Duke Racing Celica GT-Four Time Attack Racecar

[Punknoodle]

In the later sessions of my track day I found that the car was getting a little hard to get in to gear, and the pedal was a bit spongy. Instantly assumed the clutch fluid had been over heated and so today I bled the system. It was dirty and there was a bit of air in it so it needed doing, but after I finished bleeding it (my wife was doing the pedal pumping, I was on reservoir / bleed nipple duties) I tested the clutch and it felt awful, really spongy and I couldn't get it in to gear at all.

Went to adjust the pedal and found this damage:

So I've got to weld it up, and at the same time I'll beef it up so that it doesn't happen again. It's quite a common fault on the ST185. Bad design.

 

[Punknoodle]

I just fixed it up and beefed up with a section of thicker plate. Will install tomorrow.

Also secured myself a Gen III sump and I'm going to buy a new Gen III oil pump, so I can run an external oil cooler and disconnect the current one. That way when I change the head I can do that stuff at the same time and will enable the car to run a LOT cooler. It gets too hot right now, the factory oil cooler puts load on the main radiator and is inefficient, with a separate cooler it takes load off the main radiator and will also do a much better job of cooling the oil.

Track day reliability is the aim of the game.

 

[Punknoodle]

It has begun.. Jobs are as follows:

- Bleed brakes
- Drain all fluids
- Strip down engine for head removal
- Remove factory oil cooler and weld up redundant coolant lines
- Fit Gen 3 sump and oil pump, make mount for new oil cooler, fit thermostatic oil take off plate and new lines and cooler
- Wire oil temp sensor mounted in sump to ECU
- Fabricate alloy ducting to maximise air flowing through radiator etc
- Perform head swap (have new head sitting ready to go on)
- Reassemble, add fluids, check for leaks by cranking engine without spark
- Get car towed to tuner to set base timing and check tune on dyno (and bump up the boost level) and configure a couple of things like thermofan control (I've already wired the relay for it) and the oil temp sensor so that an over temp triggers engine protection.

- Track days with a cool running engine!

I haven't purchased all the stuff I need yet, so this may take a while but I wanted to start work on it and also didn't want to drive it around without doing an oil change after the track day but didn't want to do an oil change without doing the upgrades as it's a waste so decided to pull it off the road so to speak until it's all done. No rush, I want to take the time to make sure everything coolant related is as good and efficient as it can be.

 

[Ibonibo]

- Track days with a kool running engine!

 

[GDII]

So you pretty much have a GEN3 ST205 Ceilca engine now?
It's always exciting to do this sort of thing. I hope it all goes well and the cooling upgrades help keep your engine happy so you can be happy at track days not having to worry and back off due to heat problems.

 

[Punknoodle]

So you pretty much have a GEN3 ST205 Ceilca engine now?
It's always exciting to do this sort of thing. I hope it all goes well and the cooling upgrades help keep your engine happy so you can be happy at track days not having to worry and back off due to heat problems.

It's a real Frankenstein engine. Gen 2 3sgte block and accessories, gen 1 3sge head, cams and fuel rail, gen 3 3sgte sump, oil pump and turbo and 1zz coils! Hence the need for aftermarket management and tuning!

I hope it gets good results too, I've gone past the point of no return, I've deleted the factory oil cooler already and I'm planning on deleting and blocking every coolant line that isn't necessary for performance. It tidies and simplifies the engine bay and eliminates points of weakness, as well as ensuring the coolant path is simple and efficient. I don't use the heater anyway

I think the car has gone way past the point already where it would go to someone wanting it as a daily driver if I do sell it so may as well make it a track day car, albiet a tidy one.

 

[SVX]

It's a real Frankenstein engine. Gen 2 3sgte block and accessories, gen 1 3sge head, cams and fuel rail, gen 3 3sgte sump, oil pump and turbo and 1zz coils! Hence the need for aftermarket management and tuning!

I can now get into my Corolla with a warm fuzzy feeling knowing it shares something with a track car.

 

[Punknoodle]

I can now get into my Corolla with a warm fuzzy feeling knowing it shares something with a track car.

They be good coils too mate! Lol

 

[GDII]

I can now get into my Corolla with a warm fuzzy feeling knowing it shares something with a track car.

1ZZ coils are used on quite a few engines to improve the ignition over the distributor and leads system. I think they are used in 4AGEs too but you have to shrink the outer diameter to make them fit in the holes.

It's a real Frankenstein engine. Gen 2 3sgte block and accessories, gen 1 3sge head, cams and fuel rail, gen 3 3sgte sump, oil pump and turbo and 1zz coils! Hence the need for aftermarket management and tuning!

I hope it gets good results too, I've gone past the point of no return, I've deleted the factory oil cooler already and I'm planning on deleting and blocking every coolant line that isn't necessary for performance. It tidies and simplifies the engine bay and eliminates points of weakness, as well as ensuring the coolant path is simple and efficient. I don't use the heater anyway

I think the car has gone way past the point already where it would go to someone wanting it as a daily driver if I do sell it so may as well make it a track day car, albiet a tidy one.

Oh that's a whole lot of Toyota 3S engine parts thrown together. I didn't realise it was that many. It's got the ST205 intercooler too. So it's pretty much a GENV Celica with ST162 head, ST185 intake, ST185 block, ST205 sump, oil pump and intercooler. Mad hybrid!

 

[Mike_grpA]

I'm glad to see you've decided to maker her a track car instead of selling. I've just had to sell the Group A

With bub #2 close to arrival, I needed a more practical car, and as we're getting ready to move, I'm no longer working, so I also didn't have the funds to own two cars. I sold it to a very cashed up fella from the mainland, so that's one less Group A in Tassie (pretty sure there's only one down here now). He plans to have it professionally pulled down and resprayed, and have the engine rebuilt to factory specs. All the stuff I had upgraded, I had kept the stock parts, so his plan was to get it to 100% stock immaculate condition, and keep it in his garage. Glad it's being preserved, as that's what it really deserved after a hard life of track work, competition, and many a long trip on country roads.

I've just bought a 2004 Corolla Sportivo to replace it. I wanted something practical but without sacrificing too much fun factor. I was shocked how well those little things went! The 2zz really is one hell of an engine. I'm now eyeing a set of BC coilovers

...It has begun.

 

[Punknoodle]

1ZZ coils are used on quite a few engines to improve the ignition over the distributor and leads system. I think they are used in 4AGEs too but you have to shrink the outer diameter to make them fit in the holes.

Oh that's a whole lot of Toyota 3S engine parts thrown together. I didn't realise it was that many. It's got the ST205 intercooler too. So it's pretty much a GENV Celica with ST162 head, ST185 intake, ST185 block, ST205 sump, oil pump and intercooler. Mad hybrid!

Yeah using the 1ZZ coils allows me to run a full sequential ignition rather than distributer based wasted spark. They are too tall for my valve cover so I use machined spacers. Oh yeah, the valve cover is an ST165 one so there's another 3S engine that contributes to mine lol.

I'm glad to see you've decided to maker her a track car instead of selling. I've just had to sell the Group A

With bub #2 close to arrival, I needed a more practical car, and as we're getting ready to move, I'm no longer working, so I also didn't have the funds to own two cars. I sold it to a very cashed up fella from the mainland, so that's one less Group A in Tassie (pretty sure there's only one down here now). He plans to have it professionally pulled down and resprayed, and have the engine rebuilt to factory specs. All the stuff I had upgraded, I had kept the stock parts, so his plan was to get it to 100% stock immaculate condition, and keep it in his garage. Glad it's being preserved, as that's what it really deserved after a hard life of track work, competition, and many a long trip on country roads.

I've just bought a 2004 Corolla Sportivo to replace it. I wanted something practical but without sacrificing too much fun factor. I was shocked how well those little things went! The 2zz really is one hell of an engine. I'm now eyeing a set of BC coilovers

...It has begun.

Damn Fair enough though, and Corollas are good cars! But yeah, it's always good to know that the genuine group a's are being looked after. This not being a group a I never felt that it was sacrilege to pull things off it. I don't know how far I'll go with the GT -Four, I wanted to go with something lighter and more agile but I can't let it go after all the work I've done and want to see it through Would look awesome with a cage, buckets and semi slicks. Considering having a section of exhaust made up that I can swap on for track days that deletes the cat and rear muffler, it sounds too quiet at the moment!

I wouldn't go with the BCs dude, had a few mates with BC coils and they all ride like rubbish..

 

[Mike_grpA]

Damn Fair enough though, and Corollas are good cars! But yeah, it's always good to know that the genuine group a's are being looked after. This not being a group a I never felt that it was sacrilege to pull things off it. I don't know how far I'll go with the GT -Four, I wanted to go with something lighter and more agile but I can't let it go after all the work I've done and want to see it through Would look awesome with a cage, buckets and semi slicks. Considering having a section of exhaust made up that I can swap on for track days that deletes the cat and rear muffler, it sounds too quiet at the moment!

Yeah, it'd be mean as with a straight pipe, the 3S is such a tough sounding engine when it's not muffled. I was thinking that once I no longer need the Corolla (once I get a different daily, might be a couple of years away), I might buy a ZZW30 MR2 to drop the 2ZZ and 6 speed into. You can pick them up pretty cheap with the cruddy semi-auto gearbox, especially if the box and 1ZZ are a bit tired. Those MR2s weigh just 850kg, and with mild mods the 2ZZ will put out 230+hp. The power-to weight would be great fun on the twisty mountain roads of Tassie lol. I'd be a Toyota Elise lol.

Alternatively, I could go for a hell of a sleeper by dropping the 2ZZ and 6 speed into an Echo hatchback. Those also weigh 850kg, and since they're almost exclusively nanna cars, it'd be funny to see one with a worked 2ZZ, which would give it the power to weight of a V8 Commodore lol. Dunno, but I'd definitely prefer to go with the MR2.

I wouldn't go with the BCs dude, had a few mates with BC coils and they all ride like rubbish..

I didn't know that, they get a lot of praise in various forums I've been reading, so I assumed they were good. I'll have a look at my options. Cheers for the heads up!

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah, it'd be mean as with a straight pipe, the 3S is such a tough sounding engine when it's not muffled. I was thinking that once I no longer need the Corolla (once I get a different daily, might be a couple of years away), I might buy a ZZW30 MR2 to drop the 2ZZ and 6 speed into. You can pick them up pretty cheap with the cruddy semi-auto gearbox, especially if the box and 1ZZ are a bit tired. Those MR2s weigh just 850kg, and with mild mods the 2ZZ will put out 230+hp. The power-to weight would be great fun on the twisty mountain roads of Tassie lol. I'd be a Toyota Elise lol.

Alternatively, I could go for a hell of a sleeper by dropping the 2ZZ and 6 speed into an Echo hatchback. Those also weigh 850kg, and since they're almost exclusively nanna cars, it'd be funny to see one with a worked 2ZZ, which would give it the power to weight of a V8 Commodore lol. Dunno, but I'd definitely prefer to go with the MR2.




I didn't know that, they get a lot of praise in various forums I've been reading, so I assumed they were good. I'll have a look at my options. Cheers for the heads up!

Problem with the Echo is its crappy econobox chassis, piss weak drivetrain and brakes and horrible looks. Complete waste of a good engine! MR2 is a better alternative if you can figure out a way to get the gearbox to work in an MR layout...

I'd just keep it in the Corolla, sell it and buy something better when the time comes Much cheaper that way. Even staying within the same engine family costs lots with Toyota. They aren't very good at being interchangeable like Nissan's are..

 

[Mike_grpA]

Problem with the Echo is its crappy econobox chassis, piss weak drivetrain and brakes and horrible looks. Complete waste of a good engine! MR2 is a better alternative if you can figure out a way to get the gearbox to work in an MR layout...

I'd just keep it in the Corolla, sell it and buy something better when the time comes Much cheaper that way. Even staying within the same engine family costs lots with Toyota. They aren't very good at being interchangeable like Nissan's are..

The 2ZZ drops into the ZZW30 very easily, thanks to it running the 1ZZ stock. MWR even sell kits to do it. As far as getting the box to work, it's just a matter of using a different linkage, which you can also buy off the shelf.

If I was to put it in an Echo, I wouldn't use the Echo's drivetrain. The 2ZZ and 6 speed combo into an Echo has been done before. It's a lot more work though, as the bay needs some "massaging" lol. As for it's chassis, it's not that bad, and with a cage, coilovers, and better bushes, it would be more than capable.

You're right though that the MR2 would definitely be the go. Cost wouldn't be a major factor in the conversion into an MR2 because it really is straightforward. The performance it'd have would far surpass what you'd get for the cost of the donor car+conversion, so it's definitely worth it.

 

[Punknoodle]

The 2ZZ drops into the ZZW30 very easily, thanks to it running the 1ZZ stock. MWR even sell kits to do it. As far as getting the box to work, it's just a matter of using a different linkage, which you can also buy off the shelf.

If I was to put it in an Echo, I wouldn't use the Echo's drivetrain. The 2ZZ and 6 speed combo into an Echo has been done before. It's a lot more work though, as the bay needs some "massaging" lol. As for it's chassis, it's not that bad, and with a cage, coilovers, and better bushes, it would be more than capable.

You're right though that the MR2 would definitely be the go. Cost wouldn't be a major factor in the conversion into an MR2 because it really is straightforward. The performance it'd have would far surpass what you'd get for the cost of the donor car+conversion, so it's definitely worth it.

Interesting, that's pretty cool to learn. If it's that easy and you don't have to fabricate a whole bunch of stuff then yeah sounds like a bit of a winner. You can't convince me on the echo though! No way would I be sinking money in to one of those **** boxes!

 

[Mike_grpA]

Interesting, that's pretty cool to learn. If it's that easy and you don't have to fabricate a whole bunch of stuff then yeah sounds like a bit of a winner. You can't convince me on the echo though! No way would I be sinking money in to one of those **** boxes!

Fair enough mate, I've always liked weird, out of the box cars, but that's just my own weirdness showing lol. The MR2 is definitely the go though. With so little weight, and it's go-kart like handling, and the power of a 2ZZ, it'd be endless fun.

 

[Punknoodle]

This is how far I got with the strip down this weekend. Removing the head is a fairly simple job now. I've decided I'm going to try and remove any redundant cabling while I'm at it. I've already gone through and deleted any coolant hose that isn't needed and also any old vacuum hose. I'm even going to try and remove them from the hard lines.

Also deleted the TVIS butterflies and solenoids (more vacuum lines gone lol) so that frees up an output from the ECU too. Not needed in a high power application.

 

[Punknoodle]

New plan. Went and spoke to the guys at A.R.E here in Brisbane (real clever guys) and I'm now adding to the list a new custom water neck, a custom swirl / header tank for the coolant and an electric water pump.

Why? The head on these cars is higher than the top of the radiator meaning that the high point in the system is the head. If air gets in to the system, it gets caught in the head and doesn't bleed out very well.

With a header tank mounted above the height of the cylinder head you now move the high point to above the head, making bleeding easier, plus if you make it a swirl design it also ensures that any cavitation bubbles etc stay in the tank and non bubbly water goes down to the radiator. Less air in the system means the coolant is a lot more efficient.

The electric water pumps has a number of benefits too. Deleting the thermostat is one, meaning better flow. Another is less cavitation from no pump spinning wildly fast when the car is revving at 7k rpm, and the biggest benefit for me is that when I park in the pits I can turn the car off but the pump and fan will keep running, meaning the engine keeps getting cooled and the head doesn't suffer from heat soak as the coolant is always flowing till it cools down. I can get rid of the hard lines, too.

That, coupled with the oil cooler and ducting for the rad should absolutely sort out the temps for good.

On the oiling side of things I picked up my Gen 3 sump tonight. It has everything I need - the crank scraper, oil pick up, pan and relief valve. Even got an old gen 3 oil pump that I won't run in the car but I'll use it for mock up purposes to see what I need to do.

I think my clearances to the exhaust are ok, but I need to fabricate a port for the oil return and turbo return so I want to mount it up so I can mark out where I need to cut and weld ports etc.

Unfortunately to fit the sump I also have to drill and tap about 4 holes in the bottom of the block. With the engine in situ. So from the bottom.. With a cordless drill. Not looking forward to that part but I'll just take it easy.

 

[GDII]

That's an interesting idea but it should work. What are you doing with the thermostat? Removing it completely might cause other issues with the car not getting to temperature or running too cold.

 

[Punknoodle]

That's an interesting idea but it should work. What are you doing with the thermostat? Removing it completely might cause other issues with the car not getting to temperature or running too cold.

The water pump has a controller that controls the speed of the pump in order to control the engine temperature 👍

 

[GDII]

The water pump has a controller that controls the speed of the pump in order to control the engine temperature 👍

WIN!!! Very cool. New technology sure is great. I guess that means the pump has a temp sensor and little ECU to control all that.

 

[Punknoodle]

Yeah it sure does, it's a little digital LCD looking thing. So I'll need to ensure my new neck has ports for 3 sensors. One for the gauge, one for the ECU and one for the water pump controller.

 

[Punknoodle]

New thermostat lol..

Simply cut the back off the factory thermostat.

The bypass hardline is being blocked off so there is no way it can bypass the head.

 

[GDII]

Nice. I thought the water circulated through the pump, block, up to the head then to the coolant neck the around the small pipe above the old oil cooler to the back of the water pump. Not sure where the bypass pipe is that you mention. On the MR2 the water circulates from the back of the engine to the radiator then back to the thermostat at the front of the engine. Isn't the Celica the same?

 

[Punknoodle]

The normal way it works is the coolant from the radiator comes up from the bottom outlet to the thermostat housing and is stopped by the thermostat, where a little bit is let through by the jiggle valve until it gets warm. The pump draws it's coolant from the thermostat housing, behind the thermostat, it gets pumped in to the block and in to the head as you say and then it can go 2 ways, either to the radiator or back via that bypass pipe to the thermostat housing.

When the thermostat is closed, pressure builds up in the bypass pipe, as it can't go the other way in to the rad, as the outlet of the rad is being blocked by the thermostat, and there is a negative pressure in the thermostat housing, as the pump is drawing coolant out of it, so the little spring on the back of the thermostat allows coolant from the bypass back in to the thermostat housing where it is recirculated.

When the thermostat opens up, the coolant from the radiator is allowed to enter the housing, which means the coolant from the head now how somewhere else to go rather than the bypass pipe (it goes to the radiator instead) and thus the little spring on the back of the thermostat stops coolant from going the wrong way up the bypass pipe, which would be bad as it would bypass the actual engine.

See this photo:

The other lines coming from the housing are the No. 5 bypass pipe, which goes to the oil cooler and then returns to the back of the block, and the other large hardline that runs off to the heater, throttle body and turbo.

Now, because I'm running an electric water pump and no thermostat, it can't be allowed to bypass so I've cut and sealed off the bypass pipe. I've also deleted the oil cooler so I have capped off the no. 5 outlet, as well as where it would return in to, at the back of the block.

That leaves the other hardline. I no longer run coolant through the throttle body as that is for cold conditions and I no longer run a heater, but I still need the turbo to get coolant. So my hardlines now look like this:

(They just need braised at the crimped ends and painted).
The one solitary output port goes to the turbo and then the return for the turbo will get plumbed back in to my new neck at an appropriate angle for flow.

Make sense?

 

[GDII]

Wow you have really thought that through. It all makes sense because of the thermostat delete and electric water pump.
What will you do with the water pump? That runs off the cam belt.

 

[Punknoodle]

I'll just take the impeller wheel off it. That's the only way it can be done as the cam belt requires the pump pulley to be there, obviously.

 

[GDII]

Yeah I thought that might be the case. This sounds like a good solution to a tightly packed engine bay and hot Australian temperatures.

I'll be following this closely. Need to expand my knowledge of the 3SGTE before I get one for the MR2. Yes yours is quite different but any knowledge always helps get a better understanding of the engine type in question.

 

[Punknoodle]

It would suck to install a nice fresh head only to have it overheat.. The good thing is a have fairly solid data from before all this, except for oil temp, and I will have good data afterwards, including oil temp, so I'll be able to do a direct comparison of its performance before and after in regards to coolant performance.

Even though in not changing the actual radiator, I'm hoping for a huge improvement. I want to see my temps sitting on a flat line on my graph even after 6 laps. Before it was just a continuous upward trend

 

[Punknoodle]

OK, small progress report. Here is how my engine bay looks as of tonight:

I haven't had much luck with the impact wrenches I've tried to remove the harmonic balancer so that's why I haven't got the cam belt and oil pump off yet. Going to borrow a friend's one soon. Anyway, to get the new head on, all I really have to do is order a new head gasket (I'm going with a Cometic MLS) and clean the surface of the block up (head is already prepared, and I've already checked it's flatness). Before I order the gasket though I need to put a dial guage on the block and measure my deck height, as it's running Arias forged pistons and looks as if it's been decked before too, so I need to make sure I get the right thickness.

Looking up from the bottom of the block, you can see I've already removed the oil pan. To fit the Gen 3 sump, I need to drill and tap about 7 holes in the bottom of the block. It's going to be a complete PITY as so I'm not looking forward to that job. You can see in this shot the ARP rod bolts. Before I fit the new sump I'll check the bottom of each of the big end bearings for wear.

Here you can see up the bore at the bottom of the piston, and see that it is indeed marked Arias.

I've sent a list to my Toyota contact of all the Toyota parts I'm going to need, such as a new oil pump and various seals and gaskets. Comes to just under $600 and that doesn't even include the head gasket.. Anyway, it's all necessary. Absolutely no point tearing down this much and not replacing a few 20 dollar seals.

While I've got the car off the road and I'm waiting to make more engine progress, I have started to pull apart some of dash in order to remove some redundant crap, like the heater control cable. I'm removing my stereo amplifier and will run my speakers purely from my head unit now. Also removed my turbo timer as I'm running the electric water pump which circulates coolant through the turbo and engine for a set amount of time or until a temperature is reached, and I always cool down the car as much as I can after giving it a hiding anyway so it really is just messy, unnecessary wiring.

I'm going to look at removing the heater core too, as it's disconnected and in general tidying things up and simplifying as much as I can. I'm not going to strip the interior yet though. I want it to still look tidy and until I get to the point where I need to strip it in order to fit a cage, harnesses and seats then I'll leave it looking tidy.