I'm wondering if a few 2M/4M people can weigh in on this for me:

One of my favourite daily drivers was a 2M powered 69 Crown automatic. That car was surprisingly fast. A few years down the road I ended up with a 74 Corona Mk II that had a 4M, also auto, and it was quite a slug really. Not underpowered, but way below what the 2M was. I timed it, replaced everything about the ignition, rebuilt the carb, and nothing seemed to be able to coax more power out of it.

I had a conversation with a long-time Toyota dealership owner about it once, and he said he remembered a lot of the 4Ms coming back within a couple years after they were bought with similar complaints. He mentioned that he remembered the problem being that the camshaft wore more quickly than expected, and that this wasn't a problem which the 2Ms had. That Corona Mk II caried on without me and I never got it running as I thought it should.

So, fast forward ten years, and I'm again considering a 4M Mk II project, or a 2M Crown (or an 18RC Corona.) I know the easy swap for the Mk II would be to plumb in a 7M, but I like going for the stock look. What's been people's experience with getting decent power out of an older 4M? Are they almost always a bit anemic?

Thanks.

my 4me was always a dog.... it ran sluggish since i bought my cressida.

it finally gave up and blew a headgasket, and that's where the 2jz comes in

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Schassisowner's garage sale 4me parts galore!

http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=18604&p=158903#p158903

mx32 2jz swap in progress

4ME isnt really relevant to this thread, that engine is a whole different animal.

4M has a hemi head, so that's good. But their hp weakness is in the ports, runners, and manifolds. Spend your time and effort there first. So maybe some porting, headers, and a better intake manifold/carb setup. But headers are going to be tough to find.

I doubt many if anyone on this forum has any experience getting power out of 2Ms or 4Ms. If you want a bigger newer motor that looks old school, grab a 5ME with high comp 7M pistons, headers, porting, sidedraft carbs or even better, Ford 4.9 ITBs and Megasquirt. But that would be quite a build ($$$).

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1977 Celica coupe
1977 280z - wife's car
1955 Ford truck

I'm willing to bet that another reason for the seemingly huge power difference in the 69 Crown and 74 MarkII had to do with different rear end gearing.

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1977 Celica coupe
1977 280z - wife's car
1955 Ford truck