Which To Do? Options

[GuYun14]

What’s up fellow 6gc Celica enthusiast,

I just need some advice, tips, opinions, ideas, on what I want to do this next summer before I head out to school. I have a 1998 Celica GT which is unfortunately an auto. I only have next summer to work on my car so here’s what I have in mind at the moment:

•Suspension - since I do want try autocross this summer. I have Eibach springs with KYB struts, TRD front strut brace, OEM rear strut brace right now.
•Cams upgrade - since I do want a little power increase but don’t know how hard the install is.
•Body work - because the car does have a few ding and scratches here and there. And either new paint or plastdip
•Auto to manual swap – because manual.
•Engine swap – more powah! But maybe not in my price range.

Now know that I have no experience with any of these except suspension work. So, in the timeframe I have, what’s the most viable project to get done? Your opinions will very much be appreciated.

[GuYun14]

If you NEED to pass emissions, your only choice for swap is a USDM based OBDII engine. You can take BEAMS, and GTE off the list. It's the same reason I never swapped any of my cars. I'm looking for a pre-96 car, because here in Chicagoland, they don't test cars older than 95.

Persionally, I would do the trans swap and suspension.

You'd be suprised how quick the car can get with a well sorted suspension.

Yeah, Milwaukee has emissions testing every two years for 1996 and newer vehicles so it does suck. But would the 1mz-fe pass OBD-II though?

bah, don't let me scare you. My cost is only up there because I splurged on a couple of things like my TRD shifter and some accessories. Also, mine being an ST is really what accounted for it costing so much. Since yours it a GT already, you won't have to do much to it other than swap the auto trans out so it'll cut down on costs quite a bit. but just never what costs will come up in a swap thats why I'm telling you about mine.

Yeah, but I don’t want to budget and then go over it and then I have a non-running car for college, for which I'm going out of state for

An engine swap is definitely one of my top wants and the budget I’m trying to set myself at is probably $2000-$3000 for the summer. Keep in mind that I’m am heading off to college, so I’ll have to save some money for that as well. Seeing that cheela’s swap is over $3000 I’m not sure if my budget is enough. Also, since my Celica is a 1998, obd-II and emission might be a problem passing. But if I can get a swap done within my budget, that will be the project I’m heading towards. Either a 1mz-fe or a Redtop BEAMs swap, want to keep it NA. And I know the 1mz-fe motor can be gotten for cheap, plus parts available. And I need it up and running before college.

Next on my want list would be getting seat time for autocross so I can get a feel for my car and have fun during the summer and I would probably just replace suspension parts here and there, so I guess it is the cheapest route.

As for camming the 5s-fe, since it doesn’t appear to be as much work as doing a swap and is considerably cheaper, I might do what Tigawoods did and have it for a couple years then swap the motor when I really do have the time and money and not in a rush.

When it comes to my car’s body, it’s still in good shape just a couple rust spots here and there to touch up on, but a new color is tempting.

So if an engine swap is viable this coming summer, I might go that route.

What’s everyone’s thought?

Might as well just buy mines for 3k LOL

If you’re selling lol

In this order:

FULL engine tune-up.
Manual swap.
Suspension work.
Good tires.
Focus on college.
Graduate from college.
Get a good job.
Save monies.
Swap for moar powah.

$3K will just tickle the surface of an engine swap. Triple that before you're ready to make room for any snags.

Yeah, I’m leaning more towards this option at the moment and I'm trying to figure out parts and cost.