What’s up fellow 6gc Celica enthusiast,

I just need some advice, tips, opinions, ideas, on what I want to do this next summer before I head out to school. I have a 1998 Celica GT which is unfortunately an auto. I only have next summer to work on my car so here’s what I have in mind at the moment:

•Suspension - since I do want try autocross this summer. I have Eibach springs with KYB struts, TRD front strut brace, OEM rear strut brace right now.
•Cams upgrade - since I do want a little power increase but don’t know how hard the install is.
•Body work - because the car does have a few ding and scratches here and there. And either new paint or plastdip
•Auto to manual swap – because manual.
•Engine swap – more powah! But maybe not in my price range.

Now know that I have no experience with any of these except suspension work. So, in the timeframe I have, what’s the most viable project to get done? Your opinions will very much be appreciated.

I think the manual transaxle conversion would be at the top of my list.

you have one whole summer, you can get a lot done. I nearly finished my swap in one summer but ran into a LOT of issues you won't because I have an ST and I'm a noob at it so I'm stuck fixing it up during the winter instead.

A couple things to decide on for you. Are you set on swapping the engine or is it just a dream? Because then I wouldn't bother with upgrading the cams on an engine you're going to be replacing. And if you are going to swap then you might as well do the manual conversion at the same time and save yourself from doing twice the amount of work. It's quite simple once you get into it.

Suspension is the easiest and cheapest to do. A few hundred dollars and a weekend to install it all and you'll be good to autocross until you get bored or the auto 5sfe.

Body work will depend on the quality you want. If you're just covering up things so it looks good from afar then you can get it done but if you want a showroom shine then it might take a while to do correctly as well as cost alot more. I wouldn't plastidip, get a real paintjob.

and lastly, the one thing you didn't address is budget. this is the biggest deciding factor in ALL your options. You have time frame (summer) and power goal (autocross build) but you have to define a budget before all that can happen.

some numbers for you:
*my suspension so far is about $800 more or less and it's s very basic setup (coils, F&R strut bar, and end links)
*painting my lip, sideskirts etc and a few touch ups on the body is just the cost of materials and paint so maybe a few hundred $ but that wasn't a full repaint. DIY you would need a good air compressor and a good setup and gun etc.
*my auto to manual, 7afe to BEAMS swap so far is over $3000, ALOT more than I budgeted for but I'm still happy I attempted it.

swap trans.

get RE71Rs.

get seat time at autox.


If the body isnt in terrible condition I would leave that alone.


Putting cams in is a great little learning mod. Its simple but challenging enough and will help you learn basic engine tweaking. You will need an SAFC to street tune the motor. Its a nice little power boost for the motor and can be done for well under $1k when all is said and done.

As Chee mentioned. If a swap is not far beyond the realm of possibility...you might just wait for that. I did cams in my 5S and had them in there for about 4 years before I swapped my motor.
I figure for you it will take a good bit of the summer to get the swap done. It took me 3 months of just weekend work. Summer time is the best time to be out driving and racing so I wouldnt jump into something that might keep the car inside all summer.

Everything will cost money.

My suspension: spring/struts were $300, coilovers were $900, twosrus endlinks were $80 (rears), rear strut bar was $70. If buying new, prepare to spend for good combo.

Forget cams for the 5sfe, save for a swap along with the manual swap. My swap was $1000 with everything needed to run. Well, I got lucky here.

As for bodywork, my car was from Georgia. ****ty body with dings, dents, and the whole ****z but I'll be working on the suspension for auto-x so I don't care.

An engine swap is definitely one of my top wants and the budget I’m trying to set myself at is probably $2000-$3000 for the summer. Keep in mind that I’m am heading off to college, so I’ll have to save some money for that as well. Seeing that cheela’s swap is over $3000 I’m not sure if my budget is enough. Also, since my Celica is a 1998, obd-II and emission might be a problem passing. But if I can get a swap done within my budget, that will be the project I’m heading towards. Either a 1mz-fe or a Redtop BEAMs swap, want to keep it NA. And I know the 1mz-fe motor can be gotten for cheap, plus parts available. And I need it up and running before college.

Next on my want list would be getting seat time for autocross so I can get a feel for my car and have fun during the summer and I would probably just replace suspension parts here and there, so I guess it is the cheapest route.

As for camming the 5s-fe, since it doesn’t appear to be as much work as doing a swap and is considerably cheaper, I might do what Tigawoods did and have it for a couple years then swap the motor when I really do have the time and money and not in a rush.

When it comes to my car’s body, it’s still in good shape just a couple rust spots here and there to touch up on, but a new color is tempting.

So if an engine swap is viable this coming summer, I might go that route.

What’s everyone’s thought?

If you NEED to pass emissions, your only choice for swap is a USDM based OBDII engine. You can take BEAMS, and GTE off the list. It's the same reason I never swapped any of my cars. I'm looking for a pre-96 car, because here in Chicagoland, they don't test cars older than 95.

Persionally, I would do the trans swap and suspension.

You'd be suprised how quick the car can get with a well sorted suspension.

bah, don't let me scare you. My cost is only up there because I splurged on a couple of things like my TRD shifter and some accessories. Also, mine being an ST is really what accounted for it costing so much. Since yours it a GT already, you won't have to do much to it other than swap the auto trans out so it'll cut down on costs quite a bit. but just never what costs will come up in a swap thats why I'm telling you about mine.

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Might as well just buy mines for 3k LOL

In this order:

FULL engine tune-up.
Manual swap.
Suspension work.
Good tires.
Focus on college.
Graduate from college.
Get a good job.
Save monies.
Swap for moar powah.

$3K will just tickle the surface of an engine swap. Triple that before you're ready to make room for any snags.

This post has been edited by NgoFcukinWay: Dec 7, 2018 - 12:43 AM

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Yeah, Milwaukee has emissions testing every two years for 1996 and newer vehicles so it does suck. But would the 1mz-fe pass OBD-II though?

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Yeah, but I don’t want to budget and then go over it and then I have a non-running car for college, for which I'm going out of state for

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If you’re selling lol

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Yeah, I’m leaning more towards this option at the moment and I'm trying to figure out parts and cost.

Yes. The MZ engines will pass emissions provided the swap is done correctly, and there is not check engine light for emissions components.

Hey all,

I just wanna say thanks for all the advice so far and now I’m just trying to save up money and do more research on what I want to achieve with my car. I need a set vision before I actually do anything.

Manual conversion was by far my favorite mod. It touches on everything that needs to be improved, and if you get lucky you may be able to find parts cheap. I was into it for only a couple hundred even with a new clutch plate and axle, did it over a week in my friends garage five years ago. No regrets. It did take about half a year to gather everything at cost, including great hook-ups from members here.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Dec 26, 2018 - 12:23 PM

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Yeah, that might be the route I take depending on gathering parts and cost. Or I might just find a donor car and swap things over for the ease of everything.