Just wanted to introduce myself and say 'Hey'. I am currently in the process of swapping a Gen III 4.8 out of a 2001 Silverado into a 1985 Toyota Celica GT - 22re, solid rear axle.

Wiring harness is from the same truck, '01 Silverado/4l60 along with PCM and under hood fuse block.

I am using an NV3500 out of a 1998 Blazer 4.3 along with a Ford 8.8 with Trac-Loc and 3.73 gears from a 1998 Explorer.

I will be using the stock, truck intake and fuel rails. I also will be switching to an f-body oil pan for clearance.


The Celica is very light, around 2700 lbs with me in the car so I can't wait to get the rest of the prep tackled before I can fully dive into the project. Should be a fast 'lil booger.

The only thing that has me daunted a bit is the wiring harness. I've read through the FAQ section covering wiring and my head turns everytime I read more into it.

Luckily the Celica is very old school and the ECU really doesn't control anything but EFI. I can pretty much completely remove it and still have all of my body electrical work.

I am sending my PCM off to lt1swap.com to have VATS, fuel tank pressure and anything else I don't need strictly for the motor to run correctly, disabled.

I will be using the stock, truck intake and fuel rails.

That really comes down to the question(s) I have.

What exactly can I disable via tune, bare minimum for this engine to run correctly? I am not going to use A/C, will be switching to electric fans and will be a manual trans instead of an auto.

What is the minimum I need for the wiring harness to correctly power the engine? I'd purchase a harness but can't justify the price. Painless wants over $800 bucks for the thing and Speartech is even more. (Although their work is much better I hear.)

For an F-body pan on a truck motor, I take it I need the oil pickup tube. Anything else?

I will be using Autometer Pro-comp gauges for fuel, volts and rpm. Speedometer will be via GPS unit. Should I need any gauges info to the PCM or vice versa?

All I can think of for now, Im sure more will pop up later. Thanks!

 

You can use your stock harness that came with the engine and modify it using the instructions from lt1swap.com. I converted mine using Brendans instructions. It took me a good day and a half to complete it.

 

Awesome, I've went through some of the diagrams on there and they seem pretty detailed and well thought out.

I take it I don't need a functioning VSS if I send the PCM out to get reflashed to a manual trans correct?

 

You will still need some kind of VSS signal to the computer to let the computer know that the vehicle is in motion. I heard that if you run it without the signal it can cause some driveablity issues.

 

As for the f-body oil pan, you will also need the windage tray from an f-body. You could also cut down the truck windage tray(it hits the front of the oil pan).

 

yes you need the windage tray. Some people have cut down the truck tray too. The trays are pretty cheap IIRC. If you want to trim the truck tray down, have someone with a F-body tell you its dimensions and have at it.

Take pics and start a build thread. Take lots of pics. Good luck.
Jim