 turbo manifold, new oem exhaust manifold gasket, mwr stainless manifold studs, arp turbo bolts with locking nuts, td05 v band downpipe adapter, 3 inch exhaust pipes with 2 o2 sensor bungs and flex pipe, a catch can with piping, 50mm tial type bov, vacuum manifold, a used 1zz power fc with datalogit, large air filter with velocity stack, frozen boost air to water Intercooler, zzp stage 3 32” heat exchanger, 850cc injectors, 15 row oil cooler kit, fuel pressure regulator+gauge with 6an fittings, R9K fuel rail with 6an adapters, 6an bulkhead elbow for fuel pump, braided 4an oil feed with a 1/8 bspt T fitting and 10an return lines with a oil pan tap, and Toyota gasket sealer for the oil pan.

If I am missing anything to turbo my mr2 please let me know or if you have any advise I’d gladly hear it. This is going to be a cheap build as I don’t plan to make lots of power just yet, I can always upgrade the engine later and get a professional tune when I do. I may eventually engine swap and try reusing as much as I can from this build if I do but for now so I just want enough boost to sound good and have fun with.

 

[REVN MR2]

A few random comments if you don't mind:
-I almost caught myself saying that the components leftover from your Subie build may be too large to fit...clearly you have a will & way to overcome based on your bodywork

-Depending on where you are located tuning to 93 & not 91 may cause an issue if you absokutely flog the car on a road trip in another state

-Ppl often have success with O2 sensor spacers as far as catalytic converter. I am of the firm belief that for a daily driven car a cat is a must. End rant

-Most going turbo 1zz do so instead of 2zz. If you want to keep that door open as far as ECU choice I would sidestep a PFC entirely & go with something else. There are various issues/quirks/features with each standalone however IMHO the best ECU is the one the tuner you plan on using is most familiar with. If they're good they'll be on top of knock detection.

I'm interested to see what you come up with. Btw what are your power goals?

Very true those parts are pretty large especially to not relocate the battery but I test fit the Intercooler, it’ll sit on top of the crossmember heat shielding. It the turbo doesn’t fit well you know what’ll happen.

I shouldn’t have any issues with 93 I live in Ohio/Kentucky and visit Tennessee/Florida and my mr2 most likely won’t be the trip car since not much fits in it.

I’ve been thinking I may have the shop try to utilize my current exhaust since it has the perfect sound level and sounds exotic, it would just need to be cut and welded to the 3” pipe I’m planning on using.

I think I’ve decided as much as it pains me that the pfc is only for one engine I may just stick with it because as far as price goes those plug and play harnesses are very expensive for something I hear online that tuners don’t care to tune on certain piggybacks and they didn’t have the most positive things to say about the ones we have a choice between.

I would say my current power goal is whatever my clutch can handle for now, I’m betting it’ll be slipping. Eventually I’ll upgrade the clutch and when I do I may switch over to the 6 speed transmission and look for an lsd. At that time I’ll likely look for more power out of the 1zz. If it blows whatever it’s a ridiculously cheap engine.

I’m still open to ecu suggestions though because I’d likely buy mwr’s pfc for $1400 or so to have a drivable tube in order to get it to the shop. It would be annoying to sell it down the road if I do switch to another engine though. All I know is I don’t want ti be spending thousands on engine internals like I did for the Subaru just for it to blow up anyway.

 

[REVN MR2]

Updated parts list added to initial post.

 

[REVN MR2]

You won't need to combine the o2 signals or fool a post cat sensor if you're using a standalone ecu like a PFC. If you're going to retain the stock ecu you can combine the O2 signals like the following: MR2-S Single Upstream O2 Sensor
A 50ohm resistor is needed on the heater circuit for the O2 sensor you removed. 1W should be enough, but I'd get a 5W or higher resistor if mounting in the engine bay.

3" Catless and mufflerless the car will be loud even with a turbo.

I would recommend going a standalone ECU that you can reuse on the new engine. Like an EMS4 etc.

Thanks! That’s nice to hear, back when my exhaust flex pipe rusted out I drove the car for a while just straight headers, it was obnoxiously loud. I’ll probably have a shop weld a resonator in along with a much cleaner exhaust tip setup but just to take it to get it tuned that’s as good as I can do since I can’t weld and nothing is going to secure the exhaust so I can’t put too much weight on it. Wish I went with a different standalone but I needed something plug and play so I’ll likely just sell it if I do choose a different engine.

Been reading around, looks like some owners have pushed the 1zz as far as 300whp and others have 250 whp is maxed out. I’d obviously not go for big power until I’ve got a second engine lined up but with this setup being a decently large turbo do you guys think 250whp is an attainable goal?

I’ve seen the toothpick rods that these engines have but also understand that lighter rods also have benefits and put less stress on other engine components. A larger turbo can make more power with less psi so less strain on engine internals. Pump gas vs e85 and a more efficient Intercooler vs some of the silly air to air setups I see on some spyders where the Intercooler sits right on top of the exhaust could make a difference too imo.

All these power claims don’t show much information on the turbo build or whether they have a standalone for better tuning. I’d bet a tiny turbo on a piggyback ecu running high boost to make 250whp would blow much sooner than a huge turbo with low boost on a good standalone tune. My turbo is what I’d consider mid sized but larger than what I see people running on the 1zz so if anyone wants to add their take on this I’d gladly hear it.

 

[REVN MR2]

Ah darn, I already ordered everything I’ll need, I wished I waited probably could’ve saved a little money but well I was too excited.

If my transmission blows it’d be a first since I’ve never blown a transmission before but I’m not too concerned because I don’t think my clutch is strong enough to do damage just from sheer power. If it goes I’ll upgrade to the six speed c60 I think it’s called. I do like the e153 bullet proof transmission but I’ll look into installing that if/when I engine swap a 2grfe. No need to do all that custom work and extra swap kit just yet. I’ve seen plenty of 300+whp lotus’ and celicas to not be very concerned. It’s the toothpick 1zz rods I’m more concerned with.
Picture update:

 

[REVN MR2]

Alright guys I’m getting super confused as to what pcv pipes go where and what needs vented to atmosphere and what to connect the bov and wastegate up to. I’ve also got a catch can to hook up to the car and everyone says if you turbo the 1zz to vent a pipe by the throttle body to atmosphere………..

Can someone explain with pictures of what I need to do? All this talk of pipes and not knowing what is what is very confusing without any visuals.

 

[REVN MR2]

Also speaking of 1zz rods, does the us mr2 spyders come with the 1zz-fe or 1zz-fed? I hear they came with different rods and different sized valves..

 

[REVN MR2]

1: Please dear god don’t get an ems4 or the PFC. shameless plug I have a friend I met on the link forums while I was trying to get realdash to work on my car; he’s actually a link distributor as well as tuner. He tuned my car remotely and the thing not only has a tired motor but also took forever to figure out as lift didn’t work for the longest time. Pulls on most cars now and is still kicking no matter how much I abuse it. Look up aerace_fab on Instagram, that’s the person I’m talking about. His name is Tony. If you decide to go with him, let me know so I can contact him first. He mentioned any referrals I give to him get a percent discount but it’s been a while so I have to reconfirm.

2: Vac lines, I forgot how many lines are on a 1zz but just take the ones from the valve cover and route them to a catch can and then from there to a nipple on the intake side of the compressor piping so it’s always pulling vacuum there. Brake booster one, put it on the manifold but with a check valve in between the two

3: just be mindful that e153 aren’t really bullet proof, they can overheat and will bend selector forks when you shift. Happened to a buddy of mine when he was shifting on the freeway. Was a stock car.

4: no need to add a return to the stock fuel rail, you can just weld an an bing and run a dead head system to lessen the amount of fuel line routing you have and to keep things neat. I have it on my 2zz turbo. I’ll send pictures if you want

5: please tell me how you did the celica front conversion as I have been dying to do it but I have no body work experience other then slapping bondo onto my civic after a truck sideswiped me

Thanks for the info, I can’t weld (don’t have a welder) so I just ordered a fuel rail that can add a return line to the fuel pressure regulator back to the tank. I’ll likely need help figuring that out when the time comes.

MR2/Celica Body Part Interchangeability

I gotta tell you.... wiring will be the absolute easiest part of that job. I was gonna tell him the same thing. LOL. Like if you have to ask about the wiring, maybe... well you know. On the other hand, the other aspects do not involve any electrical.

www.spyderchat.com

 

[REVN MR2]

Thanks again! I do love the new changes I’ve made to the car which motivated me for this whole project.

Can someone confirm this is the correct way to route a catch can? I’ve seen a YouTube video of someone explaining where they connected the catch can to the crank case instead of the throttle body which kinda made sense to me hence my confusion. Also is it really necessary to have a vacuum box? I wouldn’t begin to know how to set all that up but this picture is a start..

 

[REVN MR2]

My list of questions will probably never end but I try to only ask a few at a time😅 One of the things that’s been bothering me is my turbo is oil and water cooled. Does anyone know what I can run the turbo coolant lines into? It also has a fitting on the intake side I’m not sure what it’s purpose is.

 

[REVN MR2]

Could someone post some links on to how to turbocharge the mr2 spyder including how to do a return fuel rail, how to tune within the power fc datalogit, how to setup an innovative wide band o2 sensor to in order to tune(Ive got two o2 sensor bungs so I’m not sure how I should set it up) also what line needs intercepted for the turbo coolant lines?

 

[REVN MR2]

as far as I know all spyders regardless of where they were sold had the 1zz-fed engine. Iirc the 1zz-fed has thicker/stronger connecting rods as well as 1mm larger intake and exhaust valves. It also has the rev limiter raised to 6800 rpm redline as opposed to the regular 1zz-fe which had a 6,200 rpm redline.

After some research it seems the 1zz-fed in the celicas and spyders have light weight cast rods with 1mm larger valves where as the 1zz-fe has fracture split powder forged rods which I presume would be stronger than the 1zz-fed rods.

 

[REVN MR2]

Any information will probably help, I’m seeing all kinds of coolant lines, not sure which one to tap for the turbo or what direction the flow should go. The pcv pipes are a nightmare, I’m pretty sure what I need to do for the catch can install but I have a feeling I may not be able to install the vacuum manifold without someone walking me through with pictures.

I see three metal lines in the top left headed towards the fire wall, do all of these get unplugged and attached to the vacuum manifold? What do I do with the other end of the old pipes that aren’t connected to the vacuum manifold? They should connect to something right?

Update: I removed the exhaust and installed the oil catch can and blocked off the pipe on the throttle body that connects to the crank case. I found out I needed a larger pcv filter(15mm)so I ordered that.

 

[REVN MR2]

Installed my oil cooler and got the oil pan off. It was super dirty but cleaned all the gunk and sealant off it before the rain started coming down. Just got done tapping the oil return fitting.

The wideband o2 sensor looks like it’s going to be pretty complicated. Since I’ve got two o2 sensor bungs I’m tempted to tune it with the wideband and put the narrow bands back in to drive it. I’ll have to do more research on how to set it up and tune with the pfc.

 

[REVN MR2]

Annoyed with the R9K fuel rail I bought. It came with two 8an fitting adapters as it has a m16x1.5 thread but our fuel lines need 6an so I ordered the correct adapters, the stock bolts are way too short so I went to the hardware store to pick up some 8mm x 1.25 70mm long bolts for it to fit properly.

Now I need help figuring out the fuel pump housing.. I ordered the bulkhead 6an fitting and oem fpr block off fitting but I have no idea how to install them. Does the whole assembly need to come out?

Also got the fuel pressure regulator in place.

Looks like the previous owner installed different axels, the boots ripped out on them most likely because I see they never put the bolts back in to secure them. Anyone know where I can find more of these bolts? It seems like they need to be pretty long because none of my bolts are long enough to get the threads to tighten. If no one responds I’ll likely just keep driving without them. I’ve had the car almost 7 years now, I’m surprised they’ve lasted so long with no bolts especially with how low the car is now.

Thanks for the replys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[REVN MR2]

Are you trying to do this without looking at the shop manual? You want to figure out the hard lines functions by looking in the emissions (EVAP System) section of the factory shop manual.

I didn’t realize people use manuals for this sort of thing, I’d rather not have to buy something if there was someone on here that could explain what hoses plug into the vacuum manifold. After watching spyder lee’s setup he has a few close ups on how he routed stuff but there’s just a couple things you just can’t see like what the large diameter pipe is that connects to the vacuum manifold goes to.

I am 100% certain most n/a engines from the factory come with cast rods. I’ve read from multiple sources that the 1zz-fed has light weight cast rods to quote them. The extra power comes from the larger valves and a higher redline. Just because it has more power doesn’t mean it has stronger rods. I’d argue the reason they made a supercharger for the 1zz-fe and not the 1zz-fed is because it had stronger forged rods.

I’ve read that it’s not good to drive a car with the wideband o2 on the car and that the wideband will not last very long doing so. I’m also pretty sure I read that they call the newer type o2 sensors on Hondas wider band but they are still narrowband o2 sensors. All this back and forth information is ridiculous, isnt there someone out there with the actual facts that can confirm these things?

Im not changing the fuel rail again as it’s literally on my car and even if it wasn’t there would be a 20% restocking fee and they don’t cover return shipping.

 

[REVN MR2]

This is like if SNL did a special skit for MR-S owners. Every line in this post has to be the product of a team of comedy writers - it's the only way any of it would make sense. Quit while you're ahead.

Well as I cannot get to work without the car running I’d preferably like to finish the project. Besides if I listened to the guys who told me celica parts wouldn’t fit on the mr2 I never would’ve put the celica parts on my car and I’d have sold the car by now. If there was someone who actually knew the answers I seek it wouldn’t be such a big deal but I get responses for jokes like you. I have a decent understanding of what I need to do but I have no one to confirm it with. Without pictures it’s not easy figuring things out from a brief description of the finished product. Snl isn’t even funny anymore it’s just politics.

 

[REVN MR2]

Alright I did some more reading and it seems there is a nipple on the intake manifold that the vacuum manifold connects to for it’s source of vacuum. I lifted the car up and looked and the only pipe I see is the one connected to my catch can. The only other pipe I can think of is the thicker hard line pipe high up in the left side by the battery but I cannot see what it’s pipe goes into. I pretty much know everything else that needs to be connected to the vacuum manifold but my biggest issue is I just cannot see the back of the engine.

 

[REVN MR2]

The idea is not that you should go out and buy the shop manual to do this work, the idea is that you should find a free download of the factory shop manual (search here in Spyderchat or on the Facebook site) as soon as you get the car, and don't start any big project without reviewing the steps in the manual first! By doing this you will avoid getting in over your head, not having the right tools to finish the job, and you will have all of the necessary torque specs at hand. If the manual shows a torque spec for a nut or bolt, use it!.
Regarding rods: I am an Engine Engineer with about 40 years under my belt designing and developing engines, so when I say that Toyota doesn't use cast rods in their car engines, you can believe it. Lawnmower engines use cast rods. I doubt that there is a big difference in the strength of the 2 different 1zz rods, but if you search here in Spyderchat you might find someone who has done a side-by-side comparison; though there isn't really very much that one can conclude by just looking at or even measuring the rods.
What you read about driving a car with a Wideband O2 sensor is simply not true. I am sure of this. What you read about the wideband o2 sensors on Hondas is not true either. A NB O2 is a a narrow-band and a Wide-band is a wide-band. I am driving on an Honda WB sensor in my KSwap.
Dave

Does this manual tell me what size socket I need to remove the oil pressure sensor? It’s a 24mm deep socket-I found that out by searching around. Btw it’s a real pain to install if you happened to have installed the oil cooler first lol.

Not everything has a descriptive post or information in a manul but what I am interested in is information from someone who has done this before and might know off the top of their head. Now that I know what to do I can post about it so people in the future can see what problems I had and learn from my mistakes. That’s the whole point of forums is it not?

I’ve tried looking diagrams and manuals in the past but I seriously get nothing out of them. I just see lines and numbers and parts I have no idea what they are. I’m pretty doubtful the manual will explain how to turbocharge the car as it wasn’t from the factory hence why I’m asking people who have turbocharged their cars on here.

 

[REVN MR2]

Took the fuel pump housing out, separated it in two, drilled into the top and tapped it to fit the 6an bulkhead fitting. It wasn’t easy tightening the nut since I couldn’t fit a socket down there so I spun it with a screw driver and when it got tight I twisted the top to secure it. I had to angle it to the right since it was pretty short but with a 6an elbow it came out where I wanted. Had to clearance the cover a little.

Also test fitted the heat exchanger. My exhaust manifold got lost in the mail so they’re sending another so I haven’t been able to fit much of the piping yet.

Got the water pumps setup and all the Intercooler piping where I want it.