Possible engine swaps for 98 Tercel CE?

[Discharger]

I saw the stickied topic up top, but it was for the wrong year and it doesn't seem as if it was for others to post their questions in. I checked the history as well and didn't see anyone asking the same question before, but I apologize in advance if this has already been asked.

With that out of the way, I'm trying to decide whether it's possible to do an engine swap with a fairly potent engine. The main reason is because if I'm sort of limited in what I can swap out without doing heavy customization, I'll probably cut back some of the mods I want to do and start saving on the side for different car that might accept more mods of that type.

I sort of thought it would be cool to do this car up to the balls just because as one of my friends pointed out, its very hard to find anyone whose done that with a Tercel.

Edit: Sorry about the double post. My browser timed out while trying to submit and for some reason it won't let me delete the first thread. if someone could delete it for me, I'd appreciate it

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Well, you do have options. But none of them are easy, or cheap.
The main problem is that the engine in the 95+ Tercel's/Paseo's is a 5E-FE with a distributorless-ignition. The 5E part is good, but the ignition is bad. Those engines have alot of really messed up electrical crap going on, that just make them a bitch to work with.
But because that engine is the best engine that will fit without serious modification to the car, an engine swap probably wouldn't be worth your while. But if you want to get some serious speed out of it, your best bet would be to install a turbo kit. There's a few of them out there. You could try to contact BYD, or Diabolique, EL Prototypes, and I'm not sure who else, but I'm sure there's more companies that'll set you up.

[Discharger]

Alright, cool thanks for the info. I think I will look into something like that. Just a question though, when you say the ignition is bad, how so and if it's a problem, would you recommend replacing the ignition system with another one? If you would, what would be a good fit? Not sure if this is an issue, I'm new to this sort of stuff (I'd be getting some help, from some people I know that do this sort of thing, they just don't know a lot about tercels so I'd probably pick up an owners manual).

As well, do you know how much performance I could get out of this engine with a good turbo kit in it? I'm trying to debate whether or not to do this car up or just use it as a winter vehicle and buy up another car that's more friendly to mods for performance.

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It's not that it's a BAD ignition.
It's just a lttle overly complex and a real pain in the ass to work with. And you can't replace it. Not without replacing the ecu, and doing all sorts of rewiring... It'd be easier just to rip EVERYTHING out, and swap in a whole different engine.

As for power from a turbo...
From what I've heard from others, you should expect anywhere from 150 to 180hp, depending on how well it's setup, and how much boost you run.
I've heard of some extreme cases of people (mostly in Japan), where turbocharging this engine can produce upwards of 300hp!!
So, the potential is there to gain as much as you want. It's just a question of the amount of time/effort/cash you're willing to put into it.

[Discharger]

First off, thanks for the response. That helped me clear up quite a few questions although I have another that I'm going to need to know before I put in the tach.

I don't have the owners manual yet (I didn't get one with my car and the one I ordered online doesn't come for a few weeks), but I was wondering if you knew what the engine red lines at?

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It apparently redlines at 5800rpm. But I don't know where I got that info from originally, so it might not be 100% acurate. But that's not a big deal, if you've got an auto, it'll never go past the redline anyways. And if you've got a manual, it'll hit the rev limiter before you do any damage. So there's no worries, eh?