6G Celicas Forums

Welp guys, the time has come for me to start my first car project ever, on my 94 celica GT hb. I just got my graduation money and im ready to buy a front clip for my celica, problem is im not sure where to look or who to trust because of the fact that if i pay and i get a lemon, i cant graduate again and get more money. I found acouple mr2 rear clip's with the 3sgte in it but i wasnt sure if it was the same thing, seeing it already has the LSD tranny in it i was hoping i could just buy one of those and have both at my disposal. Another problem im having is performance parts, wheather it is cams/camgears etc. do i order the cams for the 3sgte engine in for the mr2? Im sure it seems dumb to you guys seeing you are damn near pro's at the 6gen but i want to get this right the first time. Or well, im screwed lol. Im hoping to find a good front clip so i can complete the swap in one weekend, seeing as i dont have another vehcile for work. Please let me know if you have any tips about any special tools i might need to buy or any parts that wont come with a clip that ill need to save and order when i order the clip.

Thanks,
Ryan

I AM NOT FOR YOU CONTRY THE BEST I CAN TELL YOU IS TO CHECK EBAY THERE ARE MANY HALF CUTS THERE!!!

probably I'm not the best one to tell you this but I think your not ready for a project like this, you can't rely on a project car, if you don't have another car you can drive mean time, I don't think is a good idea to swap. you can't say you'll do it in one weekend, with no experience and probably not all the tools things take time, and little after swap problems can hold you from driving the car. as far as where to get the front clip do a search and you'lll find a list of sites and some members comments about their experience

lol just send your car over to Dr. Tweak and ask him to take care of everything for you

that's the easy way out, I'm confident he can do it but you need ulimited time frame for a project like this, specially since is your first big project.

if you send it to the doc it'll be done nicely and even that will take more than a weekend.

i think he wants to do it himself (as would i), not only to save a little money, but to gain experience... but you need a lot more than a weekend, and you would need to find a way of transportation. you want to try and do this right the first time. dont cut corners

The most important thing for you to do before your big project is RESEARCH. With the MR2 rear clip, you'll have to do some mod for it to work right. Get the 2nd gen or 3rd gen front clip, it will make your life a little bit easier. You'll still have to get your wiring done for your harness, unless you want to spend some time doing it yourself. For your project to be done in a weekend, I highly doubt it will happen unless you're a pro at swaping.

Ok,
First of all. DO AS MUCH RESEARCH AS POSSIBLE! Write everything down you need to know if you cant remember it. There are many forums on this site. 95% of all my research was in 6GC.

second, you need a ballpark of how much you have to spend. Can you do the work yourself? Or do you know someone with a bunch of mechanic (toyota) experience that can do it for you? If so, it CAN be done in a weekend. That DOESNT mean it will be done. I did my swap in 9 hours. But I did the harness before I yanked the engine out. Even so it didnt start. Turns out someone put the wrong year ecm with my car. You have to expect the unexpected.
lastly ,find a clip that fits your budget. If you dont have to pay anyone the clip cost should be about 2/3 of the cost. (just a guesstimate)
GOOD LUCK!

having your harness pre-done by someone such as doctor tweak makes the swap into a GT almost as easy as putting in a new 5sfe.

however, none of us had many problems with getting the motor in there, it was the hours of trouble shooting. the 3sgte is a finnicky motor, one uncapped vacuum port and your car could cut out and not hold idle, one blown off coupler and you will think your car is broken, one bad spark plug and boost will be so violent youll **** yourself.

i had the time frame of a week for my swap, lets just say as of the year anniversary it was still giving me some misc problems.

id say save up and replace EVERYTHING you can think of, dont just inspect, REPLACE.

cap, rotor, spark plugs, spark plug wires, hose from hell, hose from hell on earth, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, exhaust manifold gasket, thermostat, the clamps on the oil lines, coolant lines (the ones that you close with pliers lose tension easily, put a worm clamp on it)

do all of this now and you will save yourself a lot of hassle in the future.

depending on the mileage of your car you may also want to replace the master/slave cylinder.

keep in mind this advice is coming from somebody who probably had the worst running swap on the site for a long time, i got **** on with my shell and my engine, i tried to do it on a budget AND i had no other means of transportation.

This post has been edited by brianforster: May 1, 2007 - 1:40 AM

lame advice. diy ftw!

do NOT buy an mr2 clip. your going to make things way too hard on yourself if you do. DO send the wiring to dr tweak. plan at least 1-3 months before your car is running, if this is your first time doing a swap. 1 weekend time frame is something for seasoned pros. and last but not lest... you need to do more research before you start the project. if you dont, it will just come back to bite you in the ass.

Thanks all for your repsonses, ive done alot of research so far, but im still shakey about my swap. im going to wyotech and LOVE to work on cars, but im soooo scared to even touch my own. As the the extra transportation i do have another ride for the time being, but im not sure about some of the other steps. The sticky on this section on the 3s swap wasnt exactly detail by detail, and i know nothing about import engines whatsoever, i learned about 350's and less complicated v8's. Maybe you guys could give me some tips on what to research more in depth, i love cars and i LOVE my 6gen, but it needs to spool!!!

Thanks,
Ryan