6G Celicas Forums

This is a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks they are going to slap a turbo on a high mileage engine and run low boost. DON’T DO IT! In December of 2014 despite all the posts that say, don’t boost your engine unless it is low mileage or rebuilt, I went for it. Is the 5sfe a great engine to boost, yes, but do it right. This post will tell the LONG, expensive, frustrating story to creating my 5sfte. The below write up is what happened.

Background
It has been a long road for this 5sfte build. Here is the engine I started with:


I saw what Supershannon77 did with an Ebay T3/4 turbo for her 6th gen Celica 5sfte and I tried to duplicate it (with a few upgrades). I bought an Ebay kit with the idea that I would need to modify or replace some of the parts that came in it but the bottom line was it would give me a turbo, intercooler, exhaust manifold, downpipe, and some miscellaneous needed parts.

As I started the build I found the kit seriously lacking. The big one was the downpipe was for a CT26 turbo not a T3/4 so I had to order one. There was no oil return line and there was not enough intercooler piping. It took 3 months to resolve all the issues with the advertised “bolt-on” kit (there is no such thing as bolt on from Ebay), I ended up with the following build:


8 psi boost
T3/T04E Turbo
Turbosmart Wastegate
2.5 inch full exhaust
Magnaflow Muffler and Catalytic Converter
AEM FIC Piggyback
SSQV Blow Off Valve
460cc RX-7 Injectors
FMIC
Walpro 255 Fuel Pump
3sgte 3 Bar MAP Sensor
Custom downpipe from Demon Motorsports
Ebay tubular exhaust manifold

I started noticing when I would pop the hood after a drive that there was an extreme amount of heat coming out of the engine bay. I also saw that the under hood insulation was burning away. After doing some digging, I found that the tubular manifold I was using was giving off too much heat instead of shooting it down to the exhaust. I needed a 3sgte manifold. I went to the Toyota dealership and they told me that all their warehouses are out of stock and that the best bet was to find a used one. That led to one option, Ebay. After about a week of missing out on bids I finally scored a 3sgte manifold. It arrived and I was so excited, I ceramic coated it and put it on and the car was back!


Then another problem reared its head, the clutch started slipping. I bought a SPEC stage 2 clutch, got it installed and the car ran like a champ. In the process of tuning the car, I sprung a fuel leak that lead to an engine fire. I think it the Walpro fuel pump put too much pressure on the original lines coming from the fuel filter and something popped.




Now here I am, where I should have started. In hindsight I should have rebuilt the engine before going down the turbo route. My plan was to fix the fire damage and rebuild the engine to a 14-15 psi boost-able monster. My goal is 280-300 horsepower. Based on what I saw in Pressure2’s build, I can use stock pistons and rods but I will need a metal head gasket. I planned to swap the California cylinder head with a Federal head so the fuel injectors fit perfectly.

Now that I am switched over to a water to air intercooler I decided to build a cold air intake to battle intercooler heat soak. I noticed that when I am at idle for a long time with the intercooler fan off that the intercooler water temps will climb from mid 90s to 110+. I did not feel like paying $200 or more for some company's cold intake set up so I built my own. I had some extra couplers laying around, some 3 inch intercooler pipe, and kept the existing cone filter.

And here is a shot with the water guard on the filter. I can't have my 3s getting hydro-locked.

To me it's silly to spend what it costs on a big name brand kit, especially whens gains are usually negligible. Just make your own since piping is piping and couplers are couplers, then top it off with a name brand filter.

$200-300 for and advertised 5-10 hp gain is not worth it. I built this one for about $50.

Exactly. I think it cost me like $70 for piping, couplers, and an AEM filter vs almost $300 for a K&N or SLP cold air intake. Yeah it took some more fiddling with I'm sure, but worth saving $200+ for probably the exact same end result.

I was able to find another CT15B for my 4th gen 3sgte. I was looking for one so I could get it rebuilt and upgraded without taking the car down for a few weeks during track season. I just got it in today.



I am planning to send it off to ATS Racing to get the "Sweet ct16" done to it. I am pretty excited! At 17 psi both ATS and MR2Prime are advertising around 320 hp to the wheels. It may be more with my stage 1 Brian Crower camshafts.

My concern is the wastegate. The problem with the stock wastegate is that when I get on it the boost will shoot 1-3 psi past the target then settles in at the boost level I am shooting for. There is no way to adjust the OEM wastegate, it is sealed shut, does not have an adjustable actuating arm, and it is welded to the bracket. I am wondering if it is doing that because it is wearing out.


ATS offers a billet adjustable wastegate upgrade for an extra $200. You can chose to have a 12, 14.5, or 17 psi spring put into it. I am wondering if that is the best option because when they mean adjustable does that mean you can adjust the actuating arm or does it mean you can swap springs? Is it a 1 or 2 port wastegate? If I go that route I plan to get the 12 psi one but I am a little uncomfortable with my base pressure being 12 psi. It will make it hard for me to set up boost by gear when I go standalone with that high of a starting boost level. Is there an option to go with a Turbosmart 2 port wastegate? Then I could have a low base pressure and with a 4 port boost controller. Then I can multiply that by up to 4 times and get my boost extremely acurate. Which Turbosmart model would I need? Which bracket would I need for it? I am planning to e-mail a bunch of these questions to ATS but I welcome any of your thoughts.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Aug 21, 2017 - 9:28 PM

I got the side skirts installed on the car. It really improves the look.


This thread really helped me to install them.
http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=37670
Too bad Photobucket has messed up the photos.

verts definitely look alot better with sideskirts on. looks great!

Now it needs rear splitters to finish the look.

I have some but they do not fit right with the convertible so I took them off.

You'll have to get ones for the Curren.

What about also having the intercooler fan RPM based so when the engine drops to low speeds near or at idle the fan turns on to prevent heat soak from even starting, in addition to a temperature control.

I am doing a conversion of my front headlights over to LED. These halogen bulbs are not cutting it! They are definitely too dim when compared to a lot of the newer car's headlights. I went with the Auxbeam brand and they look great.


Right now I only have the headlights on LEDs but I am trying to find a good LED that will fit into the fog light housing. The only issue I had with the install is I had to plug the bulb in backwards because the polarity is reversed.

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Sep 8, 2017 - 8:00 PM

I replaced my bumper that I cut to s**t trying to figure out my engine heat issue. Come to find out it was not air flow but my A2A intercooler heat soaking and blocking air flow to my radiator. I decided to get another bumper that was clean with out any ducts. Check it out:


I made the decision to go back to a stock looking bumper after parking next to a Supra and seeing how clean that car looked next to mine.


Clean Supra vs Ricer Celica

This post has been edited by HardHead93: Oct 8, 2017 - 12:14 PM

The beam on those LED conversion craps are awful, glare all over, lots of light where you don't need it or want it.

New bumper will look way better.
I was personally never a huge fan of the vents all over the place.

I was ok with the first two on the top, didn't like the lower two. I would say going for more of a sleeper look, but then the hood ruins that vibe.

I am with you. I was fine with just the one duct up top. I got too out of hand with the ducts. Here is a shot of the car with the bumper on.


I got to get a photo ready for Celica of the month.

Woo, much better.

what model MR2 did you find the lsd out of?

It is out of the MR2 Spyder or Lotus. Here is an ebay link for one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Helical-Lim...q8S&vxp=mtr
It drops right into the S54 transmission. Just make sure you swap the speedo gear from you stock diff. I forgot to do that and my speedometer read the wrong speed. I had a transmission shop do the swap because there are some specialized tools needed for taking the tranny completely apart and putting it back together.