so as the title says me and a mate are about to embark on swapping a k3-vet from an eu yrv into his L251 charade.
We’ve basically got as far as buying both cars and are now hunting the rest of the bits required, it again being a Dai is not a common thing to do in the uk. Can’t find much if any info on the net at all for this swap although it must be possible as i’ve seen quite a few viva’s on malaysian sites running this motor. Would be interested to know if anyone has any knowledge for us of things we might need to know that we may not have thought of, we’re going to manualise it and considering swapping the ej gearbox into the k3 casings as i think i read somewhere on here that that was a good idea, anyone know where we could get parts from, like a performance clutch kit. I know the boxes are considered as hard as a stale cheddar but it’s going to be in a lighter car than usual and this will be his daily driver not a drag weapon, so sympathetic driving will be usual, with the odd b-road blast ;-).
if anyone can chime in with any info that may come in handy it would be most appreciated, this will be quite a slow build as money is tight and bits hard to find here anyway, but will update as we go with any problems/solutions.
Sorry, I can’t help with information. But, am really interested to see how it goes!
hoping it will be as simple as the many l700 conversions out there, just seems odd that very few have done the l251 swap. see how we go tho.
so a little more research has told me that apparently a 3sz box from the 1.5 toyota variant will bolt up and can handle the torque? can anyone here confirm this? malaysia said so lol :-/
and if anyone knows can i easily convert this to cable pull jobby using the dai parts??
Hi, im guessing this gearbox is the same as the manual gearbox from the M3 sirion 1.5, which is also a hydraulic clutch. To be honest they all have a pretty weak 3rd gear. In my opinion the easiest solution will be sourcing a gearbox from the M1 sirion 1.3. These gearboxes have strengthened 1st and 2nd gears, and will bolt straight up. If you are looking at mucking around with gear ratios you can use the diff gears from the 1.0 sirion (4.5:1) or diff gears from the copen (5.5:1). But in any case you should keep the 1st and 2nd from a 1.3 sirion box
ok mick thanks for that, we’ll prob try the m1 box then and see how we go, don’t suppose u know off hand the final drive ratio of the 1.0 ej-ve box that we already have to hand and if that too will be interchangeable.
Yeah it should be 4.5:1 (the k3-ve gearbox has 4.3:1 if I remember correctly). The diff gears (differential crown gear and pinion gear/output shaft) will fit in the required housing ( from either a k3 or 3sz) but as I said earlier you should use 1st and second gears from the k3/sirion gearbox. I have a copy of the gearbox teardown/rebuild manual but its in German, happy to send you a copy if you’re interested.
haha i can’t read german mate, no worries tho i’ll figure it out once we start pulling things apart. thank u for the info mate
good on ya for going for something a bit newer
especially if you can get the two door L251. LOVE that shape
I had looked under the 251 when i first saw one and thought it seemed a lot trickier subframe
id investigate that before going further
ultimately wiring can always be done
I know they run the EJ series - but thought their k frame and mounts were different again?
It’s for sure on my list of conversions to do though!
But there was something for sure there that held me back from starting this one first
…apart from the fact that I can only get four doors over here 
Pretty sure the toyota box is cable shifter [if that’s what you mean] for some reason i can’t see your pic you uploaded [probably crap internet]
as mick said. the k3 gearboxes are a good starting point
depends how serious you get with the boost on the k3. but you can get away with a bit …issue only being that the VET engine starts packing on the torque quickly …makes for a great car to drive but tricky to manage the budget with gearsets
Turbo yoda managed to fit a k3-vet into an L251. @Marty might be able to shed a bit of light onto what was required…
Would be interested to see !
Wonder if it’s similar to 3sz mounts 
ah excellent, cheers for the input guys, i’ll have to message him see if he can help, we haven’t picked up the yrv yet, this sunday thats happening so not really done anything to the charade as it’s my friends daily at the moment. Just wanted to gather as much info as poss before we start and yes it’s a 3 door 
i wonder if there’s a skid factory or mcm video somewhere detailin this stuff can’t seem to find anything on youtube about it. is marty still lovin daihatsu’s nowadays seems to be all about the evo now
maybe best to get hold of the L251 subframe / mounts and have a look at them first …even if you took some pics and got them online - there’s a few of us on here that could work out comparisons …if you wnt the input
some conversions people will say “it can fit”
but reality is it’s a massive ordeal …i reckon it’s worth figuring it all out before diving in too far
but for sure a sweet conversion chassis
I don’t have fake book anymore but did have chat history with @Marty and if I recall correctly they did it with all daihatsu parts and modifications to one engine mount.
Please don’t quote me though as I am going by memory of a conversation a few years ago Justin Flanders bought the stock k3-vet setup of yoda
ok well we’ll see how we go, it’s not too much drama if we have to fab an engine mount or to or even build a new subframe to be honest just be nice if it all just crossed from one car to the other, rarely does that ever happen tho i guess.
Well that happens with basically all the other known K3 vet swaps 
question for the knowledge base here.
would the manual gearbox from the standard yrv 1.3 work? or will this shred as well?
Best of luck with the project. I would love to have the knowledge to do this, but i am not that well versed at this level of mechanics.
i constantly see yrv turbos pop up in the uk for very cheap money. i marvel at my little car (l251) everyday. great yoke. it would be the ultimate sleeper with a kvet!
regards the manual yrv :
@paddydai yes that’s the same configuration as intended to install …the question is the subframe configuration to bolt up …if that will fit or not