Lyn's TRD VM180 V6

[Rogue]

For those of you who don't know, my girlfriend Lyn is one of the directors of Rogue Motorsport. She's the lady who's voice you hear on the welcome message if you call us and the person most likely to make you tea if you visit! She drives a TRD VM180 which looks like this:



A few weeks ago, Lyn noticed a knocking noise coming from the engine. Upon inspection this turned out to be a total bottom end failure caused by oval bores. This is a fairly typical 1ZZ-FE failure point, but is usually associated with pre-cat failure. Since this car was equipped with a TRD exhaust manifold from the factory it's never even seen a pre-cat!

The decision was made to swap in a replacement engine, but this was the ideal time to upgrade. The 2ZZ-GE from the Celica T-Sport / Lotus Elise was an obvious choice and along with the six speed gearbox something we're very familiar with. Why Toyota chose to put their sportiest engine into everything but their sports car remains one of life's great mysteries!

Lyn wanted something a little more special for the VM180 though and opted for the 1MZ-FE 3.0 litre V6 engine from the '96+ Toyota Camry. We've successfully installed both the 3SGTE and 3SGE BEAMS into a mk3 chassis in the past and felt that there would be a good amount of commonality between the two projects. Indeed, the 1M family of engines is more contemporary than the 3S series so some elements of chassis integrations should be easier.

We managed to source not one but two donor Camrys, one of which had just 44,000 miles on the clock with 2 owners from new and a full Toyota service history! The 1MZ-FE was removed from the Camry and installed in the VM180 with suprising speed. Mechanicals were dummied up and the engine was running within a week. Once everyone was happy with the install everything was measured and removed. In order to keep chassis modifications to a minimum we designed our own laser-cut mounts to mate engine and chassis. Lyn had specified a "factory" looking install so rather than painting the engine it was bead-blasted back to it's original condition.

Here's a video of the engine running:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=I4aPmei-ao8

...and before anyone asks the car had just been driven and so was nice and warm! The exhaust system is integrated at the catalytic converter and the VM180 has been through an MOT with the V6 engine installed. From there it's into the factory fit TRD back box which sound almost silent at idle / low load but really lets rip when you mash the loud pedal! Here's some footage of the car being driven on the road (with appropriate respect for speed limits, road conditions, etc.):

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yS4q6cYWqtM

Both the 1MZ-FE and ZZW30 support OBD-II which we were able to take advantage of to monitor the engine's condition with an OBD-II scanner. The mk3's dashboard however is expecting information from the more sophisticated CANbus, which is a method of serial communication not supported by the older 1MZ-FE ECU. To get around this (and supply some meaningful information to the dashboard) we've piggy-backed the original 1ZZ-FE ECU.

Lyn's already planning more modifications for the car - starting with some new wheels - and plans to have a Link G3 LEM ECU installed in a couple of weeks. We've seen some good gains with aftermarket engine managment on the older 3VZ-FE engines and are optimistic about the 1MZ-FE.

Patrick

[northernalex]

Patrick... That looks fantastic and I'll bet its an absolute dream to drive.

Was jelous of Nigels V6 roadster now I'm doubly jelous ...

Good work Rogue!!.. and enjoy the new engine!  s:) s:)

[alancdavis]

Got any more of them rear wings ??

[heathstimpson]

Looks like everyone is looking at the V6 route of late; nice job  s8) s8)

[loadswine]

Sounds very nice!  s8) s8)

By the way, what transmission did you use?

[celmacmat]

Nice   s8) s8)  

Fraser will kill me though if I decide to go down that route. The idea behind me swaping the Mk2 Turbo for the Mk3 was to save money on Insurance and Petrol.

I wonder what MPG the cars does now   s:?: :?: s:?:  And what would be the Insurance premium   s:?: :?: s:?:

[aaronjb]

what transmission did you use?

You beat me to it, Nige  s:) s:)

[Liz]

Looks good....

How much does this conversion cost - in comparison to a turbo?

[Rogue]

By the way, what transmission did you use?

We used the S54 from a mk2 MR2 mated to a stock Toyota 3VZ flywheel. The gearbox has been modified to include a torsen limited slip differential and a taller final drive. We also used mk2 n/a driveshafts.

Edit - forgot to mention Lyn's car was orginially SMT.

Patrick

[loadswine]

By the way, what transmission did you use?

We used the S54 from a mk2 MR2 mated to a stock Toyota 3VZ flywheel. The gearbox has been modified to include a torsen limited slip differential and a taller final drive. We also used mk2 n/a driveshafts.

Edit - forgot to mention Lyn's car was orginially SMT.

Patrick

Very nice indeed, bet those gearbox enhancements won't come cheap.

[roger]

Very nice indeed, bet those gearbox enhancements won't come cheap.

Well she is married to the Boss, with "unlimited" facilities   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Rogue]

Very nice indeed, bet those gearbox enhancements won't come cheap.

Lol! I'm sure you're finding yourself that nothing's cheap with this conversion... We're still working out what an off-the-shelf package would cost but I guess it's likely that any project undertaken would be on an individual basis and tailored to suit.

And what would be the Insurance premium

Lyn's insurance for the remaining 10 months of her policy went up by just £125.

Patrick

[northernalex]

Question is.. who had the first V6 in the country? Was it the one made by Woodsport or by Rogue?

(its like the battle of the lightbulbs all over again!)

Either way, I want one. just need bags of cash (or to marry a owner of a engine conversion place, right gotta go out and find a female motorsports owner)

Alex

[custardavenger]

Nice job. Looks like it was in there from the factory.

[Rogue]

Well she is married to the Boss, with "unlimited" facilities   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Lol - if facilities were unlimited, it would have been a 2GR-FSE going in there.   s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:  


Patrick

[Anonymous]

God thats a BEAUTIFUL bodykit.

Does anybody still produce it?

[Anonymous]

Now the real question I would like to be answered is   s:D s:D    s:D s:D  How did you manage to let the engine run out of oil - Patrick - come on mate you own a bloody garage for god sake.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  Sorry couldn't resist.

The only down side to what you've done is changed an original VM180 into something completely different - which do you think would be worth the most now  s:?: :?: s:?:    s:?: :?: s:?:  I am a bit of a purist when it comes to these sort of things I think I would have rebuilt the engine on the VM and stuck the V6 in your wide body.

Any way it's to late now and absolutely nothing to do with me.

A topic for debate I think.

Rob

[Rogue]

Now the real question I would like to be answered is   s:D s:D    s:D s:D  How did you manage to let the engine run out of oil - Patrick - come on mate you own a bloody garage for god sake.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  Sorry couldn't resist.

Five bonus points to Rob for being the first to ask the obvious question! The simple answer is that there were no outward signs of excessive oil consumption. A routine check did pick up a slightly lower than normal level on the dipstick but nothing alarming - next thing we know it's the "dakka-dakka-dakka" of a spun bottom end bearing and game over.

The only down side to what you've done is changed an original VM180 into something completely different - which do you think would be worth the most now  s:?: :?: s:?:    s:?: :?: s:?:  

This is something that a lot of thought went into. We've resisted changing even little details for so long - Lyn want the midship runabout badge on the front like her previous MR-S, but it wasn't on from the factory so we didn't do it. However, ultimately it's Lyn's car so what she says goes...! The rationale behind the decision is that the VM180 looks faster than it actually is and Lyn wanted the performance to back up it's looks. The TRD VM180 is intended to be a JGTC replica and the current crop are running the 2GR-FSE engine I mentioned earlier - a 3.5litre V6 with over 300bhp in standard trim. The 1MZ-FE was as close as we could get.

I am a bit of a purist when it comes to these sort of things I think I would have rebuilt the engine on the VM and stuck the V6 in your wide body.

What really?! Instead of the 350+bhp BEAMS turbo engine I already have for it!   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

Patrick

[aaronjb]

C'mon Patrick, what you really wanted to swap in was a 1GZ-FE..

(For the uninitiated - that's a V12  s;) s;) )

Sure, it might have needed a slightly wider chassis, but...  s:) s:)

[celmacmat]

celmacmat wrote:
And what would be the Insurance premium  


Lyn's insurance for the remaining 10 months of her policy went up by just £125.

  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  Is that all? Damn... that is good. I was expecting a steeper increase than that.

When Lyn has done a bit of miles in it, would like to know consumption   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

What really?! Instead of the 350+bhp BEAMS turbo engine I already have for it!   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

Patrick

Hey come on you've been talking about this for the 2 years that I've known you  s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:D s:D    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

It's always a difficult decision, listening to what your other half wants or having a life of complete misery - you made the right decision  s:D s:D    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Rob.

[Rogue]

Hey come on you've been talking about this for the 2 years that I've known you  s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:D s:D    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

Yes, but what you don't know is that I've been driving laps of the farm in my car..!   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  She's alive! (Albeit in normally aspirated trim):



Work stopped when Lyn's car became the priority, but now that's done we can forge ahead.

Patrick

[NorthandSouth]

God that sounds amazing..... she wouldn`t swap for a Mondeo would she? (it`s a Ghia X )   s:D s:D

[Chris]

Looks like everyone is looking at the V6 route of late; nice job  s8) s8)

Indeed, everyone's going v6 crazy, and who can blame them when it sounds that good!!   s8) s8)

[heathstimpson]

Looks like everyone is looking at the V6 route of late; nice job  s8) s8)

Indeed, everyone's going v6 crazy, and who can blame them when it sounds that good!!   s8) s8)

I wonder what the final costs to convert amount to though  s:? :? s:?