[boney.maroney]

Hi, first poster here in regards to my little beastly 1992 Camry, and wondering what kind of machine I can make of him. I’ve been thinking about buying another car as my first ‘performance’ car, but dangnabbit I just can’t part with this Camry. I was wondering if the 3S-FE can be upgraded with aftermarket parts etc, or if straight out buying like an AE-86 (I think it was) would be better, OR if there are any other engines I should consider. In short, is it worth the 10k or under that I want to put into the thing, or should I just fold and buy another car?

Cheers,:whatwhat:

Ryan

 

[Luckynumber5]

Well, I found my Camry to be a well balanced car compared to a lot of other cars, underpowered yes, but easy to drive. You have a few swap options:

3sgte= 2.0 turbo from the MR2 and Celica awd turbo cars, has around 185 horsepower or so stock and some decent after market.

3vz-fe= 3.0 v6 thats easy to mod into the low 15 second 1/4 mile, even faster if you do a manual conversion. The 3vz-fe is also notoriously fond of boost, throw a nice t3/t4 turbo on there and it will love it, internals on a well cared for low mileage 3vz-fe are good for more power than the 3sgte, but you have to make the turbo kit yourself, luckily we have Toysrme and his 3vz guru skills :lol:

Id do this, fix your suspension first, im sure its pretty worn, get some nice coils or go with a good spring/strut combo to start with, that will tell you if you want to keep modding.

If you have money to spend, dont waste it on the 5sfe. Just save up for a 3vz-fe, a manual conversion or automatic if you really want to get into hardcore straight line speed. And some engine management (NOT an SAFC, go E-manage minimum but preferably something more advanced like the SMT series piggybacks OR go standalone (megasquirt).

you need to decide what kind of power you want before you really start.

Just post any further questions and we will help you out!

 

[boney.maroney]

hey man cheers for the post, and I agree with your suggestions - didnt think of those engines. And to answer your question, I'm simply looking for a car that feels nice to drive, cuz atm I really feel like im driving a lemon :disappoinsimply cuz im a manual lover and its an auto. So if I could spend like....I dunno 5 or 6k? getting a fast, fun car to drive, I would be happy. I mean im not looking for 9's or 10's, anything under 15 or 14sec to me is fun enough, having driven a few 14's/13's. So yeah, which option would give me that? I mean i DEF. wanna get a manual box, turbo etc and spend the money all into the engine and worry about exterior when I can be bothered:hammer:

Cheers:whatwhat:

 

[Luckynumber5]

I say get your suspension finished before anything, it will really change your opinion of the car. Either look for some coil overs to go on it or some nice struts and springs to lower it and really attach the car to the road. The factory alloys already do a good job so don't put any heavy rims on the car.

It sounds like you would really enjoy a v6/manual swap. The v6 comes into power early, holds onto it longer and there is no delay. Plus by the time you are finished with a v6 swap, you will have spent a little less than the turbo swap and come out with way more usable power than the turbo, which has to wait until about 3500 rpm to start pulling, whereas the v6 just needs you to give it the pedal at any time to go.

With a stock 3vz and manual swap you should be able to run low 15s. With a y-pipe back exhaust I bet you could do a high 14 second car on a good launch. Now if you really want to get into it, getting cams, port and polish w/3angle valve job, and a really nice way to tune like an e-manage with ignition harness or an smt series piggyback you should be in the 14s with great driving.

edit: finding parts for the car is easy: just go to Ebay and type in 92 Camry struts or 92 Camry springs. Tokico and Eibach should still have parts for both cars and while the Eibach springs don't give the best drop, they do improve the handling a lot.

 

[boney.maroney]

really? wow im newbie just always assumed that a turbo would = more speed even accounting for le spool time. So whats a rough estimate price wise would you say for -

+ Suspension
+ 3vz-fe stock w/ y-pipe

? Seriously have no idea is all haha, and the cams and other parts you mentioned to be added on later if I feel like it, how much roughly?

Btw, so chucking a turbo on the 3vz, is that possible or simply wouldnt do much?

Cheers

 

[Luckynumber5]

suspension, bout $800 for the parts, then a few hundred depending on who installs them. A 3vz swap will run you at minimum $700 for a low mileage Japanese engine, E153 transmission from a Solara probably $400, bout $30 for a flywheel from a 4runner or another manual fwd Toyota, then whatever it will cost getting it put in and however much for all the little parts needed, youll also need to change an engine mount I believe but im not sure, nothing a good shop couldnt do.

 

[felonyr301]

listen to lucky on this if you really going to swap a motor into it might as well be a 3vz-fe instead of the 3sgte. Like he said Toysrme is a genius when it comes to that motor (well he's genius in everything related to cars anyways lol.) Also get some coilovers or at least tokico struts with some lowering springs first so you can see if you really want to mod the car more like lucky said.