Engine Change

zuutroy

Thinking of changing the 5E-FHE engine in my Sera to a 4E-FTE from a Starlet Turbo (same family, easy swap). I'm wondering whats the best option to get the engine...I don't fancy buying one here so I was going to import a Starlet from Japan and swap the engines, but would anyone over here want a 1994 1.5L Starlet!!? I'd be happy to even get €1000 back.....but I don't think anyone would go for a car that has had an engine change. Any advice or opinions welcome!

colm_mcm

I'd look into the possibility of an engine from a crashed Starlet GT, or an aftermarket turbo or supercharger kit

TempestSabre

Why would you do this at all?

littlejukka

in the short term it's a great idea, you'll have a suped up pile that you can thrash around and have the craic. when it comes to selling it, you have to account for your market. the 18-25 year olds who'll be attracted to that sort of car will have an extra headache to insure a 1500cc engine. when asked "is your car modified" on an insurance application they'll have to say yes. depending on how long you want it and how much you're relying on the resale value, you'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth it.

colm_mcm

You'll always be able to sell a Toyota Sera, regardless of condition. They're very scarce

TempestSabre

I don't see the point myself. Its only remarkable feature is those doors/roof. If you want a more sporty/fast car, just go buy one.

zuutroy

It's soon to be a second car, that why I'm thinking of doing it, but I do really want to hang onto it!...The 1.5 is just a bit slow (108hp) thats all, especially in the auto version. There's a lot more to it than the doors. I just think it's a great looking car, that's very rare and I'm gonna hang onto it but I wanna do its great look justice by making it a bit quicker (135hp from the 4E-FTE). I know a few people who have done it, and they're delighted with the results.

5500

TempestSabre wrote:

Why would you do this at all?

The joys of modification id say!Why go and spend your money on a different car when you have a rare car already that can be made even more unique by being turbo charged.

At the OP,im nearly 100% sure you can mate the bottom end of 5E engine with the starlets 4E,aka "a frankenstein" your best bet would be www.toyotagtturbo.com for advice.There's quite possibly some more internals you could use from your own engine too.

Just dont forget to budget for suspension/brake/drivetrain upgrades too.Id say your best bet is buy and sell or a scrap yard,Gt's tend to pop up a fair bit.You could be talking 1000 - 1500 for the engine or may even get a whole crashed one for a little bit more

mike65

Ah a modified car thread so this should be over....

Mike.

zuutroy

A few people have tried mating the two engines...a bit more complicated than I want to get into at the moment! I'm told you dont need to modify the brakes/drive train etc.....Thanks for the advice

mike65

.....here!

Mike.

zuutroy

mike65 wrote:

Ah a modified car thread so this should be over....

Mike.

Oops....my bad

TempestSabre

eireal wrote:

The joys of modification id say!Why go and spend your money on a different car when you have a rare car already that can be made even more unique by being turbo charged....

I just think there more interesting cars you could spend that effort on. But if its your pride and joy and you have the time, I guess why not. How does it effect the insurance?

zuutroy

TempestSabre wrote:

I just think there more interesting cars you could spend that effort on. But if its your pride and joy and you have the time, I guess why not. How does it effect the insurance?

Dont know anything more interesting than a Sera IMO! As for the insurance, I'm 27 with full NCB so it won't make any difference...€50 or so maybe

TempestSabre

For a modified car. Thats good.

5500

TempestSabre wrote:

I just think there more interesting cars you could spend that effort on. But if its your pride and joy and you have the time, I guess why not. How does it effect the insurance?

I know a few guys whove done engine conversions and suprisingly the premiums didnt rise that much eg a couple of hundred euro max.Once the car gets the engineers survey done and that comes back fine they dont seem have a problem with cover.

Personally id love to turbocharge my civic.In reality id be better off putting the money towards a car that came turbocharged as stock but i suppose thats where i get my kicks!

bp_me

Check out the forums on www.toyotasera.co.uk

All the info you need is there.


The generally accepted "best" way to get the 4e-fte is to buy a starlet front cut. That way everything you need is there, and once you are done you can sell off any other parts you dont need.

zuutroy

Hey bp.....You'll know me as 'stonecold' on the Sera forum...just over here getting some info on the options for getting a starlet/re-selling with a 1.5L engine etc. I've been threatening to do it for ages....:)

bp_me

zuutroy wrote:

Hey bp.....You'll know me as 'stonecold' on the Sera forum...just over here getting some info on the options for getting a starlet/re-selling with a 1.5L engine etc. I've been threatening to do it for ages....:)

Damn. Thought I had found another sera owner. Oh well.

As for reselling a 1.5 starlet, I imagine it would have to be re-registered and the log book updated.

There was actually a 1.5 JDM starlet available, but that had a 1N rather than a 5e (the 1n has approx half the power of the 5e and is diesel. I never knew there was a diesel starlet. Learn something new everyday.)