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I Can't Make Up My Mind


superhoeper

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Hey there everybody. I own a te38 and I want to swap a different engine in. Here are the details: I have the skills to build, modify, and weld. My price range is going to be around $3000 US. My goal is to have the same power to weight ratio as my wrx, so I'm looking to push around 160 hp at the wheels in the corolla. The car will be used for daily driving and some spirited driving on the weekends. I have searched for many hours and days on all my options, but I can't make up my mind. I have narrowed it down to 3 main engines. 3tc n/a or turbo, 4age or 4agze, or a 3sge or 3sgte. I really love having a boosted car, so I would prefer a turbo set up, but I could live with a nice n/a set up to. So what I'm really trying to ask is what engine do you guys think I should choose that would enable me to achieve my goals?

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3SGE and the 6-speed it comes with. Pull the whole thing out of an Altezza.

 

The turbo adds complexity and is a source for problems, the 3TC is too old and won't revs as well, and the 4AGE is OK but won't set your hair on fire under 4000rpm. The extra torque of the 3SGE's 2000cc will make driving much nicer.

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is your 3000 only for the engine conversion? or the whole car (suspension, brakes etc)

 

I reckon 3000 bucks wont get you very far in doing an engine conversion properly.

 

My boring 16v 4age conversion cost me almost that 3000, as i did a fair bit of maintenance at the same time (new clutch, timing belt, GOOD new exhaust system)

 

And suspension and brakes was probably the same again.

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Come for a spin in mine with the HKS cams and oversized crank pulley.

 

Probably, I've been driving the KE70 wagon with the stock 4AGE in that Steve bought then sold to his bro. Its basically underwhelming as I never took it over 5000 on the 150km trip to Armidale and back. Nice, just like it should have come out of the factory, but its still only 1600cc. Certainly I can see the attraction for running it up to 8000, but this was just a delivery trip to drop in his 4K for a rebore to 5K. It will be interesting to compare his 1500cc KE55 with a Weber to his 4AGE KE70 for general driving duties.

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Thanks for all the replies. I've been leaning towards the 3sge out of the altezza. I have looked on ebay and can find the 3sge, transmission, ecu, and harness for about $1600 shipped. I'm sure I could find a local engine importer and get a price match. I can spend a little extra money on the rest of the car. Maybe $5000 or $6000 total. How much would I be looking at for a properly modified 4agze or 3sgte?

Edited by superhoeper
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stock agze will get you 300hp when switched to turbo - the cost of turbo, piping, SA is what determines cost

stock 3sgte will get you to similar numbers with lower cost since you already have turbo installation - you just need to increase boost(possibly by also changing turbocharger) and doing remap.

 

for bigger numbers you should overhaul these units with better stuff and there is really no limit to how much you can pay. For 3sgte for example great way is 2,2 stroker kit.

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Don't forget that you are trying to get a power to weight equal to your WRX. As that is 184bhp/ton then you only need about 160bhp for your 880kg Toyota.

 

Seeing the stock Altezza 3SGE puts out 210bhp you're home and hosed. I'm sure the 4AGZE could find 100bhp/litre to get to 160bhp too, but the 3S would do it much easier.

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My wrx pushes 250 awhp, so I calculated the rolla will need 160 rwhp to have the same power to weight ratio. Recently I have been leaning more towards the 3sgte. I am located in the U.S. and I want to swap and engine in that has available parts. If I were to swap in a beams 3sge, I wouldn't have good access to parts if anything broke, and every engine needs a rebuild eventually. So at this point I think I want to get a gen 2 3sgte since I can get rebuild kit for cheap. I'm just trying to calculate it all out now. I found a 3sgte on craigslist (a classified advertisement website) listed for $700. And I can get the rebuild kit for about $350. So then I would need tranny W58 (about $500), bellhousing ( I found one on eaby for about $400), I would weld my own intake and possibly exhaust manifolds, ecu, and etc. So that's about $3000 plus a little as it adds up in my head. Is there anything I'm missing?

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So that's about $3000 plus a little as it adds up in my head. Is there anything I'm missing?

 

In all honesty, work out how much you think you'll need for the conversion, then double it. Like Sznaps said, there will be extra costs that pop up that you can't always plan for/factor in & they do add up.

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You guys are totally right. After thinking about it there are many other things that I will end up needing. So I guess that rules the 3sgte out of my price range unless I can make more money or I can find a really good deal on a 3sgte and alot of other parts. I still don't know what to do though. The 3sge beams package is still in price range, but i'm weary to buy an import engine with no solid source for parts. What would you guys pick out of these: 3tc n/a or turbo, 4age or 4agze? I can normally find these for about $200-$500 on craigslist.

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