Hello everyone,
I used to have a 94 Celica GT, but it just had so many problems that I sold it over the summer. I've had my 7th Gen GT for about 2 months and I am not satisfied with its looks. The 6th gen was a lot better looking.

So anyway, I was thinking of selling my Celica and getting a 96-99 celica gt hatch and then doing a 3sgte swap. However, I was going to ask if it would be possible to have a reliable swapped car, because soon I will be needing it to travel about 150 miles at least once a month..

I just think that my car is too common and it doesnt feel like a real celica. Everyone and their mom has one around here, unlike my 6th gen.

Anyone have suggestions what I should do? >>

Also, my current car has 63k miles and is in excellent condition, so I know i'm goin to be moving from a low mileage car to a high mileage car with newer engine..

-Rob

As long as you take care of it, it will be reliable, its still a stock engine and if you do the swap right and do the upkeep it should be very reliable.

The thing you have to watch out for is that turbo engines are real finiki(sp) when it comes to vacuum leaks, boost leaks and stuff like that. They will make your car run like crap, if a vacuum hose pops off or something.

no one knows if it will or wont. you can buy a ****ty motor that wasnt taken care of and it will blow on your after a week, or you get something good that will last forever. so its hard to say yes or no.

keep the 7th gen and start saving up for a cheap 6th gen with a crappy motor. then get a clip and bring it back to life.

This post has been edited by lagos: Oct 9, 2005 - 7:34 PM

i've found a 6th gen ST coupe that needs a new engine but I was thinking it would be more expensive to swap into the ST

not much more, the only hard part is wiring and mounts, buy mounts new for 300$ from dealer and wiring DG_performance can do it... after he does mine >>

the GT requires rewiring too, is it just a bit easier? Also, can you give me an estimate on how much the wiring would cost if I sent it to DG_performance? (you can pm me if you want)..

No the wiring is the same betweent the st and the GT it cost the same. To get your wiring done you are looking at $400-$500.

There are other things you have to change in the ST but they are little like the throttle cable axles, tranny, etc..

ok well, I'll let you know what I decide... I think i want to just sell my car because I still have a truck that I can drive around the city while I am getting the swap done..

I'm tryin to think how much a 2nd Gen 3sgte clip from venus auto would cost? They have one in stock, but their site does not list a price.

all of what Rjb23 said, and you will need to upgrade the brakes on the st to a GT. So its definitly worth more to buy a gt.

Im definitely wanting to do this..

Do you think I could do the swap myself for around 5000 dollars? That will be about how much I have left after buying a car..

One more question... Would a 5sfe tranny coming off a car with 100k miles hold up well with the 3sgte (or at least for a few months until I could get an mr2 tranny) ?

This post has been edited by RbrtNdrws: Oct 9, 2005 - 9:09 PM

If your going to go mr2 tranny just do it when you do your swap. If you do the mr2 tranny you will need different axles, mounts, and more stuff.

Definatly do way more research befor you decide to sell your car and do a swap.

I know, i know.. my cars not goin anywhere until I decide exactly how much money its goin to cost and what the best set up for the swap would be..

for 5 grand you should be able to swap no problem. just make sure you do all your own laybor and stuff. if the GT tranny is is good shape, you should have no problems using it. ive been running mine for over a year now. presure2 has over 150k (i think) on this tranny and is putting down over 200hp on his tranny. it should have no problems holding anything the stock turbo can throw at it as long as you dont beat it to death.

dont use venus auto, they have a bad rep. try jamsco or try to find a good deal on ebay like i did.

This post has been edited by lagos: Oct 10, 2005 - 11:28 AM

I'm considering just letting XAT racing do the swap. On their website, I can get the 2nd Generation 3sgte put in for 4500. This is a pretty decent deal, but I was wondering how their reputation is? Also, this 2nd generation engine is the JDM 225 hp engine, correct?

Thanks,
Rob

do your own swap, trust me. this isnt the type of thing you just want to hand off to someone. those shops dont care about your or your car, they just want your money.

one of the best things about doing your own swap, is all the things you will learn from it.

If you really wana have somone else do it consider the drive to let Dr. Tweak do it.

So XAT racing is a no?? Has anyone had experience with them. They seem like a company who would care about doing a swap right, all of their swaps look so clean.

I dont think I could do the swap myself. I am not that mechanically inclined even though I have all the equipment to do a swap. So if I could pay someone 4500 dollars including cost of parts to do my swap that would be awesome...

I was considering XAT because they arent as far away as vermont. Driving to Vermont would be like a 12 hour drive and also I bet that Dr Tweak is going to be backed up with other jobs for a long time.

I vote for do it yourself, even if the shop is reputable down the road when something goes wrong you are not going to know what to do. I tried to have someone do my swap and they screwed it up and screwed me over, so I ended up redoing everything they did and finishing it myself. I learned alot about my car and if something goes wrong I can fix it.

I think jgreening took his car to XAT, if so he might be the man to talk to. But I Don't think anyone has heard anything bad about XAT