old school motor swap

what are some good engine (and trans) swaps for 1st gen celicas? i want one as a project and i have been thinking about what engine.... for a while i played with the idea of a mazda rotary (13bt) but i decided to stick to good old pistons.... give any suggestions but i would prefer the engine to be EFI and preferrably toyota also dont forget these cars are RWD... and i dont want much power... no more than 300hp.... im not sure how big an engine will fit in the engine bay but these are the ideas i've had so far: 4-AGE, 1jzGTE, 2JzGE, 1G-GTE, also i would love to put in a 3s-GTE, that would be my preffered swap but im worried how hard it will be to convert to rwd or were there any 3s-gte's that came as RWD's that ould be easy to find? thanks please leave ur suggestions and i have posted a pic below of the type of car that i want to put it in.....

http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20040501%20-%20Photoshoot/normal_Paul_IMG_2611.jpg
http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20040501%20-%20Photoshoot/normal_Paul_IMG_2616.jpg


also my thoughts so far about paint job is very dark blue, dodge viper blue or hot pink... and rims im think 17/18" simmons FR19's they look good on these cars...

Personally I would try to put a 5.7L TPI engine in there if it will fit. They make between 220 and 245 hp and can be found at junkyards and run well. Lots of low end torque too.

Personally I would try to put a 5.7L TPI engine in there if it will fit. They make between 220 and 245 hp and can be found at junkyards and run well. Lots of low end torque too.

fortunately, i dont think like u.... i am not of the opinion of squeezing the biggest displacement engine i can under the hood, for many reasons...

1) ITS BEEN DONE!!! (ie. sticking a giant v8 in anything and everything)

2) most big displacement engines are not very advanced

3) it probably wont fit

4) weight - overall weight and i dont want the car to become front heavy

5) i dont want a lot of torque (especially low down) in such a small light car, it will become unproductive power.

6) i will enjoy squashing cars that have 3 times the displacement with my "coke bottle" powered toyota - jap power...

7) if any v8 is going in, its a lexus quad cam

Consider a 350ZX engine?

if i knew what a 350zx engine was i would think about it lol... did u mean 350z or 300zx... WELL.... the 350z engine (VQ35DE) is 2 big, waaaay 2 expensive and not toyota.... and same for the 300zx mota (VQ30DE/TT)

my favourite swap is most denfinately the 3s-gte.... most people dont realise that they probably have the most strength and power potential of all the jap turbo 2 litres.... rod millen (legend rallyer) has 950hp 3s-gte's in his pikes peak cars (celica and tacoma) and the famous wide body top secret GT300 supra has a 3s-GTE ... thats right they put in a 2 litre in place of the LEGENDARY 2jz-GTE.... that has to be saying something. so i will try madly to find out what it will take to get a 3s-GTE running in a RWD application but if i find out that it will just be unrealistic then i am thinking 1G-GTE... 2 litre, straight 6, twin turbo... 200hp stock and a common swap mening it will be easy all the problems have been figured out for me.

whats wrong with the turbo supra motor thats already setup for RWD?

Sorry, got my cars mixed up... :) Meant a 350Z

I knew most of what you said, but I thought you were looking for a challenge. Not Toyota, sure, but you said you had considered a Mazda rotary. Putting a Celica engine in a Celica is just so...common. :)

Good luck anyway, sounds like fun.

whats wrong with the turbo supra motor thats already setup for RWD?


umm because i like the challenge, because not many people if any have done it, because i want a small displacement engine because i dont want 2 overtorque the chassis, it is a 25+ yr old car, it has basic suspension technology etc.... and which supra engine are u talking about? 1G-GTE (which i have already said im considering) 7m-ge, 7m-gte 1jz-gte, 2jz,gte, 2jz-ge ????? sorry m8, but i am actually looking for the opinions of people who are MORE informed than me, not kids who just want to talk sh*t...

Sorry, got my cars mixed up... :) Meant a 350Z

I knew most of what you said, but I thought you were looking for a challenge. Not Toyota, sure, but you said you had considered a Mazda rotary. Putting a Celica engine in a Celica is just so...common. :)

Good luck anyway, sounds like fun.


celica engine into a celica IS common i agree, but not when ur putting a fwd, fuel inject, 2 litre turbo into a rwd car that used to have a small, crap carbeurrated 4....

what are some good engine (and trans) swaps for 1st gen celicas? i want one as a project and i have been thinking about what engine.... for a while i played with the idea of a mazda rotary (13bt) but i decided to stick to good old pistons.... give any suggestions but i would prefer the engine to be EFI and preferrably toyota also dont forget these cars are RWD... and i dont want much power... no more than 300hp.... im not sure how big an engine will fit in the engine bay but these are the ideas i've had so far: 4-AGE, 1jzGTE, 2JzGE, 1G-GTE, also i would love to put in a 3s-GTE, that would be my preffered swap but im worried how hard it will be to convert to rwd or were there any 3s-gte's that came as RWD's that ould be easy to find? thanks please leave ur suggestions and i have posted a pic below of the type of car that i want to put it in.....

http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20040501%20-%20Photoshoot/normal_Paul_IMG_2611.jpg
http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20040501%20-%20Photoshoot/normal_Paul_IMG_2616.jpg


also my thoughts so far about paint job is very dark blue, dodge viper blue or hot pink... and rims im think 17/18" simmons FR19's they look good on these cars...


that a cool looking car looks like the 1st gen camaros from the side hope you get it to look as cool as that

Good luck

that a cool looking car looks like the 1st gen camaros from the side hope you get it to look as cool as that


except for the RA28, all the 1st gen celicas have the same shape with slight minor details different, the thing i like about that particular model is the hood bump, in those pics its small and hard to see but it is pretty cool....

(a few more pics of other cars)


http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20020720%20-%20MegaCruise/normal_BigWorm_DSC03024.JPG
http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20020720%20-%20MegaCruise/normal_BigWorm_DSC03017.JPG
http://www.toymods.org.au/gallery/albums/Gallery/Events/20030418%20-%20Toyota%20Nationals/normal_Nark%20-%20117-1785_IMG.JPG

What about a 3T-GTE? They were available in the 3rd Gen celicas it's a turbo 1.8L 4cyl with twin spark plugs. Pretty rare in the states since it was never available. The engine is already set up for RWD and is turbo built, stock I'm pretty sure it's around 160hp but I've seen easy 270hp out of them. They're cast iron blocks and what toysport said is that they have the trouble free valves from the 2TGs and the 18RGs. I'm currently looking for one for my celica, trying to see if this importer can get an 80's motor.

im going to call the first gen celicas mini camaros

1j or 3s(its been done in rwd before the Jun...or was it top secret, either way the supra had one making damn near 700 hp)

yes the widebody top secret supra, i know i think i already said that?

Did you restore an old 1st gen or did you just happen inherit one? Either way good luck, post pics once you get your engine swap worked out. I dont have much advice since I'm still a newb hehe. :iceslolan

how much you get for?

didnt the 3t whatever come in mr2 turbos's ? welll anyways if so its rwd, so u shoulld give it some thought. also as u sum1 said 4-agze, or 4-age is a good choice, and perhaps an sr20det if u dont mind nissan.

um 3s-gte came in MR2 turbos but the RWD thing, yes the mr2 has is driven thru the rear wheels, but im pretty sure the engine has an east-west/ transverse mounting position where as in the celica i need it north-south... u can get an east west engine into that config but takes heaps more work