Seeking Advice About 6 Gen Celica Options!! Options

[nObOdy]

Hey guys - Im new to this world of both Toyotas and obviously Celicas - but
upon entering i am extremly hooked..

So first off i shall explain my situation to you guys..
My friend bought a Mazda MX-3 GS it comes stock with a 130hp V6. The First thing he did was dropped a 200hp KLZ Jspec engine into it. That is where his car stands as of now - total he spent about 5 grand and that car is pretty damned quick for that cheap
the car weighs something 2700 lbs.. its pretty light..

My current car now is an 88 Acura Integra its a 1.6 with about 118bhp at the wheels(or so it came stock i havent done much to it but maybe its more)
irregardless - i want a car that will keep up with the mazda earlier mentioned..

So i asked my mechanic what he thought and he had a Toyota Curren outside in the back of his place.. surprising yes.. but the car looked absolutly awesome right at the start i wanted it. Now heres the issue I am currently enrolled in college as a freshman and i nor my parents are rich(dad is bankrupt, mom supporting 3 kids through college)
SO it seems im on my own here..
the Most money that i will be able to get is probably 6,000 dollars..


So anyhow on with the story - The curren cannot be used, number one it was imported from japan and they took the engine and everything - Stripped it bare.. it would cost too much money to get it up and running But my mechanic had told me about the 3S-GTE and... i want it.. so i was pretty crestfallen till i was strolling around on the web and saw a 94 Toyota Celica Looked ALMOST exactly the same as the Curren (some differences but minimal) In ANY case i am hooked to the max and Im hoping that a 94-99 Celica GT (cause ive heard its easier to switch to the 3S-GTE)
will both outrun the mazda AND fit my budget - AND fit the sexy car role... =)

Anyhow - Do any of you have and recommendations on what direction i should go? Anyone know of any celicas with a blown engine being sold?? for about.. 2k? 1k?

How easy is it to switch in the 2nd gen 3S-GTE? does the actual gens of the engines matter at all??

As i said im a noob at this but the past 3 days ive been pouring over everything celica 6th gen...
Please send or post rather any information that you would have pertaining to the cars im looking at - Your cars are all bad ass - i wish i had one!!!!

Thanks -
Grant

[Digndoug]

Thats awesome. Yeah, me and my Dad swapped the JSpec KLZE into my parents' 96 Mazda 626. It had the stock KL03 which is 160hp at crank and now with exhaust and engine it's up to 181 at the wheels. Pretty fricking quick, can't imagine how quick a lil MX3 would be.

Its not that quick, i mean its nice, but my buddie has one and has a hand full of mods done to it, but its not as fast as i expected.