6G Celicas Forums

hey, whats up everyone. i recently purchased a 94 celica st, its red, auto but its in really good shape. $1900 not bad...huh. runs perfect. whole lifetime of service records and all anyway, i have a few questions about it in general......here goes.

1. can you turbo an st 1.8? if so how much $$$$?
2. can you fit 19" rims on an st hatchback?
3. who sells a dual exhast system for the st?
4. (refer to ? 3.) and body kit to fit it?
5. is the upgrade to 4 disc brakes from a GT(swap the rear ones ya know)difficult?


thanks if anyone can help.

1. YES but a engine swap is much cheaper in the long run and its a custom turbo setup you need
2. I have heared of 18" at the largest, most people do 17 and it looks great
3. Dual exhaust will slow you down not enough backpressure for the most part but somone has a custom one you need custom made for that
4. Look at the parts list sooo many
5. Look at the how too articles
6. Find the search button!!! all this has been covered MANY times! Have fun though this board is a wealth of info feel free to ask if you cant find it from search

1. Yes it can be done. There is no kit for it but you can get the crucial parts (manifold etc.) here. www.jgstools.com. Talk to OOBE, zipstrips, and 97sc i believe. They have all done it. Dont expect to be able to run more than like 7psi reliably though cuz the 7a internals are weak. 2. 19" rims do fit. 1exquistcelica had them awhile ago, now he has 20's!
3. Nobody sells a dual exhuast for st's. If you really want one you can buy 2 mufflers and have a shop custom bend a dual system. Its pointless though on a 4 cylinder engine.
4. You would have to have another spot cut in the kit for the second muffler.
5. If you are good with your hands i heard its not bad at all. Check out to the how to section of the site for a write up.

Anyways, welcome to the site, and how many miles on that car? That sounds like an incredible deal. Congrats and welcome aboard.

You can do anything to any car if you have the money

Welcome to the site! You got an incredible deal on your car!

1. You should be able to turbo the 7A-FE for under $2,000 if you shop at the right places and do the work yourself.

2. GT-4 has 19" rims on his car, and he doesn't rub. Also, 1exquisitcelica had 19" wheels on his car at one point.

3. No-one makes a dual exhaust system for the sixth generation Celica. Check out dazzzza's car though, as he's got a custom dual exhaust system.

4. Any body kit not made for the ST205 will fit your car. Be sure to check out the database, where you can even filter the parts to only display what will fit your car.

5. There's a how-to article on this subject, and the process is fairly difficult, but it can be done.

its got 135000 miles on it doesnt leak anything...im gonna get some pics on soon. the only thing that sucks...it has tan interior...so ill probably go with black leather. thanks again

damn thats a great deal.

Duel exhaust doesn't always slow you down just to let everyone know.

1. can you turbo an st 1.8? if so how much $$$$?
yes you can.... and what other peopel say the 7afe engine can handle a good amount of boost... check out some corolla sites..

2. can you fit 19" rims on an st hatchback?
yes you can but your going to get a hell of a lot of flats...

3. who sells a dual exhast system for the st?
not sure but you can go to a shop and have one custom made that won't give you any power lose

4. (refer to ? 3.) and body kit to fit it?
go to the parts section you'll find everything you need there

5. is the upgrade to 4 disc brakes from a GT(swap the rear ones ya know)difficult?
for what i have heard not that hard...

Well, first of all I have a GT. And If you were to slap on a turbo kit to one of the two engines>5sfe-7afe. I would have to choose 7afe, mainly because its all about compression. True, you could throw on some low-compression pistons but were talkin stock. I dont know were you all get the idea of a "weak" engine and if you have an explanation that would be cool cause I dont see how the amount of HP has to do with the strength of an engine.
Plus were do we see a Swap as more cost effective..lol.. C'mon people get real. Im gonna drop more on a swap than a bolt on T-kit for a few more HP which, for one emmisions is gonna have a field-day with the visual, if you need a replacement part- you get it from Japan, to have a mechanic "try" to fix a problem which no matter how good the install is your probablly gonna have a problem. ECU for another, alot of you guys feel as though the swap is a resonable upgrade to your stock motor. Why?? When a Turbo kit running at a resonable 7-10 psi intercooled will do close to that of a swap. I dont see how alot of you constantly reside to the "swap". Knowing that almost none of you will do it. I just cant understand how its more cost effective...for HP .... hmmmm...maybee but as far as problematic..lol...not seein it fellas.
Truth be told on my GT I'd rather spend 3'900 bucks on a custome kit: Burien Toyota 5SFE kit, Apex-i SAFCII, Turbo Timer, Apex-i Super AVC-R, re-built Tourque Converter plus a MKIII Intercooler w/ pipping. And I would still hang with all you 3sgte swaps chillin at 180+whp. Not to mention Camshafts or rebuilding internals but were not talking about that here. Rather than the average 5'000 for the motor and install and wirring. The 3sgte is cool and all but for Americans its not ment to be, with out real money(non-cost effective) or the desire to do the desirable.
Props to those who have done it but being reasonably cautious as to a JDM motor into a USDM shell and wirring, you are going to have problems somewhere down the road as do all cars and the repair or parts needed will be more pricier and harder to find.
Thats just my point of view.

I have an opposing point of view.

Most engines that have 100,000 miles on them are not going to be as reliable as an engine that has 35,000 to 45,000 miles on it, like most engines that people swap into cars do. Also, not everyone has to deal with emissions. For those of us who don't, we have it easy and don't have to worry about that. Also, do you really think that an engine that comes N/A from the factory with high miles on it and an aftermarket turbo is going to pass emissions? I don't think that it will.

Also, does your $3,900 you're spending on your turbo kit include the price of someone else doing the labor? If not, then don't compare it to a engine swap with somone else doing the labor. The 3S-GTE swap can be done to a ST204 GT for less than $2,000, if you do the labor yourself. If you have someone else do the labor, then it can cost a lot, but it doesn't mean it will. For my mechanic to swap a ST185 3S-GTE into a ST204, he would charge $800 or so.

Also, ST185 3S-GTE parts can be purchased in the US. Some companies stock parts for JDM engines as well, such as Champion Toyota. I got an idler pulley for my silver top AE101 4A-GE in four days for a great price, and this part isn't a US part.

You also argue that somewhere down the line, people with swaps will run into problems. You forget to mention that people who turbo their cars will too, and even people with bone stock engines who baby them will too. Cars do not last forever, and running into problems down the line is inevitable.

Also, you're forgetting about the potential of a 3S-GTE, compared to a boosted 5S-FE or 7A-FE. A 3S-GTE running at stock boost levels can handle more boost without problems. A 7A-FE or 5S-FE running 10 PSI on stock internals won't be able to tolerate much more boost without problems.

Now that's my point of view.

Respectably...I still disagree on a swap. Its a headeache to install anyone of the two but an entire engine and wiring, and having it done for 800 is dirst cheap but that all depends on whos the mechanic. Yes talking care of either of the two stock engines and not boosting like a madman will come close the the HP of a stock 3s. And i bet will run for longer than one would think. Its just not as cost effective as everyone says it is. so suppose you bought the front clip for 1700 plus to be safe another 1000(how many can really do it themselves?) for install now you will need a stronger tranny given 5s will bolt up but if your moding it (which is probably why you got the swap) that would be a good idea,+ if have an automatic dont even consider a swap unless you do a full tranny swap...more$$ so lets say 700 for the car that comes in manual probably double for a auto-manual with install, now its around 3400 w/o auto/manual with out boost control, T-timmer and good A/f. and a worthless TMIC(less you actually have the hood scoop).
I see it like this..98% of us are USDM and...90% are keeping the stock 7afe/5sfe, i guess it all comes down to preference, theres no right or wrong just opinions. I think alot of the kids on the boards see how everyone beefs up the swap like thats the only thing worth doing to our cars which is utter garbage.

Thats the way I see it

That's very true, and I completely agree with you on that.

3sgte st185 engine with everything included= $1750 at most
3sge tranny= $300
Converting Auto to Manual= $200
FMIC= $250
Total= $2500

Price of smashing a Honda with a 3sgte celica pushing 12psi as if it was like boiling water??? Priceless.

That is the pricing that I have spent on my swap so far. Labor isn't that hard, its pretty basic. Only problem is wiring harness and you can do that yourself if you put the time in or pay qatar11 a couple hundred to do it for ya. Its not that expensive, nor will a turbo 5sfe be safe pushing as much psi as a 3sgte unless you redo the internals which eventually with labor will cost much more than the swap itself. And again, possibilities of a 3sgte is wonderful.

lol...well as far as the transmission and the swap thats not is for sure not an average price, I have never in my life heard of a tranny swap for 200...never, maybee you got a deal but the whole bundle there is around 1000$ easy.

5sfe turbo i agree with some of your points but just think


5s-fe turbo max 200hp because of such high compression


3s-gte (2nd gen) 225hp. now boost the 3s-gte to around 16 psi on stock internals and thats about 270-280 on stock internals. it would handle that no problem

never going to see a 5s-fe that high on STOCK internals.

price is normally about the same.

if you can get a wrecked All trac which is a USDM car then you can take the EGR and other emissions things (dont really know whats all involved) and put them on your celica.



edit: fixed some spelling

This post has been edited by Matthew: Oct 15, 2003 - 10:38 PM

i have a boosted 1.8 liter

running 8 psi right now, no problems, driven about 1000 miles and nothing but piping blowing off because i havent gotten a proper setup yet.

and

its pretty damn quick now.
7afe should be good to 15psi IF AND ONLY IF, you have a decent setup. that includes injectors fuel pump FMIC SAFC(2) and other little bits and pieces that i dont feel like listing now.

at 15PSI expect about 20% loss in life expectancy of the engine, maybe 15% if you take real good care of it and dont always beat on it

thanks for all the good info i really apriciate it but why dont i just convert it to rear wheel drive and drop a v8 in it. 270 hp!!!!!!!!!!!! really....im a land rover mechanic(if you havent gathered by my name) and i can do all the work how much would parts cost me to do a swap to the 270 horses? including auto to manuel trans?

Check out the sticky threads in the engine/performance forum. You'll learn that with the money you'd spend on that, you could have a 3S-GTE pushing way more than 270 horsepower.

d00d, for used pedals, cylinders, cables and shifter $200 is sufficient for it. That does not include the actual tranny cuz you would use a 3sge not a 5sfe. Really, these swaps are not too much and you gain a lot more outta it for the price.