I've had my Celica since 2005. It's a ZR model which was released in Australia with the 5SFE engine. The ZR came with a few nice little extras like the leather wheel and gear knob, airbag, ABS, cruise control etc. I wish it had the sunroof, but unfortunately the original owner was too tight to tick the option box!

My current plans are to build a car that I can enjoy on the weekends and take out to the occasional track day. I used to have an AE86 JDM Levin that I took to the track, so I'd really love to get back into that.

I toyed with the idea of selling it and buying a later model WRX or EVO, but I reckon for less than $10,000 I can build a car that might not be a rocket ship, but will definitely be good fun.

I'm not really into the visual side of things, so most of the work will be around making the car more fun and enjoyable to drive.

Current mods:

• 18" wheels
• Lowered springs

Planned mods:

• 3SGE Beams conversion (done)
• SS-II twin piston brakes (done)
• SS-II instrument cluster (done)
• SS-II leather steering wheel (done)
• JDM auto climate control (done)
• GT4 front end (done - but needs paint)
• GT4 rear strut brace (done)
• JDM tails (done)
• JDM projectors (done)
• Bigger exhaust to suit the Beams (done)
• BC Racing coilovers (done)
• Sportier front seats

Here's a couple of pics back when the wheels were new:









Looking forward to starting the Beams conversion and I'll probably be asking plenty of questions on here!

Cheers
Shane.

This post has been edited by S8S8: Jan 19, 2017 - 6:46 PM

hey, good looking Celica, looks clean.
Its good to see more Aussie cars on here. Do you mind me asking how much you picked up the Beams for? Do you even need a Engineers Certificate? I wouldn't think so, cause you're actually downsizing the motor and its still NA. Keep us posted with your progress.

I purchased my engine today, woo! It arrives on Monday and then the fun begins. It cost me $2,750 plus $200 for shipping from the Gold Coast to Brisbane.

Unfortunately it's the earlier non-LSD model, which is a shame, but at least I could use that fact to bargain them down a extra couple of hundred! I had found an LSD model elsewhere, but they wanted $1,000 more and it was just the engine + box + loom.

The bigger brakes (I think they're bigger?) look to be in good condition and the instrument cluster is also perfect, so there are a few extra goodies I should be able to swap over.

Here's a couple of pics:

sweet find......

what year do you think it is ?
I think it's atleat a 97, which should have helical LSD. Take a post a pic of the name plate on the firewall (it's in the 2nd pic) and the brakes.

This post has been edited by Batman722: Mar 16, 2011 - 10:30 PM

oo very nice!!

>

Not sure what year it is, but the trans code is S54-06A which is non-LSD right? The model code is E-ST202-BLMVF.

The clip is still at their warehouse, but I'll take a pic of the plate and brakes when it arrives on Monday.

Cheers

Yes, SS-II with BEAMS

SS-II is (E-ST202-BLMVF)
5 speed manual non lsd (S54-06A) the difference is the A & the D, the D refer to the LSD model of transmission.

anyway...... Welcome to 6GC.net ....... and to the 3S-GE family , hope you have fun with your build, quite a few members have swapped a beams if you run into any problems or need help, (although you should find it easier being RHD compared to LHD)

Rusty beat me to it, SS-II w/o lsd

Clip looks clean

Nice mate
Will be keeping an eye on this one

Very nice ride. It is good to see more Aussies on here
Good luck with your project. I hope it all goes well.

Thanks guys.

Just finished reading the great thread on the 7th gen short shift, so I've ordered an ebay kit which should arrive next week.

Also decided that I'm going to try and swap the climate control from the clip into my car. Reading a few of the threads on the forums it seems to be quite an involved job, but at least I know I'll have all the right parts.

Really looking forward to starting on the conversion.

The cut (or clip as you guys in the US call them) was supposed to arrive today, but now won't arrive until tomorrow. Doesn't really matter since I won't be starting work until next week anyway.

I thought I might have dramas getting a replacement timing belt, but I called my local Toyota dealer, quoted part number 13568-80015 and he said he'd have one available tomorrow! Not bad considering the Beams was never sold here in Australia.

Looking at steering wheel options now...

Good job mate, look forward to the results

Thanks man. I love your GT4, very nice!

I finally succumbed and bought a set of JDM tails. They will be the only visual mod to my car other than the wheels which I've had for ages.

The cut arrived today!

First of all I have to thank the towie who delivered it. He went out of his way to get the cut inside my garage without the use of a forklift or anything else besides his truck and our muscle! Thanks champ.

Nothing much to share at this stage besides some pics, as the real work doesn't start until this weekend.

Here's Mr Beams checking out his new home for the first time...



And little red eyeing off Mr Beams...



Do the carpets match the drapes? They will soon!



I'll be swapping over the cluster and probably the silver panels, I have a new centre for the leather wheel ordered, and I'm going to have a crack at transfering the climate control over too.



Fun times ahead.

This post has been edited by S8S8: Mar 22, 2011 - 2:19 AM

shame the airbag has gone off, they are a cool looking OE wheel

>

I picked up a new centre piece and airbag for $80, so the wheel will be good as new in it's new home.

LAL @ carpet matching the drapes. Nicely done. That's a great steering wheel indeed, perforated leather and red stitching is madly tasty.

Best of luck with the swap, I'm eager for more progress.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Mar 23, 2011 - 11:32 AM

Some slow progress is happening...

I ordered a bunch of engine parts from Toyota, just the usual things like water pump, thermostat, timing belt etc. Also managed to score a new Beams badge which will probably make its way onto the back of the car.

After trying to track down an engine crane I found that the cost to buy one was about the same as hiring one for two weeks! So I just bought one.

I also realised that the front calipers are twin piston, so they will be getting swapped over as well.

Most of the cut is stripped out now, so I just need to pull the engine out and get started on the maintenance.

More progress!

After having a little difficulty pulling the Beams out of the clip I ended up dropping the engine out from underneath instead. It worked a treat, but I managed to smash one of the plastic plugs on the throttle body. Oops... I'll take a pic tomorrow during daylight. Hopefully the replacement plug isn't too expensive.

So anyway the engine is out and tomorrow I'll get started on the maintenance side of things, then it will be the turn of the 5SFE to come out from it's comfy home.

Getting back to those extra parts I ordered from Toyota, I called them yesterday to see if they were in yet (there should have arrived on Monday) and the guy said there was no record of my order! He didn't sound to helpful, but said he'd look into it and get back to me. I felt a little let down by my beloved Toyota, but just ten minutes later the guy called back and said he could have the parts for me tomorrow (today) and he'd give them to me for trade price. Thanks Toyota!

Okay now I have a couple of questions:

1. The Beams is currently still attached to the sub frame and sitting on my garage floor. My mate reckons we should use the same method to install it into my car, by just lifting the body up and over the engine, then just bolting the sub frame into place.

Is this the best option? Is there an easier way to pull the 5SFE out of my car, then detach the Beams from its sub frame and drop into my car? It seems like this is the way more people go with.

2. I read elsewhere on the forum that the correct clutch combo was a 3SGE pressure plate, 3SGE or 5SFE disk and 5SFE throw out bearing. I went to my local clutch guy and we looked at the part numbers, and he reckoned the complete kit for the 3SGE would work. Does that sound right? Well that's what I've got, so I guess we'll see if it works.

Thanks

This post has been edited by S8S8: Apr 1, 2011 - 3:57 AM

the clutch combo thing, is only for us U.S.A. guys, we dont have those parts here. Aussie received some Rav4s with beams, you have access to this, which is great...

to anwer your engine question thing, there are more than 3 ways to skin a cat...., whatever works for you... in my case i used a engine hoist...

Wouldn't it be easier to swap everything over (the engine, gearbox, axles and brakes) It should make your job for finding/getting the right parts in the future simpler?

>
I'm 99.99% sure that we didn't get a Beams powered Rav4 in Australia. There may be some converted ones around, and maybe even some grey imports, but definitely not local models.

But anyway, hopefully all is fine.

>
For sure, that's what I've been planning all along. That being the case, I guess coming up from underneath is going to be the best bet.

Progress

The engine and clip are now finally separated. Lifting the cut on my own was trickier than expected, but it's done now and all I broke was the TPS which hopefully won't be too expensive to replace.

I really need to find my camera charger so I can take some decent pics instead of these iPhone pics.

Here's the body, still suspended after being lifted over the engine. As you can see, I didn't quite get the balance right... in fact I got it completely wrong! This meant I had to muscle the body around rather than lifting straight up over the engine.



I was very happy to finally see an empty engine bay...



And even happier to see my new engine free from it's old home and ready for some much deserved maintenance...



This post has been edited by S8S8: Apr 2, 2011 - 7:43 PM

More questions...

1. Removing the gearbox. As you can see in my last pic, the engine and gearbox are still attached to the sub frame. I'm taking the gearbox off to replace the clutch, and so far I've removed all of the bolts that go from the box to the block but I'm unsure about what happens with the axles. I assume I have to remove the axle from the front of the engine in order to remove the box? Are there any other tips to removing the box? Some guidance here would be appreciated.

2. Removing the crank pulley bolt. I've Googled and found plenty of different methods, but most of them relate to having the engine still in the car and being able to put the car in gear. With my engine and box sitting on the floor and in neutral, are there any tips or tricks to getting the bolt loosened?

Any help with these two questions would be very much appreciated.

I wouldn't of thought you'd have to take axles out but it would make it easier, haven't done it on the celica so can't be much help.

Have you tried a rattle gun on the pulley? should come straight off.

Congrates but, how long were the front brakes sitting like that?

and for the TPS quick check gets me... $78 or $110ish AUD

-"Toyodiy"+
If I remember correctly one TPS has 3 wires the other has 4?

>
Oh yeah, looking again I can see that there's just a bracket which attaches the block to the axle. With that gone I should be fine. I've changed gearboxes and engines in rear wheel drive cars, but never front drive. RWD is much easier I think!

I have a compressor and rattle gun here, but the mate I borrowed it from didn't leave one of the parts, and now he's away for a few days. I'll give it a shot when he returns.

>
Brakes were sitting like that for a while... I'm guessing that your concern means it's a bad thing to leave them hanging? I wasn't too concerned, as I'll be using the lines from my car anyway. Are there any other issues with them hanging?

Thanks for the info on the TPS. The cost is a little higher than I was hoping, but not the end of the world. Mine is the 20130 part number, which Toyota has thoughtfully printed on the part. This one has 3 wires.

This post has been edited by S8S8: Apr 3, 2011 - 5:29 AM

No work on the Celica yesterday, instead I was lucky enough to spend the day at the Porsche Sport Driving School.

It was a great day, with the highlight being the 911 Turbo. 473hp and 0-100kph in 3.7s is simply awesome. Coming out of the corners with that much power going though the tyres is a LOT of fun!

Here's me getting out of the GT3 after a few laps. It doesn't have the power of the turbo, but the handling is unreal. The full cage and harnesses makes it feel like more of a race car too.



Driving my Celica home was a bit of a let down to be honest!

Back to reality now...

This post has been edited by S8S8: Apr 4, 2011 - 9:29 PM

After a few weeks away I made some really good progress over the weekend.

The old engine is out of my car, and I can't tell you how happy I am to see that dirty old Camry engine out. It should never have been in a Celica to start with!

Here's the state of my garage earlier this weekend, with my one and a half Celicas.



I've finished most of the maintenance on the Beams, with the timing belt, water pump and thermostat done. The new clutch kit is almost ready to go, but I just have to get the flywheel machined first.

Once I get the flywheel done and order a new TPS (which I broke earlier in the process) I should be on the home straight and ready to get the Beams into its new home.

Should be on the road next weekend, fingers crossed!