Project ST165-ST205 Swap

Rick89GTS

New member
Did you weld on a longer steel exhaust hanger or did you get a different rubber hanger?

zaluss":3lkzw1kx said:
November 22nd 2015

One of the exhaust hangers doesn't reach. I'll need to get a longer one.

zYhHVX6l.jpg
 

zaluss

Member
Rick89GTS":1a4075bm said:
Did you weld on a longer steel exhaust hanger or did you get a different rubber hanger?

zaluss":1a4075bm said:
November 22nd 2015

One of the exhaust hangers doesn't reach. I'll need to get a longer one.

zYhHVX6l.jpg

I got a different rubber hanger. Some generic longer one.
 
Thank you so much for posting all this information! It has been tremendously helpful! I love your car! I've come across it in a few places. I may follow in your footsteps.
I have an ST165 that is in fantastic shape, but the engine needs to be rebuilt (has 88,000 original miles). I'm debating whether to get the engine current engine rebuilt, and keep it all original; or swap it out with an ST205 engine like you did. What would you reccomend? Seeing that you've done the swap, is it better/worth it? Do you still have your car?
Thanks!
 

zaluss

Member
mickeyfinn":14c3kp2c said:
Thank you so much for posting all this information! It has been tremendously helpful! I love your car! I've come across it in a few places. I may follow in your footsteps.
I have an ST165 that is in fantastic shape, but the engine needs to be rebuilt (has 88,000 original miles). I'm debating whether to get the engine current engine rebuilt, and keep it all original; or swap it out with an ST205 engine like you did. What would you reccomend? Seeing that you've done the swap, is it better/worth it? Do you still have your car?
Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words!

I still have the car though I post most of my updates on Instagram (@project165) or on the alltrac fb page.

Swap is absolutely worth it for reliability and part availability alone. Unless you are planning on keeping it as a collectors car, I would swap ahead. Feel free to message if you have questions.
 
Thanks for the reply.
Is there a huge performance difference comparing the original ST165 engine to the swapped ST205? I would like to keep the car as original as possible, BUT, the ST205 has about 50 or so more hp. That's hard to ignore. I'm just nervouse about everything working after the swap. I may even have ATS racing do the swap. Apparently they have done it many times, and even have one in the shop now that they just finished swapping.

Here are some pictures of mine by the way.
 

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zaluss

Member
mickeyfinn":3eim5lz5 said:
Thanks for the reply.
Is there a huge performance difference comparing the original ST165 engine to the swapped ST205? I would like to keep the car as original as possible, BUT, the ST205 has about 50 or so more hp. That's hard to ignore. I'm just nervouse about everything working after the swap. I may even have ATS racing do the swap. Apparently they have done it many times, and even have one in the shop now that they just finished swapping.

Here are some pictures of mine by the way.

Yes its worth it for reliability and part availablility. Probably more than 50 hp because you can crank the boost higher than on the 1st gen engine.
 
Zaluss,
Do you remember the part number, and where you got the heat exchanger for upgrading your IC in this post?
I'd like to do the same.
Thanks!
(would also like a T-shirt like your girlfriend was wearing in one of those posts, where could d i get one?)




zaluss":q02n00qm said:
End of Summer Upgrade

I spent the last few weeks upgrading a few key components:

1) Larger heat exchanger.
2) Larger IC pump
3) Heat wrap top mount heat exchanger
4) Cut and fiberglass the ST205 original airbox.
5) Run a force-fed intake from the lower front bumper. Inspiration from here: http://www.alltrac.net/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 44&t=50901
6) Battery relocation to trunk.

Heat exchanger arrives.

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Xbox One S controller for scale.

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Draining the coolant from the original IC.

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Intercooler removal.

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Bosch/cobra pump installed.

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Using zip ties to measure positioning.

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Using some threaded rod and rod ends, heat exchanger mounted.

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Heat wrapped the top mount intercooler

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Fiberglassed and fitted ST205 airbox. No pics of fiberglass process (sorry). It required the entire bottom section to be cut and fiberglassed over.

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Used an aluminum project box to store my various fan and accessory relays.

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Cut a 3" hole to run the air ducting to the factory airbox.

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Bumper hole still needs some triming.

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Battery mounted in the rear passenger hatch.

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Still a few more things to do so I'll add more pictures once completed.
 

zaluss

Member
Wow it's been over a year since I've last updated. Not a whole lot has changed but she's been driven at least a few times a month.

After several years of a high quality rattling eBay exhaust, I finally bit the bullet for a fully custom one in 304 stainless with vbands courtesy of https://www.fusefabrication.com/ here in WA.

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Also fun fact about the ST165 is that the front brake rotors are smaller than the rears. A common, inexpensive "upgrade" for these cars is to use the front brake setup from a late ST185 which uses a massive 277mm rotor vs the 256mm rotor :laugh:. I was looking into big brake kits for this car but all the options I could find would prevent me from using my 15" OZ wheels and well that would be a crime.

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Painted. Probably get these installed next weekend along with some StopTech street pads and blank rotors.

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And finally after years of searching, I was finally able to find a front GT-FOUR ST165 grill badge in Japan. To say these aren't easy to come by is an understatement.

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I'll try update this thread more frequently but for now here is a rolling shot from a meet last year.

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Toyotawes

New member
Beautiful car, has been inspiring looking through your thread. I got an 88 st165 last year and have been veeery slowly getting it back to where it ought to be. I got it from a kid who brought it here to OR from Colorado, and he bought it in Alabama. Quite the basket case.
 

zaluss

Member
Toyotawes":28mby2n8 said:
Beautiful car, has been inspiring looking through your thread. I got an 88 st165 last year and have been veeery slowly getting it back to where it ought to be. I got it from a kid who brought it here to OR from Colorado, and he bought it in Alabama. Quite the basket case.

Thanks man! Sounds like quite the project. Can't wait to see it.
 
Thanks for posting here Mike!
I'm never on Facebook. I follow your lead on a lot of stuff, so it's great when you post on this site.
Love the new exhaust!
I've got the same crappy ebay exhaust you had, and I don't really like it, so I'm looking for something else too.
I've been thinking about having the ST185 HKS Silent Hi Power exhaust custom bent installed.
Is that a straight Cat in your new system or a resonator/muffler? Would you share how much the new exhaust cost?
Thanks again for posting!
 

zaluss

Member
mickeyfinn":2rj67uxj said:
Thanks for posting here Mike!
I'm never on Facebook. I follow your lead on a lot of stuff, so it's great when you post on this site.
Love the new exhaust!
I've got the same crappy ebay exhaust you had, and I don't really like it, so I'm looking for something else too.
I've been thinking about having the ST185 HKS Silent Hi Power exhaust custom bent installed.
Is that a straight Cat in your new system or a resonator/muffler? Would you share how much the new exhaust cost?
Thanks again for posting!

Straight cat. It wasn't a requirement but I wanted a cat for environmental and smell reasons :)

Exhaust was about $1300.

Exhaust clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQb4v0mmbw
 
I'm also looking to follow in your footsteps on the brakes...
So, 93' ST185 brake calipers will bolt right on without modification? Just need to get new rotors and pads?
Where did you get the calipers & rotors? Looks like they are readily available on rock auto?
 
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