1994 Motor Swap Comparison - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

hachi-rocu · 11-07-2004, 08:31 PM

I was thinking of doing a swap into a 1994 Gts Celica and was wondering what you guys think the better motor is to swap in.

I dont want to go turbo because that will get too expensive too fast.

Right now the car has a blown 5sfe in it. I was just thinking would it be better to swap in another 5sfe or go for a JDM 3sge.
I know all of the engine mounts will line up but I am just wondering if it is worth the extra effort to swap motors for a 3sge.

Both motors have some good specs:

5SFE 3SGE
2.2 litre 2.0 litre
135 horsepower 160 horsepower
slave cams independent cams

I like the 3sge better and I think it would be a better platform to start with also it has a bigger aftermarket supply.

Please if you have any input post it.
Thanks for your help!!!

Getting your car sideways is the easy part its not pissing your pants that is hard.

Kwanza · 11-07-2004, 08:48 PM

There are many options... but it all depends on what you want to do... I would reccomend turboing the 5SFE because it'll pay off in the long run and is the cheapest route. It's much cheaper than a complete swap BTW. Swaps can nickle and dime you to death. Turbocharging a 5SFE can make enough power to be competitive with 3SGTEs... but it has its drawbacks.

Other options... I wouldn't go with a 2nd gen 3SGE (160hp)... I would go with the 3rd. It's map sensored, has a much better valvetrain set-up, higher compression, better stock camshafts, etc. It's a very good platform to start from, and it's actually probably a little easier because wiring up a MAP sensor is easier than an AFM. The BEAMS is even better, but is almost 2 times as difficult as far as wiring is concerned. The only problem... you can do a 3SGTE for about the same amount of money and have a motor with much higher potential. I personally build n/a motors and would go with the 3SGE... but a stock 3SGE doesn't feel a whole lot faster than a 5SFE...

hachi-rocu · 11-07-2004, 08:56 PM

I was thinking of going the N/A higher compression route but I can get the second gen 3sge motor for cheap and with bolt ons I should run around 170-175 which would put down some good times.

hachi-rocu · 11-07-2004, 08:58 PM

I would need to get a new block anyways the piston blew a whole in it and there is a con rod sticking out the front.

Deep · 11-08-2004, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kwanza
There are many options... but it all depends on what you want to do... I would reccomend turboing the 5SFE because it'll pay off in the long run and is the cheapest route. It's much cheaper than a complete swap BTW. Swaps can nickle and dime you to death. Turbocharging a 5SFE can make enough power to be competitive with 3SGTEs... but it has its drawbacks.

Unless you did a full bottom end rebuild, I think this would be a bad idea. Every turbo'd 5SFE I've seen so far has either snapped a rod or spun a bearing. I'm thinking with new bearings and rod hardware, it would be much more reliable. A 3SGTE head on a 5SFE bottom end would be worth looking into, but you'd need custom pistons to bump up compression, same with a 5SGE.

Kwanza · 11-08-2004, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Deep
Unless you did a full bottom end rebuild, I think this would be a bad idea. Every turbo'd 5SFE I've seen so far has either snapped a rod or spun a bearing. I'm thinking with new bearings and rod hardware, it would be much more reliable. A 3SGTE head on a 5SFE bottom end would be worth looking into, but you'd need custom pistons to bump up compression, same with a 5SGE.

It all depends on tuning when it comes to custom turbo kits. Granted, the bottom-end isn't all that, but it can handle mild boost (6-8 psi)... If shortcuts are taken (almost always) or if people get careless and up the boost... then yeah... boom. IMO, a safe reliable turbo set-up can be done.

As for a 5SGE... it's not a great idea either... To elaborate, the 5S block is an oversquared stroker design... so mating up a 3SG head wouldn't be very benefical. The reason is the 5S block doesn't rev very well, so it can't fully utilize the 3SG head's power making ability, which requires a fair amount of revving. I'd just go with the 3SGE if that were the case. Just can't have the best of both worlds n/a with such small displacment motors.