3S-FE To BEAMS Questions, Just questions, nothing purchased yet sorry. Options

[Authentic]

Hey all

I own a '96 Celica with a 3S-FE engine. As a lot of you may know, its a nice, economical engine with decent power, but after reading so much about other people's Celicas, and having a friend who owns a 1998 Celica with the 3S-GE BEAMS engine, I kind of feel like I have a Nintendo Wii and everyone else has PS3s and Xboxs. They're all very similar, but its just missing that grunt factor. Now apart from his being an Automatic, his Celica is cooler in every way, and after finding an auction for a half-cut with the BEAMS engine on a site called Trade Me (New Zealands version of Ebay), I am extremely interested in doing an engine swap for my car.

Here is the auction for those who are interested: 3S-GE & 5 SPD Beams VVTi

I have read a couple of threads about people doing a BEAMS engine swap, but these were in Australia and I think in the US, and the Celicas there are slightly different.

I have never done an engine swap before, but I am eager to learn and I am reading as much as I can about it. I'm currently 19 years old so I don't have a lot of experience with large jobs such as this, but I know what is what in an engine.

First off, will everything that I need (apart from tools and universal engine parts [battery etc]) be included either with the half cut or interchangeable with my Celica? By this I mean things like wiring, cables, ECU etc?

And how 'plug-and-play' will it be with my Celica? I've sort of gathered that NZ has JDM Spec Celicas, so will that make this job any smoother?

I know what equipment and tools that I will require, and I do have a couple mates who are mechanics so they should be able to help me out, but they wont have nearly as much knowledge about Celicas as you guys do.

I apologise if I sound ignorant by asking these questions, but I just want to get an idea. I may as well summarise (in broad steps) how I think this will go down:

So basically:

• Remove BEAMS engine & transmission from half cut > clean and change fluids
• Remove 3S-FE engine & transmission from Celica > set aside
• Install BEAMS engine into Celica on same engine mounts?
• Unsure what to do with things such as fuel, fuses, power steering etc (Hoping 3S-FE stuff is the same)
• Install BEAMS Wiring Loom (Or use existing 3S-FE Loom)
• Install BEAMS ECU
• Install super strut front & Brake Assembly

Now I am not asking for a full walkthrough on how to swap engines, I am just wanting to see if I have the right idea about this, and for anyone to PLEASE correct me where I am completely wrong.

I know this is not a walk in the park for someone who has never done this, but I'm mainly wondering how compatible the existing components of the 3S-FE engine are with the BEAMS engine.

I appreciate any feedback, cheers.

EDIT: For the price I'm paying, I could probably sell my current Celica and for one or two grand extra, get a very tidy 3S-GE non-Beams. Unless this swap is fairly straight forward, that may be the option I take.

This post has been edited by Authentic: Mar 4, 2012 - 6:20 AM

[Rusty]

For some rough figures

Late spec BEAMS SS-II/SS-III celica
are going for around 8,000NZD
and with that your gaining
BEAMS engine, projector headlights, 3post steering wheel, climate control, red/black trim seats, silver interior trim pieces, twin pot brakes and if you buy a SS-III you get the lipkit, lsd gearbox, rear strut brace, superstrut suspension.

the 1/2 cut option and if we use your TM link in this your gaining
BEAMS engine, climate control, silver interior trim pieces, twin pot brakes, lsd gearbox, superstrut suspension
2,000 + shipping
any additional tools - but a good investment for future work (engine hoist is about 300)
maintenance parts (cambelt, water pump etc)
exhaust work
wheel alignment
cert 500
Using my guesstimation calculator thats about 3,500 - 4,000 NZD

Also I agree with what S8S8 said about the condition of the car you start with, looking through your profile pictures, it does look pretty tidy and you know the history about it.