questions about future project car...

posted this in Technical/Engineering and it was suggested that i post it here too, so here ya go...


me and my friend are gonna buy a late 90s Celica from a junkyard within the next few days. not 100% sure on the year, but for what it's worth, it has the double circular head lights, not the flip up ones. i'm not a Celica genius, but i'm pretty sure that's late 90's...correct me if i'm wrong.
anyways, the car (last i saw) is sitting flat on the ground with no tires. a) what are the chances the frame is bent (minimal body damage, shouldn't be bent from an impact), and b)any suggestions on how to get it onto a tow truck? engine runs but tranny is fried so it has to be towed

now onto the techincal stuff...
once we get the $$$ we're going to put a 2ZZ-GE (00-present Celica GT-S). how much modification am i looking at to get the thing in there, and what all am i going to need to buy for just the swap (pretty much everything will be replaced, but just need to know for the swap). i know i'll obviously need the engine, tranny and ECU, but i know other stuff goes into it, just not quite sure what else. also, can anyone give me a rough estimate on how much this is gonna cost? obviously difficult since i don't know the condition of the engine, but any help would be good.

well im no celica genius either but im pretty sure that the celica u are looking at was made from 1994 to 1997... I THINK... but i am sure that it was mid to the higher 1990's not low 90's...

if there is slight body damage and low impact i would believe that there is a low chance of the chasis being bent... of course i would get it looked at first..

ok... 2ZZ-GE??? not the best idea... its too much work for too little hp... the easiest conversion would be the 3sgte engine... (preferibly from japan) why because japanese 3sgte's come with 225hp opposed to the 200hp 3sgte engines in america.. of course when you do the swap you will lose some hp through the ecu because the japanese 3sgte ecu is set for 100 octane i believe... so you want to look for a 2nd gen 3sgte (preferably a whole all-trac/gt4 clip) which i would say would be ~2500 all the way up to 4,000 american dollars assuming u live here... if your luckey you will find a 3rd gen 3sgte which comes w/ 245hp stock... but again u will lose some hp when doing the swap... why does it have 245hp? because it comes with a different turbo (ct20b) opposed to the (ct26) turbo... so if you are going to put an after market turbo on it i would suggest that you just buy a second gen, because there isnt a huge difference other than the turbos... and the demand for a 3rd gen is a lot higher making the price much more than it should be opposed to just a 2nd gen

so i suggested this engine to you

1. it comes out of the same model celica (easier swap)
2. it doesnt have vvt-i so more psi can be put on the block (no vvt-i = lower c/r = higher boost possibuilities.... ive seen more than 25psi of boost on this engine... im not sure how much the exact boost was though)
3. it has 200hp+ stock
4. it has potential of 700+hp (not bad for a 2.0L 4 banger)
5. it is an iron block (also allows more boost)
6. it has more aftermarket...(turbos, exhaust, headers, and the whole 9 yards... lol)
7. there are kits to make the celica 4wd that is meant for this engine...

im sure theres more but thats what i have for right now... and gl w/ the car

if tha chassis aint messed get it, unless the engine is fucked and you dont wanna swap, but if you get it swap with the engine ghetto mentioned, but the 4 circular headlights go up to 99'. but ya gl if you get it, make sure you get some pics of the project on here.

thanks for the help. definitely didnt think of the 3sgte, so we'll probably go with that now, and sicne i do plan on changing the turbos, i probably will go with the 2nd gen. we'll probably buy the thing tomorrow, so i'll get some pics up here as soon as we do.

thanks for the help
-jim

yeah gl with the project and keep us updated as im interested to see how it turns out

went up there today, and it turns out the car is a 90 Celica and it does have the flip up lights. i have no idea what i was looking at before. anyways, we're gonna buy the car monday after both of us get paid and we find a place to put it.

also...anybody know if the 90 Celicas have the GE head on them? if they do, that might go onto my Corolla

Nah sorry man, the Celica head won't bolt on to your corolla. If Im right, your corolla has an "A" series block (Ex. 4age,4afe) This is differant than the Celica's which is an "S" Series block (5sfe,3sgte). Although the 90-99 Celica Alltracs have a GE performance head, it will not bolt on due to differant bolt pattern, water jacket configuration etc. If I were you Id get the head and supercharger out of a 1st gen. mr2, and make a freakin JDM Levin outta it.

Im doing something very similar to my 92 celica gt. It has the camry's 2.2 5sfe (which i love, because its bulletproof) I bought a Mk3 Supra CT26 turbo, mr2 turbo manifold, intercooler, supra injectors, etc. and am turboing the engine. Ill keep you posted how it turns out, it should be done in a few weeks. believe it or not, im doing this for less than $350. ahh the wonders of Ebay...anyones wecome to ask me about it on AIM. Cya

may have to go looking for a wrecked 80s rolla then. either way, i'll get some pics up of the celica when we get it monday