Q I have a 1993 Toyota Celica with a 1.6L motor. I want to install a small turbo that came from a Volvo into my car. I was hoping you could give me some information or point me in the right direction on how I can go about putting this in my car or if it's even possible.
Thank you very much,- Josh Robinson
A With some work, you could fit that Volvo turbo to your 4A-FE, but before you get carried away with that, have you considered a 3S-GTE engine swap? This 2.0L engine is already turbocharged and, if you buy a complete swap including the fuel pump, computer and so on, will get you everything you'll need for a reliable daily driven turbo system that looks like it belongs under your hood. You're Celica's engine bay will readily accept this engine but your transmission won't work. You won't need to convert to all-wheel drive or even rear-wheel drive like the All-trac or MR2 though. There are front-wheel drive gearboxes that will bolt-up to both your car and the 3S-GTE with a bit of modification like those from higher-model Celicas of your period and V-6 Camrys. You can find one of these turbo engines out of the '86 to '89 JDM GT-Four, U.S. spec Turbo All-trac Celica or second generation MR2. The 3S-GTE is pretty high tech for its time; it has a CT26 twin-entry turbo and an air-to-air intercooler on some models right from the factory. But back to the 1.6L, which will likely be cheaper for you to turbocharge seeing as how you already have the turbo. The first thing you'll need to find is a manifold and downpipe. There are a few companies out there who make what you need. You'll also need some sort of intercooler, and this will require you to fabricate piping whether you go with an inexpensive junkyard side-mount setup or an aftermarket front-mount. Add to the list a bypass valve and a higher volume fuel pump and you'll be set for roughly 7 or 8 psi. If you really want to do things right then upgrade the fuel injectors and get yourself some sort of electronic fuel controller. Before doing anything with your 1.6L though, you might want to seriously consider that 3S-GTE; this motor has more potential than yours to begin with and might prove to be the better choice, despite its higher initial cost.
Q Hello Turbo, my problem is I have a 1986 Toyota Celica GT-S and well the engine is blown. I don't really want to buy a new stock 16-valve twin cam 2.0L engine if you catch my drift. I want to put something into this car to make it fly. My ideal engine was the VTEC, but I'm not really sure if it would bolt-up. Please give me your thoughts on a good, fast engine to put into this car and how I can make it fit.
Thank you all at the magazine,- Dave
So you're not interested in a 3S-GTE? You should be. This will be a whole lot easier to install than a Honda engine and will give you a lot more power to start with. The procedure for a 3S-GTE swap into your Celica will be similar to what we recommended to Josh, but you're lucky enough to be able to use your stock transmission. A fairly stock 3S-GTE with basic bolt-ons and fuel control can easily get you in the 300hp zone, far more than any naturally aspirated Honda VTEC engine will get you. We don't say all this to knock Honda's remarkable K-series or S2000 engines, but Dave, your GT-S is ready, willing and able to take that turbo motor. The 3S-GTE is really one of the most impressive four-cylinder turbo motors ever made.
Q Hey guys, how's everything back in the States? I'm in the U.S. Air Force, currently stationed in the United Kingdom. I've come across a very desirable '95 Silvia S14, and I'd love to take it back to the States. I know that to get this car on the streets of the U.S. (especially California, where I'm from) is a process that's long and arduous. Though, I was wondering if you knew whether or not I'd be able to bring it over under pretenses of using it as a show car for off-road use only? Is there some place I might go to look up the definitive guidelines, rules and regulations for importing a righthand drive car? Any and all information would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,- Thor AndresenRAF Lakenheath, UK
A Hey guys! Love the mag, but I had a question and have no idea who else to turn to. I was wondering if it's possible to import a righthand drive Fairlady 300ZX Twin Turbo to California without the worry of import laws that plague cars like Skylines. I saw a guy selling one on eBay from Canada, and he stated that there really shouldn't be a problem to register it in California. Is this true? If so, do you guys have any websites that I could purchase one of these Fairladies from? Any information would be greatly appreciated.- Jesse Sifontes
A In order to import a Japanese Domestic Market vehicle into the U.S. you have to jump through two hoops: the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. This is much harder than it sounds, especially if you plan on driving the vehicle on the street and not using it as an off-road only race or show car. Crash test data on any vehicle imported from Japan into the U.S. must be supplied upon arrival. This can be enormously expensive since often times a similar vehicle needs to be crashed in order for the proposed vehicle to pass through. Besides, many JDM vehicles will not pass U.S. emissions standards. This is a problem. There's a lot of speculation, especially on the Internet, as to how to go about importing a vehicle as well as which vehicles can be imported. These answers differ by state and are constantly evolving. Avoid Internet chat forums and go straight to these government websites, which should answer all of your questions:
www.epa.gov/otaq/imports/quikover.htmwww.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/import/www.customs.ustreas.gov/xp/cgov/import/
Q Yo Turbo dudes, I own the least loved Supra of all Toyota cars, the MKIII. Mine also happens to be the ugliest one ever (side note). I had the car lowered many moons ago with some Eibach Pro Kit springs. The claim was that they'd only drop the car 1.5 inches in the front and 1 inch in the back. It was at least 2.5 inches in the back! Long story short, I'm chewing up tires left and right. I've been to a few alignment shops, but the car is so low that it's out of its adjustment range. I can't seem to find anything but mounts for the top of the shocks. They look cool, but with my car having multi-link suspension in the back and double A-arms in the front it doesn't seem that they'd do anything for my alignment. I can't bring the car back up to stock ride height - the handling is too good now. Is there a kit I can buy that will fix this problem or do I pay some hack to put holes in my car and relocate the suspension mounts?
I've also been looking for a bushing kit. I've only found bushings for the front and rear sway bars, but those came with the aftermarket bars I put on with the springs. I haven't even been able to piece together a set from cars with the same part number for the bushings. Is there a nylon or urethane set for the MKIII?
Last, but not least, I don't have ABS on this car. Is that an undertaking that I want to take on (as in putting it in) or do I just never drive the car in bad weather? Any help you can provide will be appreciated. Thanks guys, and keep up the good work with your magazine.Best regards,- JT
A JT, first, the easy albeit disappointing answer. I checked with both Energy Suspension and Prothane and neither company offers any bushings for the MKIII. None. I kind of figured as much. It's funny; they offer bushings for every Supra except the MKIII. No love for the '86 to '92 Supra crowd. But you probably knew that.
As for your suspension problem, is there any chance you have the wrong coils? I'm guessing it's been a while since you had them installed, but check and see if the part number is still legible. How long have they been on the car? Springs do wear after several years and can sag, although an extra inch is a bit excessive and uncommon. What about wheel and tire dimensions? Are you running something much larger that could account for the reduced fender gap? We'd suggest avoiding these shock mounts you suggest and strongly urge you to keep anybody away from your car that's looking to put holes in your chassis or do any type of suspension mount relocation. It's hard to say what the problem is without seeing your car, but we're guessing it's something simple.
And the ABS. Almost all MKIII Supras were equipped with ABS so you shouldn't have a problem sourcing the parts you need. Just make sure you get everything, including the correct proportioning valve or you could end up with something more dangerous than what you started with. Of course you'll also need the appropriate sensors, computer, wiring harness, brake lines and motor. If you don't have access to another MKIII's complete ABS and braking system, I'd strongly suggest not attempting this. You could easily make your car much more dangerous by improper modulation, line pressure or proportioning. In other words, it's really easy to make your brakes a whole lot worse just by overlooking small but important parts. Before doing anything, I'd compare the entire vehicle's braking system components and make a list of what you'll need before you go shopping at the wrecking yard. Be sure and compare part numbers, just because two proportioning valves look the same doesn't mean they are.