Turbo 5ME? (5MTE)

[RyleyMA61]

yes, i was going to do this also, and i was picking dave's brain a lot....

however the main attraction for me was that it was cheap, and i was hopeful and young and unemployed....

that said i'd still be keen to go for a spin in a 5mte!

i'd still love an uber 5mgte, with eleventy billion spent on it, but i've never looked back since getting the 7mgte:

stock 5psi, but with a full 3" from turbo back, it will blow your socks off mate.... trust me!

[Yian]

And if done right, you'll be changing undies regularly instead of headgaskets.

[RObErT_RaTh]

Sorry wilbo I thought you said 7MGTE. Anyway a 7MGE isn't worth it from what most say because if you're doing a 7MGE you may aswell go that step further and get a 2JZGE. Plus ALL the 7M's I've seen available are old and tired and down 250,000k+ not really what I want to put in my car when my current is under 200k.

Ryley, I know a 7MGTE would be a good option if I wanted to go turbo for sure and a 2JZGE would be a good option if I wanted NA. At the moment, I don't know what I want and I just would like to try and get a taste of what a turbo engine is like to drive with as a daily. This is why I'm currently not prepared to fork out big for a 7MGTE conversion just yet.

[MS-75]

For the love of god,

don't do it.



Get a 2JZ-GE for $900 bucks, and turbo that in a couple of years if you get bored.

[RONA]

At the moment, I don't know what I want and I just would like to try and get a taste of what a turbo engine is like to drive with as a daily.

Go for a ride in a few cars in SA with a variety of motors, hell you should of come over for Toyotafest and come for a ride/drive in all the varieties over here and decided what you wanted lol.

Dyno day is in January fly to NSW and we'll give you a taste and help you decide .

Driving a 5mte to decide whether you like turbo's is like driving a 4ac to see if you like NA motors, it really isn't going to tell you alot.

[ma61turbo]

Here's the thing, a 7MGTE conversion will cost me a LOT more in the long run. A lot more than $1500 I assure you. That only covers the cost of the engine, there's also the time spent working on the conversion and the time my car is off the road. With a turbo upgrade I don't have to pull out my whole engine and re-do everything and spend a month doing it. Plus I don't know if I want a turbo engine this is sort of a way for me to trial one perhaps but only if I can do it for cheap. If not then I will leave it and just save for a 2JZGE conversion.

Trying to build a 5m-te will cost you waay more than doing a 7m-gte in the long run. If you build a 5m-te I can guarantee that it'll be off the road more than on. You will have no end of problems with it unless you spend uber-$$ on it, and even then it'll be slow! Save your pennies for a 2j conversion of some kind. By the time you can afford the conversion you'll probably be able to afford the insurance as well

I've said it before, if you can't afford to do it properly, don't do it at all. If you want to know what a 7m-gte mk2 drives like, come round and you can have a spin in mine.

[RObErT_RaTh]

Get a 2JZ-GE for $900 bucks, and turbo that in a couple of years if you get bored.

Probably sounds like the best idea. But it's still gonna cost a lot more than a couple grand

ma61turbo, might have to get you to take me for a drive sometime

[ma61turbo]

That's right - his name was Kev - I think he made something like 90 odd rwkW. He did blow a couple of head gaskets but I'm led to believe he wasn't running the MTEU dizzy - too much advance under boost. I'm sure he had a 5MTE before the 5MGTE.

Yes, Kev was the man. I recall him telling me it did 90rwkw. I can't recall the exact details of what he did but he ended up giving up on the 5m-te and going to a 5m-gte as you say.

[Joshstix]

Probably sounds like the best idea. But it's still gonna cost a lot more than a couple grand

Yes it is, but that is the reality of taking a slow car and trying to make it faster.

[thechuckster]

a non-factory turbo as a daily driver will be a PITA... well, my experience suggests this. Any custom job will be require one-off parts and bits that - despite reliability - will sideline you at the most inconvenient time.

Despite that, once you've gone turbo you will not want to return to NA.

Plus ALL the 7M's I've seen available are old and tired and down 250,000k+ not really what I want to put in my car when my current is under 200k.

i think you missed the point of wilbo's post - you buy one of these tired old engines for peanuts (if you're lucky enough, you'll be given one) - then rebuild it at your pace and with little dollars...

Seeing as you already have a bellhousing and flywheel to suit a M-series engine, all your costs are the rebuild, any new parts, a decent clutch and somet things to connect up various bits of engine to the car (some wiring and zorstage mostly).

when you've got that in the car running, you then look for a 2jz or something equally over-powered.


edit: i was going to add that a 5MTE is nearly as stupid as a building 18RTE .. doh! (insert something about self ownage here) ...i know the 18R route is an evolutionary dead end as far as i'm concerned.

[ma61turbo]

I'll second the above as well. non-factory turbo as a daily is a real pain in the arse. Gives me the shits regularly. When I can afford another car(JZA80 FTW) the mk2 is becoming the weekend/track car.

[ZZT231]

I'm with Norbie. There was a also guy in Perth back in the days of the MK2 mailing list(prior to celicasupra.com) that turbo'd a 5m-e similar to the way GT did it and was going through headgaskets every month. And it was *still* slow. He ended up buying a bike....

I thought that was because of the ignition not retarding under boost for him causing headgaskets...

I thought of going 5MTE but in the end seeked an alternative because of the issues of sourcing parts for an old engine as it gets older and being in Victoria, emissions and engineering to make it legal. Too much of a headache for something which doesn't have the realiability, causing you headaches and too much grief.

I would recommend you buying a more engine which is more efficient and parts are readly avaliable.

[lumpy]

5M-TE!!!!!! Yeah baby!!!!!!

Do it


Do it


Do it


Do it


Do it


(don't do it)

[RObErT_RaTh]

i think you missed the point of wilbo's post - you buy one of these tired old engines for peanuts (if you're lucky enough, you'll be given one) - then rebuild it at your pace and with little dollars...

Seeing as you already have a bellhousing and flywheel to suit a M-series engine, all your costs are the rebuild, any new parts, a decent clutch and somet things to connect up various bits of engine to the car (some wiring and zorstage mostly).

The 7MGE would only be a good conversion in my eyes if I could get it as good as 7MA61's and all the work ed did on it but I don't want to spend quite that much

when you've got that in the car running, you then look for a 2jz or something equally over-powered.

From what everyone has said before, doing 2 conversions on one car is not something you want to have to do.

[wilbo666]

Dammit but I have to say this...

A fair few people have looked at doing the 5me (heck me included ), but to be honest dude here is what I think u should do...

Step 1) Keep the 5me and buy a drumkit!
Step 2) ..?.??
Step 3) profit



Cheers
Wilbo