V6 swap Celica Options

[SaulGoodman]

Ive been really debating as of lately what I want to do with my ST. The 1.8 liter supposedly can put out solid horsepower with only forged rods and basic tuner upgrades on boost, but Ive been thinking about more torque with NA horsepower. An LS swap would be cool as sh*t but lets face it, too much work in a car not made for it. So a fwd V6 from Toyota is my next best bet, heres some of my choices.

3mz-fe w/ e153 - Best candidate with highest HP/TQ, but people say the motors are no good for boost unless you dump 3k to building the block. Any truth to this?
1mz - Numbers are too low, doesnt seem worth it in comparison to the others. Why or why not?
5vz-fe w/ e153 - Supposedly better for boost? Need confirm on it
2gr/1gr? - No idea how that would work.

I want to keep it FWD. Something "simple enough" to swap in and work day to day.
Which would be the easiest to source junkyard parts (axles, housings, whatever), providing the most reliable performance without sacrificing daily drivability? Ive heard a few people say 1mz/3mz are the easiest to fit in the bay while the 5vz is the most plug-and-play with the wiring. Or should I stick with a boosted 4 cylinder, maybe do something crazy like a K swap? This is all hypothetical, the build wont be for a while so keep it light. Im inexperienced compared to some of the old heads on here, but dang would a V6 Celica be fun. Im 100% in love with this platform, so in my opinion anything is worth the effort on it.

[Box]

The 7A is actually lighter, it's a fair bit lighter than the 5S-FE which is more on par with all aluminum V6 engines. It's like everyone thinks the Miata 1.6-1.8 are anchors because they're iron block but they're not, fully dressed is like 320 pounds and I'd suspect around the same for the 7A since it's a smaller block like they are, versus iron block I4 engines like the 2.2 5S-FE and 2.4 KA24DE that're 400 pounds. Then if you go with an E153 that's even more weight over the C56 than the S54 might be. I could find the exact number if I felt like digging for it, but there is a good 100+ pounds that the GT has over the ST and the only difference is in the drivetrain and brakes and the GT 15" alloys weigh less than the ST 14" steels.

It sounds like your ambitions are bigger than your capabilities if you're worried about having to learn to weld or shell out for custom headers, that's the least of your worries with any of the V6 swaps much less the 2GR. It may seem like I'm trying to deter you, and to a degree I am, since I don't want yet another person to jump head first into one of these swaps thinking it'll be something easy and cheap they can do in a weekend. You'd be far better off leaving the ST as is and getting a GT for swapping, project cars and daily drivers don't go hand in hand.

That or if you're set on a V6 there are plenty of good cars that come with them already, like the 350Z and Accord Coupe.

This post has been edited by Box: Sep 10, 2019 - 7:02 PM

[SaulGoodman]

The 7A is actually lighter, it's a fair bit lighter than the 5S-FE which is more on par with all aluminum V6 engines. It's like everyone thinks the Miata 1.6-1.8 are anchors because they're iron block but they're not, fully dressed is like 320 pounds and I'd suspect around the same for the 7A since it's a smaller block like they are, versus iron block I4 engines like the 2.2 5S-FE and 2.4 KA24DE that're 400 pounds. Then if you go with an E153 that's even more weight over the C56 than the S54 might be. I could find the exact number if I felt like digging for it, but there is a good 100+ pounds that the GT has over the ST and the only difference is in the drivetrain and brakes and the GT 15" alloys weigh less than the ST 14" steels.

It sounds like your ambitions are bigger than your capabilities if you're worried about having to learn to weld or shell out for custom headers, that's the least of your worries with any of the V6 swaps much less the 2GR. It may seem like I'm trying to deter you, and to a degree I am, since I don't want yet another person to jump head first into one of these swaps thinking it'll be something easy and cheap they can do in a weekend. You'd be far better off leaving the ST as is and getting a GT for swapping, project cars and daily drivers don't go hand in hand.

That or if you're set on a V6 there are plenty of good cars that come with them already, like the 350Z and Accord Coupe.

Thats whimp talk, we are real men out here, with big engines and small weenies.

On the real I just dont want to blow 15k on the swap because of custom fab. The entire purpose of the build was to see what crazy thing I can do with it next, so Im pretty set on getting a V6 into my Celi. I realize its gonna be alot but Ive already done some pretty ambitious projects with it, including painting with it a roller. I can source a 2gr fully outfitted for about 600, another 400 or so for the E153 transmission. The sourced build would be around 1500 (axles, mounts, etc; not including the GT4 pieces) from my local LKQ U-Pull-It, anything more is additional. Wiring harness is probably another 500. Custom engine mounts would be 200 or so each? So at the end of this the project will be around 3-4k by my estimates. Of course realistically itll be 5-6, but even still, 2-8-0 WHEEL na horsepower would be insane. To make that kind of power from a 7afe would take way more and be unreliable, 3sgte would be around the same price but I stated why I shouldnt above. A V6 just seems logical, a 2gr seems right