Hi,
I need to get a 1991 engine reconditioned due to very low compression on a couple of cylinders, and I’m looking for recommendations in and around the Peterborough, Cambridge, south Lincolnshire area. I’ve tried contacting a few companies I’ve found in other posts but as they’re located some way away they’re unable to help.
Any recommendations would be very helpful.
Thanks!

I realize it may not be very convenient but if you go the rebuild route it's worth travelling to a garage that knows 2's as they're quite unique in a lot of ways. I don't personally know any in that area as I'm, down on the south coast.

For what you would pay/the work it would take to remove the engine, have it re-built (if you want to recondition it'll be replacing all piston rings at a minimum at which point it would be silly not to do a full rebuild) and then re-installed I personally think you would be better off finding a used but good condition gen 3 engine and swapping it in.

Gen 3 are better on fuel (can attest to this already), have better torque (higher compression ratio), better top end in terms of power AND hardware (better flowing intake + longer cam duration, shim under bucket rather than shim over bucket like gen2) and generally don't seem to wear out like gen 2's do.

I have just done a gen 3 swap on mine before Christmas due to the bottom end going on my gen 2. (literally just after I had done a full head gasket and timing belt job...)
My engine wasn't necessarily looked after very well before I got it but from what I gather bottom ends just end up going on Gen 2 3SGE's eventually.
Seen a lot of posts on the Facebook groups with people with Gen 2's looking for new engines due to bottom ends.

Combination of older tech and age (more wear) mixed with the fact the oil filter is upside down under the engine, so all it takes is 1 dodgy oil filter's 1 way valve failing (apparently more common than you would expect for such a vital part) and you have pretty severe wear on every start up while the oil pump fills the oil channel back up and THEN builds oil pressure back up.
This develops into a "start up rattle", which in essence is the crankshaft rattling against the bottom end bearings and thus wearing them down pretty nastily.

I have read about HKS oil filters being prone to this, I actually had a HKS filter on mine when the bottom end went but cannot say objectively whether that played a part in the bottom end going.

At the end of the day though, this is all my personal opinion from the experiences that I have had in what is essentially just a couple of years of ownership.
How an engine lasts will depend on the way it is driven and looked after.

Gen 2's I would argue are slightly easier to work on and have been proven to be a fantastic engine regardless of some peoples experiences of them.

I am essentially a novice compared to the knowledge that some of the older MR2 enthusiasts have so best to get some more opinions before you decide what to do about yours.

If you have any questions feel free to shoot me a message.

All the best.

Charlie

I’d also advocate getting it to a specialist. I had to have a car recovered recently (not an MR2, much larger) and it was only £150, so likely a small part of the bill for a proper engine rebuild.

I didn’t realise that the early 3S-GE had those oil filter issues Charlie describes (though like him I do see a lot of blown early engine posts on FB), but if it’s a 1991 and it got this far then I’d suggest a proper rebuild will see you fine for a long time.

Of course, you could always V6 it…. A 3VZ-FE conversion may not cost much more than a full strip and rebuild on the 3S-GE.

If you are going down the rebuild route make sure you use toyota big end shells and main shells. Because unless you are going to use ACL bearing all other manufacturers will fail quite quick. Trust me on this. On my V6 turbo build I blew so many. Ended up getting my local mr T to import me some at a nice £30 a pair. Its because there are 3 sizes of bearing. A few thou difference but it does make a difference. Make sure that engine builder is aware of this. You will be hard pressed to find 3vz swap gear. I know I have two engines in bits in the shed/unit but did sell a lot of spares last year. The best person to speak to is Paul Woods. He is the best with the MR2. People travel from europe to get there cars done. But like everything he is always busy. But he is up north. But still £250 for a recca truck would save you a lot in the long run. You could buy a rev3 engine and you would only need the ecu,engine loom and body loom. Thats all plug and play as I have done a few. Plus you’ll gain an extra 20 bhp from the revised cylinder head.

Unfortunately Paul has shut his workshop he's only doing online sales now.
Still worth speaking to him, he's very helpful and what he doesn't know about MR's/Toyota's isn't worth knowing.
I don't particulary believe this FB theory about Rev 2 engines/oil filters causing problems AFAIK the oil filter orientation/location is the same on all 3sge/gte's and the same filter is used on a slew of Toyota models, given the price of MR T's filters I don't (and wouldn't use) anything else
I also don't remember reading much on the forums about REV2 bottom end failures or them being prone to failure from oil starvation caused by the filter location/fault.
Perhaps one of the MK2 guys could provide more info ?