My Daily, Thread for my DD Celica Options

[stephen_lee]

So this is for the daily. Plain, boring 95 ST auto. I bought it with 150k miles or so... now 3 years later it sits at about 260k miles. I use it for work and i drive A LOT of miles. (but get reimbursed for every mile i drive ) So anyway at one point of owning it, i managed to suck up some water into the engine. I pulled the spark plugs and cranked it to get the water out... fast forward a year. I did a compression test and found cyl one to have low compression (160-185-190-190) and a cap of oil did not increase it.. valves right? so i pulled the head to replace it with one of my spares, and found that piston 1 came about 1 mm lower than the rest... i bent a rod..

so now comes the decision of what to do. the chassis is in great shape, most new suspension stuff(replaced cxause i wanted it to be tight ) and decent body.
replace car(most likely with an Lexus ES, or LS) or replace engine. Now this car has been through hell w/ me and i love the celica... so its pretty obvious replace the engine.

So comes the choice what engine? rebuild the 7a spare i have for about 1k or beams swap for about 2k.

7a: easier and cheaper. same 30~ mpg. still SLOW
beams: about 2x cost, not terribly difficult for a redtop, 35~ mpg, quicker.

so i want to go beams on the daily... but keep it auto cause houston traffic and the miles i drive in it will SUCK with a stick... plus i have the V6 when i really wanna play lol

[richee3]

You know my vote

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280867619303?redirect=mobile

I'm still running a bit rich and managing 33-34 mpg on the highway, and around 27-28 in town. I'm not sure what the auto will do but it can't be terrible.

[rave2n]

I say Beams.

I'm not a hater of the 7a, but if you have the option to go bigger...why not!?

[kurt95gt]

F**k all this
Finish the 3vz an drop a 1uz in this one
Lol
Ok iguess a beams will do lol

[CrimsonSTX]

Keeping an eye on this because I'm pretty much in the same boat.

Also the Beams gets my vote too lol

[Box]

BEAMS it up Scotty!!!

[Syaoran]

BEAMS it up Scotty!!!

+1

Beams! Peppy, daily-driveable, high MPG, can keep it auto.

[stephen_lee]

BEAMS seems to be a favorite around here.

and the v6 is waiting on a clutch line and the shop to finish up machine work on the axle and shell drive

I'm going to finish up the v6 and then start the swap on the DD. if all else fails ill use my girls civic... not like she goes anywhere w

[ricochet1490]

beams auto FTFW - run the 7a till it explodes though... why the heck not. what's 1 cyl missing 20 psi? lol
Save for the swap in the mean time

[Smaay]

why is the BEAMS such a favorite? its a 2L with VVT, big deal....if you are upgrading from a 7A, just go V6 (1MZ or 3MZ) the cost will be the same or less than a BEAMS, and you can get new parts for it.

[kurt95gt]

Hes already got one v6 swap
The beams has good power for a dd an just as good if not better mpg! Han the 7a

[Box]

why is the BEAMS such a favorite? its a 2L with VVT, big deal....if you are upgrading from a 7A, just go V6 (1MZ or 3MZ) the cost will be the same or less than a BEAMS, and you can get new parts for it.

For me: it's because it's the same power as the V6(just less torque), easier to swap in, easier to work on, better mpg, etc... After having one transversely mounted V6, never again. Only downside is BEAMS part availability. If I were swapping, that's what I'd go with.

[kurt95gt]

I like my v6 swap thank you very much box lol

[Box]

Until you have to change the rear spark plugs, or anything else back there.

[kurt95gt]

Been there done that took ten minutes. Lol

Well mayne 15minutes

[stephen_lee]

actually my 3vz swap has plenty of room to get to the rear bank plugs.. more room than it did in the donor car (ES300)

and yea a v6 swap is actually cheaper for a bare minimum swap. but beams as stated has better power and better mpg opposed to the 7a, the v6 swap has no know axle setup for an autp... plus i want the smoothness of VVTi

[Box]

Been there done that took ten minutes. Lol

Well mayne 15minutes

Ah, so it's not as bad as most transverse V6 then. All the ones I've known, had to remove the air intake plenum to reach the rear spark plugs. Still, I'll take the convenience of the inline 4.

This post has been edited by Box: May 15, 2012 - 4:02 PM

[richee3]

I don't know that the BEAMS can out-MPG the 7A, since my old 7A auto got 34 mpg highway and the BEAMS manual is doing 33-34. Seems like the 7A can do a little better, unless you're trying to drive it a little harder. The BEAMS can do everything the 7A can but do it much easier. Smaay raises an excellent point of the V6 in an ST, as the work load involved will be similar in changing all the mounts, etc. The BEAMS has a couple more hp than a 1MZ, but significantly less torque. And as Stephen and bloodMoney have enlightened me, the torque curve of a V6 is much much better than a 4 cylinder. Truthfully, once the V6 swap is covered a little more widely, I'm strongly considering pulling my BEAMS and throwing a 1MZ in the Celica.

In Stephen's case, the BEAMS is comparable gas mileage to the 7A with loads more power at all speeds. He already has a 3VZ swapped Celica, so that defeats the purpose of a second V6 Celica. I vote BEAMS but I'm biased

Ah, so it's not as bad as most transverse V6 then. All the ones I've known, had to remove the air intake plenum to reach the rear spark plugs. Still, I'll take the convenience of the inline 4.

Sounds like my IS 300 Intake plenum/throttle body have to come off and cylinder 6 plug? Eff that business.

This post has been edited by richee3: May 15, 2012 - 4:09 PM

[SupraKid]

You guys are not factoring in that the beams requires premium fuel. I would take a v6 over a beams ANY day. Way more power and torque down low and overall, more readily available parts, the ability to make a lot of power if you ever wanted to, can run 87....Yes please.

This post has been edited by SupraKid: May 15, 2012 - 5:36 PM

[kurt95gt]

^^^good point
That settles it time for you to swap a 2gr swap inthis one an just dd the 3vz