I looked up the price for an engine swap kit for that year on eBay, and it was about 1500, making the total, about 2500-2700 bucks.
But admittedly, I know only a little about cars. I'm really interested in making this my project so I can learn, and have a 1990 GTS with 45-55k miles on it. Seems really promising, and something that won't break my bank.
This is about all of the "plan" tho. Buy body, buy engine, learn and get help in order to swap engine, do happy dance.
What do I need to consider before all of this? I don't really know. Posts: 1236 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I've been doing all my own car maintenance for years and have only recently decided that I'd be comfortable swapping the engine. I probably wouldn't take that on with your level of experience.
If you do decide to do the swap, expect to pay as much as a few hundred more for various misc parts which may be worn out or damaged such as the wiring harness and engine mounts. You'll also need access to an engine hoist.
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
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I am considering a Subaru swap right now. This is my entirely unexpert advice.
First thing to consider is your capacity; Do you have the tools, location, and time to work on the vehicle? A pro could probably swap that car in a day or so. Contrast that with a casual mechanic like myself where it could end up taking the better part of a week. First rule of thumb in do it yourself mechanics is take your time to think it out. Consider a covered lot, or garage, all the tools(japanese vehicles will need metric tools), an engine hoist and the facilities to handle the oil and other fluids that will come from the swap.
Now research the vehicle. Every chassis on the road has a fan base of devoted followers who know all the ins and outs of your endeavor. Find a good Celica enthusiast site and search for threads on swapping thier engines. Also look up common repair issues and other maintainance threads.
I recommened doing as much research as possible, lurk a little before posting. This will allow you to post salient questions while avoiding the ire of the people who see all the everyday generic questions and most importantly prevent you from posting the Celica forums version of Enders Movie thread #Eleventybillion.
Research as much as you can before diving in and committing funds.
Just a couple of notes:
Most swaps on Ebay are JDM meaning Japanese Domestic Market (as opposed to USDM US Domestic Market). These often require rewiring as well as many other replacement parts. Although JDM can be much faster the swap will be easiest if you stick with the same type of USDM engine it came with.
Also consider the transmission of the vehicle to be swapped; If the vehicle is not running thats a nother big ticket item that you will be unable to evaluate before making your purchase.
Posts: 686 | Registered: Sep 2001
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An engine swap is one of the most complicated DIY car procedures I've ever seen performed, outpaced only by custom fabricating a turbo kit. If you seriously want to teach yourself how to do this, rock on, but budget aside $1500 to $2000 for a mechanic to do it correctly in the (extremely likely) event that you do something wrong, not to mention all of the tools & equipment you'll need to properly move, install and test the engine.
I've watched very (relatively speaking) competent DIY mechanics screw up an engine swap and spend weeks figuring out what they did wrong and how to fix it. If you're serious about learning how to do this properly, consider finding a $200 car with a bad motor and a working motor from a junkyard and practicing first.
I second Calaban's advice on finding an enthusiast forum. I've joined one for every car I've owned thusfar and the knowledge there is ridiculously invaluable, esp. with ricey japanese imports.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Thanks guys. I've also been told that 1k for this car is way too much, and that it should only be going for maybe 350 bucks. The listing shows that the celica "spun a bearing", so that's something I'll have to look into on those Celica forums you were mentioning.
Thanks guys! If anybody else wants to comment please do, this'll be an ongoing process, and very long research period.
Posts: 1236 | Registered: Mar 2002
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"Spun a bearing" You might be able to do a crankshaft kit for far less money if all the cylinders hold good and even compression.
Another suggestion: repair manual! Going on to enthusiast forums isn't as good a reputable repair manual.
I worked at a Toyota dealership for a year and a half as a tech and everybody who replaced engines there had organizer trays for all the bolts to make it easier to remember where they all go. Organization is key.
Stay sequential in your tasks, and keep small parts and bolts with the item that they fasten for a more worry-free assembly.
Make sure you properly torque the head bolts to specification. Specs are in a repair manual. You'll need a torque-wrench.
Also be careful when removing the A/C compressor and don't remove any lines, you won't need to. Compressed refrigerant spray into the eyes can make you go blind, be careful.
Try to buy new belts, including the timing belt and timing belt tensioner if it's a short-block and not a long-block swap. You should also replace the air filter, cap, rotor, spark plug wires, spark plugs and motor mounts with new ones.
A lot of this might seem like common sense, but I don't have a clue as to what experience you have. If you do have any and specific questions, feel free to post them here and I can answer them for you directly. It shouldn't be too bad, since it's a 4 cylinder engine.
[ July 02, 2007, 01:49 AM: Message edited by: Nick ]
Posts: 4229 | Registered: Dec 2002
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