Engine swap or upgrade? Options

[6thcelestial]

Hello. I have a 95 Celica GT with auto trans. The body is rust free, and in really pretty good shape as well as the interior. I really would like to get the most horsepower out of it, and right now the only mod.(if you can call it that) is K&N cone air filter. It has 111,000 original miles, and runs well. Besides headers, and a few other small mods, is it worth putting a turbo in, or am I better off doing an engine swap for say an MR2 turbo engine, or Altrac engine. I would like to stay in budget, so am planning accordingly. Also, I have never done an engine swap, so would rather have a certified mechanic do it. Anyone that you recommend? Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

[kurt95gt]

just depends on how big your budget it
an a auto to manual swap will make your car feel way better with a swap
there's not alot you can do to make power with a 5s
there's the basics header exhaust cai then you could get cams
you can turbo but its not as easy with these as hondas so turbo van cost as much as a swap
if you look in the sticky you'll find all this info an alot more one how yo turbo
pressure2 has a great writeup in the sticky on how yo build a 5sfte the right way too
take your time an do some research before you start buying parts
good luck

[mandrek]

also before asking us qestions like that, (is it worth it for..... ) what you really need to do is ask your self some very important questions first.

1: what do i want to do with this car. (DD, fun street car, weekend auto-x/drag/TA, full race car)
2:how much power (realisticly) do i WANT.
3:how much power can i afford.
4:what is my planned buget. (then add at least 1/3 over)
5: what will i need to support my planed mods to make this realistic. (ex: if i'm shooting for 350whp, what trans do i need to get, what size tires can i fit under the front end to actualy GET THE POWER TO THE GROUND, in a light 350whp car? etc)
6:how much time do i HAVE to do this project, and how much time am i willing to let this project take?

make yourself a realistic list of those questions, and then the community can help point you in the right drection..

i see tha you are not confident in doing the work your self.. so you need to at least dubble your planned buget, for any swap, for just the labor alone...


i hope that i dont sound like a dick, re-reading this i see that it can be read that way.. but i asure you, that is not the tone i am typing this in.. i just dont see any reason to sugar coat the point of the post, and hope to get this ball rolling alot faster for you..

[richee3]

Mandrek hit the nail on the head. You can add some pep to your car with a manual swap and some basic bolt-ons, but you'll never have any real power until you swap. He summed up a swap quite well, so I'll avoid redundancy. Swaps are completely worth the money though.

[6thcelestial]

also before asking us qestions like that, (is it worth it for..... ) what you really need to do is ask your self some very important questions first.

1: what do i want to do with this car. (DD, fun street car, weekend auto-x/drag/TA, full race car)
2:how much power (realisticly) do i WANT.
3:how much power can i afford.
4:what is my planned buget. (then add at least 1/3 over)
5: what will i need to support my planed mods to make this realistic. (ex: if i'm shooting for 350whp, what trans do i need to get, what size tires can i fit under the front end to actualy GET THE POWER TO THE GROUND, in a light 350whp car? etc)
6:how much time do i HAVE to do this project, and how much time am i willing to let this project take?

make yourself a realistic list of those questions, and then the community can help point you in the right drection..

i see tha you are not confident in doing the work your self.. so you need to at least dubble your planned buget, for any swap, for just the labor alone...


i hope that i dont sound like a dick, re-reading this i see that it can be read that way.. but i asure you, that is not the tone i am typing this in.. i just dont see any reason to sugar coat the point of the post, and hope to get this ball rolling alot faster for you..

Actually you really helped me out, and you made some really great points on exactly what I need to get figured out first. I am going to do some more research, and put down on paper what I can spend, and what I really want, and then go from there. Thanks again for you help.

[Smaay]

turboing the 5S-FE is just as easy as turboing a honda. in fact mechanically its identical. tuning is the only difference.