MS55 alternative engines

[TRD184]

hey all.
i have a mate who recently purchased an MS55 off a forum member, and is in the middle of restoring it, its currently a shell in a panel shop.
he asked me about what engine i thought he should use, he was toying with the idea of building a potent 5M, im not sure if thats worthwhile (or possible :/ ) triple carb, cam etc:
he now wants to use a 350 chev engine, but id rather he kept it in the family.
so far we are considering (in the toyota side of life)
1UZ
1/2JZGE
1GGTE
7MGE
what im asking the toyota gods is, are any of these relitively straight forward to get sitting in the engine bay? i thought the 7M would be the closest to a straight fit although honestly have no real clue, so what would you suggest we investigate? he isnt aiming for massive power, just something torquey with a little more then the 5M.
thanks for any advise

[white_sandshoe]

I'm under the (possibly mistaken?) impression that the engine bay in these is rather similar to a Mark II Corona. If that's the case, a 1UZ should be relatively straight forward as when I measured up the crossmember, mounts, sump location and clearances, it almost felt like it just belongs in there.
Only issue with the V8 is the exhaust clearing the steering box on the drivers side, but some block hugger style extractors similar to what the Chryslers run with the collector in the middle should put it in a good position to run a 90° elbow under the steering arm.
Other option, and the route I'm taking, is rack and pinion conversion...
Depends if he wants to keep it retro or not really.
I'd love to see a 5MGE with triple webers and flame spitting side pipe... That'd be boss!
M engines certainly seem to be fairly interchangeable too.

[TRD184]

I'm under the (possibly mistaken?) impression that the engine bay in these is rather similar to a Mark II Corona. If that's the case, a 1UZ should be relatively straight forward as when I measured up the crossmember, mounts, sump location and clearances, it almost felt like it just belongs in there.
Only issue with the V8 is the exhaust clearing the steering box on the drivers side, but some block hugger style extractors similar to what the Chryslers run with the collector in the middle should put it in a good position to run a 90° elbow under the steering arm.
Other option, and the route I'm taking, is rack and pinion conversion...
Depends if he wants to keep it retro or not really.
I'd love to see a 5MGE with triple webers and flame spitting side pipe... That'd be boss!
M engines certainly seem to be fairly interchangeable too.

yeah he doesnt want to modernise it too much, i dont think he'd bother with a rack and pinion conversion, but an exhaust like youve described would surely work.
an angry 5M would be full of awesome our thinking aswell, although would it actually be a good engine :S i cant find anyone whos honestly bothered to spend money on them.
7M's seem to be the popular one on here, reading through the crown thread, it sounds as though we could just use the 4M engine mounts and it would bolt up, a trip to the wreckers may be in order

[jezz]

or this

6MGE Turbo...


If not M series you really can't beat the 2J.

The only downside is you need the hard to find sump configuration from Japan.
You can buy it from Toyota for roughly $1200 though.

Best bet is for you mate to sign up here and have a read through the Members rides most of the conversions have been covered.

Cheers

Jeremy

[white_sandshoe]

How do you tell the difference between a 5M and a 6M?
Just that looks damn similar to something my mate has in his shed, but we'd assumed it was a 5M that someone had tried to convert to turbo using 7MGTE bits?

I still vote 5MG with lumpy cams and side draught webers. Lol.

[jzk25]

or this

6MGE Turbo...

That's cool.

7MGE or GTE is the most practical conversion and they aren't the worst engine in the world once the headgasket is sorted.

If I had my time again I would chop the chassis up and put a 1GZ in though.

[MS112]

How do you tell the difference between a 5M and a 6M?

The most reliable way would be to look at the engine number on the block. Externally the 5MGE and 6MGE are identical. There is a 3000 on the intake manifold of course, but you may not be able to rely on that Even internally both motors are the same; most 5MGE bits can be used. The difference is in the crankshaft, which is the same stroke as the 7M. I presume conrods would also be shorter?

An M motor would be the easiest from a conversion perspective, but consider that unless you find a low KM example, it's going to need a refresh. Most engines will be in the 200,000km range or worse. A JZ motor will be reliable and powerful, but as said by Jezz, going the JZ route could be quite costly in terms of fitting the engine. Having said that, you could expect the motor to last 10 years or more.

Cheers,
Brendon

[TRD184]

thats interesting about the 5MGE and 6MGE being almost identical..
whatever engine is chosen it will be in for a complete rebuild even if its in running order, just for our piece of mind, it sounds as though an M-series engine is what we're looking at, and i take it 7MGE is the best of the lot ( we want to stay N/A if we can help it, just for ease, sorry all )
am strangly leaning towards a carby 5MG with cams and raised compression though... B-)
thanks for all the help.
anyone on here informed about gearbox's? its got a 3-speed manual with overdrive (column shift) which he wants to retain. will any of the M-series engines bolt up to this?
edit: 1GZ would be the bees knees but seems a little out of our reach somehow...LOL

[jezz]

Its a 2M already yeah ? Should be bolt up to a 7MGE or so I've been led to believe.

If I had my time again I would chop the chassis up and put a 1GZ in though.

Now that would be awesome please do Mr fabricator man!

[TRD184]

nah its actually already had a 4m put into it.