Hello Im New, Advice Options

[thenewguy]

Hello my name is Kevin McCord i am 17 yrs old and im a knew owner of a 96 celica gt-s. it is my first car (i got lucky) and ive grown up around car...chevy's mostly camaros and chevelles...but seeing as this is MY car i wanna make the best of it and hopefully keep it considering i wanna play around with somthing other then a BB-chevy. actually this isnt my first car my first car was a 86 camaro berlinetta( 2.8) but had to sell cause of cash problems and gas prices. back to the celica im actually excited about it. i live in a town full of Civic-CRX's and Si's. and a few gsr's live on my block. and to be honest there all POS's cause everyone buys them and throws exhausts, and the bench sized spoilers...anyways any advice would help ill get more info on the car soon its sitting at my fathers in topeka i have seen it its white and the oonly thing that can go wrong is the 12yr old clutch...and i have some smarts about the car already when i heard i got it i went and did some research and all that jazz. ive asked questions but i cant rely on my sources cause everytime i ask there all like" why didnt u just get a civic" but meh ive been a toyota fan for the longest time my dream car is a 93 supra but ive got the celica as my first car which i think is a great start into the tuning...anyways ty for ur time and hope to hear from some ppl soon

[xredjokerx]

haha welcome to the site!
does your car originate from canada? because america didnt get the gts model haha. but if you have abs then technically you have the gts version..

what are your plans for it?

[bccentaur3]

Welcome. Any pics of the ride?

[trdproven]

Welcome, you've come to the right place.

[thenewguy]

well my plan for now is to work from the inside out start from wat i got and build on cause i dont got the cash for a 3sgte motor which i do have questions about cause mine supports the 2.2 forgot the technical name and i will have pics of it sometime this month and i understand that america didnt have the gt-s but it did come with a "sport package" but from wat ive seen the car did come from canada, not sure more info on that one later but it is a gt-s i plan on keeping the car white and making a white and black car with the camaro ss black racing stripes from front to back... with gt-4 body not gonna to the AWD conversion till i get the cash got the tools just not the parts lol first thing i think ima do is replace that old clutch cause its 12yrs old and its sensitive and kinda hard to show the civics whos boss if i cant run it on the strip with and iffy clutch lol...other then that its pretty basic stuff i do have big plans for the car but right now advice on working with the 2.2 would help...from wat i read on the 2.2 is toyota's econo engine and the 3sgte is the performance but ive got ppl saying keep the 2.2 and just upgrade that and im confused any help with that would work. i can go far with this car cause i have plenty of time on my hands and i have plenty of room and tools (father in topeka owned mechanic shop) so any outside ideas for something original would help i dont wanna run with the crowd but i still wanna show ppl its a 6gc

[thenewguy]

but as ive said b4 i am new im not a celica expert im new to this and wanna start somewere and the next time i go to topeka and drive the car ill pay extra attention to the car and any help on hints of it being a gt-s would help cause from wat the guy said that sold it to me it is a gt-s and he is a guy who worked for my father so hes not car dumb but never kno really so any ideas wat i should be looking for incase im wrong and can correct my mistakes..once again pics will come soon enough

[bccentaur3]

The only thing sport about the sport package celica is that it came with the sealed struts. Other then that theres nothing sport about it.

The 2.2 L 5sfe engine infact is an econo motor, but when boosted it comes alive. Trust me I've went that route until I cracked my ring lands. Now I have the 3sgte in there.

The good thing about the 5sfe is that it is tourqey. Has a forged crank which is a plus and besides the stock bottom end can handle plenty of boost. But if you've got the money get a 3sgte and call it a day.

If you want an instant 20 hp just get your factory cams regrind.

[thenewguy]

lol well i was thingking with the engine ive got stake the econ engine and completley rebuild it by replacing some of the weaker components and going from there ima rebuild the engine anyways and add more power to the 2.2 b4 i even boost it but thats were ive come into thoughts about the 3sgte... the famous quest...why? i mean i would think if u take out oall of the weak econ parts of the 2.2 and replace then with performance parts that the 2.2 would be stronger and more of a monster then the 2.0 3sgte but that just my educated guess

[bccentaur3]

Weak points on the 5sfe. Rod bolts. Also the 5sfe rods are tiny compared to the 3sgte rods. 3s rods are forged. IIRC the 5sfe cylinder walls are uber thin too. Why 3sgte? Because if you opt to swap the motor over boosting the 5sfe you don't have to worry about fuel management. Thats where a lot of money goes into when you boost the 5sfe. Tuning. But once you get that bad boy tuning, 5sfe owns. Thats why people stroke out there 3s so they can have that torque.

You can build the botton end all you want. But you want real power thats where you'll need to focus on the head.

[thenewguy]

the 5sfe already has a basic 140 bhp correct or am i wrong? so if i would work on the head and the rods and wat not wat would be the bhp without boost i dont plan on boosting the car till i get outa basic (coastguard) not till i graduate of course...lol i just wanna see if i can finally prove that ricer or a CRX that goes to my school wats wat cause hes all stock cept the cold air intake (maybe) the rest is show and hes being a real pain lol...Track racing of course

[bccentaur3]

Well if you just want na performance don't bother building the bottom end. Get a set of web cams and tune the car with a SAFC and you'll be golden. The 5sfe I believe was rated around 130 to the crank not sure maybe it was 140, but to the wheels and the added weight compared to your avg civic. I think the civic would win in a race.

With a set of web cams you can get 20 horses. Get you head done up, PnP and you'll be good.

[thenewguy]

ok thx i think thats prolly wat im gonna do after i go ahead and add a new clutch btw any ideas on a really good clutch? cause im not really wanting a 1/4 mil car i want a track car i mean 1/4 mile speed is a plus but im not looking for speed im looking for i can go through turns and stuff better and faster

[xredjokerx]

135 for fed spec, 130 for cali spec, so at the crank its supposed to be around 135 (new)

how many miles is on your engine? u may need the rebuild before u toss on a turbo...

if ur gunna leave it stock, go with what bcc said, but the power doesnt come until turbo or engine swap. >__<

This post has been edited by xredjokerx: Dec 10, 2008 - 3:33 AM

[thenewguy]

ima have to swap the engine anyways the car has 112000 miles on it and im prolly going for the 3sgte anyways but for now im looking for just simple up grades...to give the car more push ill start the mayjor tuning once im outa basic and on a stead payroll

[bccentaur3]

Get a stage 2 clutch. ACT ftw or competition clutch.

[thenewguy]

k thx for the advice ill prolly just let the 2.2 run out then drop the 3sgte in the car

[bccentaur3]

sounds like a plan.

[_mikeE]

that's pretty much what everyone does. I belive the main reason why people decide on boosting the 5sfe despite its torque, is that it'll be an economic turbo motor. But as for aftermarket parts, there aren't much for the 5sfe. Also take note that to boost the 5s motor, you're actually swapping over parts from the 3sgte and fitting it onto the other motor.
But all in all, if you want a track car, i would say drive out the 5s and upgrade to the 3s motor. As the words from Will(bccentaur3) himself, "The difference of the 5SFTE and 3SGTE is like night and day."
Anyway, to get your started to beat some civic's, you should upgrade your clutch and flywheel if u want since our flywheel weighs 18-19lbs, and the aluminum Fidanza ones available weighs like 10 (read up on the pros and cons of an aluminum flywheel), and get a shortshifter. Just those 3 mods alone is one of the best upgrade combo's you can do to any tranny. Then put a cold air intake and custom exhaust, and what we call "ebay headers", although these won't do substantial changes to the perf. of your motor, it's better than nothing. Then upgrade your suspension, and get good wheels with nice tires. From here on out your stock time should be shortened by a good second or two.
The downfall on our cars is the weight. Therefore, upgrading to the gt-four front conversion serves not only changing the look to something uber sexy--but you're also taking 25lbs off the front end. The OEM hood weighs 40lbs, and the gt-four hood is aluminum and only weighs 15.

In conclusion, don't forget to regularly do your oil changes and doing a tune-up right now would be nice. Oh, and don't forget the jdm stickers and 6gc.net stickers. They're +25hp each.

[97celiman]

bad post my bad-what hoods are lighter other than gt4?

This post has been edited by 97celiman: Dec 13, 2008 - 12:06 AM