I just bought a car to be my daily driver so I would have more time to work on my 71' ST. Since I no longer need it to be my daily car, I'm going to make it into a 1/4 mile car. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of work it will take to put my Dodge 440 engine in this car.
You have got to be kidding, don't even put that american block in that car, I thought you where a purist. Unless your gonna drag race that Celica, It seems like a lot of work to go fast in a straight line.
You have got to be kidding, don't even put that american block in that car, I thought you where a purist. Unless your gonna drag race that Celica, It seems like a lot of work to go fast in a straight line.
73GTV
It just seems to me that putting all the money and work into the car would not be worth it if the car only has 100hp. Its in my blood to drive cars with lots of kick.
<quote>Its in my blood to drive cars with lots of kick.</quote>
And it could be your blood on the road when your front heavy car fails to take a corner and smashes into a tree.
The '71 has the smallest engine bay of all the Celicas.
That means the engine will need to sit very forward of the axle line - making it very front heavy - which will give it evil handling characteristics in corners.
The 76-77 have more space so they lend themselves to Lexus V8's (which are all alloy lightweights with 260HP).
A friend put a Lexus V8 into a '74 (same engine bay as the '71) but he cut out the firewall and put the engine way back.
A better option is to put in a worked 22R-E.
These can easily make 120-140HP and only take modest alterations to fit.
A turbo 22R-TE fits without much drama and can make 200HP but many parts need replacing (cams, turbo, computer, exhaust, etc)
An imported 18R-G can make an easy 160HP (mine does) and fits with no trouble at all.
The real pros put in a 3S-GTE but this requires a lot of custom work.
The absolute weight of the engine isn't the real problem, the front/rear balance is.
A heavier engine needs shifting towards the centre of the car to keep the original balance.
Shifting the 440 back will certainly help keep the balance correct.
What's the weight of a 440?
Is it significantly heavier than the 18R-C?
Hmmmmm .... post title " 71' Celica ST Restoration"
So how is stuffing a huge ass chrysler motor into a very cool old Toyota a "restoration" ???!!!??? An abomination, perhaps .... do as you feel you must - it's your money, and your time ... and your money...and a waste, imho. "Restore" it with a Toyota powerplant of some sort, at least, for crying out loud. I agree with above posters - the car would be so ridiculously front heavy that the idea is silly.....although, I grant you that you want to now use it as a 1/4 mile car - do you think you can get the power to the ground ???
Wishing you the best of luck, and keep us posted....it should make for an interesting project car, for sure. Personally, I wouldn't do it, but .... DO IT !!! ... may the Force be with you
The people have spoken, The fact is that american muscle cars have been the standard for years in North America. The fact that this car weighs so little makes it tempting for someone to consider some odd modifications in the name of speed.
But this old car is japanese class and the fact that so many other japanese powerplants are available to make good power without the major modifications that you will have to perform to make this car function as a street beast.
A 440 is a good item for another project, Just get your cross member like you where heading for in the beginning and install something cool in that engine bay that you can at least get to the spark plugs..
Could someone please tell me how the Toyota 20-R is a good choice of engine. The 71' Celica is the only Toyota anyone in my family has ever owned. We all drive Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler vehicles. And we have had very little problems with our cars. The original engine in this car didn't last very long. And I want to put something in this car that not only has power, but is reliable. I have 3 engines I can use. My Dodge 440 and Chrysler LA 360 have lasted longer than the cars they were in did. My 20-R was pulled out of a truck because it needed more work than the owner was willing to put in. So in my opinion a Dodge or Chrysler engine would be a much better choice, but if you can provide me with information, other than this front heavy thing, that would make the Toyota engine a better choice, I may change my mind.
Look at these forums for some of your answers, The guys that hangout here have performed good examples of successful engine swaps and pricing to the extreme of what someone would pay for performamce.
I have seen pictures of your work area and you have everything to perform your own modifications and what ever engine you use will work.
Its your car, don't let us change your mind, You may surprise us all. Get back with me and let us know if this helped and get back with Stepho about the weight of that block so that he can help you out.
Last edited by 73GTV; 08-03-2008 at 07:50 PM.
Reason: Had to correct my reference
in all respect, i love muscle cars and mostly chryslers.
but a 440 might be a bit much for your lil 71.
it does seem like a perfect combo, big motor+lightweight body would be perfect for a 1/4 mile car. but like people have mentioned, the steering is gonna be a little rediculous.
its not like you need a whole lot of steering for a dragster.
but if you seriously want a dragster, id go out and buy a plymouth duster and put the 440 in that. just cuz its a mopar and you wouldnt have to do too much fab work to get it to fit in there and its lightweight aswell.
but its up to you. id personally go for something a little better than a celica for a 440 canidate. but if you want to suprise us all and go for it. have at it.
but if you do so, id love to see pics of the whole build up
__________________
i have an 1985 toyota corolla GT-S thats probably gonna be a parts car since i cannot obtain a title for it.
if you need parts send me a PM and i can see what i got.
Look, Jim is West of Regina, and the parts availability for that Celica are slim to Non so he is trying to make it with the best parts that he can get. We forget the import fee and all if he orders anything from the Lower forty-eight and him coming up with a half cut is harder still, but not impossible.
So lets give him a break and answer his questions so that he can at least figure out what he wants to do with his 1971 Celica ST.
Jim, I'm gonna be moving to California sometime soon and when I get my Junkyards down, I'll look for a few item for your car, just to help you out.
i would be worried about how much the chassis would twist after the cutting needed to fit a american big block and tranny into the car. despite the fact that the rear end would blow up @ idle.
not sure on actual wheight but going from a 100% cast iron 18rc/a40 (auto) to a mostly aluminum 2xr/w58 (supra 5 speed) does this to the front end
going for a 2xr is easy and mostly bolt in, lots of goodies out there. the torque of these motors can make you quite happy. not really that hard to get over 200 ftlbs out of these motors and thats what throws you back in the seat so you can properly show the 5.slow the bird.
and you will prolly still get close to 20mpg
if you stuff anything with that much power into that car you better stiffen the chasis, or just send it to the crusher now.
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71' Celica ST Restoration
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