MGCustoms 3rd Gen Motor Swap Options

[MGCustoms325]

Well I guess the time has come to swap a 3rd gen into my car.

I originally had plans of swapping in my built 2nd gen into the car and converting it to a drag/show car but those plans went out the window.

After reading others swap threads and seeing the potential the 3rd gen has in stock form I was blown away to say the least.

The car will be my daily driver and thus will be keeping it as close to stock while still adding a few supporting mods to maintain a smile on my face on my 25 mile commute to and from work. I will be making this as more of a keepsake for myself so it will be full of pictures and whatnot. Manny (presure2) has a wonderful build thread on his 3rd gen so I won't be adding any redundant information he has already stated.

I want to thank everyone on this forum that has ever taken the time to either answer one of my questions or has posted any pertinent information on this site. I also want to thank Art (lagos) for extending the wonderful discount he has on OEM parts to our community and for putting up with my barrage of questions and requests for parts. You're a stand up guy, and for that I commend you.

Now, On To The Pics! (I Took The Pictures Of The OEM Parts In A Way To Make Reading The Part # Easy)

First And Foremost, The Engine:


Gasket Set:






Oil Filters, Oil Pump Gasket, Sealant & Thermostat:


Distributor Cap, Rotor, And Gasket:


Timing Belt:


Spark Plug Wire Set:


Water Pump:


HFH & HFHOE:


TRD Quickshifter:






This post has been edited by MGCustoms325: Sep 3, 2010 - 11:49 PM

[Johnnyny]

what are your powergoals?

[MGCustoms325]

what are your powergoals?

Between 300 And 350 whp. More Than Attainable With The Stock 3rd Gen. I will be purchasing a Mine's tuned ecu to get some slightly more aggresively tuned maps and to remove speed limiter and raise cutoff to 7500 rpm. Will also be making a custom 3" exhaust with 3" downpipe, converting from the w2a to a FMIC and replacing the 3rd gen intake manifold (center feed) with a 4th gen manifold (side feed) to further reduce heat soak.

This post has been edited by MGCustoms325: Aug 8, 2010 - 12:26 AM

[Rusty]

wondering if you've thought about a LINK plug and play ECU? Though I suppose not many tuners are using LINK ECU's over in the USA?

This post has been edited by Rusty: Aug 8, 2010 - 12:35 AM

[Johnnyny]

what are your powergoals?

Between 300 And 350 whp. More Than Attainable With The Stock 3rd Gen. I will be purchasing a Mine's tuned ecu to get some slightly more aggresively tuned maps and to remove speed limiter and raise cutoff to 7500 rpm. Will also be making a custom 3" exhaust with 3" downpipe, converting from the w2a to a FMIC and replacing the 3rd gen intake manifold (center feed) with a 4th gen manifold (side feed) to further reduce heat soak.

why front mount stock can easily handle ur goals ?

[MGCustoms325]

wondering if you've thought about a LINK plug and play ECU? Though I suppose not many tuners are using LINK ECU's over in the USA?

I actually hadnt looked into that. Reason being that the Mine's ecu is plug and play. No need to pay for a tuner or dyno time and it will make the car a little funner to drive without any huge out of pocket investments. I will not be taking the car to the strip or anything of that nature so I really dont care about squeezing every last hp I can get out of the car. Thanks for the suggestion though!

what are your powergoals?

Between 300 And 350 whp. More Than Attainable With The Stock 3rd Gen. I will be purchasing a Mine's tuned ecu to get some slightly more aggresively tuned maps and to remove speed limiter and raise cutoff to 7500 rpm. Will also be making a custom 3" exhaust with 3" downpipe, converting from the w2a to a FMIC and replacing the 3rd gen intake manifold (center feed) with a 4th gen manifold (side feed) to further reduce heat soak.

why front mount stock can easily handle ur goals ?

I personally like the look of the FMIC. I think it adds a slightly sportier appearance to the car and also combats heat soak a bit better than a w2a IC IMO. Just a personal preference is all.

[MGCustoms325]

Most up to date progress: Sent out wiring harness to Dr. Tweak. I have also succesfully completed the fwd lsd e-153 conversion on my 93+ mr2 tranny. Just have to button a few things up on the tranny, clean it, paint it and the tranny is done.

[pipes]

did u buy ur hoses from hell from a dealer? if so can i get the updated part numbers?

[presure2]

Most up to date progress: Sent out wiring harness to Dr. Tweak. I have also succesfully completed the fwd lsd e-153 conversion on my 93+ mr2 tranny. Just have to button a few things up on the tranny, clean it, paint it and the tranny is done.

nice man, congrats on doing the swap.
outta curiosity, is tweak extending the harness for ya? and whats he charging for the 3rd gen wiring?

piper, when you click on the pic, it takes you to a full size version where you can read the pt#.

16282-88480
16281-88461

[pipes]

Most up to date progress: Sent out wiring harness to Dr. Tweak. I have also succesfully completed the fwd lsd e-153 conversion on my 93+ mr2 tranny. Just have to button a few things up on the tranny, clean it, paint it and the tranny is done.

nice man, congrats on doing the swap.
outta curiosity, is tweak extending the harness for ya? and whats he charging for the 3rd gen wiring?

piper, when you click on the pic, it takes you to a full size version where you can read the pt#.

16282-88480
16281-88461

lol silly me

[MGCustoms325]

Most up to date progress: Sent out wiring harness to Dr. Tweak. I have also succesfully completed the fwd lsd e-153 conversion on my 93+ mr2 tranny. Just have to button a few things up on the tranny, clean it, paint it and the tranny is done.

nice man, congrats on doing the swap.
outta curiosity, is tweak extending the harness for ya? and whats he charging for the 3rd gen wiring?

piper, when you click on the pic, it takes you to a full size version where you can read the pt#.

16282-88480
16281-88461

Thanks Manny. Yes he is. I just didn't want to take a risk on something so tedious and temperamental. He quoted me 450 when I spoke to him on the phone.

Most up to date progress: Sent out wiring harness to Dr. Tweak. I have also succesfully completed the fwd lsd e-153 conversion on my 93+ mr2 tranny. Just have to button a few things up on the tranny, clean it, paint it and the tranny is done.

nice man, congrats on doing the swap.
outta curiosity, is tweak extending the harness for ya? and whats he charging for the 3rd gen wiring?

piper, when you click on the pic, it takes you to a full size version where you can read the pt#.

16282-88480
16281-88461

lol silly me

I actually got both hfh from Josh at chico race works because they aren't available to US dealers. He charged 50 for both which I thought was pretty fair and he keeps them in stock so no crazy wait. I also got the water pump from him.

This post has been edited by MGCustoms325: Aug 8, 2010 - 7:11 AM

[presure2]

yea, the extending it part of it definetly is tedious, no doubt.
he also uses all factory style crimps, ect, which is nice for peice of mind, no worries about crappy solder joints.
i imagine you got an engine set without the fuelpump and intercooler relay box?
that adds a handfull of wires to the mix as well.
some may complain that 450 is too much, but knowing what i know now (from doing my own) , its a fair price for the labor involved, especially if it goes into the stock boot (which it will) and is plug and play (which it will be).
tweak knows his stuff, so if your not 100% sure you know what your doing, its better to pay someone who does when it comes to the wiring for your motor. diagnosing and fixing harness issues later down the road totally blows.
the last pics of a harness i saw from him looked 100% OEM.

::edit::
btw, dont let my build thread stop you from going into detail in your thread man.
the more points of info we have, the better off we all are, and the more we all learn, which is the whole point of 6gc.
lots of pics, lots of info, dooooo ittttt...

::edit #2::
if your looking for 300-350whp, why not take the money your gonna spend on the mines ecu, and buy a WI kit, and an active map clamp like jim and dustin did.
both made ~+-330whp @ 21psi, and jim made like 340+ on a partial run @ ~24psi.
you can use any toggle switch to toggle the speed limiter on and off as needed, you just splice into the speed sensor wire for the ecu.

[MGCustoms325]

yea, the extending it part of it definetly is tedious, no doubt.
he also uses all factory style crimps, ect, which is nice for peice of mind, no worries about crappy solder joints.
i imagine you got an engine set without the fuelpump and intercooler relay box?
that adds a handfull of wires to the mix as well.
some may complain that 450 is too much, but knowing what i know now (from doing my own) , its a fair price for the labor involved, especially if it goes into the stock boot (which it will) and is plug and play (which it will be).
tweak knows his stuff, so if your not 100% sure you know what your doing, its better to pay someone who does when it comes to the wiring for your motor. diagnosing and fixing harness issues later down the road totally blows.
the last pics of a harness i saw from him looked 100% OEM.

::edit::
btw, dont let my build thread stop you from going into detail in your thread man.
the more points of info we have, the better off we all are, and the more we all learn, which is the whole point of 6gc.
lots of pics, lots of info, dooooo ittttt...

LOL. Ok sounds good. I'll post everything I can. As for the harness, I agree 100%. that way in the unlikely event I have a wiring issue, he warranties the work and he will fix it. I can handle everything else I just dont have the patience or time to do it like I know he will. I've seen too many horror stories on here with wiring issues and I just don't want to deal with that headache. I know I'm going to have some hiccups, I just want to prevent the ones in my control.

[MGCustoms325]

::edit #2::
if your looking for 300-350whp, why not take the money your gonna spend on the mines ecu, and buy a WI kit, and an active map clamp like jim and dustin did.
both made ~+-330whp @ 21psi, and jim made like 340+ on a partial run @ ~24psi.
you can use any toggle switch to toggle the speed limiter on and off as needed, you just splice into the speed sensor wire for the ecu.

I actually didn't know about the toggle switch. Thanks for that heads up. I know I ran the idea of WI across my mechanic but he shot it down rather quickly. I will run the idea by him again and show him both jim and dustins results.

[presure2]

yea, totally understandable man.
there are always hiccups in any project, its the nature of the beast.
its how you pull thru the hiccups that really matters!
cant wait to see more, good luck!

[_Jim_]

Tweak does VERY nice work, and I would suggest him to anyone. In fact, I have him doing a harness for me right now for my newest project.

If you go back and read, all the threads of people who have swapped....if they walked away from the swap, quit, or got stuck...99% of the time it was because of wiring gremlins. if you are unsure about the wiring and can swing the extra couple bucks to have it professionally done, I would highly recommend it. I bet if you talked to Tweak over at Phoenix Tunning, they can do a GEN3 harness for even cheaper then 450 if you dont have them extend the harness, and you cut a new whole in your fire wall to come threw. The most time consuming part of the harness for the guys over at Phoenix Tunning is extending the harness, especially on a GEN3 where there isnt much "actual wiring" needed to be done to get it to work on your 6GC.

GL with the swap man, now that you have the harness out of the way, the swap will be very straight forward for you. Looking forward to the pics.

[MGCustoms325]

Tweak does VERY nice work, and I would suggest him to anyone. In fact, I have him doing a harness for me right now for my newest project.

If you go back and read, all the threads of people who have swapped....if they walked away from the swap, quit, or got stuck...99% of the time it was because of wiring gremlins. if you are unsure about the wiring and can swing the extra couple bucks to have it professionally done, I would highly recommend it. I bet if you talked to Tweak over at Phoenix Tunning, they can do a GEN3 harness for even cheaper then 450 if you dont have them extend the harness, and you cut a new whole in your fire wall to come threw. The most time consuming part of the harness for the guys over at Phoenix Tunning is extending the harness, especially on a GEN3 where there isnt much "actual wiring" needed to be done to get it to work on your 6GC.

GL with the swap man, now that you have the harness out of the way, the swap will be very straight forward for you. Looking forward to the pics.

Thanks Jim. Absolutely. I would just prefer to pay the money to get it entended and whatnot so that it fits like factory. I dont want to have to cut any additional holes in the firewall.

I was actually talking to Manny the other day and my only regret about this motor was that I didnt buy it from you. Although I got a good deal and was able to pick it up locally, I didn't get everything that I am sure I would've gotten with you due to the fact that you actually know whats involved in these swaps and actually own a celica. I am now stuck having to source a few miscellaneous parts that I am sure you would've included. On that note, If you have any 93+ inner lsd hubs from an mr2 let me know and I am also looking for a caldina intake manifold with throttle body. PM me pricing when you can.

I will definately take lots of pictures and an update to my plans, I will in fact be running a devilsown kit.

[MGCustoms325]

A few more goodies came in and I figured I would post them up.

Autometer Cobalt Tachometer


Power Steering Hose


PS Banjo Bolt & Gasket


Front Motor Mount


Transmission Mount

[lagos]

Look at those great looking OEM parts !

[MGCustoms325]

Look at those great looking OEM parts !

LOL. Yup. All thanks to you of course! BTW I am also going to need the front engine bracket. Let me know what it is gonna run me when you get a chance. Thanks again.