3SGE Beams powered Celica, Her replacement has arrived Options

[S8S8]

how about a rundown of the process to install it? Doesn't the climate control use a bunch of temperature sensors placed around the cabin?

Well basically you have to strip the interior completely bare, which is a hugely painful job first time around!



The following parts will have to be replaced or added:

• Climate control dash panel
• All three fan boxes under the dash
• Cabin temp sensor (under the driver's side dash)
• Cabin solar sensor (top corner of the dash cover)
• Outside temp sensor (in front of the radiator)

There will also be a lot of rewiring required, however this was pretty easy for me as I did the climate control swap at the same time I did my Beams swap, so I was able to swap over the entire wiring loom from the clip without having to chop anything up.

The job isn't too difficult, but you have to make sure you get everything needed for the swap, otherwise it's not going to work.

Awsome work as always! and shut up celicazr haha.

Thanks man. There's still some work to do, but overall I'm pretty happy with the car.

Remaining things on the list at this stage are:

• Fix the oil leak
• Have my GT-Four bonnet and bumper painted and fitted
• Replace the tie-rod ends (have the parts, just need to do it!)
• New bucket seats in the front

I'd love some more power too, but it seems the options are pretty limited for the Beams.

Those look sooo nice! I wish Finnish legistlation wouldn't suck so badly, those would be so great looking.

Nice progress man, keep up the good work.

Thanks man. I never thought I'd bother with projectors, but yeah they do look good.

[Chanh55]

Great job on the Beams install. Keep us updated. Did you happen to Dyno it? I'd really like to see what kind of numbers it's putting out.

[BonzaiCelica]

if you want more power you can add blacktop valves, bucket lifters, and 11.5 compression pistons. Along with an aftermarket ecu you should see a 20 hp gain. plus you'll be adding an extra 1,000 rpm to your rev limit. Also adding the 4.529 final drive from the 2zz-ge transmission you also see an additional 8% percent torque increase. about 14 more pounds of torque

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Oct 31, 2011 - 9:24 PM

[ricochet1490]

I wish I could "like" that ^ dang

[S8S8]

Not much has been happening with the Celi lately, but today I swapped my 18" rims for some OEM 7th gen rims. I'm probably going to powdercoat my old rims white eventually, but for now I'll just stick with these for a while.

A few pages back there was a heap of talk about my heavy rims, so with both sets of wheels off the car I decided to do some weighing...

18" aftermarket wheel & tyre = 21.9kg
15" 7th gen OEM wheel & tyre = 16.4kg

So there's a fair difference between the two! I haven't driven the car to see if it feels any different, but I'll report back here if it does.

Here's a couple of pics with the new rims. They're a lot smaller, but I actually quite like the look! I think the silver colour is what makes them look better.

[BonzaiCelica]

nice bro they don't look half bad. so thats an extra 24 pounds (12 pounds each wheel) from the front of the vehicle and drivetrain. Hopefully those tires are sticky enough

[S8S8]

So I've had a chance to give the car a good run with the lighter wheels, and it has made a bit of a difference, but not massive. I can feel that the acceleration is slightly better, but that will also be benefiting from the smaller rolling circumference of these tyres compared to my old ones.

Grip levels have also dropped as expected!

I'm not sure whether or not to continue developing the Celica now, as I really have my eye on a new 86 when they are released next year. If I get an 86 the Celica will have to go, as we already have a decent daily driver. Decisions decisions...



This post has been edited by S8S8: Dec 11, 2011 - 11:16 PM

[RabidTRD]

Oh man. If I had the funds for the 86, I'd def go that way. I hate to say it, and as much as I love the Celica, I feel like the 86 is going to be more fun.

[S8S8]

When I did my Beams conversion I kept my original brake booster and master cylinder, but soon after the swap I realised that the master cylinder was touching against the engine timing belt cover (mine's RHD remember).

It turned out that the brake booster and master cylinder combo from the ST202 Beams was way more compact than the one from my ST204, and this was the reason for the problem.

In the pic below, going from left to right you can see the red strut tower, the master cylinder and the black timing belt cover. It's not too clear in the pic, but the master cylinder and timing belt cover are pushed hard up against each other.



I didn't bother doing anything about it, but it has always been a concern that the pressure could be placing stress on the master cylinder, which could one day result in a braking failure.

Thankfully I grabbed all the parts from the clip before scrapping it, and yesterday I finally decided to have a crack at swapping everything over.

Basically everything had to be changed including the brake booster, master cylinder, ABS control box and all of the front brake lines. If I'd have done the swap whilst the engine was out (like I should have) the work would have been easy, but with the engine installed it was a bloody awful task!

Anyway it's all done now and everything seems to be working again. I was a little worried that the ABS control box thingy would be full of air and difficult to bleed after sitting in my shed for over six months, but after bleeding a few bottles of brake fluid through the system it seems to be all good.

I also finally installed the new tie rod ends that I bought back in September, but I can't yet tell if it has fixed the creaking noise problem. I'll head out for a proper drive tomorrow and see.

So the moral of the story is that if you're converting a RHD Celica to Beams power, make sure you have the thin brake booster, and make sure you do the swap BEFORE you put the engine back in!

This post has been edited by S8S8: Mar 3, 2012 - 3:24 AM

[S8S8]

I've decided it's finally time to get my GT-Four front end fitted.

The bumper was in pretty poor condition when I bought it, with the middle gap squashed down and the little plastic supports broken.

You can sort of see the damage in this old pic, but I really should have taken one from behind the bar as well.



So to fix the bumper I opened up the gap using a piece of timber wrapped in sufficient cardboard to to get the gap right. I left it like this out in the hot Aussie sun for a day to try and stretch it back into position.



Then I cut up an old wire coat hanger to create little square-ish C shaped supports to fix the broken plastic supports, which were then fibre glassed over to keep them in place. I also poured some resin into the supports to strengthen them.



And here it is post-repair. It still looks a little out of shape around the top grille area, but when you put the grille in place it pulls the plastic back into shape and looks near perfect. Well perfect enough for an 18 year old car...



The surface is still in pretty poor shape, so the next job is to prep them for painting.

For the bonnet I've been debating whether to go with a modified latch (or finding a proper GT-Four latch) or going with bonnet pins.

The flush pins used on GT-FOURpl's white GT-Four look pretty cool, so I might go that way. Still deciding...

[Rusty]

nice diy skills mate

also glad to hear you have the suspension noise fixed

[S8S8]

Thanks Rusty. I am so glad the noise is gone! It's not just the noise though, the whole front end feels more solid now.

In other news, I think my car will be getting a colour change once the GT-Four front has been fitted...

[S8S8]

Prep work on the bonnet is going well. There were a few spots where the paint was so poor I had to go back to bare aluminium (especially at the front) but at least the bonnet itself is nice and straight.



The bumper is proving to be a real pain. Luckily it was cheap, but looking back now I should have waited for a better one to come up. Almost finished now though.



I'm undecided on whether or not to put the Toyota badge back on the front at this stage. I've filled in the holes, but they can be easily re-drilled if required.

[S8S8]

Still a lot of work to do, and it's not all going as planned, but I think you can see where things are heading...



I had to get the car back together prematurely because I needed to drive it today! The finished product should be much improved.

[richee3]

Looks mean!

[CelicaZR]

Good work mate
Looking forward to seein the finish product!

[S8S8]

Thanks guys.

I haven't progressed past the original photo yet, so I'm still rocking the satin black front and red rear.

I'm still thinking about getting a new 86 when they come out next month. I'm torn between buying a new Hilux and keeping the Celica, or selling the Celica and just buying an 86.

PS. Still loving Beams power. I swear this engine keeps gaining power as times goes by! It's rather strange...

[ricochet1490]

I love updates to this thread!... even small ones. My .02, get the Hilux. I will likely fix up my old 86 S-10 4wd this summer when I finish my BEAMS. Little truck for hauling and towing stuff.... car for having fun while driving.

You and I both know you don't want a car payment

[BonzaiCelica]

exactly the way I see it (everyone hates car payments)

[Box]

Exactly why I'll never have a new car. Not to mention you lose your ass on them money wise, soon as you drive it off the lot it depreciates. That and you can't work on them.

Any who, awesome car!!!

This post has been edited by Box: Apr 30, 2012 - 10:32 PM