I've been debating on engine swaps and I have some questions. How reliable would a swapped car be? What swap would be the best for a daily diver?

Depends on what you want...
Most guys with a GT do a 3SGTE swap if they want more power. I just completed mine.

Here's a good thread with lots of information
The 3SGTE Swap

Read..search..read..search more..

Edit:
Read through your thread about twin turbos from 09..that happened to get locked..
The answer to your question is in there..from 95celicaST..

This post has been edited by Malek: Mar 19, 2013 - 12:08 PM

1MZ-FE by far would be the best for a daily driver. Reliable, gets good mpg, cheaper to swap, and you can get all the parts from any parts house. Both engines being stock I'd imagine the 1MZ-FE may even be faster than a 3S-GTE car due to less weight in the engine and no turbo lag. It'd make for an interesting race. If I were to swap I'd go with the 1MZ-FE and E153.

>
Isn't the 1mz more complicated of a swap?

Stock to stock a 1mz is alil fastrr than a 2nd gen 3sgte
The 3rd gen 3s is alil faster than the 1mz
Any stock swap can make a good dd if you take the time to do the swap right

Its not really more complicated than a 3s swap it you spend all extra to get the harness done
An a 1mz swap an be done for around 2000-2500 (maybe even cheaper) depending where you get your parts from
Most good 3s clips will cost around that before you even get it in the car

>
How hard is the wiring?

I didn't even try to do mine an I still have nightmares
There's a lot that changes In it
It only cost 430 if you have mr22v do it

V6 sounds better too.

>
I forgot about that thread. I wish I hadn't made it.

>
I'm leaning more to the 3s right now. It seems more straight forward, plus many people have done it so there is a wealth of info on it.

Question for 3S people in the states. How hard are parts to get and how expensive are they?

very hard and very expensive. which is why Box and myself think a V6 swap is the better to do

>
That's what's pulling me towards the v6 swap. What really scares me though are the mounts and the wiring.

if you have a GT then you only need 1 mount. the other 3 are on the transmission. the wiring can be challenging, i sent my harness to MR220V and he did it for me. the only other fab work was the Y pipe and a coolant pipe (not necessary if you find a suitable hose)

I can provide the mount Y pipe and coolant pipe.

>
and thats very very bull****.
lithia stocks alot of the parts for the 3rd gen, including all the important stuff, and ALL the 2nd gen parts are available here.

>


yup. decent prices and also turn around time on hard to get stuff is 4 weeks, i just found that out 3 weeks ago

Cmon smaay dont make it seem as if its near impossible to get beams parts. Put ur opinion but dont post things that arent true. While it is hard its not very hard. The beams maintenance is pretty straight forward. Unless ur replacing internal parts or parts that need rrplacing every 60,000 miles

and saying the v6 swap is cheaper only works if you only are looking for ~200 or so hp.
99% of the owners on this site dont want to rebuild a motor before they swap it in, nevermind put parts of 2 motors together, like smaay did.
so, you swap in a v6, in most cases here either a 1mz or 3mz, end up with anywhere from 160-220whp, depending on the setup.
a stock 3rd gen makes ~240whp at stockish boost with just an intake and exhaust.
yea, it costs more up front, but will make 300whp all day @ 17-18psi, which is still within the factory parameters, super reliably.
to get that in a v6, your either swapping in a 2gr, which is just as or more expensive than a 3s swap, or turboing a 1m or 3vz or whatever, which ends up costing way more than a 3s swap, and you loose all the factory reliability.

trust me, i started with a stock 5s, turboed it to just under 200whp, got bored real quick, and kept upgrading it till i broke it @ over 300whp with my crappy tuning skills.
i've driven enough v6 camrys to know that a v6 (other than maybe the 2gr) in a celica WILL get boring quick, especially to a young kid thats lookin to have some fun with the local hondah guys.
just like the 5s, most of the v6's you guys are gonna be swapping are designed to be fuel effecient, and be reliable, not make big power and racing, lets be honest here.
my point is, by the time you swap in a v6, and make it fun, your way past the cost of a 3s swap, with none of the reliability.
short of the beams, or 4th gen 3sgte, parts are very easily attainable, and if your smart, even parts for those engines are a phone call and a couple weeks of waiting away.

to the OP, any swapped car is only as reliable as the work put into it.

Parts for the 3sgte were not at autozone or advance auto...but they certainly were not impossible or long waiting to acquire.

TCP got the parts to me in 2 weeks.

Yeah and anything over 250 hp or so in a FWD setup is useless for anything that isn't drag racing. Unless you enjoy fighting torque steer the entire time you're driving.

Turbocharging the 1MZ and losing reliability is utter bull ****. Toyota offered the option of a TRD supercharger on the 1MZ-FE in the Camry/Solara and even the Sienna, it's more than capable of being boosted.

Also driving a V6 Camry is nothing like driving a V6 Celica. It'd be like throwing a 3S into the Camry, wouldn't be the same would it?

>
The 1mz pulls me in with its parts avliableity, but the 3sgte pulls me with the amount of info on it and it seems easier to install.

Also you got 300hp out of a 5s? I'm impressed I didn't think it could get up to that much.

>
That has got to be the silliest thing I've ever heard on this site.
Usless over 250fwhp? Lmao tell that to my wife as she pulls away from you like your standing still. ( yes, the blue celica is jenns, she drives it everyday, and has for the past 13 years that she's owned it.)
You must have some SERIOUS noodle arms if you have to "fight" tourque steer @ 250fwhp.
I'm sorry, your argument holds no water with me after that. Lmao.
The "f" in the engine code designates it as an economy head, that's not made for performance, or boost.
Can it handle a few lbs, sure, so can ANY motor. But was it designed and built for performance or boost? No.

>
Dont worry about the install, thats not what should dictate your swap, the v6 isnt really a big deal vs a 3s.
unlike most of these guys, im not a fanboy, im a realist.
if your looking for the cheapest way to put a swap in your car that is faster than stock, and are not looking for a turbo, or looking to build big down the road, the v6 may be a good option for you.
the 1mz is cheap, available everywhere, and is reliable. same for the 3vz or whatever.

if you want a turbo setup, are looking to make alot more power than stock, and want a true performance engine that is designed and built for performance, than the 3sgte is the best option for you, with the 3rd gen being the easiest of all to swap. everything just fits, works together seamlessly, and drives just like stock, till you really get into it.
a/c, ps, everything is plug and play as far as accessories, and its super reliable, up to and over 300whp.

if you want n/a performance, want an engine that revs "honduh" style, and arnt looking for huge power, than check out the beams. its prolly the easiest of all swaps, and is a fun little motor.

any of those motors, provided you do your mantinence and take resonable care of them, will be very reliable.

i had alot of fun with my 5sfte. my last dynoruns with it were @ ~21psi, with a ct-27 (upgraded version of the stock 2nd gen 3sgte turbo, the ct-26) and made 307whp and 320ftlbs. the build and dynos, ect are fully documented here on the site in the FI section.
even a 5sfte can be quite reliable, and a hell of a lot of fun provided you do things right and use moderation with boost and turbo size..lol my setup was very reliable untill i really started to push things to theyre limit, and knew i was going to end up with somthing going wrong, and accepted it to learn from it..lol
good luck.

>
Torque steer is fairly prevalent by that point. Even the 190hp Maxima my brother drives has it to a good degree. Obviously you've never taken the car where any degree of accelerating under hard cornering is required. Controlling torque steer in a straight line is one thing, controlling it through corners is another.

And "g" in the engine code designates performance. I guess next you'll tell me that the I in I4 means inline.

This post has been edited by Box: Apr 28, 2013 - 2:00 PM

>
I've been for a ride in a certain 330 whp 3S powered Celica, and there truly wasn't any torque steer. Then my 245 hp AWD Murano has decent torque steer when I'm passing traffic. Different car, different design. Celicas are prone to massive amounts of wheel hop but in general, little to no torque steer. That argument can be ignored when it comes to V6 vs 3S.

No need for a pissing contest over a 3S-GTE vs. a V6 swap. Comparing the motors is comparing apples to oranges. If you want cheap, easy, reliable 200 hp, then it's V6 swap. If you want turbo-noises and 250-300 whp and don't mind spending a bit more, then it's 3S-GTE all the way. Both are great engine swap candidates, but aren't comparable at all. Quite frankly, I'm getting sick of everyone trying to bash the other swap. It's teh interwebs, we all have different opinions and want different things, there's no reason to get upset over somebody wanting to do a different swap than you would do yourself.

This post has been edited by richee3: Apr 28, 2013 - 3:37 PM

So you seriously dont know that the "fe" (generally the last 2 letters in the engine code) in the Toyota engine codes designates the head design, and that f designates economy and g designates performance?
Fe - economy/electronic fuel injection
Ge - performance /electronic fuel injection
Lol you can learn about it all over the net, dude, just look around.

I've been driving celicas 13 years dude, and believe me, I've driven them just as hard as anyone on this site, and know what torque steer is.
Since you've learned everything there is to know about celicas in the 2 years you've been here, I'm just gonna step back and allow you to continue to put your foot in your mouth.

>
Apparently sarcasm is above you.

>
I suppose with proper suspension setups etc... you could eliminate a majority of it. Still to have none in a high powered FWD layout I find it hard to believe. Even the Vauxhall Astra VXR with all of its gizmos for countering torque steer, still suffers from torque steer.

This post has been edited by Box: Apr 28, 2013 - 5:28 PM

That car is hilariously bad.