1G-GTE Conversion for 86 Corona

[Blitz_]

hello to everyone!

I haven't been active on the forums as of yet, new years commitments and activity over at UCP (ultimatecarpage) have detracted from such possibilities. I live in W.A and just recently my ole' 86' Rona decided to cook its engine. Its probably a blown head gasket and a new engine is in mind. Searching extensively through the forums and others as well there have been numerous people which have done the same conversion, Pube being one of them.

The 1G-GTE is at the top of the list for the type of engine I would want to place into the engine bay, its had alot of praise and ive seen a few pictures of the conversion into the same Corona as mine. Is, say $5 - 6K a good basic estimate of price for the whole conversion, start to finish? I don't know a whole lot about Toyota engines, I come from an extensive V8 loving family, with the old man owning both a Charger and V8 Valiant ute. However, saying that, I know things like an LSD, new gearbox (its an auto atm) and other things are needed with the conversion. Furthermore i'll be getting a bit of help from a few mates with installation.

There are some pretty amazing conversions from members in these forums and any help would be greatly appreciated. Once i've made the decision and chosen the right engine i'll be creating a build in progress thread so you can all see how I am going and if I'm doing anything wrong

Thankyou for our time everyone.

[Adash=P]

Yay! Another 1G equipped Corona
This conversion has been done heaps in both Coronas and Celicas with a few members on here. Pube's is the best example IMO.
Its a pretty straight forward conversion if you start with the 2.4 version as its fuel injected. Then all you have to make engine mounts, use the correct bellhousing (manual trans, unsure on auto) and muck around with the wiring. Its a pretty tight fit with only a few centimeters between the harmonic balancer and radiator. There are a few more bits and pieces but I'll let you find them

There's plenty of info just search for it and I've got a guide someone, I'll try and find it.

Goodluck!

[BeRad]

shift kit the auto and have some real dash cracking fun.

good luck with the conversion.......

[stradlater]

Yeah, I'm 5 speed at the moment, and I'm going BACK to auto...

see www.stradlater.com for more pics on how I did things.

[Blitz_]

Cheers for the advice, ive never been a good saver, so now is a better time than never to start! I think ill garage it until I find the right engine at a good price, patience is allrite with me and I look forward to searching around here and talking to you all, im suprised by how polite everyone is here!

[Pube]

Good to see another corona to get some 1g loving. I wouldnt bother with front cut, just go for an engine and gearbox package with some wiring, thats if you are going to use the stock ecu. That should save you a bit of cash there. Im not sure the differences between the crossmembers of the 2.0L coronas and the 2.4's, thats if there are any! Also, what gearbox does the 2S use?

Its a straight forward conversion, just a matter of modifying the stock 22r mounts. As said, there isnt much room infront of the harmonic balancer and the radiator, however if you use an excel radiator, you can fit some 12" thermos between the engine and radiator nicely. My new rt142 was an auto too so you need to get a manual pedal box of course. With the standard diff i recken you yould get it done within your budget.

My new one is nearly on the road, way better than the other one! Got a pair of td04's and some pretty plumbing and also water to air intercooler for some serious stealth! Ill get some pics up soon when its registered.

[Shifty]

I did (well mostly) this conversion a few years ago, and you'll be very happy to know that I recently found the hard disk that I had the digi-cam pics on. I'll have to figure out which hard drive it is, but should have the pics up in the next few days (with a bit of supporting text) if it helps.

Having done it before I could do it on a shoestring for about $3,000... but realistically you need to budget $8-10,000 or you will be sorely disappointed. With your budget of $5k you'll get the job half done, the car will spend unplanned months off the road, you end up cutting heaps of corners just to get it finished and end up with a sub-par result.

Half cut $2,000
General install costs $2,500 (delivery of half cut, disposal of old engine etc, hire of engine crane, new belts, hoses, fuel lines, puel pump, spark plugs, oil, filters, coolant, modified engine mounts, modified sump, radiator mods/new radiator, mod plate, wiring)
Exhaust $1,000
Intercooler $500
Intercooler piping $500
Overhaul Clutch hydraulics $150
RA60 brakes $50
Overhaul Calipers & brake master $150
Miscellaneous costs $1000

Then in your case you'll need to get a manual RT142 tailshaft to bolt up to your diff & the new Supra box, you'll need to actually purchase the pedal set and hydraulics from a wrecker (say $50 depending on amount of wrecker rape), and if you don't already have the tacho dash then you should get one of those (maybe up to $100 depending on the wrecker).... and suck me silly that's $8k on the nose.

That's my two minute guide to a 1GGTE conversion.

Personally I'd probably start with a bare engine/accessories/box for somewhere around the $1200-$1500 mark and put the money saved towards an aftermarket ECU for $2500... may seem like an unnecessary expense but the money you spend on a half cut to get complete wiring etc is wasted as soon as you start making any modification (which you will).

It's always somethign you can do later but you'll get the thing cheaper without the half cut and ECU, and you also won't have a big clunky half cut to trip over when you're done!

[Blitz_]

Phwoar 8 - 10K. THats quite a bit of moolah, lets hope my mates can give me a bit of a helping hand here and there with parts and installation Saying that, I thankyou for your honesty, it will give me a clear mind into what pathway to finally take when choosing what I want to do with my hard earned moolah. I might be able to get a Hilux LSD from a mate cheap as chips so theres a bit of cash saved.

Shifty, those pictures would be great

[Pube]

Getting a hilux lsd is part of it, getting the mounts swapped and diff straightened is another. Also what about brakes? Convertng to disks is another job and also a stud pattern change?? It all comes down to how much you can do yourself. roughly it will be about:

$1500 engine package at least
$1000 exhaust done properly
$100 intercooler ebay special
$100 intercooler plumbing (exhaust pipe)
$500 to wire it up (or do it yourself)
$400 new clutch
$1000 for odds and ends
+ some sort of front brake upgrade.

That will at least get you out there having some sort of single spinning fun with boat style handling.

[Blitz_]

Good thing my dad is mates with the owner of an exhaust center There are numerous costs, and I guess this is a chapter in my life where i'll properly learn all ins and out of an engine, as well as forced induction. Do you think a shift kit or W58 5spd would be more suitable?

Im all aware of the costs, my friend has a pulsar with a turbocharded engine, so far $15 ~ and still not running properly because of blown turbo's and other troubles

Ebay intercooler FTW !

[Shifty]

Do you think a shift kit or W58 5spd would be more suitable?

Well your existing box won't bolt to a 1GGTE, so when you buy the motor you need the box too. Therefore you have the choice and it's up to whichever you prefer. If you're street driving or circuit racing, then W58 for sure... if you're drag racing then seriously consider going for the auto.

MV Automatics in Adelaide have a large amount of experience with Toyota autos, and can quite cheaply organise you a shift kit (I assume the 1G auto is an A340E or similar variant). That combined with an oil cooler will prolong the life of the auto, but if you've chosen auto I assume you're going drag racing (or at least hunting big power) so budget for a full-house rebuild down the track.

If you go manual, budget to break a couple

turbocharded

Add a Dictionary to your list, they're about $15

[Shifty]

OK, transferred them all to my PC but I can't remember my FTP password. Anyway there are a few here that give you a rough idea what goes on.

Basically just pull everything out of the engine bay & tunnel. Bolt in the gearbox (if using a W58 it will bolt up perfectly), then drop in the 1G (with the clutch removed).

As it lowers into place line it up with the gearbox and voila you've got your engine placement. The sump won't clear the swaybar so you'll need to remove it and make a custom one, or modify the sump to suit.

[Blitz_]

Add a Dictionary to your list, they're about $15

does anyone these days really get off their ass and walk to the bookshelf to get them

Maybe ill stick with it, his car is like a retarted turbo anyway, so many problems, so much money..

:O Not much room between the engine and radiator!! You make it look easy lol.

[Shifty]

You make it look easy

That's because I'm the man.

Seriously though... bolt up the gearbox and lower the motor in and it fits perfectly. It'll clear the master cylinder by a poofteenth (be careful when lowering the motor in not to cause any damage) and the radiator of course should be out of the engine bay when putting the motor in.

Once the motor's in you'll note that the radiator outlets are in the wrong spot - any radiator shop will be able to fix that up for you. Note also that the radiator outlets are different sizes to the corona ones, let the radiator shopw know and they may be able to fit sizes that match the 1G ones. In my case I didn't do this and was just careful to clamp the hose down correctly.

[Blitz_]

you sure sound like it.

Sounds better by the minute, although a good mate of my dads thinks he may "inheret" (thats another story ) a couple of Beemers for free, there might be a pathway from that. Saying that though, you guys are a terrific bunch of peeps and I love my Toyo's