Not necessarily new, but newly registered

Hello all,

I am not necessarily new to the forumns, perhaps less active in the last few years, but always lurking. I was very active when the yahoogroups were active. Think I went by either tofacojoe or aulderon back in the day - don't really know. Robert Pina and Jose Rodriguez were very active back in the days. I finally got a house with a garage so I now have the Celica back home where it belongs. (Still need more garage, tools, and cement LOL)

In a nutshell - no I don't have an alltrac though have dreamt of one since I was 16. I am a mechanic at heart and can fix damn near anything - my dad and his dad were mechanics and owned their own shops, but poor financial decisions and they are no more. I am currently a desk jockey and I like it as it allows me to pay the bills.

I live with my girlfriend and we reside in Vancouver, WA (My g/f is an amazing woman - she supports me and my odd habits/desires with cars and computers) and I currently own a '91 Celica GT-S and an '05 Galant SE. She has an '08 Legacy which I would like to tweak but have been denied. Guess this brings me to a few questions/opinions I would like to ask of you guys...

The celica hasn't ran in roughly two years - mishap with 5sfte (bad injector and stuck/seized wastegate and a bad bearing = BOOM). I have a fresh 5s block prepped just need to have the head rebuilt and will be running as a stock 5sfe ( along with a few other bits).

While I would love to own an alltrac at this junction I have been given the go ahead to go for a 3sgte swap into the GT-S.

So would you recommend:
1. get the GT-S running again and sell it to hopefully find an AT for sale? (While I understand the rarity/value of the ATs I can't bring myself to spend over $5k for one I will be ripping apart and tweaking anyways)

Or....

2. Go for the 3sgte swap into the GT-S?

The Celi is my project/sunday driver. The Celica gets my spot in the garage instead of my Galant :evil: Yeah, I have my priorities straight :smokes:

Guess I should also add my goal is a 300hp streetable/drivable car. This goal will change as I progress I am sure - but it is a start for now


So please let me know what your opinions are.

-Joe

welcome back. good to see old members become active again.

as for your question, i think you are the only one that can answer that. i'm sure everyone has an opinion that you could listen to but truth be told; it's your car/money. i would talk to your wife and see what perhaps she says. i've never left my FWD and i love it but thast is my option. i love the AWDs but personally don't want one. really sit down and think on it. if you truly love your car and it's in good shape then swap it. if you are tired of the same old thing then perhaps drop in a 5sfe and sell it and buy an alltrac.

Welcome back!

Like Mafix said, it is really up to you. The Half Trac route can be good. You've got the 3SGTE in a package that weighs less than an All Trac. It can be a good option. Just think it through and weigh you options. If you really like your GT-S, then the 3S swap might be the way for you to go.

I remember the tofacojoe username. Welcome back.

Yeah I know it is my call.

I know some of you have owned/own the half tracs and have alltracs. At this point in time I am not looking to make monster HP, but do have a goal of 300bhp which is a decent sized goal at this point in time for me since I don't even have a running motor in my celica.

I would like to make an informed decision so I would like to ask for some input on a few items:

1. With the swap I know I will have a light setup, but I will be sacrificingso of the additional traction of the AT and I would also venture to say, that it would not be nearly balanced as an AT in terms of front/rear weight distribution - though I think weight is a minimal issue since the AT is still a transverse engine.

So with the swap these are the foreseen/expected pro/cons

Pros-

-Less weight
-Already have the car - less out of pocket initial investment

Cons-

-Less traction (AWD vs FWD)
-Less balance? (see above note)
- AT wanna-be

As I see it, it boils down to the platform I will enjoy more AWD/FWD since at this point in time the car itself does not have a pre-determined role as in drag/autoX/etc.


If any have additional thoughts/ comments please share as I am open to anything.

Oh and correction my Galant is an LS (love the 3.8 V6)

-Joe

You know after reading my posts I realized I hadn't said thank you. :twisted:


Thank you all for your input, it has definately helped.

I think I will be going with teh 3sgte swap for my GT-S. May the gods bless her with a long and problem free life :shoots:

-Joe

problems i KNOW with FWD as that's all i like and own ATM.

traction at over 200hp sucks. doesn't matter what you do.
accelerating out of a corner, not good at all, scary.
power to weight ratio is freaking great!

for me i do a lot of drag racing and with the setup i have it's awesome.
i've got a lot less mods and power than AT's that run the same times.

as for auto-x or road racing, i would not recommed FWD turbo. N/A yes but not turbo.

rally seems obvious as to what you would want, AWD.

I tend to think it's more user preferance then pro's and con's.

I'd have to agree with Mafix. It is really up to the owner on what they want. Good luck! Keep us updated.