The White '88 Alltrac Camry 3S-GE BEAMS swap

phattyduck

New member
So here it is guys, I have officially started the swap now.

I know this is a bit of an unusual swap - it doesn't make sense to go N/A when the Celica Alltrac/GT4 guys start with the 3s-gte. This car started with a 3s-fe, so 115hp -> 200hp with a Red Top BEAMS should be just enough to make it a fun beater. After its done, we'll see if the wife likes it for her daily/beater and go from there.

I got the car cheap with a badly knocking blown motor. The car shows its age, but the previous owner did dump a bunch of money into it to keep it nice (electrics/AC/sunroof all works, etc.) and its a factory 5-speed car which should make the process easier.

First, washing up the car after it had sit outside, uncovered for couple months:

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It'll need a good polishing and a fair amount of touch up to be beautiful... but good enough to roll into the garage. ;)

Hood off, ready to work:
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A couple hours in, time for bed for the night:
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So far, the motor/etc. has been ordered. I'll be getting everything out of the engine bay ready for removing the motor in the near future. When the motor gets here, the fun of wiring will start. When the wiring is ready, I'll finish up the mechanical part of the swap.

-Charlie
 

CSAlltrac

New member
Love it and subscribed. I've always kicked around the idea of doing the beams motor with ITBs in the alltrac. It would make around stock power but the response would be amazing.
 

zero06

New member
:shock: I'm jealous, my first car was a camry alltrac 5 speed sedan, and I've been looking for one forever. I honestly believe It was the greatest car ever made. I've tossed around the Idea of a beams swap In my head but sadly I can never get my hands on one :cry:

If you ever want to sell....
 

phattyduck

New member
I figure the swap should take much less time than the 3s-gte swap on the other Camry... No intercooler, much simpler exhaust, no extra gauges, etc. Oh, and I should be faster at the wiring this time (I'm hoping the BEAMS ECU pinout + ST205 diagrams will get me through it). I'll be keeping the rest of the car stock for now, which also helps.

And I figure if I do sell it, its the perfect daily driver for another Toyota enthusiast. :D

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
Got in a couple more hours on Saturday...

Cleaned out the fender junk gathering spot. Not nearly as much as I was expecting. Also, no rust, luckily:
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Wire harness, shift cables, fuel lines and other stuff disconnected:
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All the lower suspension parts off:
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Still have the power steering pump/lines and axles to do and then I'm pretty much ready to drop it. Hopefully the motor comes this week and I can start wiring!

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
TEASER!

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I'll be unwrapping it after I get it home (it is sitting at work in the warehouse). There's a motor, trans, front suspension, brakes, front subframe and a bunch of other stuff under there. More pics tomorrow or the next day... :D

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
The trip home last night:

Loaded on to the trailer. It was a bit of a hassle with the fork lift, trying to get it to clear the tailgate. We got it all figured out though. It was pretty front heavy, which made for a rough ride home. Yay stiff suspension keeping things safe-ish.
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Plastic off:
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Straps off, ready to lift:
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Lifted and off the trailer:
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Safely in the garage:
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I have a pretty much free day tomorrow to get to work on it. I'm hoping to get everything separated out so I can start the wiring and sell the transmission (speaking of which... anyone interested in the best S-series trans you can get (LSD!)? :lol:)

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
Awesome-Trac":2otfuogq said:
Where did you order your Beams motor from?
eBay, surprisingly enough. I found the one good one out of the 20-30 that are always on there. So far, everything has looked good. I found one crushed section of the wiring, but it is easily fixable. :)

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
Weekend update!

Subframe pulled off:
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Factory header shot:
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Factory velocity stacks:
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Under the head cover, coil-on-plug ignition!:
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Trans and harness removed, required removal of the intake manifold:
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Redtop harness:
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Factory Camry harness:
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I had a heck of a time removing the passenger (short) axle from the trans. Normally a good 'pop' with a pry-bar and it comes out... not so much this time. Then I found this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRQ-k92k04s

One quick whack and then it pops out. I think I'll be keeping an extra clutch fork around for just this purpose. :lol:

-Charlie
 

CSAlltrac

New member
What company was the motor from? I just found mine on eBay as well. Went with jdmracingmotors, they were great and the motor was super clean.
 

phattyduck

New member
I bought from "japandirectjapanese" on eBay - They have another similar one up now but it is not as clean and much more expensive. You just have to just go for the best, not the cheapest. The hardest part (to a person who hasn't done it before, at least) is figuring out what parts are necessary and what parts aren't.

If I was doing an ST205 swap again, I would only get a clip. There are just to many things not directly attached to the motor that are necessary (and essentially always missing when you get a motor set). With the Beams, there are a lot fewer parts not directly attached to the motor (no igniter, no intercooler parts, etc. to worry about).

-Charlie
 

phattyduck

New member
The White Alltrac packed up and on its way to the new house... (and yes, the bikes on the roof are each worth a multiple of the car... :twisted: )

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Sadly, it'll be a while 'til I get back to it. :( The house will be taking priority for a bit.

-Charlie
 

Toxygene

Active member
Subscribed!!! And if you ever want to start doing this for a side business where you buy Camry Alltracs and swap these in... let me know! LOL :wink:
 
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