ST202=>3S-GTE=>rebuild (beware...large pictures included)

A couple of years ago, I swapped a 2nd gen 3S-GTE enine into my ST202. Drove it for about 2 1/2 years with no problems. But before I started the rebuild, the engine wasn't that good anymore. Oil consuption was bad and cooling problems occur more and more. At some point my clutch was gone also and that was the moment that I decided to do a complete engine rebuild aswell as a ST205 front end conversion.
This is the "project" car before rebuild:

Engine out of the car and broken down to pieces:

Seems clear that my exhaust manifold had a big leak in the top right corner:



Purchased some new conrods:




Head disassembly:



the valves


this is why there were some major cooling issues:



The short block with pistons still in it.



Coolant channels look like sh*t


short block without the pistons:




In the meantime i got myself some new parts for the celi, and I got the cylinderhead back from rebuild:
TRD MLS 1.2mm headgasket


ARP headbolts and studs:


These are the old exhaustvalves:




The refurbished haed:



Everything except the cams and the intakevalves is new.

Goal is to get at least 300bhp.
To achieve that, a other turbocharger will be placed (evoIII TD05/16G)
Good for up to 360bhp at 1,2bar
Larger injectors and a ST205 fuelpump will be installed and some proper enginge managment system (probably AEM)

More to come


Sorry for the big pictures, i'll try to resize them later on

that was an awesome read! awesome rebuild, so is this running yet and put back together or is it still in the making?

300bhp is going to be so much fun, awesome build!

Great build, did the head warp due to the over heating? What a difference though, should be a great improvement.

Should be a strong motor with them ARP studs and bolts, do you know how much power the internals can handle on a ST205 3SGTE?

This is motivating me to hurry up and start on my engine, Are those standard OEM rods or forged?

Thanks for sharing that with us

91celicagts wrote:

so is this running yet and put back together or is it still in the making?

Still in the building proces. short block first needs to be bored and honed etc. Then decide what brand pistons i'll put in to.
Probably Wiseco or CP.
Besides the engine, the complete body will have a makeover too, and some parts of the front suspension needs to be replaced.
(I replace them so that i'm certain that everything is as new when finished)
Then I will have to fit the ST205 4 pots calipers in front.
Lots of custum fabrication to do to fit the new turbocharger with the ST205 TMIC (I was running with a ST165 TMIC)
And then there is the finishing of the ST205 front end conversion. Hood and bumper are already in place, but there needs to be some welding done.
Replace front lights for JDM projectors.
Finish the "new" center console. I took the air vents out since I never use them. Closed the hole and made new holes for 3 AEM 52mm gauges.
Etc.etc.etc
I don't expect to be done before summer 2010

3Spower wrote:

Great build, did the head warp due to the over heating? What a difference though, should be a great improvement.
Should be a strong motor with them ARP studs and bolts, do you know how much power the internals can handle on a ST205 3SGTE?

My engine builder checked the head, and fortunatly it's not warped.
Stock ST205 internals can handle up to 350-400 bhp.
I'm not using a st205 3S-GTE block, but a ST185 3S-GTE.
Internals of that are only good for about 275bhp.

Celica_XR9145 wrote:

Are those standard OEM rods or forged?

Those are forged rods.
There will be forged pistons in it too.
Crank will be re-used since it's in perfect shape. Only the main bearings will be replaced with some ACL race bearings

Can't wait to see, going to look great with an ST205 front end!

With everything being replaced with new parts, should be a strong motor with superb reliabiliy

what gearbox are you using? i've read that the standard s54 trans can handle well over 250bhp

also, how hard was the swap?

sorry for all the questions, am very interested in this project

I'm using my old st202 E56 lsd tranny. We'll see how much beating it can handle I'm pretty sure that it will last . The E56 tranny is in basic the same as the E154 (GT-FOUR).

The swap itself wasn't that hard. Since it was an original st202, all the mounts were already in the correct position. Most work was the wiring, because the enine is a 2nd gen 3S-GTE out of a 5th gen body and my body was 6th gen. Other thing was the exhaust routing. Since the alltrac has its propshaft in the center of the car, the exhaust is moved a little to the left. I had to customize the original exhaust to fit the turbocharger downpipe. I used a WTA intercooler, so I had to place a pump, subradiator and piping. This all came of a ST205 and was a straight bolt on job.

No need to say sorry for the questions, I'm happy to answer them

Ah of course, the E56 trans with factory LSD, should get the power down much easier then, my car understeers like nothing else, these cars need LSD's!

Pretty much an easy swap then, can't wait to see it all put back together

Got myself some suspension parts:



Main part I was looking for was the crossmember. But since this suspensionsetup has done only about 60k km, I will probably just get the whole thing in place underneath the car. Only thing I have to replace is the steering component. This one is RHD, I have LHD.

More to come

Only 60K What a good find!

Is it as straight foward as just swapping over steering components from LHD to RHD?

Hell yeah....

The guy I bought it from, didn't know what kind of special parts these are

Steeringrack is just a simple swap. Only 2 bolts to remove the RHD rack, then bolt in the LHD rack from my old crossmember.

Other thing I will use from my old suspension setup will be the TRD lowering springs.
The old superstruts will be converted to use with a BC coiloverkit. That is something I want to do in the future.

Mail arrived today with some nice goodies

ST205 TMIC core:


ST205 front 4 pot calipers:



Project became a little bit bigger:



Stripped down the complete interior. The exterior will be re sprayd in a different colour, so i thought, hell, why not do the interior while i'm in the rebuild proces.


This is how she stands in front of my house at the moment:

Awesome, coming along great!!

That ST205 TMIC, what a great find! Over here in NZ, there as rare as hens teeth and when they do come up, thier too expensive

Are you keeping the car blue?

The TMIC i got relativly cheap. I think it's a great advantage that the UK is so close to The Netherlands. I paid only €90,- ex. shipping, so that's a bargain.

UK is like ST205 walhalla!!!

The car will not be blue again. I'm changing it to championship white. (Honda TypeR colour).

Some nice goodies you got there, i want those calipers

Going to be an epic car, should give Honda Type R's a run for there money, thats for sure!

Do you plan on taking it to track days or anything?

I will be taking it to trackdays,carmeetings etc etc in the future. First I want it to build as reliable as possible

ahh nice a e56 gearbox, dont see to many over here only the SS-II superstrut had them

totally off topic question here, but is this your picture or close to it?from on a different site maybe?

Close to it but no, that isn't mine

Mine looks almost the same, only the exhaust valves are different.

Her's mine:







Small update from my project:

The engine compartment has been resprayed and I'm starting to put some parts back like brake lines, brakebooster, clutch cylinder etc.
The st205 calipers I bought were painted in gold. I'd love the colour but I want them to be powdercoated. Unfortunatly, they have no similar colour available in powdercoat, so they will end up red I think. Both calipers are now free of any paint, so in the next 2 or 3 weeks I'll sent them to the powdercoat shop.
Also the st202 hubs are customized to fit the st205 calipers.

Awesome, so do you have any deadline on when its going to be finished?

I cant wait to see it finished, 300bhp FWD Celica FTW!

THX. I do not have a serious deadline, simply because I want to have it all perfect. I'll try to have it running before upcoming summer.

Today I received some more parts that will be replaced on the engine:










without the box
Waterpump


Oilpump


Oilpump old and new


Maybe you'll notice that I ordered both pumps with the backplate (don't no how to call them???) The waterpump because I couldn't remove the thermostat housing. 1 screw was totally busted. The oilpump because I want the complete engineblock to be as clean as possible. The old one I've tried to clean, but as you can see in the last picture, the difference between old and new is huge.
Now all I need for the engine are some small parts.
Will keep you updated

nice job

look foreward to future updates

Looking good mate!

Small update:

some new parts to recondition the GTFOUR brake calipers:


The calipers disassembled:


Also I've had the calipers powdercoated:


brand new grooved/drilled 315mm discs:


Mounted on the superstrut hubs:


The intake manifold is powdercoated aswell:



Lots of parts under the hood will receive the same treatment, so it's all clean and shiny when finished

Stay tuned!