94 GT liftback performance upgrades opinions? Options

[DouglasJaneway]

Hey guys,

So I have a 94 liftback with the 5sfe and an auto trans sad I know. So what I need to know is, can you do the 3gte swap with an auto trans? Or do I HAVE to do the trans swap too? If I have to do the trans swap I want some opinions on what the best option is to keep the auto and still get an HP bump. I've been looking at shaving the heads, new cams, a block bore... let me know what you think! I'm a college student, so I don't have a million bucks, but I would spend a couple thousand.

This post has been edited by DouglasJaneway: Oct 1, 2012 - 9:56 PM

[Special_Edy]

The 3S-GTE might be a little too much for the auto transmission in the GT. Your looking at bare minimum $1500-$2000 if you just bought a 3SGTE, wiring harness and ECU then swapped them in without rebuilding anything and doing all the labor yourself. So you probably want to add $500-$2000 on top for rebuilding and replacing necessary parts on the salvage engine.

Another option would be the 1mz, bare minimum price doing all the work yourself is $500-$1000(supposing you find a really cheap totaled donor car)Of course there are odds and ends and you may want to refresh/rebuild the engine before you install it. I dunno if the 1MZ would be easier or harder on the transmission, its got significantly less HP than the 3S but boo-koo's more of low end torque.

Anyways, my point is that if you invest thousands in an engine than you will probably need to invest hundreds into your transmission, upgrading the auto or swapping in a manual.

This post has been edited by Special_Edy: Oct 2, 2012 - 5:36 PM

[BonzaiCelica]

there is a 5th gen owner who has a 3rd gen 3sge that he custom turboed that has a automatic transmission. I saw him last year at the toyota fest in long beach but never asked him what auto transmission he was using.

[kurt95gt]

Might be able to pull this off with a v6 camery trans
Since the trans an flex plate will bolt to a 3sgte.
Mounting it in a celica might get tricky tho

[kurt95gt]

You could also get a v6 flex plate redrilled to match the gt's torque converter witch might be the simplest way to do it
This is assuming the v6 flex doesn't match already

[DouglasJaneway]

I feel like the 1mz would require a lot more replacement parts... It's a cool idea... What about the 3gte head on my 5sfe block? How would that fair on my auto trans and what kind of gain would I see?

[Smaay]

ok im going to end this once and for all.

did the ST205 come with an automatic? NO! so guess what, you are SOL! what ECU are you going to use to run the trans? your only option staying auto is using a Caldena auto trans, OR use the auto trans that came with the 1MZ and do a V6 swap.

the V6 swap will be your cost effective route. you can get an entire front clip from a Camry for less than 1000 bucks. it will have EVERYTHING you need. or just go online and find a late 90s Camry.

This post has been edited by Smaay: Oct 3, 2012 - 9:13 AM

[Syaoran]

Smaay is giving the best advice right now. Most Camrys are automatic so getting a front clip (engine, trans, wiring and ecu) will be your cheapest, easiest solution.

[richee3]

Why keep it auto anyway? The manual swap isn't that difficult.

[DouglasJaneway]

Well, I was trying to save money and work. It looks like a manual swap really wouldn't be that much worse in the long run though.

[BonzaiCelica]

x2 you can get a 97+ 1mzfe engine clip for under 1,000.

[Xander_X]

ok im going to end this once and for all.

did the ST205 come with an automatic? NO! so guess what, you are SOL! what ECU are you going to use to run the trans? your only option staying auto is using a Caldena auto trans, OR use the auto trans that came with the 1MZ and do a V6 swap.

the V6 swap will be your cost effective route. you can get an entire front clip from a Camry for less than 1000 bucks. it will have EVERYTHING you need. or just go online and find a late 90s Camry.

^This ... I too know the whoa's of having an auto 5S, but that's why I have almost all the parts for a manual swap in my basement just waiting for me to find the time to do it. If you have the time and money to do an engine swap, you have the time and money to do a trans swap. If you find a full clip of your chosen swap and make sure it has a manual trans, you should have everything you need to swap the trans too at no more cost than you would have paid for the engine swap.

I don't plan on swapping my engine at any point as I like the reliability and gas mileage of the 5S, plus it has all the power I need for a daily driver. I'm just doing the swap because, though it might now have a lot of power, I like to have the power at my control and you get that better with a manual.

I've got my Subaru for a fast turbo car. (though thinking of selling it to pick up an SW20 turbo)

This post has been edited by Xander_X: Oct 3, 2012 - 11:27 AM

[kurt95gt]

I feel like the 1mz would require a lot more replacement parts... It's a cool idea... What about the 3gte head on my 5sfe block? How would that fair on my auto trans and what kind of gain would I see?

A 1mz swap doesn't take that many more parts
Biggest thing is the wiring harness

[mkernz22]

I did an manual swap on my car with the 5s. Why not learn on something that is slow, but fun? Handling wise I love it and I swapped it because I could lol It is very straight forward to swap. I had the benefit of having a full parts car so I swapped the ecu and all the wiring and I was set.