Parts required for the conversion
7MGTE Engine
Intercooler
Exhaust
Etc

Conversion Process
February 99-
I purchased the engine from SSS Performance and picked it up thanks to an ex-girlfriend(Thanks Kate) and plonked it in the car trailer to bring home. Her poor car nearly died!
The engine sat for a few months in the front yard(less than ideal but no garage) until I had some more money to hire a hoist.

April 99-
Put the Supra down the driveway and with the help from another girlfriend we removed the old 2.8L 5ME. Disconnecting the gearbox, fuel lines, engine mounts, radiator and electricals were pretty straight forward. In the same afternoon I slotted in the 7mgte, but problems arised which I didn't know about. The sump was clearly hitting the cross member and this problem wasn't mentioned on a popular Canadian website featuring the conversion. With the gf(thanks Siobhan) carefully balancing the engine by standing on the hoist(undersized hoist on a slope!) I had to quickly resolve the problem. I quickly removed the old 5ME sump and attempted to fit it underneath the 7MGTE. Nope the oil pump was fowling the old sump so I decided to remove the 5ME oil pump and it bolted straight into the 7M. Then the 5ME sump bolted straight up! Bingo-Note from memory you need to use a mixture of the 5M and 7M engine mounts so be sure to get them when you get your 7M.
Next I hired a car trailer and towed the Supra with the folks Tarago to Liverpool Exhuast to get a custom unit welded up.


May99-
All the spanner work was done. Next was to hook up the electricals including the supplied airflow meter and factory auto 7MGTE computer. After many(at least 40hours) of wiring issues the car fired into life. I then hooked up a Mazda626 intercooler to seal the intake path. With this done I drove the car round the block but it didn't drive properly. In hindsight the car was running in "limp home" mode. The alternator also wasn't charging and with not enough voltage for the ecu to get it's timing spot on the car ran like a dog. Although the 5M/7M alternator plugs are the same their wiring is different so when you want to ungrade to the bigger 65amp alternator be carefull to get the wiring correct.
Small improvements were done to the installation but it still didn't run as good as it should.

November99-
The car was taken to Croyden Auto Sports for fittment of a Microtech MTX8 with internal igniters. This was meant to fix all the problems with the wiring but at first they tried to splice it into the existing engine loom. Problems arose as I indicated it would with the engine loom(I was suspect of the loom as it could have been damaged) so CAS fitted the MTX8 directly to all sensors and the car ran perfectly.
Running 7psi,3inch exhuast joined to 2&1/4 half way through and 1 MX626 intercooler it ran 125Kw at the treads.

November200-
Differential was fully rebuilt by Hornsby Differentials.

October2000-
I was pulled over by a highway patrol police orificer on the way to TAFE(see who said having a job and getting an education will keep you out of trouble). I was handed a defect notice with 7 days to:
-get an engineers certificate for non-std engine
-get an engineers certificate for non-std tubo(was std turbo, don't know how Mr Orificer knows what a non-std turbo is)
-fix oil underneath the car, who doesn't?
-rip on the seat!
So I got an engineers certificate which I managed to last 3 years without.
Anyways Keith Knapp did my engineers approval very easily. He was really, really proffesional and quick. The whole lot was done in 1 hour including all the brake tests, noise etc.

May2001-
A turbo was advertised on the net for for a GTFour celica. Was hi-flowed and fully rebuilt(pics in gallery) so I went to see it for myself. After initial inspection I realised it was a hi-flo T04E with ceramic coated exhaust housing. After a bit of bargaining I got him down to cash! Bought it home and bolted her on! Woooooohoooo big difference. Apparently it was built by GCG Turbo's. See the llink at the bottom.

GCG Turbo's Site

Important time & costs savings
-Get an engine only, fit an aftermarket computer straight up. They are so much easier to wire up and don't have boost limiters or fuel cut defenders.

Add your link here