KaiserSea1

Without going into too much detail I may have the opportunity to buy a ISF, which was totaled and then improperly imported to the US. I am trying to buy it figuring resale on the parts would be worth it. Does anyone have any idea how hard an engine swap would be? A friend / Mercedes mechanic thinks it could be a go with a custom wiring harness, if I can salvage the entire motor, fuel pump etc.

m3nv

I agree you'd need a custom wiring harness and you could make it work. You'd just need someone smart and capable doing the swap for you.

cjs18

Interesting situation. My understanding is that there exists little or no previous experience to draw from. As a engineer I could offer that the mechanical aspects of a project like this could be more or less straightforward but the devil may be in the details of the electronics and communications. If I were confronted with this opportunity I would find someone who could provide assurance that there would be enough compatibility between the engine and electronics on both vehicles. I assume that the transplanted engine would include the engine ECU and all related sensors. Because the ECUs communicate on a network, compatibility may even be needed at the software level - i.e. the two systems from different vehicle lines and vintage would need to understand commands from each other to function correctly - in addition to being just electrically operable. What I'm getting at is that a successful solution would yield an awesome result but the technical details could make it cost prohibitive. Just so you know, I am usually regarded as somewhat of a wet blanket when looking at risky opportunities, so consider the source and get plenty of additional opinions!

KaiserSea1

You hit the problem dead on. My friend who is considering doing the swap verified that the ISF ecu can not be hacked like European cars to tie the engine management system to a different car. The EC u from the SC could be hacked but can not run the ISF, only an LS motor. Based on the complexity of the computer in the ISF he is reluctant to try. The only open source software Toyota puts out is the engine they share with Lotus. This is a much bigger job than I expected. This may be why they never upgraded the SC motor.

cjs18

That's unfortunate. It wouldn't have to be impossible - one of the principles of good systems engineering is to collect major pieces of functionality together and them connect them with the simplest possible interface (like engine-to-chassis). If you could count on an automaker to do that, plus adhere to some standards and open up the communications, you'd see more of this kind of thing. But today there is such a high level of integration of systems in automobiles that they're starting to be compared to aircraft in complexity. (But then aircraft seem to have standards and open networks - e.g. ARINC protocol - hmmm.)

scdroptop

iTrader: (1)

This topic reminds me of the ole' SC300/400 Supra Twin Turbo and 6speed tranny swap. It's been done, but you might as well buy a Twin Turbo Supra and and SC and just drive BOTH!