Rhode Island Project Celica Options

[LimitedGT4]

hey, not sure if this is the right place to post this and sorry if its not, but here goes.

I live in RI and am trying to do an engine swap and cant decide between the Beams, GT4 or a 4age silver or black top.
i know theres a couple of people in this forum that live in RI and have awesome cars but i havent been able to get their attention or help so lets see if you guys can.
i have a 97 ST limited and so far ive gather that i need new mounts, tranny, possibly exhaust, trans axles, and complete engine for a beams or GT4 swap
and ill need an engine if i plan to go with the 4age or am i missing something else also.

as far as the wiring goes for the beams engine is it a plug n play if i get a celica st202 front clip? or am i better off getting parts seperately

as my project progresses i will continue to post updates, hopefully batman and hurley will help me out.

ill also post pics later

thanks for help in advance




This post has been edited by LimitedGT4: May 3, 2011 - 5:14 PM

[Batman722]

ok, some info.
converting the awd tranny to just fwd is not simple.
I would suggest you get a GT (s54) tranny and you need all the GT mounts. The mounts in your clip are for a different series tranny, just put them aside for now. You'll also need the GT axles.
You could use a different tranny (e153) from an MR2 turbo or late 90s Camry/Solara V6, but then you would need a custom axle set up, which would be st185 outers and MR2 turbo inners. Depending on the tranny, the inners may need to be machined to fit correctly. Also, you might want to custom fab a spacer on at least one of the axles, some people have problems without, some don't.

You need a clutch, each tranny uses a different set up.

Do you plan on doing any sort of maintenance on the motor ? like valve cover gasket, thermostat, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, timing belt, water pump, tensioners, seals ? If so, some of the parts are available in the US, some aren't. Decide what you want to do and start sourcing parts.

Doing a rhd conversion would be a little more time consuming. A few have done it, pipes and jmeyer for example, most don't bother.
You could just cut out the firewall of the clip and your car, weld the clip fw into your car and start swapping everything over like the column, rack, all the brake lines, ect. Then doing the interior you would swap over the wiring, dash, heater core, just everything everything from the clip to your car. Swapping just the climate control without everything else is a pain, some have tried and not many have succeded.

What do you plan on for an exhaust ? what size ? where are you gonna get it or have it done ?

IMO the first thing you need is research.
The best way to do a swap is to know (or al least have a very good idea of) what you need, what you need to do, then buying the motor.