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Hi Guys & Gals ! Sorry this is not going to be short, but it’s just a bit of lateral thinking at present, & I’m throwing it out there. Back in early January, I posted on here that I was looking for a Toyota Echo for my “petite” 18 y.o. daughter, who needs a first car, with a seat which has enough adjustment, so that she can reach the pedals. I found a good one here in Brisbane about 10 days ago, with which I was very happy with. Like all good dads, I spent the previous Saturday & Sunday, plus a few hours yesterday, going over the car completely, doing a full 160K klm service. Every fluid, every filter, spark plugs, wiper blades, every adjustment; basically a very full service. I half expected it was going to be a bit difficult, as I assumed the east west 2NZ-FE engine would be crammed into the small front engine bay. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to work on, and after a full day on it, had fallen in love with the 2NZ-FE engine. These engines, have a very good reputation for being strong, reliable, nippy, & very fuel efficient, from what I had read on the net. The spark plugs I took out, needed replacing, as the gaps were wide with the inner tips worn out, but the insulators were perfect, showing a lovely clean whitish colour. The more I worked on the engine, the more I loved it. Even taking off the throttle body & cleaning it with carby & throttle cleaner was easy. About the only unpleasant job, was removing the fuel pump/guage/filter assembly out of the tank under the floor, under the back seat. What a nightmare, to dissemble & fit the main & pick up filters. Everything else was pretty easy to get at. It wasn’t till later that night, as I lay in bed, I thought, “would it be nice if I could pop a 2NZ-FE in my KE30 2 door Rolla”. The next morning I roughly measured it up, & had a good look at its specs on the net. It certainly would physically fit in the engine bay fairly easily. Despite the 2NZ-FE’s sophisticated design, compared to a 4K donk, with cross flow head, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, electric cooling fan, fuel injection, & obviously computer engine management, the two engines are pretty similar. Both 1300cc, 75mm x 73mm, being almost “square”. However, the big difference is in output & fuel efficiency. A basic stock stand 4K will produce about 60 HP, whereas the 2NZ-FE puts out 84 HP, a 40% improvement. The 1500cc version of this motor is the 1NZ-FE, which appears to be the same block, but stroked to 75mm x 84mm, has an output of 109 HP. That’s a whopping 84% over the little 4K. The 1NZ-FEs were fitted to the Sportivo versions of the Echo & Yaris. My research indicates that there is a bolt on turbo kit for the 1NZ-FE which brings it well over 120 HP. By now, my head is running all sorts of scenarios. A quick look on the net indicates “long” 2NZ-FEs engines can be picked up for between $ 300 & $ 500. So I go looking on the net to see if anyone globally has swapped a 1NZ-FE or 2NZ-FE into a KE series Rolla, & I can’t find anything. I found one guy who made up his own adaptor plate, so he could fit a conventional in-line gearbox to it, but he didn’t say what car it was being fitted to. So if it is true that few, if any, have swapped them to KE Rollas; why ? My gut feeling it is probably because of lack of facilities on the side of the block to fit engine mounts. The existing engine mounts on the 2NZ-FE in my daughter’s Echo are high up on what would be the front of the engine, if mounted in a KE Rolla. The other one appears to be high up to one side off the bell housing/gearbox. So I get on the net this morning looking at pictures of this motor for sale at wreckers, zooming in on the photos of these motors, sitting on pallets, trying to see the sides of the aluminium block. Unfortunately, being a cross flow head the intake & exhaust manifolds cover these areas, & I will probably have to head off down to the wreckers to see one in the flesh for myself. I’d like to keep my 43 y.o. olde daily drive Rolla for another 10 years, & see it reach 50, but am thinking, wouldn't it be nice to drive a sleeper, with a 1 or 2 NZ-FE engine under the hood. We spend so much time & money, trying to tweek every last HP out of our K series engines, when now there are available second hand for $ 500, a standard comparable engine with everything we are trying to achieve with our K series donks. So has anyone heard of this being done before ? Has anyone contemplated it, & given it away, because of technical obstacles (like mountings) etc ? Would love to have anyone’s thoughts on this. As I said, it is just “lateral thinking” at this point, and maybe a pipe dream, but if it is “doable” then I’d be only too happy to grab an engine and give it a go. P.S. Would make a great Mighty Car Mods video. If you’ve ever watched the swap of a Subaru engine into a VW Bettle, you’ll know what I mean. Cheers Banjo