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.

[richee3]

I definitely encourage the 2GR swap. If I could, I’d yank my BEAMS out and go 2GR or 3S-GTE. 2GR’s have come down in price since Norberto did his swap but it will still not be inexpensive. A BEAMS swap can easily exceed $3k and that’s about the easiest swap we can do in these cars. My only advice is to set an extremely high budget since swaps nearly always double the planned budget, but don’t let anything stop you from getting a 2GR in your car if that’s what you really want. The MR2 forums are a great place to start but not 100% applicable to our cars since we have things like power steering, like Norberto mentioned.

The S54 will handle the torque of the 2GR if you aren’t driving like a maniac and launching or doing ricer gear grabs. I believe it will bolt up to a 2GR but the gearing will be obnoxiously short for it. However, it should still hold you over until you decide to go E153.