Celica 3S-GTE Progress Thread - TriStateTuners.com :: Home of Tristate Auto Enthusiast

95st-celica · 08-15-2008, 12:27 PM

this is copy and pasted from my other forum....enjoy
so after talking with a bunch of people on here and doing tons of research i decided that it was time for a change with the celica.....i have nice paint....and if i want to add on some nice lips around the edges i can do so accordingly without much trouble.. i still would like to swap out my cloth interior for a nice black leather interior and a bunch of other interior BS....i talked to art(lagos) many many times about getting rid of this 7a and asked him his perspective on the 3s swap....his feedback was do your research and learn everything you can while you can, doing your own swap will only help you in the learning process rather then having it sent out...which was what i was planning on doing anyway because i cant afford to have it sent to a shop...plus i have all the tools and resources that i would need to do it....so at first i looked into just head swaps...went as far as almost buying a 4a head from someone on here and a bunch of other stuff...then realized that might be too much work for the $$ and HP goal i would be expecting...so then i looked into turboing the 7a...but still the 7a is almost limited in what you can do to it and just squeezing 200hp out of it was not very satisfying.....i was kind of sketchy on buying a front clip from the other side of the world(hong kong) because theres a million and one things that could go wrong....so i looked into getting a clip that was already shipped into the U.S....after looking and debating i had finaly found the clip i wanted...decided i would buy it the next morning and start gathering parts together for the swap...next morning came around, i go on ebay, and its sold....$HIT!!...so i was stuck with buying the clip from hong kong...paid for it and that was that....i have the st model so i knew i would need a new trans, motor mounts, axles, and a bunch of other stuff....tracked down a GT trans and picked it up...ordered my spec stage 2 clutch from JCBASS7 i believe is his name one here? got that in no time and it looks great...he only put about 2500 miles on it and money is somewhat tight so i just got it from him.....it took the clip over a month to get here but FINALLY i picked it up last wednesday and was pumped i got it in one piece!!...now the fun begins....i will update this thread as often as i can untill my project is done the way i want it...im glad i choose to go with the 3s and im def. looking forward to the completion of this car....sorry for the novel but im def. excited and i will post up all/any info i can with lots of pics....let me know what you think and any advice is welcomed

picked it up from the warehouse it was sent to...from hong kong it went to LA...cleard customs there then was sent to philly by rail and was basically dilivered to my house...no more then 5 minutes from my house on state road sat my new motor

i caught my man john on the phone instead of working

i pulled the line of the brake booster and @sshole thought it would be funny to push the brake...so thats whats all over my hood...brake fluid.....sweet :thumbsup:

johnny hard at work like usual

now these next few are how you improvise when you dont have a cherry picker...this is how we do

almost completey out

looking forward to this weekend...hopefully i can pull that trans off of it and put her on a stand in the garage and start the tear down process to replace all gaskets, t-belt, new waterpump and thermostat and whatever else needs to be replaced...like i said i'll update it when i can...time and $$ are the only things workin against me on this one but im siked and def. want it done before spring time rolls around...we'll have to wait and see

95st-celica · 08-15-2008, 12:29 PM

well...i pulled her in the back yard today and im starting to rip her down...gettin ready to drop the motor in soon...hopefully....after i pay off a million and one tickets i owe...couple pics of what i did today...detailed the whole inside the right way...gonna clean up all the plastics really well/replace with new...im gonna do a black headliner, i zip ties all my sub wires up real nice and painted my sun roof controls surround black to match the headliner, 6X9's in the back, and a bunh of other crap...enjoy

^^^^now my background..i like the way that came out^^^^

i got you beat with weight reduction now mike!!!!..hhahahha

95st-celica · 08-15-2008, 12:31 PM

little update today...pulled the motor out front a began to strip it down, gunked the whole thing, and pressure washed everything off, it didnt clean up to bad....i pulled the manifold off last night along with the wireng harness and altanator, then today i painted my valve cover (test run coat...i might send it to get powder coated this color) then i cleaned everyhting up real nice and riped off that stock exhaust manifold...everythings running pretty smoothly so far...picture whoreing it up though... :D

EXTRA CLEAN INSIDE...what i like to see :thumbsup:

wow....that cat is restrictive as hell...full 3" turbo back exhaust is going on

Renegade_ · 08-15-2008, 12:34 PM

Arts car is getting a clone in blue!

lagos · 08-15-2008, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renegade_

Arts car is getting a clone in blue!

That's actually my old front bumper on there too..lol.

SUPRARICE87 · 08-15-2008, 04:35 PM

I LOVE THE HOOD FOR THOSE CARS!!!

lagos · 08-15-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SUPRARICE87

I LOVE THE HOOD FOR THOSE CARS!!!

Is your car running yet ?

95st-celica · 08-15-2008, 12:38 PM

yeaa...but mine will be faster..hhahhaha

lagos · 08-15-2008, 04:01 PM

^ or so you think, grasshopper.

Good luck, Joe. Buy what you need, all I'll stop by to help you with that thing.
Its going to be nice to have someone else with a swap around here.

95st-celica · 08-15-2008, 08:51 PM

yea this thing is gonna take a lot of time and money but the end result will be worth it...plus not many people have celicas anymore nor do they know they can put a 3s-gte rally motor in one....soo its gonna be a lot of fun but right now its just a lot of headaces and head scratchin but it'll work out soon enough...i'll update this as regularly as i can and of cours with A LOT of pictures

87fierogt · 08-16-2008, 01:14 PM

it woulda been more badass going to rhd but its still sick i give ya props

lagos · 08-16-2008, 02:24 PM

^ yeah! And where is your awd conversion, Joe!?!?!?!

95st-celica · 08-16-2008, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lagos

^ yeah! And where is your awd conversion, Joe!?!?!?!

i mean if you really want me to do it i will...GT-FOUR FTMFW!

ImportDPS · 12-15-2008, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95st-celica

i mean if you really want me to do it i will...GT-FOUR FTMFW!

Customer of ours actually has a 99 fresh from Japan GT-4 Celica in black. Drives the entire car around in the street. Awesome car, this build is going to be sick.

95st-celica · 12-15-2008, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TNTramair

so this is what you've been up to...lol. lookin good man....when ya gonna have it ready and running?? the T/A needs someone to run..lol

whos this? haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImportDPS

Customer of ours actually has a 99 fresh from Japan GT-4 Celica in black. Drives the entire car around in the street. Awesome car, this build is going to be sick.

yea there has been rumors of this floating around for some time now...i cant seem to find it though...me and lagos (art) went down to a shop in north philly..i believe the name of it is JDM motorsportz?? but they were closed...have any pictures of this car? i would love to see a real one in person

TNTramair · 12-16-2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 95st-celica

whos this? haha

give ya a clue...i have Twins.

lagos · 12-15-2008, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImportDPS

Customer of ours actually has a 99 fresh from Japan GT-4 Celica in black. Drives the entire car around in the street. Awesome car, this build is going to be sick.

Yeah, we've been hearing about this car but have yet to see it in person. Can you set something up for us so that we can check it out?

ImportDPS · 12-16-2008, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lagos

Yeah, we've been hearing about this car but have yet to see it in person. Can you set something up for us so that we can check it out?

I'll get it to the shop if you want so you can check it out. Just let me know for sure for sure when you want to come in and I will have the owner drop it off to me.

95st-celica · 09-03-2008, 12:36 PM

engine is out and the bay was gunked and pressure washed...picture time!...this might be done sooner then expected but we will have to see...

just a test fit with the GT-Four hood and bumper

95st-celica · 09-22-2008, 01:38 AM

pushed it out front today and decided to paint the bay...im not one for dirty, ugly looking engine bays so i ran to pepboys, got some 2 inch masking tape, 2 cans of Gunk, and picked up a 50 piece ratchet set for $13 bucks!!...anyway....pics speak for themself...

gunked and pressure washed

scuffed/sanded

Preped and taped

Sprayin...

and done..

I tried to take a good picture of the paint to give yous an idea of what it looks like but the sun was just to bright and it was shining right on it..this on didnt turn out to bad...its like a dark electric blue effect

now this is left over paint from when my step-dad painted the car back in like 03/04 so it is single stage...meaning that it has clear already mixed into the paint...i am going to see how it looks tomorrow because i left everything taped up and if it dulls any then i am going to shoot a couple coats of clear on it...it looks pretty good thoguh and i went back out about an hour and a half later...the paint still looked wet but it was completely dry so i think the single stage will work well with the bay...next is the rebuild kit for the motor and the wireing harness...i finally got my @ss a job so it should be comming together rather nicely these next coulple of weeks

08-15-2008, 12:27 PM	#1
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	Celica 3S-GTE Progress Thread this is copy and pasted from my other forum....enjoy so after talking with a bunch of people on here and doing tons of research i decided that it was time for a change with the celica.....i have nice paint....and if i want to add on some nice lips around the edges i can do so accordingly without much trouble.. i still would like to swap out my cloth interior for a nice black leather interior and a bunch of other interior BS....i talked to art(lagos) many many times about getting rid of this 7a and asked him his perspective on the 3s swap....his feedback was do your research and learn everything you can while you can, doing your own swap will only help you in the learning process rather then having it sent out...which was what i was planning on doing anyway because i cant afford to have it sent to a shop...plus i have all the tools and resources that i would need to do it....so at first i looked into just head swaps...went as far as almost buying a 4a head from someone on here and a bunch of other stuff...then realized that might be too much work for the $$ and HP goal i would be expecting...so then i looked into turboing the 7a...but still the 7a is almost limited in what you can do to it and just squeezing 200hp out of it was not very satisfying.....i was kind of sketchy on buying a front clip from the other side of the world(hong kong) because theres a million and one things that could go wrong....so i looked into getting a clip that was already shipped into the U.S....after looking and debating i had finaly found the clip i wanted...decided i would buy it the next morning and start gathering parts together for the swap...next morning came around, i go on ebay, and its sold....$HIT!!...so i was stuck with buying the clip from hong kong...paid for it and that was that....i have the st model so i knew i would need a new trans, motor mounts, axles, and a bunch of other stuff....tracked down a GT trans and picked it up...ordered my spec stage 2 clutch from JCBASS7 i believe is his name one here? got that in no time and it looks great...he only put about 2500 miles on it and money is somewhat tight so i just got it from him.....it took the clip over a month to get here but FINALLY i picked it up last wednesday and was pumped i got it in one piece!!...now the fun begins....i will update this thread as often as i can untill my project is done the way i want it...im glad i choose to go with the 3s and im def. looking forward to the completion of this car....sorry for the novel but im def. excited and i will post up all/any info i can with lots of pics....let me know what you think and any advice is welcomed picked it up from the warehouse it was sent to...from hong kong it went to LA...cleard customs there then was sent to philly by rail and was basically dilivered to my house...no more then 5 minutes from my house on state road sat my new motor i caught my man john on the phone instead of working i pulled the line of the brake booster and @sshole thought it would be funny to push the brake...so thats whats all over my hood...brake fluid.....sweet :thumbsup: johnny hard at work like usual now these next few are how you improvise when you dont have a cherry picker...this is how we do almost completey out looking forward to this weekend...hopefully i can pull that trans off of it and put her on a stand in the garage and start the tear down process to replace all gaskets, t-belt, new waterpump and thermostat and whatever else needs to be replaced...like i said i'll update it when i can...time and $$ are the only things workin against me on this one but im siked and def. want it done before spring time rolls around...we'll have to wait and see

08-15-2008, 04:01 PM	#9
lagos Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Member #989 My Ride: Toyota Celica GT-Two iTrader: (0)	^ or so you think, grasshopper. Good luck, Joe. Buy what you need, all I'll stop by to help you with that thing. Its going to be nice to have someone else with a swap around here. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures. The accelerator on my toyota has always been stuck to the floor.. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

08-16-2008, 01:14 PM	#11
87fierogt Tri-State Addict Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: levittown pa Member #1760 My Ride: 82 v8 s10 iTrader: (1)	it woulda been more badass going to rhd but its still sick i give ya props __________________ Originally Posted by Scapegoat i love how this thread went from "i hate having a penis" to "meow!!!! hiss!!!! claw!!!!" to slapping chicks with your dick and splooging on them

08-16-2008, 02:24 PM	#12
lagos Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Philadelphia, PA Member #989 My Ride: Toyota Celica GT-Two iTrader: (0)	^ yeah! And where is your awd conversion, Joe!?!?!?! __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures. The accelerator on my toyota has always been stuck to the floor.. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

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08-15-2008, 12:29 PM	#2
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	well...i pulled her in the back yard today and im starting to rip her down...gettin ready to drop the motor in soon...hopefully....after i pay off a million and one tickets i owe...couple pics of what i did today...detailed the whole inside the right way...gonna clean up all the plastics really well/replace with new...im gonna do a black headliner, i zip ties all my sub wires up real nice and painted my sun roof controls surround black to match the headliner, 6X9's in the back, and a bunh of other crap...enjoy ^^^^now my background..i like the way that came out^^^^ i got you beat with weight reduction now mike!!!!..hhahahha

08-15-2008, 12:31 PM	#3
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	little update today...pulled the motor out front a began to strip it down, gunked the whole thing, and pressure washed everything off, it didnt clean up to bad....i pulled the manifold off last night along with the wireng harness and altanator, then today i painted my valve cover (test run coat...i might send it to get powder coated this color) then i cleaned everyhting up real nice and riped off that stock exhaust manifold...everythings running pretty smoothly so far...picture whoreing it up though... :D EXTRA CLEAN INSIDE...what i like to see :thumbsup: wow....that cat is restrictive as hell...full 3" turbo back exhaust is going on

08-15-2008, 12:34 PM	#4
Renegade_ Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: May 2006 Location: NNJ/NYC Member #1912 My Ride: 1J Swaggon iTrader: (2)	Arts car is getting a clone in blue!

08-15-2008, 04:35 PM	#6
SUPRARICE87 Tri-State Addict Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: philly Member #5568 My Ride: 87 TOYOTA SUPRA TURBO iTrader: (0)	I LOVE THE HOOD FOR THOSE CARS!!!

08-15-2008, 12:38 PM	#8
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	yeaa...but mine will be faster..hhahhaha

08-15-2008, 08:51 PM	#10
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	yea this thing is gonna take a lot of time and money but the end result will be worth it...plus not many people have celicas anymore nor do they know they can put a 3s-gte rally motor in one....soo its gonna be a lot of fun but right now its just a lot of headaces and head scratchin but it'll work out soon enough...i'll update this as regularly as i can and of cours with A LOT of pictures

09-03-2008, 12:36 PM	#19
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	engine is out and the bay was gunked and pressure washed...picture time!...this might be done sooner then expected but we will have to see... just a test fit with the GT-Four hood and bumper

09-22-2008, 01:38 AM	#20
95st-celica Tri-State Aficionado Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Philly Member #6718 My Ride: 1995 Celica 3S-GTE iTrader: (0)	pushed it out front today and decided to paint the bay...im not one for dirty, ugly looking engine bays so i ran to pepboys, got some 2 inch masking tape, 2 cans of Gunk, and picked up a 50 piece ratchet set for $13 bucks!!...anyway....pics speak for themself... gunked and pressure washed scuffed/sanded Preped and taped Sprayin... and done.. I tried to take a good picture of the paint to give yous an idea of what it looks like but the sun was just to bright and it was shining right on it..this on didnt turn out to bad...its like a dark electric blue effect now this is left over paint from when my step-dad painted the car back in like 03/04 so it is single stage...meaning that it has clear already mixed into the paint...i am going to see how it looks tomorrow because i left everything taped up and if it dulls any then i am going to shoot a couple coats of clear on it...it looks pretty good thoguh and i went back out about an hour and a half later...the paint still looked wet but it was completely dry so i think the single stage will work well with the bay...next is the rebuild kit for the motor and the wireing harness...i finally got my @ss a job so it should be comming together rather nicely these next coulple of weeks