6G Celicas Forums

I'm dealing with the same problem right now. I've just bought a climate control unit and the seller didn't get the point: I told him I needed the wiring too, but all he did was cut all the wires from the back of the unit, leaving 2 plugs in the unit.
The control unit is from a rhd and my car is lhd, but I' ve found a way to install it.
Now I need to know what needs to be done and what do I need to buy in order to make it work.

When ordering OEM manufactured by Toyota, romanian dealers require a part number or a VIN/frame number because you cannot return that part for no reason. My frame number is for a 95 Celica, so.... it's useless.
I could have asked you for a 96+ Celica frame number, but... I think it's better this way.

I want to do the 95-to-96 facelift to my ST202 Celica. I tried the "search" function and nothing came up. Can anyone help me with a part number for the 96+ front bumper cover?
Thank you very much!

I am wondering why in the world would you need a V6 swap, when a 3sgte swap is better? What is the advantage of dropping in a V6 engine?
Let.s count:
-less power;
-more work to do;
-more expensive swap, including the custom work and parts needed (engine mounts, clutch etc.);
-more expensive taxes (in some states);
-harder to do it legally (in most european states, as far as I know).
The guy who did it the first time (SnapshotGT, I think) is an exception. He did something that nobody ever did before, which is worth the effort (IMO); how about the rest of you guys? You ALSO want to do something that nobody else did before, EXCEPT FOR SNAPSHOTGT and some other guys? What is the gain in this?
Even if you think it.s cheaper for you (since you pobably have found a cheap V6 engine or you already have it or something), I think you should probably think twice about this kind of swap.
Good luck, no matter what you choose!

The guy who is selling the engine to me says that he took the engine off a MR2 and he called it "3rd gen 3sgte, 242 bhp, with celica st205 ecu". He also said he can sell me a CT26 turbo or a T3 one, to match the engine. Now, I don't know much about the 3sgte engines, but if I could get a picture of the engine and the turbo, could you tell me which version it is?
I know that mr2's were also equipped with another turbo engine, 225 bhp.
I really don't want to buy the other 3sgte versions, 205 bhp or 225 bhp. I want the 242 bhp engine and he claims that this is what he's selling. Please help me buy the right thing I will get a picture a.s.a.p.
So, if it's really a 242 bhp engine, you think that my st202 alternator will fit the 3sgte? That's good news. Today I'll check out if it's an 80A alternator.
PS: if the engine is the 242 bhp version, should I buy the CT26 turbo for it or should I search somewhere else?
PS2: his prices are amazing (580 euro for the engine, 120 euro for oem pistons and rods, 125 euro for st205 ecu, 300 euro for rebuilt CT26 turbo); he is also really close to me, so I might get the engine and stuff for under $1500 (including transport); if I would buy another engine from somewhere else, it would definately cost me over $3000, which I can't afford.
Thanks for advices!

Hello everybody!
I'm going to buy a 3rd gen 3sgte soon (this month). It's from a mr2 and it comes with a st205 ecu, oem ct26 turbo and all sensors. It doesn' come with an alternator.
My car is a '95 st202 with the 3sge engine, 2.0 16v 129 kw (175 hp).
Is my alternator the same as the one used on the 3rd gen 3sgte? Or is my alternator compatible with the 3sgte engine?
Thanks for any possible answers!

I have a few words to say, based on things I've read about this and also on my (pretty limited) experience.
1)Wider tires don't mean that they will be more sticky: imagine that the same weight will press on more square inches, which means that the weight on a square inch will be less if you use a wider tire.
2)Once the tires are stickier, there will be more "pressure" on the clutch and the ... things that connect the gearbox to the wheels (I don't know how they are called, perhaps CV boot or something).
3)For drag applications, you need to stiffen the rear suspension; besides springs, you could use top adjustable shock absorbers; I use Koni's and they do their job well.
4)I agree to the polyurethane engine mounts; also, changing all of your bushing to poly will improve everything, except for comfort.

Good luck!

Urputus: the colour you've chosen is really amazing and I'm pretty sure I'll see it for real this summer, at the PECM, if I can get there (and you were saying that MY car's colour was nice ... hmmm )
The JDM tail lights are a must-have for any Celica owner, I can't wait to get mine... And by the way, looking at the pictures above, I think that your paint is a perfect match for those tail lights... they can't look better on any other colour.
About the modified hood, I think it came out pretty good, even if the center line isn't perfect as it was from the factory. The aerodynamics are probably better than the GT4's. The shape isn't perfect, since the parts weren't initially designed to fit like this from the beginning, but it's a pretty good compromise that nobody (probably) ever thought about and it looks pretty nice!
Congratulations for everything, including the interior cleaning!

You're absolutely right, that's why I never want to hear about 18" rims on my Celica again



Thank you very much!
I've seen two Celicas with those side skirts and front/rear splitters and they look very nice. I'm talking about a dark red Celica known as "Red Devil" and the black Celica that is very lowered (one of the lowest Celi ever), most of you must know it from this forum.




It's true, the designer is very creative, perhaps I'll add some more pictures of his work some day (one of them is a total reshaping of an Audi TT to look like an Audi R8, with a few modifications here and there).
Before I get to redesign my Celica, I want to focus on performance: first of all is suspension. I have to buy the parts one by one, according to the budget.
After that, I'll try to create some body-kits and choose the best looking one (of course I'll ask for your opinions here, too )

About the seats, they are recently covered in that blue/black eco-leather, but I want to go for beige again, like I did to that Daewoo. I really like that interior colour, plus it makes the whole interior look bigger, more modern and more noble.

Thanks for your opinion about the blue paint! I had the idea of changing it to a light blue (since I have to repaint the car soon anyway), but I haven't decided that yet, we'll see.

Now, I really need your honest opinions about the OZ Futura rims. I've just bought a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 tires, 215/40/R17, and I've put them on... and I really can't decide: keep the rims or not?
Some friends say they look great, some say they don't match my car (since these rims are mostly used on BMW's and VW's). My opinion is somewhere in the middle...
What do you think, do they match my car or not? Should I keep them or sell them?








Thank you very much, your opinions matter and will influence my decision radically. I usually follow my thoughts and my heart and then ask for opinions, but this time I really can't decide what to do and I need your help.

I've read somewhere else that you have a Tanabe DF210 spring set... I'm also waiting for mine to arrive. Could you please upload some photos when you finish installing them?
Thank you very much and congratulations for that Beams engine!

For a while, I had these 18" rims... I couldn't ever find out what were they called, but I liked them a lot when I first saw them. Tires were 215/35/R18, the only 18" size that would have the same outside diameter without affecting the speedometer and other things. They were too heavy, so I replaced them to a set of 17" OZ Futura's that I still have in my garage, waiting for good weather and new tyres. These are the 18" rims:


And this is the other rims' first test fit (don't mind the rear tyres, they were installed just for a test, size is way bigger than what I need):




All the OZ Futura's are very light and they're in great condition, despite their age (made in 1992 ), so I didn't waste too much time to trade them (for the OZ's I traded my 18" rims&tires plus one portable GPS); the next day, they arrived in my garage, I haven't moved them since (that was about 6 months ago):



Right now I'm running OEM rims and winter tires. One day I decided to paint my rims white:



Other things I've done to the car don't really worth to be mentioned, but here they go:

-Transparent front blinkers:




-Red sprayed taillights:




...and that's about it so far. I forgot to mention: my Celica is a '95 ST202 hatchback with 3sge engine, non-vvti, manual transmission.

I will keep you updated. Thank you for watching my humble "project"!

...back to what I've done so far:

Interior: new upholstery, blue and black artificial leather; home-taylored blue carpets (including trunk and two subwoofer enclosures that I don't own anymore); new Sparco pedals and footrest; used MOMO steering wheel (it needs a new "coat"); Pioneer FH-P80BT doubleDIN headunit; 3 way Hertz speakers (200mm/70mm/20mm, 150w rms) with home-made mounts for midrange drivers and tweeters; 5gc headrests:






That light-blue paint from the dashboard is gone now, I've replaced it with silver paint but it won't stay that way for too long:




Plans for the interior are simple, but very expensive: beige/black leather interior and real aluminium trim. The second part is not very difficult to accomplish, I'll show you the results and the step-by-step operation. If it doesn't work out the way I think it will, I'll wrap every trim piece in real carbon fiber and that's it.

Another little project I'm working on is a car PC. So far I've bought:
-the enclosure (MiniITX M350)
-the motherboard (Gigabyte GA-D525TUD with an Intel Atom DualCore 1.8 ghz processor and two ddr3 ram slots)
-two ddr3 memory modules, 2Gb each
-one 2.5" 500Gb hdd.
To make it work, I need to buy an M3-ATX power source and ... a VGA monitor.








I'll continue with the wheels I had before, the wheels I have right now and a couple of more little things.

My bad, I didn't check it out, I don't know why I thought he was from Poland... but he was able to help me with that little problem, anyway.

Thank you for your opinion about the car!

Side skirts and spoilers... I was thinking about the OEM SS-III ones, but that means I should change the front bumper with a '96+ one. Other than that, I don't really like the way they fit with each other (it seems to me that the back splitters don't align perfectly with the side skirts).

The other plan was to order a custom body-kit, i know a very good manufacturer from Romania who can create anything, any shape just with a picture in front of him, and the custom bumpers, skirts, hoods etc. weight very little (no putty required before painting, except for those little spots to cover the little holes in the fiberglass' surface). I'll design the entire body kit, once I'll decide to do it (IF I'll decide to do it). In order to imagine what that manufacturer can do, I'll attach one picture with my ex-ride, a Daewoo Tico. In the left side of the picture is another Daewoo Tico, unmodified. To modify the appearance of that car, I've chosen a Nissan Skyline custom front bumper and I send my manufacturer two photos, then he did a hand-draw and turned it into the real thing. The side skirts were his idea, created to fit the low end of the front bumper.

Hand-draw:



The result:



Right now the exterior of the Celica is not a priority, I have a set of 17" OZ Racing Futura wheels that I'm keeping for the summer, and meanwhile I'm buying suspension parts - bought the rear adjustable Kony Yellow shocks/struts, now I'm waiting for my Tanabe DF210 springs to arrive to Europe by ship... and right after that, I'll buy all the polyurethane items that I'll afford (from Poland ) plus the front adjustable Kony Yellows. After that, hopefully I'll do the 3sgte swap, as I've promised myself.

Romania IS the banana tree, compared to the rest of Europe
Never seen that Celica before and I think it's pretty ugly, so I hope I'll never see it from now on.
Never been to Transfagarashan so far, even if I've been in every corner of this country...

About the summer meeting, I'll try to get there, I would really wanna go ... seeing your car live is a good enough reason to do that.

PS: Since you're from Poland, do you know that man who manufactures polyurethane stuff for our Celicas? Or do you know any way I could contact him, except via ebay?

Back on topic, I'll try to upload some photos today and tell you my car's short story. Here I go again:

Bought this car from Bulgary in the late summer of 2008. The seller brought it from Italy, it was probably really cheap since the exterior looked like crap, the tires were a bad joke, the upholstery was a mess and... some dashboard lights were ON (check engine, oil level, oil pressure... I paid 1.900 euros for it, after my wife negotiated the price (initial price was 2.400 euros). I didn't know anything about Toyotas back then, in fact I think my Celica is the first 6gc I've ever seen I just went there the day before to buy a Honda CRX Del Sol (found one for the same money, 2400e, but I only had 2000e and he wouldn't drop the price at all... FORTUNATELY ). So, before going back home to wait and raise some more money, I decided to take another look around; that was when I spotted her, in a corner: very dirty and in an awful shape. I saw some potential in her anyway, so here I am

My Celica had around 170.000km and only one previous owner. It was not registered anywhere, so I brought it home on a trailer (around 200 km). To register it to Romania, I had to pay around 1400 euros.

This is how she looked the next day after bringing her home:




First wash:





Then something had to change about it. I had to choose from dark metallic green and this electric blue. I've chosen the second one and, after replacing the right front fender and the mirrors, I took her to a body shop and then paint shop. This is what happened:

(before applying the clear coat)






(after applying the clear coat)




Next day, before reassembly:
(notice the ruined interior)





Same day later, on an air strip (drag day):




To be continued...

Ok, thanks, it's good to know. So one out, three to go :

1)original ECU (pre '95)
2)piggyback
3)standalone.

Which one is possible and/or better to connect to a car PC? (not easier and cheaper)

Hello everyone!

Last couple of weeks I've been setting up a car PC for my Celica.
The car is a '95 ST202 with the non-VVTi 3sge engine (129kw/175 HP).
The car PC will be permanently installed in the car, so I've been thinking of connecting it to the car somehow, to be able to use it for diagnose and stuff.
I need to know if that is possible for the pre'96 Celicas, if there is any cable available, along with some software. I've done a couple of diagnoses so far, in a specialized garage, so I'm sure the under-hood connector is good for something
If you think / know it isn't possible, do you recommend changing my ECU with some '96+ ECU that runs OBD2? Is it possible to replace the ECU only?
Would it be possible to connect my PC to some "piggy-back" ECU or should I go for some stand-alone engine management system?

PS: I know that I could buy some diagnostics kit for Toyota (including a tester/mini-computer that is specially designed for diagnostics) along with the cables required, but that would cost a fortune so it's out of discussion.

PS2: Didn't find any answer for my questions by using the "Search" function.

Thank you for your time and possible answers!

I appreciate this new-born section called "My project". I would never have posted my car's topic anywhere else but here, because here is the only place where you can show the other people your car even if it's bone-stock or heavily rusted... it's your car, so it has the "rights" to be here, whatever you've done, are doing or are going to do to it.
Based on that thought, I'm gonna climb down from my banana-tree, hold my breath for a couple of seconds and then proceed to choose some pictures and type a short story about my Celica. DON'T EXPECT TO READ/SEE ANYTHING SPECIAL. Here we go:
http://img443.imageshack.us/i/04092008557.jpg/
To be continued tomorrow (I hate this upload method...).

Hello,
Excuse me if I'm not supposed to ask this here, but it's about the same manufacturer (from Poland) and the same material (polyurethane): I want to know a few things about the polyurethane ENGINE MOUNTS.
I've seen they come in two shapes: full design and "turbo" design, first one being recommended for racing and the other one for street/racing (softer than full design). Anyone tried any of these so far? The seller/manufacturer says that they might cause some vibrations inside the cabin, how bad are these vibrations? Do both types of engine mounts cause vibrations? Are these two engine mounts enough to reduce/eliminate engine "movement", without replacing the third (gearbox) mount? (this is about the european ST202, non-superstrut).
Din anyone contact this guy some other way then via ebay? (I'm asking this because I'd rather go get the bushes myself from him, since Poland is ~1000 km away from me, instead of ordering them on ebay, have them shipped to UK and then back to my country).
Thanks and excuse my intrusion!

Well, I would rather buy a turbo kit for my 3sge, instead of buying a 3sgte engine, for the following reasons:
1)A 3sgte engine shipped from the States to Europe would cost me about $3500 to $5000, depending if it's an engine clip or just an engine. A bolt-on turbo kit with all the accessories would probably cost me around $2000, because it's base price is lower and shiping is also cheaper because of the weight.
2)3sgte engines aren't so easy to find, plus they weren't manufactured in a big number, so they'll soon dissappear from the market or their price will go higher. In case i'll destroy my engine somehow, I'd rather be looking for another 3sge than a 3sgte; right now, as I'm typing this, I can think of 3 3sge engines for sale just in Romania, and I know all of those 3 sellers; and that's not all: if I check the local market right now, there are probably 15-20 6gc's equipped with a 3sge engine, for the price of 2000-3000 $. On the other hand, THERE IS NO ST205 IN ROMANIA and, of course, no 3sge Beams.
3)The local authorities here make it very difficult to change your engine with a more powerful one, even if it would bolt right up to your chassis and stuff. If I change my engine entirely to a 3sgte, I have to have my car checked for road safety, and that test is very expensive and hard to pass. They would never accept a FWD 3sgte, simply because it was never installed on a Celica (I mean the fwd version).

Probably there aren't very many guys in the same situation as me, but I bet there are a few, mostly in Europe. If you search all the european ebay's, you won't find more than 3 or 4 3sgte engines for sale and it's very expensive for us to order it in the States. Also, the 3sge-3sgte swap is illegal in many european states.

Other than that, I agree: it's a lot easier and safer to install a 3sgte than convert a 3sge from n/a to turbo.

Of course it has. That's why nobody is making any turbo kit for the 3sge, with or without the vvti. The engine is already pushed to its limit by Yamaha. The regular NA 2 liter engines produce about 120-150 hp, while the 3sge already produces 175 hp without any variable valve timing etc. They know that an engine that's already pushed to its limits can't be pushed too far without serious enhancements.

My dilemma is why nobody does forged internals for the 3sge, in order to make it "accept" turbo... It shouldn't be such a big deal

1)Your gearbox is probably leaking oil. I had this problem with another type of car, the problem was occuring only in 2nd gear. It was some kind of bearing and an axle seal. Don't change the oil before you make sure that your gearbox oil isn't leaking! And if you need to change one axle seal, maybe you should change the other one too, they're not expensive. They have the same code, so they fit from left to right (don't bother looking for two different parts, they're identical).

2)Another probability might be that you (or a previous owner) opened the gearbox for some reason and changed the fifth gear's .... I don't know what is it called... that "wheel" from the mobile train). Since not all the "wheels" were changed, the 5th gear "wheel" is not used very much as the other gear "wheels", so when the 5th gear is engaged, the "fixed" train "wheel" doesn't fit perfectly on the mobile train's wheel, as the other gears do. Sorry if I'm not making sense, but:
a)my english isn't very good;
b)for the second answer, I called my mechanic, he explained it to me in romanian and I translated what I understood from him

As a conclusion, your oil is definately low and... that sound you're talking about is probably some kind of whistle sound.

Sorry if I couldn't be helpful.

(edit: I see that you already described the type of sound in the topic's title)

1.LSD - when I'll do the swap, I'll keep my GT manual gearbox. Could an LSD for that gearbox do the job?

2.Coilovers - I'm hoping that a set of top adjustable Koni Yellow dampers and a set of Tanabe DF210 springs will successfully replace a set of coilovers. I can set the rear dampers to maximum stiffness (and believe me, they are very firm even now, on OEM springs). Also, the Tanabe springs are supposed to lower the car 2.2 inch in the front and 1.5 in the back. That sounds good if it's true, I haven't received them yet...

How about the clutch? Is that "hybrid" clutch strong enought, considering that the clutch disc would be the small, GT disc?

One question: did any owner of a FWD 3sgte 6 gen Celica do 0-100 km/h in 5 seconds or less? I really don't trust that online calculator, I've calculated 0-100 time for all of my previous cars and it's not very accurate (for example, my Celica with the actual setup should reach 100 km/h in 7,3s, which is 0.6 seconds faster than reality, which seems alot to me).

Are you sure about that? Because I've just ordered them for my '95 ST202, from ebay. They actually have the same part number, TDF083. Could they all be wrong?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TANABE-DF21...sQ5fAccessories

Also, I've seen many spring manufacturers who sell the same springs for both AT200 and ST202, and Eibach is one of them.

I sure hope you're wrong, otherwise I've just wasted 250$ for nothing.

@Culpable: 4.3 sounds awesome, but i don't think it's even close to reality... the st205 can do 0-100 km/h in 5.9s and it probably lanches very well, because of 4wd. I'm talking about the standard, not modified 242hp 3sgte. If the fwd 3sgte could reach 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds or less, it's more than enough for what I want (the 400m, 1600m times will definately be better than the st205, since the 4wd is slower at high speeds). I'm not even interested in a rwd 3sgte setup (even if it's cheap and easy to do), if a fwd 3sgte can beat an awd 3sgte from 0-100 km/h.
Too bad I can't see some consistent numbers...

@Death: got it, thanks for the advice! I got used to another kind of forum board and settings, where you can only edit your reply in 5 minutes, after that it can only be done by a moderator...

@richee: it's obvious that a lighter car with the same engine is faster, but it's harder to launch from 0 km/h.
About wheel hop, I don't think it can be solved... my car does that too, and it only has 175 hp... this problem cannot be solved if you change everything: lsd, engine mounts, bushes, springs, shock absorbers and also add sway bars and tower bars... I think the problem is that Celica has too long "lower arms" or whatever they're called.

Like I said in my previous reply, I would like to change the title to "fwd 4rd gen 3sgte 0-100km/h acceleration". Perhaps someone can help me with that.

RWD 3sgte really was a dumb idea, starting with the fact that it would have the weight of an ST 205, while performance would probably be worse.
If a rwd 6gc could be done, than my mechanic could do it too, with no further detalis required. The problem is that I don't have an ST205 tranny to show him, that's why I asked the dumb question in the first place. I don't have the required knowledge to figure it out myself and I didn't make plans to learn everything about transmissions, just to figure out by myself that a rwd st205 tranny isn't possible or, if it is possible, it's not worth the efforts and expenses. Plus, as I've used the search function before creating this thread, there was no other discussion regarding this subject (making a rwd st205 tranny), only discussions about replacing the st20* gearbox to a rwd tranny, swapping the t20 engine to a 1jz/2jz from Supras, with the rwd 5/6 speed tranny and others... nothing about rwd 3sgte with st205 tranny.

It's like some of you guys, owners of CF hoods & stuff, would have to learn everything about CF, including history, chemistry, types of resins etc., just to buy a CF hood... NO, that's not the way to do it, you just ask about weight, durability etc., then buy and install your god damn hood. Or it's like someone looking to buy a decent car stereo would have to learn everything about transistors, resistors, soldering etc. Again, you don't have to do this, you just check out the factory provided specs, see if they fit your taste, than buy the stereo or not. Same goes here: before going further with the rwd dumb idea, I thought it would be better to ask here first, then do research if required. Actually, that was my first dumb idea, to ask this question here.

Forget about the rwd idea, let's move on to the other question: does anyone have info about fwd 3rd gen 3sgte Celicas, like 0-100 km/h time, 400m time, 1600m time, top speed etc.?