V6 swap Celica Options

[SaulGoodman]

Ive been really debating as of lately what I want to do with my ST. The 1.8 liter supposedly can put out solid horsepower with only forged rods and basic tuner upgrades on boost, but Ive been thinking about more torque with NA horsepower. An LS swap would be cool as sh*t but lets face it, too much work in a car not made for it. So a fwd V6 from Toyota is my next best bet, heres some of my choices.

3mz-fe w/ e153 - Best candidate with highest HP/TQ, but people say the motors are no good for boost unless you dump 3k to building the block. Any truth to this?
1mz - Numbers are too low, doesnt seem worth it in comparison to the others. Why or why not?
5vz-fe w/ e153 - Supposedly better for boost? Need confirm on it
2gr/1gr? - No idea how that would work.

I want to keep it FWD. Something "simple enough" to swap in and work day to day.
Which would be the easiest to source junkyard parts (axles, housings, whatever), providing the most reliable performance without sacrificing daily drivability? Ive heard a few people say 1mz/3mz are the easiest to fit in the bay while the 5vz is the most plug-and-play with the wiring. Or should I stick with a boosted 4 cylinder, maybe do something crazy like a K swap? This is all hypothetical, the build wont be for a while so keep it light. Im inexperienced compared to some of the old heads on here, but dang would a V6 Celica be fun. Im 100% in love with this platform, so in my opinion anything is worth the effort on it.

[TimeslideZ]

My problem with the 3sgte is the turbo aspect. I live in Florida where the heat is killer. I expect to use this car as a daily once its done so I need reliability (Thinking of buying a mk3 Supra in the meantime ). Plus a 2gr is 6 cylinders yet still lighter than my 7afe while still putting 280 to the wheels. How did you go about doing the custom mount? My biggest worry with this is having to learn to weld. Also what did you do for headers? I know Y pipe back will have to be custom but the cost of custom headers make my tummy hurt

Lol I wish I can tell you but I bought the car already w/ the swap. But the previous owner (snapshotgt) had the swap done at SpeedSource in Chicago back in 2008. There was a link that showed the making of the mount but it's a broken link now. All I can say is it's all poly (at least no rubber). Beefy; but you'll get more vibration b/c of so. The old build thread: http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=53507. The headers remained the oem 1mz. IIRC aftermarket headers aren't too useful unless you go F/I or S/C.

But, if you want to go 2gr ncj's thread shows how he did his custom mount for the passenger side.

This post has been edited by TimeslideZ: Sep 10, 2019 - 12:28 PM