GTE Swap

[adicken1]

Hello all. i'm beginning my GE - GTE swap this weekend. I have an 87' n/a nd my donor is an 87' GTE. I really just want to make sure that I haven't forgotten anything, so here is my list of thigs to pull and swap.

Engine and associated accessories, i.e. power steering, intercooler, TB, Turbo etc.

Ignitor

Ecu, Wiring Harness, and HAC

Other than that, its a pretty straightforward swap right?

Now a couple of questions :

I know my NA tach won't work, so can I just use the Turbo Guage cluster?

I know the na stock exhaust is really restrictive, but will it be ok for now with my cat gutted, or should I swap over the exhaust too?

Lastly, where their different gear ratios between the na and turbo models and if so should I swap it?

thanks in advance


- Drew.

 

[natedogr]

first off you should def search the whole forum first. you have no idea how many of these threads have been started. look under the stickies and there is a thread specifically on swapping a gte into a ge body and everything you need to get done.
and as for the exhaust, yeah you'll def wanna swap that out. and might as well upgrade it to a full 3" from turbo back while your swapping the motor

Edit: http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34560
there you go

 

[AF1JZ]

Do a search, there are plenty of guides and how to's out there.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

A search is a good thing, but a few things that I can add:

Igniter, AFM.

Yes, the gear ratios are different. Your '87NA will have 4.300:1 gears, possibly not even limited slip. (You can check this with the vehicle data tag. The axle code is G304 or G305. If it's xx4 it's 4 pinion open, if it's xx5 it's 4 pinion limited slip. The turbo will have a 3.909:1 limited slip differential.

I would suggest that you swap in the turbo's transmission as well. This will also necessitate the driveshaft as well.

You can use the turbo instrument cluster, or just swap the tach driver board over. If you swap in the instrument cluster, you'll get the boost gauge. (I didn't want the factory gauge for my swap, and opted to keep the voltmeter and use an aftermarket boost gauge.) I just swapped the turbo tach driver board onto my tach. Clean and simple.

 

[ATL88Supra]

hold up

before you put that GTE in it would be a Good idea to replace the HG and take care of all related shit it will save you alot of time in the long run

 

[gtsfirefighter]

I just did this and am still working out the bugs. Yes, a lot can be found searching.

My stock exhaust is too short, so it has an open downpipe right now. If your's will bolt up, use it until you can get a better exhaust.

The stock boost gauge will not work without the associated wiring harness.

Your na powersteering pump will work, just your soft lines will either need to be cut or get some new ones for a gte. I cut mine to fit.

You can just swap the turbo tach into your na cluster or you can just swap the whole gte cluster in like I did. I would take out the boost gauge and put your na voltmeter in it's place. It will work fine, that's what I did.

You will need an oil cooler. Be sure and clean it out. If you get the hardlines that go with it, clean those too.

You'll need the injector resistor pack too. It's bolted on the drivers fender well and has the boost sensor attached to it.

I'm swapping my differentials. I would rather have the LSD.

It's straightforward. Best to have the engine completely together before you drop it in and do so with the transmission (of your choice) connected.

Toyota was nice to make every chasis the same so everything will bolt up, no need to make new holes or fabricate anything, if doing a stock swap.

Do you have the entire donor car?

Hope this helps a little.

 

[tlo86]

i suggest doing rear + front main seals while its out

 

[adicken1]

Man!! I really appreciate the responses. I've done a lot of research, but was not sure about the guage cluster and the differential.

Yeah I have the entire car, but I think I'm going to stick with the W58 for now and wait until I am ready to fully tear down, rebuild, and mod my motor - as to not put any useless wear on the R154 tranny.

I'm definately making plans to do my HG, timing belt, seals and gaskets before dropping it in.

Thanks again all,

Any more advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

I found that he NA exhaust WILL work. You've just got to take the NA cat with it. The turbo cat is shorter, but the front of the cat will bolt up. This will at least do until you can get in a better exhaust. (This is what I did.)

It is also possible that your NA has an LSD, but it was optional. (All Canadian spec NAs do have the LSD, BTW. Something that could be if interest to those wanting shorter gears for more low end grunt.)

While I had my turbo engine out, I redid all of the gaskets. Probably should have gone the extra step and done the bearings and rings, too, but everything looked pretty good.

 

[adicken1]

Yeah I was consider doing my bearings and such as well, but I'm just going to wait and see what condition they are in first. My plan is just to replace all of my oil seals and gaskets for now and baby the motor until I am ready to tear it completely down. It's not my daily driver, so it's not imperative that it is in top running condition right now. What I would really like to do is ully upgrade my motor internals, before i even begin to mod the engine.

So what I plan to do is lightly modify my suspension and brake systems first, then once they are secure I'll move on to the heavy motor mods. Anyway, time will tell, I should get a good inside look of this GTE sometime within the next week or so. I'll keep it updated in my build thread.

 

[Norcal7mge]

Sorry, not to hijack this thread, but, I'm collecting parts for my NA-T swap with gte electronics.

In the link given above, I quote "Things that change would be the replacement of the distributor with the cam position sensor, new addition of a coil pack, addition of the igniter, replacement of the 7M-GE AFM with the 7M-GTE AFM (housing and electronics), addition of the fuel pressure relay, and replacement of injectors."

It references the fuel pressure relay, is this the fuel pressure regulator or some electronic piece?