Engine Swap

[Anroco]

Hi Guys,

Long time reader, but only join and posting today.

Have a few questions...

Have a stock 2004 Echo ( had it since new so know the engine's condition - 140000km's and running like a dream, over serviced, only run Optimax in it its whole life etc etc )

Time has come for mods as the kid has grown a lil and as its my wife car, i get to drive it when i'm allowed :o), would like to jazz it up a bit... kw wise.... Now...........

Is it worth the money, or the kw increase to re build the motor, add extractors, full exhaust, bigger valves, pistons, cams etc or option 2.. How hard is it to swap the 1.3L for the 1.5L Sport Evo motor, ( bearing in mind i need to keep it auto for my wife, so fitting up the auto to the 1.5L motor, will the gear box handle it?? ) with a high possibility of rebuilding this ( 1.5L ) and zo0o0p it it up a little before install and also adding the extracors, full exhaust system etc once fitted ??

I am not really a body kit person and have only placed the Altezza light in the rear so far with the front on order.

Suspension and rims ( i think a light weight 15" would be best ) would be done after all this.

Any thoughts, input, contacts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking You

Anroco

[Ronnyboy]

It all comes down to how deep your pocket is :D

all those stuff you mentioned are do-able but will cost.

Its only worth doing it if your going to drive that car and make the most of it..

It looks like that you have to get permission before you touch that car so you might wanna minus a few mods from the list. Especially the conversion of 1.3 to 1.5 :)

[whitestivo]

If you want a sporty car, buy a sporty car

whitestivo

[rob323]

I'm just about to start on my 2NZ to 1NZ conversion this weekend. Any hiccups will be reported on my thread at Ozecho.

[rthy]

ganna be used for track or street?

Force induction for best results imo...

[Mole]

Hmmm heres a load of my personal opinion.

Its going to be auto no matter what, and both rebuilding and a engine swap cost huge dosh. Considering your spending huge dosh and have a auto, your best option is some form of forced induction, either a baby turbo running small boost or a wee supercharger (I think there are kits?) with a few supporting mods. Your main prob is that auto, its much more difficult to keep it in its power band, being a small engine, by adding some boost you can widen out the torque band and it will be much less noticeable and more fun.

So either that, or buy another car, which I suppose would be more 'sensible'.

[rob323]

A 1NZ with the auto will be fine and probably the cheapest option (1NZ plus ecu plus key should be under a grand, much less if you hunt around). Faaaar cheaper than building a hypo NA motor.

The auto won't last without some internal strengthening if you turbo or supercharge the car though.

[TRDYARIS]

Are there any good mods for extracting power from a 2NZ?

[rob323]

You can spend about $1000 on an exhaust and intake to gain a couple of kw, maybe even 3kw if you are lucky. Or get a piggyback to play around with timing and fuel to get about another 5kw, but that's pretty much it without spending serious $$ on cams, aftermarket management, forced induction etc.

Better to drop a 1NZ in instead and then go from there.

By the way, Toyota suck, they want $200 for the tiny little 1NZ water pump.

[White Lightning]

IMHO - I'm strange... as soon as its suggested that it can't or shouldn't be done, i'm all over it like a fat kid on... well something that a fat kid would be all over... birthday cake, snickers bar, etc... I love the Echo's. If I could I would have a massive collection of all the weirdest and wonderful small cars you can find, so I don't disagree with ur desire to beef the little bugger up a bit, however without restating what has already been said, the guys are right.

1) Auto box - not overly strong once you start force inducting it and not much get up and go to begin with

2) Small mods to the engine for not massive but sorta primo dollar input for small kW gain

3) Big mods such as engine conversion, internals, turbo, gear box all pretty hexy and at the end of the day u still have an echo...

for the kinda money you will be dropping into it for that price, my advice would be to search around for an Echo Sportivo. Already has the 1.5L engine, will be cheaper than doing the conversion, will have a manual gearbox so you won't be inconveniencing ur wife because she'll still have her car (for the auto), and you will still need to strengthen the internals for forced induction but if ur keeping it N/A, a CAI / SRI with pod filter, slightly lower suspension, and exhaust will give a couple of extra KW, not cost u too much, and have the car sounding and looking quite nice...

I'm probably off track as I get the feeling u get to drive the Mrs's car but at the end of the day its still her car and u want to make it a little more beefy... in its current state its gonna suck money to do the things you want, and for the sorta money ur gonna end up pouring into it u can get an echo sportivo... but don't let my opinion waver you at all... I don't think its practical but if you believe it than you can achieve it :)

[rob323]

A stock 1NZ motor will take about 8-10 psi of boost before it will through a rod through the side of the block.

[TRDYARIS]

1NZ sounds like a better conversion

[rob323]

My 2NZ to 1NZ swap began on the weekend, hopefully it will be finished next weekend.

[rob323]

One more bug, will hopefully get it sorted tonight, and then my 2NZ to 1NZ conversion will be complete.

[Speedz]

pop in a supercharger kit too in the future?

[rob323]

It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen!

The Adaptronic is on the bench presently, the next step is to make a plug and play harness for it.