My 1977 7M-GTE CELICA! Finished! Test drive vid on page 18!
- Thread starter speedfreak426
- Start date
Wow, not sure how I missed this as Im a huge fan of the Gen1 Celicas (more of a coupe man but still..).
Modifying the tunnel may be more difficult than just replacing the tunnel altogether. I have seen big motor swaps done on the Celica and one such they just cut the old tunnel out and using a donor car from the junkyard, just moved a Supra tunnel over. Makes for alot less metal fab and done right looks factory.
Looks like you have all the right tools and help so your swap should go well. This will be fun to follow.
Modifying the tunnel may be more difficult than just replacing the tunnel altogether. I have seen big motor swaps done on the Celica and one such they just cut the old tunnel out and using a donor car from the junkyard, just moved a Supra tunnel over. Makes for alot less metal fab and done right looks factory.
Looks like you have all the right tools and help so your swap should go well. This will be fun to follow.
Last night forum member 7mgtesuprapat was over and he offered me a trans tunnel out of a parts supra, sounds like a good idea huh?
Hah, thats a great idea, glad I thought of it 
Yeah that would make things pretty easy and solve the biggest problem with the swap quickly. If you dont have alot of metal fab tools its really about the only way to do it. Nice of him to offer.
Yeah that would make things pretty easy and solve the biggest problem with the swap quickly. If you dont have alot of metal fab tools its really about the only way to do it. Nice of him to offer.
I wish I had more fabbing tools like a press break, english wheel, and bead roller. I would be in heaven..... buttttt This is reality and I have to make due with a welder, some cutting tools, and a BFH just in case things are not going my way lol
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I set the R154 into place today, I got pretty lucky, the transmission tunnel does not need to be cut!
Only one spot needed clearance, and a few taps of the hammer took care of that! The only cutting that I had to do was the shifter hole, just has to move back three inches. I cut out a rectangle and I am just going to flip it around and weld it back in.
Pics up later
Only one spot needed clearance, and a few taps of the hammer took care of that! The only cutting that I had to do was the shifter hole, just has to move back three inches. I cut out a rectangle and I am just going to flip it around and weld it back in.
Pics up later
how did you determine how far back into the tunnel the trans goes? From my memory the bellhousing section of the celica tunnel needed to be widened. But I may have been thinking of the RA20/21. Maybe the 22 has a bigger tunnel.
I measured from my engine mounts to the back of the block and then from the crosmember mounts rearward and set the trans where it should go. My celica is the RA29, I dont think the tunnels are much different though.
I sure hope it will be fast
It was defffffinently way underpowered with the stock 20r, but 30mpg! lol
I changed my mind on when I am doing the axle swap, I am going to do it now while it is still in the garage instead of waiting for it to break. its going to be a lot of work though.... better to do it now then to get stranded later.
It was defffffinently way underpowered with the stock 20r, but 30mpg! lol
I changed my mind on when I am doing the axle swap, I am going to do it now while it is still in the garage instead of waiting for it to break. its going to be a lot of work though.... better to do it now then to get stranded later.
noah89t
get naked & boost a supra
Shifter hole was way off, about 3 inches
So I marked it.....
And cut it out
And then I just plan to flip the piece I cut around and then weld it back in (welding will take place later in the build on this piece)
See that bolt on the trans there, it was preventing the trans from fitting in there right
Soooo guess what I did!!! Beat the shit out of it with a BFH!!! YAY!
And Volia! It fits now!! BFH FTMFW!
Just for refrence again, here is the difference in the trans sizes
I am going to have to make a custom trans crossmember, no biggie, but have not gotten that far yet!
What do you think?????
More updates coming soon! like today
HINT: Motor is in
So I marked it.....
And cut it out
And then I just plan to flip the piece I cut around and then weld it back in (welding will take place later in the build on this piece)
See that bolt on the trans there, it was preventing the trans from fitting in there right
Soooo guess what I did!!! Beat the shit out of it with a BFH!!! YAY!
And Volia! It fits now!! BFH FTMFW!
Just for refrence again, here is the difference in the trans sizes
I am going to have to make a custom trans crossmember, no biggie, but have not gotten that far yet!
What do you think?????
More updates coming soon! like today
HINT: Motor is in
I like it...and you are right...BFH always = ftmfw , just like duct tape lol
Nice to see project moving along well.
, just like duct tape lolNice to see project moving along well.
I forgot to point it out but.... the 7m engine with 5m mounts was slightly too narrow for my stock 20r crossmember, by about 3/4 of an inch. All I did to solve that problem was put some big nuts in between the block and mounts and used slightly longer bolts. After I did that it bolted right up with no problems!
After reading many different things about installing the 7m engine to a ra29 I thought I was going to have to cut and change the angle of the mounts, This is NOT true!!! All you have to do is put a total of about 3/4" of spacers between the block and mounts and that is all!
The steering linkage is very close to the oil pan, but it is not absoutely nessessary to modify it. The ONLY modification I have had to do so far is cut out the shifter hole and flip it aroundand I will need to weld up 3or 4 inch extensions on the trans crossmember for it to bolt up in the stock location.
Here is what I have used to get it to sit in there so far
Engine:
-7mgte engine
-5mge engine mounts bolted to the foward holes on the block
-You have to rotate the oil cooler mount ~45deg counter clockwise for the mount to fit, just take it off of its locating pin.
-20r lower engine mounts (part that bolts to the crossmember itself)
-20r crossmember (stock and unmodified)
Transmission:
-R154 turbo supra transmission
-top half of supra crossmember (piece that bolts to transmission)
-stock w50 crossmember that bolts to car (supra piece bolts to it with no mods)
- needs 2 at least 1/4" thick extensions welded to crossmember to allow it to bolt up to the stock ra29 crossmember holes.
- need to mark 1 inch in front of shifter hole and far back enough to keep the bolt holes for the cover, then flip it around backwards and weld it back in.
-and custom driveshaft
Any questions let me know
The steering linkage is very close to the oil pan, but it is not absoutely nessessary to modify it. The ONLY modification I have had to do so far is cut out the shifter hole and flip it aroundand I will need to weld up 3or 4 inch extensions on the trans crossmember for it to bolt up in the stock location.
Here is what I have used to get it to sit in there so far
Engine:
-7mgte engine
-5mge engine mounts bolted to the foward holes on the block
-You have to rotate the oil cooler mount ~45deg counter clockwise for the mount to fit, just take it off of its locating pin.
-20r lower engine mounts (part that bolts to the crossmember itself)
-20r crossmember (stock and unmodified)
Transmission:
-R154 turbo supra transmission
-top half of supra crossmember (piece that bolts to transmission)
-stock w50 crossmember that bolts to car (supra piece bolts to it with no mods)
- needs 2 at least 1/4" thick extensions welded to crossmember to allow it to bolt up to the stock ra29 crossmember holes.
- need to mark 1 inch in front of shifter hole and far back enough to keep the bolt holes for the cover, then flip it around backwards and weld it back in.
-and custom driveshaft
Any questions let me know
I hope so! I just found out that I am going to have to do a lotttt of traveling for work this summer, I hope I will get to finish and drive it at least.
I am going to have to go to the west coast and vegas twice, and I have to go to europe too. Sounds great and all, all paid for, but honestly I would rather be at home working on my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am going to have to go to the west coast and vegas twice, and I have to go to europe too. Sounds great and all, all paid for, but honestly I would rather be at home working on my car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!