DVSTurbo2

I feel your pain Rizo,
My overheating issues started after I had Mr T (Toyota) service my sdub.  Needless to say they failed to change the coolant correctly.  1.5 years later (and a lot of cash spent) i just swapped out the engine with a Gen 3.
Would have preferred spending that cash on a project like Robk's :) but I wasn't going to give up on my MR2.

Did you sell your sdub Tom? I forget.
I haven't seen you around for about a year.

Yeah i didnt want to rebuild something that might not work out so well (possible cracked block or whatever).
So opted for the option with more potential in power gains as well as reliability. Not that I want to push 300KW+ or anything... (yet) Probably just get a proper dump, high flow CAT & turbo.  It's my daily driver and with this engine from the start I know it's been looked after...
3K was less then the amount I spent trying to fix the overheating engine in the first place.
Total engine swap was about 10K all up and If you love your MR2 as much as I love mine, it was all worth it.

Hi Rob!  Love the work on your engine!
I've been keeping myself well away from the MR2 Forums because every time I get on here I feel like buying more parts for my MR2 
I still have her and all she really needs (besides a new spray) are some coil-overs and proper wheels.
Engine has been magical since PB put it in.

DVSTurbo2
Hi Rob!  Love the work on your engine!

Thanks!
 

DVSTurbo2
I've been keeping myself well away from the MR2 Forums because every time I get on here I feel like buying more parts for my MR2 

haha yeah that's fair enough
 

DVSTurbo2
I still have her and all she really needs (besides a new spray) are some coil-overs and proper wheels.
Engine has been magical since PB put it in.

I'm pleased to hear it!

If the engine was $3K how did you manage to get to $10k installed? Must be alot of labour involved in getting these engines in and out of the cars? Im in the same boat as you, I want my car to be a daily so I have to be able to trust it, hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong with the engine. BTW Who did the work on your car? Any recommendations (or people to keep away from) you can make?

Rizo
If the engine was $3K how did you manage to get to $10k installed? Must be alot of labour involved in getting these engines in and out of the cars? Im in the same boat as you, I want my car to be a daily so I have to be able to trust it, hopefully there is nothing seriously wrong with the engine. BTW Who did the work on your car? Any recommendations (or people to keep away from) you can make?

When Tom mentioned 'PB', I think he was referring to Paul Brell doing the Gen 3 engine conversion. Paul Brell (BOSS tuning) is at Gladesville. He also did speedracer's Gen 3 engine conversion, so he knows what he's doing.
I think a big part of the labour cost would be due to sorting out the differences between the Gen 2 and Gen 3 wiring looms.

+ all new bits that include all rubbers & seals, water pump, oil pump, timing belt, wiring, coolant pipes, thermostat... the list is huge. Add on top of that the labor to put it all together and there is your 10k inclusive of half cut. Yes Paul Brell did my conversion, he is pricey but does an awesome job. looks like it just came out of the factory, the engine does anyway, the rest of the car needs more loving haha.

Know it might be a bit forward in asking but do you guys have an opinion of Al Palmers workshop? Im out of the toyota loop because I have spent the last few years mucking around with rotarys so I dont know where to take the Mr2.

My Opinion is bias as he's a long time club sponsor but Al races Spyders and definetely knows his way around twos. Club Members also get a good discount.
 
The mechanic i use is ex Paul Brells, Vish at S-Rally Performance, he did my conversion and Senor2s.

Obviously not what you want to hear but all the symptoms you mentioned match with mine and it was head gasket twice (had a mechanic mess up the first time). Mine was sucking exhaust gasses into the cooling system and eventually it would cause an air lock and overheat. Majority of the time it would just bubble when i pulled up and the temp gauge would spike after a long drive when id pull up. In any case you should get a CO2 test done to rule it out.