Awesome!

The interior is finished!

Well, almost... I still need to get a new gear knob and eventually seats, but here she is for now.

Changes from standard include:

• Three spoke leather wheel (with red stitching that you can't really see in the pics)
• White face dials
• Auto climate control (along with all sensors)
• Small tray under the climate control (usually a blank panel in Aussie Celicas)

The parts all came from my SS-II clip. There were also factory silver plastics, but I decided the black looked better.

The pics...







Now to get the drive shaft seal sorted out...

looking great, not long now

DONE!!!

Tonight I drove the Celica out of the garage for the first time in a month!

I would have taken it out for a sneaky drive, but I want to give it a full check tomorrow morning during daylight so I can double check everything.

But very happy to have moved the car with Beams power for the first time.

Driving report to come tomorrow...

You can make your climate control orange to match your dash by unscrewing the bulbs and taking off the green condoms

you can also get LED's for those but they are tricky to get, they are special bulbs built into tiny sockets rather than the norm of separating bulb and socket

Glad to hear the Beams is going great, that must be awesome compared to that 5s-fe boat anchor

Not a lot of progress over the last few days, but I have taken her out for a quick drive with the new engine.

Given that my exhaust is not connected the car is obscenely loud (not in a good way) so I couldn't really do much. From the short drive I did the engine doesn't feel any different to the old 5SFE, but not taking the revs over 5,000rpm probably explains that.

Next week I'll be getting the exhaust sorted out and can take it for a proper drive. At this stage I'm just glad that everything works!

Yeah man, That 2.0L High compression motor should be taking on the same load as the low comp 2.2L, it should be more fuel efficient down there too. Make sure you top up with high octane petrol to really feel the difference.

You should also notice sharper throttle response at the tip of the pedal too?

Once that VVT-i opens up though, at the point where your 5S-FE started to pick up pace and then fall flat, your 3S-GE Beams will pull harder and harder towards the extended redline.

This post has been edited by delusionz: May 16, 2011 - 10:26 PM

Did you sort that seal out? theres a special tool for prizing wheel bearing and axle seals, makes life alot easier!

the difference between putting 100 ron (which is what the beams takes in order to push out its full 197 hp) vs putting 95 ron is quite a lot for a N/A vehicle. This has not been tested in any way or dynoed for that matter, but it feels like you lose about 5-6hp with the crummy 95 ron fuel. The best we carry In California is 95 ron so sometimes when I'm carrying extra cash with me I like to mix 4-5 gallons at most of 100 octane race fuel to obtain a 100 ron mixture of gas.

I've just had the new exhaust fitted. It's a 2.25" system with a high-flow cat and straight through muffler.

So now I've had a bit more time to experience the Beams, and I have to say... I'm disappointed.

I'd have thought a power increase of almost 50% would be very noticeable, but it's not. Even driving in the 6-7k rpm range it doesn't feel that special. I think last time I filled up was on standard fuel, but even with the 5-6hp difference that Bonzai pointed out with higher octane fuel, I hardly think I'll be massively impressed.

Now I'm kind of regretting not going the 3SGTE path instead, but hopefully I can get the Beams running better and look forward to some more enjoyable driving.

>
Yep, I ended up buying the proper tool and it came straight out.

Im on the same boat my motor is not fully at 100% but its still fun nonetheless. Get some dyno runs in and ull know if u have all the 197 hp at the crank. It shud conver to 169 whp

I suggest getting it dynoed. the 197BHP was the claim/selling point in reality could be less.

Someone has dynoed a stock redtop BEAMS engine, and made 154WHP (115KW). However with people swapping and adding mods, it can vary from 145WHP - 170WHP (108KW - 126KW)

If you're used to driving fast (turbocharged) cars alot, 5S-FE to 3S-GE wont feel all that special, but if 5S-FE is all you've known, 3S-GE should be amazing. Well atleast when I went from 3S-FE to Gen3 3S-GE, the other side of the tacho's 4 marker was amazing and unlike anything I had prior.

This post has been edited by delusionz: May 24, 2011 - 2:53 AM

There was simply power in places that were never there before, and additional power in the lower to mid range.

But definitely needs high octane fuel, otherwise the ecu will pull the timing and it'll be sluggish as before.

Have you done a compression test? I would of assumed the beams would be awsome fun, I had a 4th gen for a couple months and even though it had less power than my car as it was old it still was loads of fun to drive as it actually liked to rev and stay in the redzone, unlike the 5sfe which seems to be aimed more at low down torque and not much up high, even the first gen 3sge is a nicer motor imo.

go take some similar power to weight cars (7th gen, renault clio, prelude vti-r etc) to see how they compare and maybe you won't feel so bad, I know when I get in my car after driving my dads clio it feels pathetic, feels similar to mine down low until you hit 4k+ haha.

I dont know why you guys are having problems with the beams, i had no problems what soever.

The beams power is not on the 1 to 4 rpm range, it feels like a regular motor, the power starts as soon as u hit 4 rpm, you feel the engine just want more and more...

check for codes, leaks, and sensors.

beams has power, and its fun to drive.

I suggest getting it dynod to know if its truely down on power or are you being a bit too expectant.

going from a 3sge non beams to a beams is not much difference.

from a 5sfe to beams is a lot

Nice looking car!

I'm sorry you are disappointed with the power. I figured the beams would feel a lot like a gsr dc2 integra, and having driven a few, I know they are by no means fast. That is why I ended up opting for 3sgte.

ya me going from a 7afe to a beams motor is quite a difference I say! and yes its fun to drive if your cars running at 100%. compression test should be at 198.7 psi across each cylinder.


Here are you steps:

1. Compression Test with psi being at 198.7 max for each cylinder. Make sure you disconnect the EFI Fuse or else your injectors won't throw fuel into the spark plugs. haha thats a mistake I made.
2. Make sure your timing is on par? come to think about it is there a way to know if my timing is on par??? I do not have a timing gun, but how do those work anyhow??
3. ya max output from a stock beams motor is 169whp. with your 2.25 inch exhaust your power-band will move up a bit and you'll lose a bit of midrange torque.

here are dyno results with mods to different cars/engines on the beams redtop forums

http://www.mr2.com/forums/beams-owners-gro...s-registry.html

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: May 24, 2011 - 8:36 PM

Thanks for the tips and comments. I knew the Beams wasn't going to be a rocket ship, but I did expect a 50% increase in power to be more noticeable.

The engine revs nice and freely, and it has no problems getting to 7,000rpm pretty quickly, but it just doesn't feel as good as it should. Down low the engine is just as I expected (much the same as the 5SFE) but up high it just seems to rev without delivering a whole lot. I've owned two 4AGE powered cars, and both seemed to pull much harder in the high rev range. I would expect the Beams to behave similarly, but with even more up high thanks to the VVT-i.

Is there any way to check if the VVT-i is activating properly?

Anyway, I'll follow Bonzai's tips and get the car on a dyno. That should answer the question on whether my car is down on power or if I was just expecting too much!

waaaaaaaaaBWARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

the compression for each cylinder should be identical. If one of your cylinders is not the same as the others, the range should only be off by 8 psi at most. That was the case for one of my cylinders

I took the car out again last night, and I must say it's starting to feel a lot better. Maybe not quite up to expectations, but enough to keep me satisfied. I'll be filling her up with some high octane fuel today, so hopefully that will give the little extra that I'm looking for.

>

Haha! Should it really be noticeable though? I don't feel anything different through the rev range, other than that she pulls a bit harder past 5,000rpm or so.

Is there a more technical way to check if the VVT-i is operating properly?

Also booked her in for some new tyres today, just the same 225/40/18 that she currently wears.

This post has been edited by S8S8: May 25, 2011 - 8:37 PM

^ You're rocking 18's, ever think that your wheels are quite heavy and therefore holding acceleration back?

>

I agree, that since 7th gen celica gt-s wheels weigh in at 19 pounds the same weight must of been applied for the beams rims that are 15x7, 5 spoke white on all SS-III Celica. My guess is that the yes the weight of your current 18 inch rims are quite heavy. My guess is that your rims weigh in at 24 pounds. The current motegi ff7 16 inch rims that I have only weigh 19 pounds. Yet another factor to take into consideration.

Yeah, but I had the same wheels with the 5SFE, so I should still feel the 50% power increase regardless. Plus, when I originally had the wheels fitted the car certainly didn't feel any slower. So on that basis, I'm discounting the wheels as being a major issue.

I agree, so long as the rolling diameter is within tollerance levels (+/- 3%) of factory fitment (ie, 1 inch up, 5% less sidewall) then his wheels shouldn't really be slowing him down, even the worst chrome wheel is still designed to be a car wheel, not a boat anchor. the cars are heavy as is, changes like that are less proportionate to Celicas as they are to sub-1000kg rice rockets.

Like for example removing 100kg from a Celica would do more for a Celica than it would for a petrol tanker if you removed 100kgs from it (exaggerated to make the point)

Let us know how you get along with high octane, as these engines run on 100 RON in Japan, anything less will start to trip the knock sensor and the car will pull timing when you start to put your foot down. It will feel like a 5S if it starts pulling timing. You'll notice it in load points above 2500rpm and half throttle, when I had 3S-GE I always noted the difference between 91 and 95 to be great throughout the entire rev range, and the same difference again in the upper half of the rev range between 95 and 98 octanes.

>
Not necessarily true, the Celica doesn't have that much power so removing 100kg should make a fair bit of difference. I can feel a difference between 3/4 tank and 1/4 tank,b/c my 7a is a turd. But regardless, they're talking about rotational mass, which makes a much bigger difference than static. If he were to put some steelies on the car it would probably feel a sh** ton faster. Just my .02, it's irrelevant since he had the wheels before, but it would make a difference.

Project update

Time for a project update and pics.

Beams engine



The engine is in and has been back on the road for about a week now. There were no major dramas with the instal, just frustrating little things along the way.

I swapped over the entire front end, including the engine, gearbox, axles, brakes, power steering rack, subframe, radiator, as well as the engine and front chasis looms.

Maintenance including replacing the clutch, waterpump, thermostat, oil filter and driveshaft seal. The engine and gearbox oil were both replaced.

The finishing touch was a new 2.25 inch exhaust with a high flow cat and straight through muffler.

SS-II brakes

The SS-II came with the same size rotors, but with twin piston calipers. The swap was basically bolt-on, but I had to use the brake hoses from the SS-II as the standard ones were too short. I also had to change one of the brake lines as the thread was stripped. It would have been much easier if I'd have done this whilst the engine was still out!

The new brakes don't feel any different on the street, but hopefully on the track they'll give a little something extra.

Auto climate control

This was one of the most painful jobs of the whole project. It wasn't difficult since everything just bolted in, but I had to strip the interior completely bare since the auto climate control uses different boxes to the standard Celica air con. This also meant changing both interior looms as well as the front chasis loom which included another sensor. Stripping the interior down to the firewall is an awful job to do!

I haven't had the gas recharged yet, so I can't confirm whether the air will work, but I can't forsee any problems. The system is working fine on the heater side (which is great since it's almost winter here in Australia) and the temperate changes with the temperate knob, as it should do.

Interior



Changes to the interior include the auto climate control, SS-II white face guage cluster and three spoke leather wheel. The airbag had gone off, but I ordered a new center on ebay which bolted straight in, and I'm happy to report that I had no issues with the airbag light. Because I'm using a 6th gen three spoke wheel and centre I didn't have to adapt any of the wiring or plugs like we have to with 7th gen wheels.

I also had a 7th gen short shift kit to go in, but I've since found that the JDM and Aussie Celicas use a slightly different setup to the USDM models, so I can't use the kit unfortauntely. The shift in this car isn't that long anyway, so I'm not too bothered.

Exterior



During the engine conversion I also ordered some JDM tails which make a nice improvment to the back. I also got rid of the badges which I'd been wanting to do for years.

I also picked up a GT4 bonnet and front bumper, but these will be sitting in the shed for a while until I'm ready to have them painted and fitted.

Updated car specs

• 1994 Celica ZR
• 3SGE Beams VVT-i
• 2.25" exhaust
• SS-II twin piston calipers
• Lowered sports springs
• 18" rims with 225/40/18 tyres
• Auto climate control
• Leather 3 spoke wheel
• SS-II white face guages
• JDM tail lights

Future plans

• GT4 front end (have the parts, just need paint)
• Coilovers (probably BC Racing)
• Front & rear strut braces
• Rear sway bar
• New front seats (racing buckets)

And that will probably be it. The only other mod I can imagine down the track is a 3SGTE conversion if I feel the need for more power.

Here's a few more pics, which thankfully are from a proper camera for the first time rather than the crap iPhone camera!