new guy from tx

whats up. purchased an 88 gt convertible for 1k. its auto, and its slow. i went from having a 320whp h22 accord on no2 to this. not to bash celicas, it seems there is potential here, im just used to driving something 5speed and alot faster.

anywho, that being said, im from texas and i do love the car. the convertible thing is nice. the Rf/blaupunkt system that came with it also bangs.

what i want to do?

swap the engine for a turbo one. theres a guy on celispeed selling a 3sgte w/ turbo for like 1200. its from a 90-91 though, so im not sure it would bolt up.

can anyone (im sure you can) point me in the direction for which engines will swap into my car with little to no hassle?

also looking for tune-up related stuff: fuel filter, NGK spark plugs and wires, dizzy gasket (i thnk mines leaking), stuff like that for a basic tune-up.

id also like to know if any spark plug wires from other engines are compatible with mine.

please be easy on me. i have pix, just not at home so i cant upload em. paint is really damn nice for being a 20 year old car. only the trunk is faded.

oh, one last thing. what is the bolt pattern on this model, and whats the largest tire i could fit on there with no rubbing? the max i want is a 15" rim (i plan on taking her to the track eventually, once the swap is done)

hello and welcome to the board

to answer your swap question, i believe gen1&2 will fit with changing the motor mounts and the wireharness and i am not sure of what trans will bolt up from the 4th gen celicas.

not sure about the different wires fitting your engine but alot of tune up parts can be found at 1sttoyotaparts.com for really good prices.

the bolt pattern is 5x100 an the stock rims are 15s i believe but i think 17s will fit with the right offset.

jon

Welcome!

Your car came with the 3SFE. Any 3SGTE (the turbo motor) will bolt in and line up. Your stock transmission will work with some modifications. However it would be easiest to source a S53 or S54 from a later FWD Celica. There is always the possibility of using the tranny from a V6 Solara or Camry, but you will have to change the crossmember.

Your wheel bolt pattern is actually 4x100mm. Only the GT-S and Alltrac came with a 5 lug pattern for the 4th Gen Celica.

I currently run a 205/40/17 on my 4th Gen with only slight clearance issues, and those happen to be due to the wheel offset. I have 7" rims with a 38mm offset and I have contact with the fender.

You might have better luck getting your questions answered at www.celicatech.com as Alltrac.net is geared toward the AWD variants of the Celica Platform.

Good luck with the car.

Murgatroy":356yxzaj said:

Your car came with the 3SFE. Any 3SGTE (the turbo motor) will bolt in and line up. Your stock transmission will work with some modifications. However it would be easiest to source a S53 or S54 from a later FWD Celica. There is always the possibility of using the tranny from a V6 Solara or Camry, but you will have to change the crossmember.

Your wheel bolt pattern is actually 4x100mm. Only the GT-S and Alltrac came with a 5 lug pattern for the 4th Gen Celica.

I currently run a 205/40/17 on my 4th Gen with only slight clearance issues, and those happen to be due to the wheel offset. I have 7" rims with a 38mm offset and I have contact with the fender.

You might have better luck getting your questions answered at www.celicatech.com as Alltrac.net is geared toward the AWD variants of the Celica Platform.

Good luck with the car.

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is the s53/54 tranny the one from the mr2? ill hop over to celicatech.com and see what i can dig up. i have some 17x7 wheels i want to use, n ot sure of the offset. they didnt rub at all on my accord, so im hoping they dont rub on my celica. course i might get some LS mesh rims from an acura and slap those on, i like the way they look and if i painted em gloss black, theyd look nice.

seems like it might be cheaper to source a turbo 3s-gte motor and s54/53 transmission instead of trading the car in for something quicker.

what mods are needed to m ake the tranny i have right now work?

does the AC have to be removed to make room for the turbo and intercooler?