First US 2ZR-FE Yaris swap gains exposure

[CrankyOldMan]

Originally Posted by ArmstrongRacing

How many people are seriously interested in having a 2zr swap dealer? Should I write up a estimate with itemized costs including labor times, parts, fluids, warranty & legal stipulations, ect.?

Or are most of you just interested in the information from a diy?

For someone in an emissions testing state, I would think there would be some demand (maybe 1-2 a year) for a properly vetted and compliant install. For the rest of us, I think there would be more interest in documentation of the install. I'm not sure there's much commercial viability in selling "plans" for the swap, since a single PDF on the net will all but kill any chance of controlling distribution.

For a similar business model, there's a chap in the UK that does MR2 engine swaps. He offers everything from just the mounting brackets, up to a full turnkey solution from a donor vehicle/clip. It's not cheap, but there seems to be enough interest in it to keep him afloat for the last 10 years or so. Granted, the MR2 is a sports car with some pedigree, and a conservative swap nets you ~100 whp, so take it with a grain of salt.

It could also just be too early for the market--resale prices on the Yaris are still pretty strong, and the xD isn't readily available secondhand. When I look at the Autocross scene, most Honda Civic engine swaps are on cars that are 20+ years old. The original MR2 is 30+ years old, and people are still finding new engines to swap into it

Originally Posted by ArmstrongRacing

...either way Im going to need to purchase another 2zr to test fit with a Yaris transmission. This requires me to spend a couple thousand dollars of my own money to help the entire community progress.

If you can get the stars to align, you may be able to just pull them from a you-wrench-it yard and bolt them up on site--unless you're talking about the full engine bay install and not just the mating of the gearbox to the engine.