Engine Dilemna... Looking for Opinions...

So, I just acquired an ST165 today. The current engine in it has 153k miles on it. It is probably in perfectly good working condition aside from the fact that the timing belt broke while driving when the water pump siezed up, so something might be broken, but probably not. The guy I bought it from broke the harmonic balancer trying to get it off, so to get it all fixed, I need to buy about 400$ of parts from toyota (216$ for balancer, 127$ for water pump, 12$+8$ for belts, and 40$ for a new timing belt.)

The other option I have is as follows. I have a 3S-GTE from a 93 JDM MR2 sitting in my garage as well (another story...) This has 50k miles on it, and theoretically runs perfectly (haven't started it up, was supposedly working on the clip I bought, but nothing I can do to verify right now.) This has ECU, wiring harness, etc.

Now, _eventually_, I'd like to get the MR2 3S-GTE in with its ECU and wiring harness, and wire in the W:A IC to it somehow, but that's a little ways down the road I'm thinking.

What would seem to be a good intermediate step would be to tear out the engine in there right now, and stick the MR2 engine in, but hook up the ST165 wiring harness to it, and bolt up the accessories, etc. The questions I have are:
1. Will the ST165 wiring harness work on the SW20 engine? I should just have to rewire some sensors, I'd think, but it shouldn't be a big deal...?
2. Will the ST165 accessories (power steering, alternator) bolt up to the SW20 MR2? Actually, I'm going to need the new harmonic balancer and belts for that anyway, won't I. Hm. Well, assuming I buy an ST165 harmonic balancer and new belts, will that all bolt up and work fine?

So, assuming I do that, I should have the slightly better SW20 3S-GTE hooked up and everything working with the existing ST165 harness/ECU/etc. Down the line I can deal with possibly switching to the MR2 ECU, I'd think, but I think that's a much better intermediate step...?

Comments? Am I full of shit and nothing's gonna work and I should just stick with the ST165 engine? Lala? Thanks in advance!

why not swap the parts from the mr2 motor on to the 165? a broken t belt should not damage anything inside the motor.

personally i would fix the 165 as cheap as possible, drive to make sure nothing else is needed before swapping motors.

Kind of in a hurry so I çan't get into all of the questions,,, even if I knew the answer to to alot of it :doh: But, I can get you a waterpump for a lot cheaper than that and also Advanced auto or another chain should be able to as well. I JUST received a timing belt kit and full engine gasket set as well and the timing belt kit I would normally sell fo around $35. Anyway, that waterpump prices is high, not sure about the harmonic balancer.

I just picked up a ST165 as well so am learning a lot and was interested in the engine swap too. Go to www.gtfour.ca I think it is and read the engine swap writeup and see if you still way to go that route.

Mine has a cracked head and I'm just getting another head and going to put things back together because there is more money involved into doing an st185 swap since I still need to paint the thing and prepare for other things that I'm sure will arise once I actually drive it around some.

rememeber you get what you pay for. aftermarket parts are less expensive but usually not the quality or fit of toyota parts. but i did say cheap.

The MR2 motor has a better turbo and a better oil cooler, as well as 50k miles instead of 150k miles. Those are the main reasons. I realize I could swap the JDM turbo onto the ST165 motor, but the oil cooler is still nicer on it and the 50k miles is still nicer too. Swapping engines itself doesn't scare me, I've already done it 3 times on my GT, it's the wiring and swapping little components that I want to make sure works.

Also, another question: Will the ST165 transmission bolt up to the MR2 3S-GTE? I assume so, since all toyota transmissions seem to share the same bellhousing, but I wanna make sure.

yes