RA65 engine conversion ideas

[mick.wheelz]

Hi Guys,

I am aquiring a RA65 celica this weekend (flood damaged) for the express purpose of striping, cleaning/restoring and doing an engine conversion.

It currently has a 22RE + auto box, neither of which i wish to keep in the car.

I have had a couple of ideas thus far, but am looking for some more input.

1st idea, 3SGTE(or 5SGTE), yes i am aware this is a LOT of work, however i allready have a spare 3SGTE at home.

2nd idea 4AG(T)E(or 7AG(T)E) probabaly less work, since the motor is designed for RWD, and I have a spare 4AGE at home too, but small displacement and not as much power potential in a heavy car.

3rd idea 3SGE beams (converted to turbo) less work, as is designed for RWD use, but expensive and hard to convert to turbo.


I am not really too keen on the idea of an I6 engine as this will fuck up the weight distribution pretty badly... so what does everyone else think?

[thechuckster]

bang for buck - 3SG(T)E converted to RWD. I'm doing a NA 3S into an RA65. THe hard part is the intake manifold, otherwise it's a conversion (FWD to RWD) that's been done by plenty of folks.

if you have plenty of coin, a complete BEAMS motor & 6-speed (example). Run the factory mngt until you want more fasts.

to be different, a V6 converted to RWD (as per this example)

to be very different, Suzuki have a smallish, high-revving V6 in some of their sedans. Converting to RWD would be challenge.

[mick.wheelz]

bang for buck - 3SG(T)E converted to RWD. I'm doing a NA 3S into an RA65. THe hard part is the intake manifold, otherwise it's a conversion (FWD to RWD) that's been done by plenty of folks.

if you have plenty of coin, a complete BEAMS motor & 6-speed (example). Run the factory mngt until you want more fasts.

to be different, a V6 converted to RWD (as per this example)

to be very different, Suzuki have a smallish, high-revving V6 in some of their sedans. Converting to RWD would be challenge.

Yeah, considering i already own a 3SGTE (which would cop forged 5s piston/rods/crank) its probably the best idea, problem is there is a lot of fabrication to be done...

edit: i should mention, I am planning to use a W5x manual 5spd manual with this project, (or a J160 if I went the 3SGE BEAMS route)

[Valkyrie]

1JZ would be my pick

Any issues with extra weight at the front can be simply resolved in the suspension setup.

[Shifty]

In my opinion a 1GGTE.

3SGTE is a prick of a conversion to true RWD
1JZ/2JZ is an unnecessarily tight fit into an RA6x nose, sure it fits but I've worked on plenty of tight engine bays and you're forever cursing them.

Also a turbo 4AGZE is probably your easiest swap and although many would disagree, would provide a good result. You can make 300+rwhp from these engines quite easily, they are cheap, compact, well-supported in the aftermarket, and the weight of an RA65 (especially once you swap from 22r/auto to 4a/manual) is not much heavier than (for example) an SX Corolla which was fitted with a 4AGE and NO turbo.... plus you're rear-wheel drive.

[mick.wheelz]

In my opinion a 1GGTE.

3SGTE is a prick of a conversion to true RWD
1JZ/2JZ is an unnecessarily tight fit into an RA6x nose, sure it fits but I've worked on plenty of tight engine bays and you're forever cursing them.

Also a turbo 4AGZE is probably your easiest swap and although many would disagree, would provide a good result. You can make 300+rwhp from these engines quite easily, they are cheap, compact, well-supported in the aftermarket, and the weight of an RA65 (especially once you swap from 22r/auto to 4a/manual) is not much heavier than (for example) an SX Corolla which was fitted with a 4AGE and NO turbo.... plus you're rear-wheel drive.

My only issue with the 4A is the lack of torque (compared to say a 5SGTE or something) and the fact that the car is a bit heavy (it's a convertable)

tight isnt too much of a drama... as long as its no worse than a GT4 hahaha

[beerhead]

If you like corners, forgot about inline 6's. 3S is almost as easy as a 4AG in terms of custom parts in your car, SA63 parts whore and it'll be fairly straight forward, minus the sump and intake. I built quite a nice compact cooling system on my 3S with a 20V thermostat cover by building up the mounting tags with my tig to take the width of the 14mm bolts.

[ecko]

1g is a waste of time too old and lack torque like rb20's

3s is a fair bit of dicking around from what others that have done it have told me

2jzge is a piece of piss
1jzgte a little more effort but not too bad

[oldeskewltoy]

What about going old school????

I've always wanted to put a 4V, or 5V into a Celica.... The hemi appearance would be astonishing under the hood

[white_sandshoe]

Since it's auto, how about driveline from a Soarer? 1UZ ftw...

[thechuckster]

What about going old school????

I've always wanted to put a 4V, or 5V into a Celica.... The hemi appearance would be astonishing under the hood

in qld, you'd have to use an engine no older than the car. 1uz would however fit your criteria.

[craigs stang]

You could go a nissan sr20det with adapt plate to w5* box.
Have done this in my ra28.
Yes i know it nissan but the aftermarket parts are easy to get and cheap.
Plus easy enough to get mod plated and easy to get bolt on hp.
Just my opinion and its just an opinion.
Cheers

[beerhead]

To me putting a 3S gen2 or 5S in an RA65 is like putting a 20V in a KE70, I've done both, the 3S water system I built was easier to setup than a 20V, but the intake manifold was a little more work. Apart from that it bolts together from the factory toyota parts bin. In an RA65 I bet the cast 5SFE exhaust manifold would fit in the bay, so you can get it running without custom extractors easily.

Now what I honestly haven't seen anyone do is to get a 97 on + 5SFE from a camry or a rav4 that runs wasted spark and a CAS on the crank.

So it'll work in RWD on a factory ECU. I called toyota and you can get the water housings and the intake manifold for a Toyota Spacia RWD 3SFE for $600 ex japan (They don't fit the GE heads though of course). Guess what? There is a factory S RWD sump with a windange tray built in too Proper cast RWD exhaust pipes, the lot.

The SR20 has a cult following so the after market parts are easy to get, but you'll need custom engine mounts, gearbox cross member and tail-shaft.

If I wouldn't have picked up a gen2 for the right money I would have built a worked rwd 5SFE for my corolla just to be different.

[craigs stang]

The SR20 has a cult following so the after market parts are easy to get, but you'll need custom engine mounts, gearbox cross member and tail-shaft.

If I wouldn't have picked up a gen2 for the right money I would have built a worked rwd 5SFE for my corolla just to be different.

Whats that about custom g/box xmember and tailshaft.
If you use a (sr20 to W5* box) suitable bellhousing then you only need to custom the engine mounts.
Plus it would give you a sh*tload of room in the engine bay.

[beerhead]

How much does the bell housing cost? It's not a common way of doing it.