6G Celicas Forums

I have a a 1995 ST hatchback for sale, it currently has a ground issue i cant seem to work out the body has about 19X,XXX miles on it. the engine has less than 15k on it swapped it out about two years ago. Has a JDM transmission in it somewhere around 50-60k on that i believe. I still have original 7AFE engine and transmission that are included with it. It also has poly motor mount inserts as well

I also have a 1998 GT convertible with Auto trans. has 12X,XXX miles on it. I originally planned on swapping in a 3sgte. I purchased it from a high school kid who took it to wal-mart to have the oil changed and they only finger tightened the drain plug. latter in the week vibrated out lost all oil and locked up. I was able to un-sieze the engine, it runs but has a bad knock. probably best to just swap it out and be done with it.

I wish i didnt have to sell these and could finish them up but I started a new job and havent been able to find the time to work on them. I kept telling myself that id be able to find time to work on it, but its been over a year and no luck. So i would like to sell them to someone who can put them to good use as project, or parts cars. This being said i dont have enough time to work on them so i also dont have the time to part them out.

I would like $1,000 for each car OBO and the extra engine and transmissions, feel free to make me an offer! I will post some pictures of everything when i get the chance this weekend.

only parts you can get are the ones in circulation being parted out...

how much do you have in the vert? finding parts for it is going to be hard and expensive. there are no aftermarket fenders, and only fenders you can buy are from ebay. you can adapt fenders from a hatch. but I have never done it.

would it make more financial sense to get a hatch? vert motors are the same as some Mitsubishi eclipse convertible. Unfortunately the rear windows are not in stock by Toyota. everytime I see a vert in the yard I grab parts.

but it would come a time that you would have to fix what you have...

Good luck! When you get stuck ask lots of questions. The people on this forum are very helpful.

Hate to be the party pooper, just trying to help you, so here I go:

A 3rd Gen swap, if it comes with a transmission, it will be a all wheel drive transmission which would need to be modified into front wheel drive. Either need a V6 solara/camry transmission parts for blockoff cover and other bits, and semi-custom pas side CV axle, or block off the rwd pickup (this solution is sketchy if not done right, folks have broken things this way). Might be better off to just use V6 solara/camry transmission to begin with, which is what a lot of folks do rather than crack open a transmission to modify (axle situation still applies)

You can also go with S51/54 transmission from 5SFE celica GT - you don't have to worry about custom CV axles or any mounts, but you will need a hybrid 3S/5S clutch/flywheel combo, as 3S and 5S cranks have different hole spacing.

You cannot use your current auto transmission as there will be no computer to control it. 3rd Gen is manual only, and 4th Gen, I don't know anybody who has tried to use 4th gen auto ecu to control A140E transmission from 5SFE. This means you're almost guaranteed to be forced into doing 5spd swap along the process, and need all the swap related parts - shifter, cables, clutch pedal and master cylinder, etc.

I think you'll benefit from doing more research before jumping both feet into the pool, or you run a very good chance of getting overwhelmed and having a project sit for years. Unfortunately, this is all too common, even here on the forum.

Best advice? Break things down into manageable project "stages". Get your car running first, then do a 5spd swap, then do the 3sgte. These three alone are formidable individual projects with plenty of kinks to work out in between. Doing them all at once is a huge, huge undertaking.
I agree with others that your 5SFE is fine just in need to rear main seal, based on what you've said (engine was never ran dry). A shop overblowing a problem because they don't know or don't want to take on a job or want to upcharge is nothing new.

If you don't have the know how/tools/space to do a rear main seal yourself, a relatively simple remove and replace with no customization compared to other tasks discussed here, I do not see an engine swap with wiring and turbo plumbing involved in your future. Sorry, but that's my opinion having done a 5spd swap, a few clutch and RMS jobs myself, among others. To have a shop do a 3sgte swap is not going to be anywhere near cheap, as you'll need a specialty shop. To give you an idea: PrimeMR2 pricing for 4th gen 3sgte swap into mr2 starts at $4000 for basic package including the engine. A celica is going to be even more expensive, you're easily looking at $2500-4000+ in labor and parts cost on top of the engine cost.

Hope this helps.

The "I don't do 4th gen" statement is probably coming from people who try to do their own wiring. The best thing is to get wiring sent off to PrimeMR2 or Wiregap. As far as it working with an automatic transmission, I do not see why not. My 4th gen came with an automatic transmission flywheel attached to it. I swapped it to a manual flywheel for my car. Like I said before, the experts on 3sgte swaps is PrimeMR2. Send them and e-mail with all your questions and they usually get back to people within 24 hours if it is during the week. You can make a decision once you get all you questions answered from PrimeMR2.

I spent a lot of time d**king around with trying to turbo my 5s and it was pretty easy compared to that. The hardest part is getting the engine out of the car and there is a good instructional video for that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBHJZ_x0neI

It is a video of taking a 5sfe out of a Camry and it was really helpful for me. After that I sent my wiring off to Wiregap to get done. It made the harness completely plug and play. You may need to pull parts off the 5s to use on the 3sgte so it is a good idea not to get rid of any parts until the build is complete. I would say the most challenging part of the build is the intercooler piping routing, if you chose to go with a front mount, which is a good idea. Also, check all the exhaust manifold studs because the 2 closest to the alternator tend to strip out and it is easy to re-thread with the engine out but a pain in the butt with the engine in the car.

The 4th gen 3sgte is advertised to do 256 hp on 13 psi. You will need to install a boost controller to see those numbers because the factory boost controller does not work with the swap and you will only get spring pressure (7-8 psi). I am going to the dyno tomorrow so I will post hp figures after that.

rockauto has the driver side fender aftermarket if i recall. i have a aftermarket OEM replica fender myself from taiwan and fitment is just like OEM!!!

Thanks. I like it for the most part, but being so used to Japanese sports cars I hate the solid axle. Oddly enough I've thought about selling it and getting a Z32 300ZX, but it's even harder to find one of them with a hardtop.

I did a Caldina 3sgte swap and I love the way the car runs. Most of the Caldinas come of an auto transmission car so it may work with your current set up. The best place to figure out what you need is to send an e-mail off to PrimeMR2 with your questions. They were really helpful with my build plus they carry all the OEM parts for all generations of the 3sgte. I tried a turbo build and had nothing but problems. I would advise steering clear of a 5s turbo build.

People have started doing the 4th gen 3S-GTE swap in 6th gen Celicas, want to say a few here have and the information is available. Though paying for an engine and swap would be costly not knowing how to do any of it yourself, but if that's what you ultimately want and this engine is a good deal then no point putting money into the 5S.

People have started doing the 4th gen 3S-GTE swap in 6th gen Celicas, want to say a few here have and the information is available. Though paying for an engine and swap would be costly not knowing how to do any of it yourself, but if that's what you ultimately want and this engine is a good deal then no point putting money into the 5S.