6G Celicas Forums

.... saw a yellow 5th gen Celica coming towards me, and then noticed once it passed me that it had been modded to have supra tail lights.

lol, London Ontario and never winter driven.

Well I've finally come back.

Just looking for an engine with turbo, no tranny (as I had just replaced it in Jan 2015. I'm trying to avoid an eBay seller unless someone highly recommends them. I've found a mechanic who'll do an engine swap for me for a good price (an MR2 owner), so I just need to find an engine from a reputable source.

Background - turbo was leaking in Jan 2015, engine blew during a mountain drive in April 2015 causing cylinder 4 to seize.

http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/pml/cto/5332547497.html

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/calgary...gationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/calgary...gationFlag=true

Found some 1977 Celicas as well

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/hamilt...gationFlag=true

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/kitche...gationFlag=true

Hey, just wondering whether anyone can shed some light on these stickers found on the timing belt cover, and what they mean. I want to make my engine swap as hassle free as possible, so getting a 3rd gen 3SGTE from a SW20 MR2 is out of the question, but maybe a 4th gen 3SGTE from a ST215 is still possible?

The stickers I've noticed:

3rd Gen 3SGTE - 93~94 SW20:
P1, Q1, Y1, Y5

3rd Gen 3SGTE - 94+ ST205 Celicas
A1, L1, T1, T7

4th Gen 3SGTE - 98+ ST215 Caldinas
N2, N4

So my car has been out of commission since 4/20/2015 when the engine blew.

I've finally got some funds to get a new engine, but it's just a matter of saving up for the labour, but I have to start doing research now to figure out all that needs to be done.

- Once I buy a "new" engine (straight up ST205 engine swap, looking for the same L1 sticker on the timing belt cover), what other auxiliary items will I need for the garage to make a successful swap? (gaskets and such?). I'm going to ask the garage to swap over the current timing belt/fan belt/v-belt & water pump, as they were pretty much brand new.
- I'm thinking of getting a Berk 3" decat downpipe installed at the same time since the garage I'm going to take it to is an authorized dealer. I'll still have the 2.25" exhaust though until later on. Is it necessary that I get a boost controller, or will boost creep be negligible due to the limiting exhaust?
- Any other charges that I'll potentially see from the garage?

Getting closer to driving my car again makes me quite happy.

Spotted: Black 6GC, not sure whether it was a GT-Four, but it had red GT-Four raiser blocks. Parked at the Esso gas station, I walked in and was planning on walking up to the car after I came out, but it was gone.

Location: Calgary, AB, corner of 13th Ave SW & 1st SE

Yep, but in Canadian dollars, the price will vary from $1200 to $2500, depending on seller.
I'll have the garage swap out my flywheel, water pump and timing belt since they were brand new and installed this past January (3months of use).
I'm going for the traditional engine swap, 3SGTE for 3SGTE, no need for anything fancy or different.
I just want to get back to driving the GT-4 already.

Pegs - Getting very jelly every time you post pics and your progression, especially with the upcoming upgrades and the winter season. I'm being temporarily relocated to YYC for a bit starting next month, and I wish I were driving out there in my GT-Four instead of the Jeep.

As far as my research goes for 3rd gen 3sgte,

JDM Source has an engine for $1700USD ($2200CAD!!!!) + s&h
TorontoJDM.com has one for $1399CAD (plus minimal shipping)

In all honesty, I'm already assuming I'm going to pay around $2k for an engine regardless of Canadian eBay or US eBay. I have contacted Rockey Mountain Imports.ca here on the west coast on Vancouver Island, they supplied me with my fender earlier in the year when my car got hit, but that was dealt via insurance (awesome and helpful staff though when I was inquiring about parts). They're going to see what they can do for me in terms of engines on the Japanese auction sites.

Today I finally grew the balls to come back here after 5 months of not driving my Celica.
It's been parked in front of my house all this time, unable to be driven.
I've dreamt many-a-times where I'd hop in the GT-Four and the engine would magically start up without any problems and I'd be driving away, only to wake up and realize the truth.

Well I've been busy since April, slowly saving up cash, enough to say I've almost hit enough cash to purchase an engine. Next up is saving up for the labour to do the work.

My brother was kind enough to buy me a '94 Cherokee. I kinda scoffed at it at first, but it has proven itself worthy on several occasions when I've ventured off to hike, taking the forest service roads in the mountain (something my GT-Four could definitely do with it's AWD..... and 1" clearance.....)

Anyhow, I just sent off a few emails to some local shops on engine prices. I think eBay is probably going to be the way for me, from a store in Montreal, QC.

I just felt like I needed to get back on here soon as I prepare for the next few months of getting ready to get my Silver Dragon resurrected (Silver Phoenix!)

I had a dream that I was driving my car despite its blown turbo and 3 cylinders working. "Whoaa, I can still drive this!"
Then I woke up and reality set in, seeing my current DD parked out front that my friend has kindly lent me for the time being, a Chevy Equinox.

Well, a rainy day in this city for a gloomy return of my dead baby. The $400 towing fee was a nice touch to bring my car home.

The garage that I had my car towed to last week did an initial inspection, just said cylinder 4 was dead. I don't think they looked into the turbo as I already told them it had a leak, which may have been the ultimate failing point causing the oil to blow into my engine, thus seizing the cylinder.

The good news, the unripened bananas that I had left in my car last week are perfectly ripened, and my coffee thermos wasn't mouldy either.

I've got a few options lined up pending some transitions at work. If I get chosen for a certain position out east, then there's no point in me fixing the car. I'll put the car up for sale. What are your thoughts on the price for a GT-4 with a dead engine? My initial thoughts were to put up a feeler price of $3~4k.

Again, this is my first car I've ever owned, has been the car I've wanted as a kid, so it does hold that special spot in my heart enough that I want to hold onto it forever and fix it up. Conversely, it still needs a bit of TLC if fixed up. Flex-pipe on the exhaust needs fixing and the left CV outboard boot has been ripped for a while. It'll probably cost me about $4k for a new engine and installation, so after spending so much this past January to get the transmission fixed, I'll be spending well over what I paid for the car.

Needless to say, this car will be a bittersweet lawn ornament for the time being. So sad.

Pegs - Bought the car in Calgary from a Mexican fellow. Doubtful he imported it himself, but unsure whether he was the first owner since it landed in Canada.

My car died.

I was driving 3hrs up north past Whistler to go for a day hike when after 1 hour of driving I noticed my acceleration was slowing down, and I was hearing a slight whirring. I looked behind me to see a huge plume of smoke.

That was when all my lights came on and I lost power steering.

I pulled over and shut her down. I tried turning her back on a few minutes later and pushed on the gas to hear a low rumble, and lots of smoke from my engine.

I had checked the oil and topped it off the night before my drive since it'd been burning oil quite a bit on my long drives (I've been going to hikes on my day off, which require hour-long drives out of the city). So I checked the oil again, and it was completely empty.

My guess is that the oil leak in my turbo that I was informed of back in January when I had my transmission replaced had turned into a full blown hoover dam situation.

I had my car towed to a local garage and had to Grey Hound back home.

I got a call this morning saying that my cylinder 4 had seized, and the engine was probably toast, but they couldn't find a replacement.

I am sad.

I've only had my car 2 years. It's dead now at a garage 100km away from me. I'll probably get it towed to my house, which will be around $400. I'm torn whether I should buy another engine off eBay and install it, or just scrap it for parts.

My first car ever, the silver dragon, is no more. It was only a short time that I got to drive you, but you did what you did the best, drive.

I've got a week to figure out what to do with my dead car. Invest more money in to it than I paid for it, or go carless until I can purchase another GT-Four (Yes, I do want to get another one).



RIP for now sweet prince. 04.20.2015

Stylish spec dress up master!

Oh how I love Engrish labels.

Took a pic for you today, forewarning it's from a GT-Four.



Hope this helps.

My first question is whether the brake-lines were bled fully, and if you put in new brake fluid? This came to mind as I read your line "want it stronger under the foot".

When I replaced my front/rear rotors, I took extra care in ensuring that all lines were bled. It may have took me a little longer than what it should, but I wanted to ensure that my braking power wasn't compromised from my first attempt.

I was always under the impression that you had a GT-Four, just like me. I've been bamboozled.

Don't know what your budget is, but I've started searching around. Box says $700 for Megans (haven't looked into it),

BC's I've found for $1k all over the place, personally found this site for ST202 Super Struts:
http://www.importimageracing.com/suspensio...ota/celica.html

Found this from an older thread for TRD lowering springs:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271652105083
The only thing about these springs (if they end up being the only part I need to replace, I'll do all 4), is that the part # on the ebay picture springs themselves say 48231-ST100, which I've looked up and found that it was made for Coronas and Carinas (ST19#, ST21#, AT19#, AT21# (2WD model exclusive)) according to this page, so I'm not sure whether they'll "work" on my car"
http://www.trdparts.jp/english/parts_spring.html

Toyodiy.com says my car uses 48131-2T110, which Amayama says I can buy for $52 each.

I'm all at a compatibility issue conundrum here!

Apologies for the thread jack, I'll post my own findings for my ST205 once I get the ball running on my search/repairs.

Need an update on this!

My front right suspension is bunk and my tire is bottoming out and getting damaged.

Funny because I am in the exact same position as you after getting my clutch replaced last month, and am trying to figure out whether I get new springs, springs/strut, or affordable coil overs.

I first have to exactly find out what's wrong with my front right suspension though. I'm not too familiar with how struts work, whether I can rebuild them, if I can/should replace one spring (which I've found an online seller for single TRD front springs @ $65), etc...

I had a nice outing to my parent's place over my weekend. I love driving to their place since it's quite remote, and the roads are usually empty. I unfortunately missed one of the ferries which led to a fortunate impromptu drive up a local mountain up to the ski resort. Since it's been a mild winter, the resort is shut down, so there were no cars going either up or down the road. They hold an annual hill climb at this location, so I thought I'd take a try to see what it's like. Google told me 20 minutes of regular driving. Yep.

But now that I've gotten back, my front right tire has been bottoming out to the point where it's marking up the sidewall of the tire. It's bad because I can hear it scrape when I hit even the smallest of road bumps.

I'm starting to get frustrated with the car as every time I repair something, another item goes bad. Not exactly sure if it is my spring or struts that are bad, or if I can even find a single replacement strut, or if I need to replace the spring only, or whether I should spend a grand on some BC racing coilovers. All I know is that this repair now takes precedent over my exhaust leak (again), and I still have to replace my CV axle.

Guhhhhh! Tax return needed nowwwwwwwwww!

Relieved to hear that it only left a bump and a bruise!

Money is always the limiting factor, my friend. Unfortunately my car funds are dry for the moment, so I'll take what I can get.
Luckily, the roads here are not salted during the winter since I live on the West Coast, so rusting is a slower process for dings and dents.

After a week of having my car back from fixing the transmission, I sent it to another garage to get a "new" fender installed from when someone hit me in September. I found a black replacement fender which the shop will colour match and repaint for me. The good news is that I'll finally get rid of the glue/acid residue that was etched into the fender just below my sidemarker. I think the car originally had an aluminum badge or a heavy duty TRD sticker on two spots: left fender under the sidemarker, and on my bumper. On both locations, there is an imprint of what the badge/sticker looked like, and it's raised and indented. I used to work in auto detailing as a kid, so I'm accustomed to removing decals and stickers, but this stuff was not regular glue. Well, at least one spot will be clean.



On the bonus side, the autobody mechanic said that he may try to pop out another dent on the opposite fender that's been there since I bought my car, for free. The only sad part is that I'll have to remove my band-aid sticker that I've gotten accustomed to. I put the sticker there as a reminder that it was on my "to fix" list, and would take it off once I finally got around to it. I guess the time how now come, and time to move on to other "to fix" items (ugh, so many).



For the mean time, I'm driving a '14 Passat, clearly underpowered compared to my GT-Four, but great for city driving and whatnot. At 117HP, it reminds me of driving around in my mom's Tercel again, hah. I've already found that I tend to drive really close to the right side of my lane as I've gotten accustomed to driving RHD for the past year, and I've also activated the wipers when trying to use my turn signals. Driving an automatic is also very perplexing, as I do not know what to do with my left hand......

Here's a fun picture I took while flipping through the owner's manual. These illustrations always make me smirk.

Here's what I have:

Flywheel from my ST205. $200 obo.
Will fit any North American 3SGTE engine (Celica All-Tracs, SW20 MR2, as well as any ST205 swappers). Came out of my car after the clutch finally blew after 21 years of driving. Engine has 103k miles on it. Reason for selling, I replaced it with a C-One lightweight flywheel.
Yes, you can get OEM replacements for cheaper from other places. I see this as a direct replacement from its birth mother, forged from the deep volcanic caverns of Mt. Fuji from the runoff of Godzilla's hearty meal.



Taillights. $100 for the set.
Although they are from my JDM car, they are DOT approved. There is a tiny chip on the left side taillight, at the bottom of the center lens. Reason for selling them, the safety inspector was going to fail my car for the out of province safety inspection when I imported it unless I replaced it, so I purchased Kouki lights. These lights are in working order.




Low Beam Headlights. $50 ea.
These are USDM housings with JDM lenses transplanted onto them. Not DOT approved due to the JDM lenses. Reason for selling, they are left over from my DOT approved lens swap I did to make my car compliant with my safety inspection. I wanted to keep the extra bulb socket found inside the JDM housing, so I transplanted USDM lenses onto my JDM housing. These are the bastard children of my mod. Use these to make a prototype projector lens (or what have you) for your 6GC without having to destroy your original housing/lenses. All tabs are intact. Gasket and gasket clips not included, as I used them.

High beam housing (Right side, I believe, but will check). $30.
This is only the housing for the high beam. Long story short, again for my safety inspection, it had a chip, and I had to replace my original high beam. When I received the replacement unit, it immediately fell out of my hand when I was taking it out of the box, and the glass shattered. Future DIY project for you!




I will find out shipping prices (with tracking) once interest is gained.

Im technically safe, but I've never been in the situation where I've been pulled over. I want to get projectors, but in the case of an accident, I'm not sure whether the insurance company would inspect the car for such items (DOT approvals) after an accident, especially with my car being an import and all.

Got my car back from the dealership.
New lightweight flywheel + new clutch = so much grip. Stalled the car a few times on the way home. It feels like I'm learning to drive manual again.
They also informed me that my CV boot is torn open, and my turbo is leaking oil.

I may try to replace the boot myself. The turbo however, I'll probably have to send somewhere to get repaired.