6G Celicas Forums

so after talking with a bunch of people on here and doing tons of research i decided that it was time for a change with the celica.....i have nice paint....and if i want to add on some nice lips around the edges i can do so accordingly without much trouble.. i still would like to swap out my cloth interior for a nice black leather interior and a bunch of other interior BS....i talked to art(lagos) many many times about getting rid of this 7a and asked him his perspective on the 3s swap....his feedback was do your research and learn everything you can while you can, doing your own swap will only help you in the learning process rather then having it sent out...which was what i was planning on doing anyway because i cant afford to have it sent to a shop...plus i have all the tools and resources that i would need to do it....so at first i looked into just head swaps...went as far as almost buying a 4a head from someone on here and a bunch of other stuff...then realized that might be too much work for the $$ and HP goal i would be expecting...so then i looked into turboing the 7a...but still the 7a is almost limited in what you can do to it and just squeezing 200hp out of it was not very satisfying.....i was kind of sketchy on buying a front clip from the other side of the world(hong kong) because theres a million and one things that could go wrong....so i looked into getting a clip that was already shipped into the U.S....after looking and debating i had finaly found the clip i wanted...decided i would buy it the next morning and start gathering parts together for the swap...next morning came around, i go on ebay, and its sold....$HIT!!...so i was stuck with buying the clip from hong kong...paid for it and that was that....i have the st model so i knew i would need a new trans, motor mounts, axles, and a bunch of other stuff....tracked down a GT trans and picked it up...ordered my spec stage 2 clutch from JCBASS7 i believe is his name one here? got that in no time and it looks great...he only put about 2500 miles on it and money is somewhat tight so i just got it from him.....it took the clip over a month to get here but FINALLY i picked it up last wednesday and was pumped i got it in one piece!!...now the fun begins....i will update this thread as often as i can untill my project is done the way i want it...im glad i choose to go with the 3s and im def. looking forward to the completion of this car....my man art has inspired me....the second i saw his car in person i knew i needed to get me one of those..hahha....soooo.....sorry for the novel but im def. excited and i will post up all/any info i can with lots of pics....let me know what you think and any advice is welcomed

picked it up from the warehouse it was sent to...from hong kong it went to LA...cleard customs there then was sent to philly by rail and was basically dilivered to my house...no more then 5 minutes from my house sat my new motor






i caught my man john on the phone instead of working


i pulled the line of the brake booster and @sshole thought it would be funny to push the brake...so thats whats all over my hood...brake fluid.....sweet






johnny hard at work like usual


now these next few are how you improvise when you dont have a cherry picker...this is how we do










almost completey out




and up and out of there!








looking forward to this weekend...hopefully i can pull that trans off of it and put her on a stand in the garage and start the tear down process to replace all gaskets, t-belt, new waterpump and thermostat and whatever else needs to be replaced...like i said i'll update it when i can...time and $$ are the only things workin against me on this one but im siked and def. want it done before spring time rolls around...we'll have to wait and see

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Oct 15, 2010 - 1:26 PM

yea me 2 hey thanks for the info im really looking forward to swap my engine oh and ima convert my car to stick im running auto right now but now since im getting a new engine ima get a manual tranny!

pushed it out front today and decided to paint the bay...im not one for dirty, ugly looking engine bays so i ran to pepboys, got some 2 inch masking tape, 2 cans of Gunk, and picked up a 50 piece ratchet set for $13 bucks!!...anyway....pics speak for themself...

gunked and pressure washed




scuffed/sanded




Preped and taped






Sprayin...




and done..


I tried to take a good picture of the paint to give yous an idea of what it looks like but the sun was just to bright and it was shining right on it..this on didnt turn out to bad...its like a dark electric blue effect


















now this is left over paint from when my step-dad painted the car back in like 03/04 so it is single stage...meaning that it has clear already mixed into the paint...i am going to see how it looks tomorrow because i left everything taped up and if it dulls any then i am going to shoot a couple coats of clear on it...it looks pretty good thoguh and i went back out about an hour and a half later...the paint still looked wet but it was completely dry so i think the single stage will work well with the bay...next is the rebuild kit for the motor and the wireing harness...i finally got my @ss a job so it should be comming together rather nicely these next coulple of weeks

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Sep 21, 2008 - 3:21 PM

I bet the pics don't do it justice, nice job !

thanks man...it does look good in person...im diggin it

next is adding a little finishing touches to it...muhaha

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Sep 21, 2008 - 2:17 AM

just read this thread from start and absolutely great job so far keep up the good work

The bay turned out really well!

Awesome job on the bay! Thanks for the update, i look forward to seeing more in the coming weeks.

Nice bro - good to see someone taking the time to do the little things to make it that much better. Gonna be well worth it when it's all done.

yes it will...the little things make all the DIFFERENCE lol

Props to pops....









some guy gave it to him...its kinda like the neon bar so i'll have to see if i can make it fit...might nit clear my brake fluid tank though...i'll either use this one or my neon bar untill i can afford a good cusco J-speed, or TRD 3 point strut bar...but for free im not complaning

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Sep 22, 2008 - 6:07 PM

well...just a little update...i got a bunch of parts for the 3s about a month or so ago...taking my time putting them in because it's cold out and i still dont have a license...timeing belt, all gaskets, front and rear main seals, cam seals, cap, rotor, etc....i picked up a full black leather interior for it, and i also picked up a can of VHT night shade tailight/headlight tint...i was bored the other day so i figured i would black out the tails...heres the result















and my poor car about 2 months ago

another little update...i picked up a full Black leather interior for the car a while ago...finally decided to clean it up and throw it in...sooo much nicer in my oppinion..now the interior is almost all black with the exception of the headliner...i'll eventually get to that..i installed a short throw shifter which im having some problems with it hitting my e-brake...i have a couple of options as far as that goes so i'll figure it out..and just a couple random pictures of other goodies i have for it



From This:




To This:













^Not Good...i'll have to work on that^



And 2 pictures of the custom camera bar i made




Goodies










Seats are sooo comfortable...probably the most comfortable stock seats other then srt-4 seats...these hug you really well yet arent too much...the box of parts is for the 3s...i have a few more things comming for it and waiting on my wireing harness then thats going in...i also just picked up a loteck 3 gauge A-pillar Pod...thats on its way...its comming together....slowly but surely

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Dec 29, 2008 - 8:49 PM

Clean those seats a bit! But they look good. I wouldn't mind leather, since my interior still looks pretty damn clean and new...if I had a black headliner and some nice leather seats, it'd be baller. And a stick, while I'm at it...

This post has been edited by RickJamesBish: Dec 29, 2008 - 5:30 PM

alright guys...its been a while and i have been gathering a lot of $hit together..trying to get this thing in before summer...i drove out past harrisburg a couple weeks ago and picked up my shifter cables, and my motor mount that i needed and also came home with another goodie..enjoy...expect another big update this weekend...if the weather gods are on my side she should be bolted up and almost done

new walbro 255 and my polly-urathane motor mount inserts



2 new axles


My front mount that came today


3 post i picked up


my work in progress CC


and my other work in progress



still waiting on all my intercooler pipeing (which should be here tomorrow or the next day), my oil pressure gauge, and some leds to finish up the climate control.

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Mar 31, 2009 - 7:02 PM

Good job dude..

thanks homie....arent ST's fun? haha i could kill myself

This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Apr 1, 2009 - 12:31 PM

THAT LOOKS FREAKEN BAD ASS!!!! now show us some engine pictures!!!! gratz and props on all the work

Joe, that is a NEW carquest axle. Not a rebuild. Nice job. Hopefully we can make some progress this weekend.

dude your car looks sweet how did you do that to the ac dials and gauges with the leds, did you use trojans...or leds..lol....??? your car is gonna look sweet man....admire that..

Thanks guys




yea i was lookin at the box earlier and it does say new its just the sticker is ripped off...but the one from pep boys defentially looks brand new..so its cool i got 2 new axels...i wanna find my stock one and see if these are thicker caus they do look like it. sunny and 60 supposidly saterday....


This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Apr 1, 2009 - 1:35 AM

motor is in (kind of)....i still have to drill out the hole a little bit more on the pass. side for the motor mount. i am going to be using threaded rod with 2 washers and 2 nuts for the mount. my problem is that under the frame it has a little bit of a lip to it and you cant fit a washer on there, so i have to grind it down so the washer will fit flush. i just droped the crossmember and hopefully i can sneak the motor in a little better now..the trans was hitting the steering rack and the crank pully was hitting the frame which was f-in everything up. now that i have a little more room to work with i can drop the motor all the way down then pull it back up into place. it looks like its gonna rain here tonight and maybe into tomorrow so im trying to get this thing bolted up asap so i can push it back under the car port. i'll keep it updated

(when your motor is hangin from a riged ass set-up and your under there workin, you want some insurance, hence the board) just so i dont get any dumb questions






This post has been edited by 95st-celica: Apr 10, 2009 - 6:51 PM