ST engine swap, 4agze, or 4age, or 3sgte Options

[96stgreendemon]

thinking about a potential swap, was looking at a 4agze and wondering if it would be the easiest motor to swap with the st, or just put the head on my 7afe block, or put the 4age head on my block, or just swap it for a 3sgte, which would mean new mounts, harness, ecu, exhaust, and tranny, thoughts?

[GriffGirl]

Your easiest bet is going to be to do a 4age head swap; the 7a block is a better block than the 4a block, at least the USDM 4a block. If you're looking for more power and don't have a ton of money, the head swap is definitely the best way to increase compression. On top of the head swap, you can also add an intake, and upgrade your exhaust by getting a nice aftermarket exhaust header and a decent exhaust system, even if just a 2.25" cat-back w/hi-flow muffler. With that, you can definitely expect some gains; I don't know the exact numbers on what the gains are on a head swap w/stock internals off the top of my head, but google it and you'll find a ton of info on it. With the intake and exhaust upgrades, you might collectively expect an increase of maybe 10 hp on top of whatever the head swap gets you.

Beyond that, your next best bet really is, IMHO, going to be a 3sgte. I've had my heart set on a Blacktop since shortly after I got my Celica 2 and a half years ago, but with some recent *enlightenment* and having looked at the actual numbers, honestly, it just didn't make sense to consider the 4agze any more. You're still going to need a wiring harness, ecu, etc. The only thing you won't need is the tranny - sorry, but big whoop. Like Jim said, it's not like you're going to just leave the tranny and axles bolted in while you lift the motor out, that's, well... retarded. If you're gonna pull an engine, you're gonna pull an engine, which includes the tranny.

The money, time and effort to swap the 3sgte vs a 4agze really is about equal, save for maybe a couple hundred bucks for the tranny to pair up to the S motor. Sorry, but the few hundred bucks is WAY worth it for, oh I dunno, a few HUNDRED more HP between the 2 motors IMO