New to Forum/toyota..building first toyota - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

ohioguru · 01-13-2010, 12:27 PM

my friend just aquired a 1990 celica st with the 2.2 motor in it. he wants to invest in its preformance. But he is on a budget, are there any mods cams/TB's/ECU's stuff like that can be swapped in for power gains from different toyotas? and what mods are best to go with first? basically just wondering where to start on the motor after i finish all the patch work on the body.....i want to make this car respectiable again. Thanks

Pineapple · 01-13-2010, 01:11 PM

First you and your friend need to take a better look at the engine. ST come with 1.6L 4A-FE. GT and GTS come with 2.2L 5S-FE. Aftermarket support is weak for both engines. Swap is most people do. Some took the path of adding turbo.

ohioguru · 01-13-2010, 02:02 PM

so is this even a motor worth putting money into? and what is the common swap? and whats the average cost of it? yes its a 2.2 the motor was changed out along with the transmission

Pineapple · 01-13-2010, 03:11 PM

A few notes for you: the 2.2L 5S-FE is used also in Camry and MR2. The S-series engine (the 'S' in the 5S) include 2.0L 3S-GE (NA) and 3S-GTE (T for Turbo). You can Google and find out what they are and what's the different from year to year. The FE is the economic head design and the GE is for performance. People will refer a turboe 5S-FE as 5S-FTE. Some time you'll see 5S-GTE when someone swap a GE head and turbo it on the 5S block. All these will help you narrow your search. Oh MR2 guys tends to a lot more tuning then others. So check out MR2 forum like MR2OC.

The usual advice for 5S-FE is to swap in a 3S-GTE. Its the most cost effective way. Since there is a Celica AllTrac or GT4 that come with 3S-GTE and AWD, some (like me) will suggest selling what you have and look for one. Whenever you do a swap, you'll run into problem. Start with an AllTrac and work your way up.

That should be a few post with info on swap, 5S-GE conversion etc.

I'm one of the few (stupid some would call) that go for NA build on the 5S-FE. Webcam has custom cams for the 5S-FE. They can make custom grind on request. I have a set of custom high compression pistons from Wiseco. Basically its the stock piston without the dish to make it flat top. Head is port and polished. I just need some time to put it together. I'm think to use MegaSquirt. I'm also thinking about individual throttle bodies.