ST202 to 3rd gen 3S-GTE swap, After months of waiting and working hard the swap is almost complete Options

[Paul_Celica_GT]

In this project topic I'll descripe the swap of my 3S-GE to 3rd gen 3S-GTE.

After driving 245.000 km with my 3S-GE, the clutch started slip badly, the timingbelt and the other belts were severly worn and, well, 175 horsepower just wasn't enough . So I decided to swap to a 3rd gen 3S-GTE. From a Japanese export company, Japan Partner I bought a Celica GT-Four, for the engine and other parts.

These are the photo's the export company send me:

















As you might see, it has (original) TRD sideskirts, TRD rear splitter, Eurou frontlip and a Blitz Spec Nur Exhaust. After months of waiting, I've ordered the car half of August, got it February 14th, it was finally time to pick it up in Amsterdam Harbour.

I rented a carambulance and went to the harbour to collect the car. In the harbour I found out that the Eurou frontlip hadn't made it, unfortunately. In all my excitement I forgot to take jumpcables with me, and of course the battery was dead. So we had to push the car









When I got home (50 km drive) I got the battery from my car and put it in the GT-Four, it fired up immediately. After driving it warm, I've put the pedal to the metal, damn it's fast! Huge power! Next day I started striping the ST205. But first, this is my setup:

3rd gen 3S-GTE
E56 gearbox with oilcooler (standard on my car)
OEM viscous LSD (standard on my car)
ATW intercooler
ST205 Superstrut suspension (I had ST202, which is identical , except for some minor points)
ST205 brakes
ST205 front bumper
ST205 hood
Airconditioning (standard on my car)
JDM folding mirrors

I've renewed the following parts:

Clutchkit (pressure group, frictionplate and bearing)
Timing belt
V-belt
Sparkplugs
Hoodlock (LHD ST205)
Accelerator link (LHD ST205, turns out to be the same as LHD ST202)
Gaskets

Here are the pics of my swap, be warned, it's gonna be a lot, over a hundred . I can't post all the pics in one post and I have to translated everything what I've typed from Dutch to English. This is gonna take some time, so be patient . Expect updates regularly. For those of you who can't wait, here is my site (in Dutch): Celica GT.nl. I'll try to comment all the pics.

Part 1, extracting the engine from the ST205:


The 3S-GTE in the ST205


Removed front bumper


Removed side fenders, lightning, undercovers and intercooler


All the fluids out and removed the radiators and airco condensor (or evaporator, always forget what's what)


Removed wiring harness


Unmounted front suspension, and removed driveshaft


Worn driveshaftboot, though I'm using my own driveshafts


Removed front steering knuckle and shockabsorber

After this I've removed the properlorshaft.


Continues on the next post.

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

I think either is a very viable option.

The 3SGE has been turbocharged very sucessfully, and it flows great and is a very strong engine. It shares alot of the same bottom-end assembly and top-end components with the 3rd gen 3SGTE, so it handles turbocharging very well....biggest difference is the compression ratio, cams, and lack of a turbo. Scothaniel on this board turbocharged a 3SGE using stock ST205 components and ECU, so if this route interested you I would talk to him.


The 3rd gen 3SGTE is a very direct swap and its already turbocharged from the factory, so its just a matter of installing everything over to the ST202 body and doing some wiring. I did this on my ST204 and the actual installation is very straightfoward but the wiring was the most difficult part since I had to extend the harness for a USDM left hand drive car.


But really both are a great route to go, as long as you do your research before hand.




-Corey