Engine conversion for a MS85 Crown

[MS85Crown]

Were new to this forum and have an 85 series Crown and the 295,000klm motor has died but the old girl is too good to scrap so I'd like to put a better engine and auto into it.
I like the v6 engines as we have a VX Commodore which has great performance, reliablity and ecomony but am also wondering if Toyota had a north, south v6 engine that would suit.

[CrUZida]

In short, no.
Well, they do, but they aren't all that much chop.
The Prado/Hilux ran the 3VZ-E and 5VZ-FE, but at 3.0L and 3.4L respectively, they didn't put much power out.

You would be MUCH better off with a 2JZGE in there.
More power, smoother, better economy, etc etc etc. Oh, and cheaper.

[Shakotan_Aaron]

not sure about the later alloytech but the ecotech commo v6 was the biggest lump of shit. economy is poor, engine power from that size engine is poor, reliability is marginal at best. vx is still 'ecotech' yeah?

im not a fan at all of v6 but that has to be one of the worst. FYI with correct headbolt torquing a 7mge would be much more reliable!

as above 2jzge is very under rated. getting one in auto form should be rather cheap!

[MS85Crown]

Thanks for the feedback but I'd still perfer the V6 over another straight 6, I had a look on u tube and there a comon swap so I'll start looking for folks who do the conversions.
.

[CrUZida]

Its a common swap because its cheap and nasty (assuming you are talking about a VN/VP V6).

I am having trouble understanding why you want a V6 over a straight 6 though?

[ecko]

you really want a decent looking crown sounding like a heap of shit lexen/vn commodore?

2jzge is the only way to go for 6cyl, maybe a bmw m3 motor if you got one cheap

1uz would be good too but worse on fuel and obviously a v8

[Shakotan_Aaron]

he/she said VX... which still seems to be the same boat anchor with a few tweeks.

according to wiki...
VN/VP v6 n/a HP
VN/VP v8 170hp
VR (revised) v6 170hp
VS/VT/VX (ecotech) v6 197hp


1JZ-GE 200hp
2JZ-GE (non vvti) 220hp


edit: i also re-read the original post, you may have gotten lucky with the current commo you have but i know plenty of others who have got lemons with the commodore.

[CrUZida]

I got the impression the OP was just using it as an example.

A VX engine package wouldn't be very cheap, and not financially worth putting into an MS85

[Shakotan_Aaron]

VX looks no different to the 2 earlier models anyway, apart from the supercharged version. which at 229hp is only 9hp more then a 2jzge, i personally think the toyota auto box is better then the holden one. i have driven a vx and my mx83 i thought the vx felt like it was in constant slipping mode rather then actually being in gear, may make it a little smoother? but is not so good for the driver.


btw, if your set on this conversion, what are you waiting for!? go for it.

[MS85Crown]

Come on guys settle down, I see on this site they say the VR is the V6 Commodore engine to use.
We have a VX as our daily driver, actually its our first modern car in my 40 years of driving and the performance and economy is outstanding compared to the HP of the MS85.
I want to replace the engine so we can go touring with the camper van again which we had been doing in the Crown before she said no more 3 weeks ago.
At 58 years old who cares about it being ''financially worth putting into an MS85'' I love the driving position of the Crown over the Commodore any day but with the Commodore performance she'll be outstanding.
In 1970 my first car was a near new 1968 Crown which we had until 1994 and have had 3 MS85's since. I'm still to research the conversion further but I think getting a low klm $5,000 plus complete Commodore as a donor vehicle would be the way to go, that way no rebuilding required. Thanks for the encouragement guys, I'll contact some conversion places tommorow and keep in touch.
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[Shakotan_Aaron]

i think a lot of us are used to idiots on the internet, we dont mean any offence.

i and others feel that there are better choices of engine then the commodore v6 route.

$5000 is a lot of money to spend on a car JUST to get the motor. performance half cuts are available for much less (half cut being the front half of a car cut off including engine gearbox and loom/ecu normally everything needed for engine conversions). i dont mean your after a performance motor, just an example.

smaller engine capacity(of a 2jzge) and shared engine family may make it a little easier legally and being a inline motor there should be more room around the engine bay so a easier fit.

if it was me i would go for the 2jzge. should have enough power to pull the old girl and a load up the hills. id be surprised if it wasn't more fuel efficient then the v6 as well.

have a look at what is actually available on ebay..... lot better buys then $5000

VZ alloytech v6 + auto 90,000km
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/holden-commod...8#ht_500wt_947

[CrUZida]

MS85, at the end of the day its your money and your car, and as such you are free to do as you choose.
If you decide to go the VX route there isn't a lot of help we would be able to offer, and as such you'll be running blind as such.
Where as if you went a Toyota engined route, there is a wealth of knowledge here that would *almost* be able to walk you through the conversion step by step.

Newer engines are generally a LOT harder to wire up, and a susceptible to not running properly if they aren't getting correct communications from some other part of the car. The VX/VZ may or may not fall into this category, I wouldn't know.

Keeping it all Toyota means a lot of the 'little things' become very small issues (if even issues at all).

With the correct sump, the engine will drop in place without modifications, all you'll need to do is make some engine mounts.
The tailshaft will require minimal mods
The gbox mount will potentially line up.
You'll potentially have a lot less steering box clearance issues with a straight 6 than a V6.

etc, etc.

[crownv8]

I am not a fan of the commodore v6 engine. But it could be a good conversion?? Things to watch are, exhaust manifold clearance, sump clearance and diff ratio.

There is not a lot of room on the right hand side with that huge steering box in the road. Also, your Crown has a 4.1 diff ratio compared to the 3.08 (from memory) in the Commodore. That alone will make a big difference to economy and how it drives on the highway. Plus getting the speedo to read right.

I'd concider either a 2jzge or 1uzfe. Both reasonable to bolt in and don't require a whole lot of other changes.

BTW where in QLD are you. I am just north of Brisbane.

Cheers,
Shane.

[Bronald McDonald]

LSx ftw...