Reliability after swap? Options

[soltrain]

I'm sitting on the fence about purchasing a 94' celica st ($1300 w/no engine) and swapping the 3sgte. I've kinda priced out everything including the 183 clip, 153 tranny, new clutch, new axle, new fuel pump, FMIC and piping, rear brakes perhaps?

All and all + labor (I've got no experience) seems to be around 6-7k total.

As I am a poor college student, how reliable are your 3sgte swaps after they are completed? I haven't read much about anyone having any problems - hopefully everyone's doin fine?

I really enjoy driving, but I probably wont be driving around too much, grocerry shopping and the occasional road trips, so I'm not sure on if this is a good investment or not. Some of my friends have advised me to just buy a stock old school celica for 5k and be done with it.

Any advice from some old hands?

[97sccelica]

3sgte's are known to hit 200k+ miles with out needing a rebuild

there is a guy on the mr2 forums that a while back was running 11's on a 192k mile engine with no problems

take care of it, and it will last, its still a toyota engine