Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

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Malcolm
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Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

Since everyone's doing it...

So I got this car in 2004, cost me $700, had no WOF, reg, wheels or battery and it was generally a mess. Had been stolen and recovered (twice).
The car is a 1989 S/C manual hardtop.

The day I picked the car up:
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In early 2005 I decided it was time to do something I'd wanted to since I got my first AW11 a few years earlier - a 3SGTE engine swap, so I bought this:
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Deregistered 1989 SW20 turbo, interestingly it rolled out of the factory 2 months after my AW11

This is how things looked in 2005
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To keep this brief I wont go through too many of the details of the swap, I finished it mid-2005, drove the car around for a while before realising the headgasket was blown (I suspect it was blown before I even pulled it out of the SW20), at which point I replaced the headgasket with a Gen 3 metal gasket and installed some ARP head studs. Somewhere along the way I also replaced the CT26 with a CT20B. Other than that the engine has a GT-Four RC water to air intercooler setup, gutted TVIS, a 3" downpipe, 2.5" exhaust, and I usually run around 13psi on it.
This is one of the more recent pics I have of the motor, and it's more than 4 years old :lol: Apparently I don't take many pics of it these days. Things are all pretty similar still, except it's showing the signs of aging a bit
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So as well as the engine swap, the other big thing I've done to this car is a vented bonnet and radiator relocation. Did this summer of '05-06. A few quick pics of it:
Hole in the front bulkhead plus reinforcing frame
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Radiator for the w/a intercooler
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Engine radiator before the rest of the ducting goes on
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And how it looks all installed
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Suspension wise, I installed a complete set of urethane bushes in it shortly after I got the car, currently sitting on Jamex springs and I have some KYB adjustable dampers to try in it later. As well as that I've replaced virtually every moving component within the suspension, ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rods etc. Made my own rear tie rods for it earlier this year:
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I've also upgraded the brakes, ST185 twin pots in the front and gen 3 SW20 calipers in the rear with Renault Clio disks
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The stereo consists of a 4x80WRMS amp running some Infinity Kappa 6.5" components, a Jaycar Response 4x50WRMs amp running a DVC Audiobahn 8" sub and an old Alpine CD head unit. Here's a reasonably recent picture of the amps and crossovers:
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And some old pics of the components and sub (the amp doesn't live there anymore)
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Other feature worth mentioning on the interior is the Jamex Daytona seats, relatively light and a really easy install into an AW11 :)
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So other than all that, there's a bunch of little things I've done, plus I have a bunch of half-finished projects like a replacement fibreglass bonnet (I made a mould about 18 months ago but still haven't finished it), some other composite pieces for the interior (and exterior actually), and I have a huge list of stuff I'd love to do if only I had the time! I'm currently gathering parts for some engine work in the next few months.

I thought these were recent pics, but it still has my old exhaust on it, so must be a couple of years old.
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So there's my car :) I've done about 45,000km on it since the swap, including a few extended periods where it was my daily driver. It's never missed a beat, been incredibly reliable, and has been excellent fun the entire time! These days it's kinda my shopping trolley because my daily transport is also my fun vehicle but is less practical than the mr2... :D

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Rabid
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Rabid »

Very nice, this car has given me heaps of inspiration over the years and is still one of my favourite AWs
Gary Whitehead

90 TTop Turbo,
89 Hard top S/C, 87 TTop S/C

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mickeyduck
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by mickeyduck »

Yep, and I'd love to see a detailed "how-to" regards each of the following if you can find the time Malcolm (cos each would be a gem for a lot of folk out there)

The repower details cos that's a classic AW mod and one that needs serious pride of place on this forum, and the bonnet mod - cos I think it's still a little hard to envisage without seeing it in the flesh and its benefits could be major.

Hanging out to see your AW in person when I have a camera handy mate! And thanks for posting! 8)
#8^) Charlie the certified Westie
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100+ MR2OCNZ runs and counting... When going hard, good rubber's your best protection against unwanted accidents. Buy good tyres!
When you're nearing the end of the drag-strip and you have no 'chute, you may as well keep your foot to the floor... Live life. There ain't no second pass. :twisted:

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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by flying_wedge »

mickeyduck wrote:Yep, and I'd love to see a detailed "how-to" regards each of the following if you can find the time Malcolm (cos each would be a gem for a lot of folk out there)
http://www.fasterthanjesus.net/
Image

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Malcolm
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

flying_wedge wrote:
mickeyduck wrote:Yep, and I'd love to see a detailed "how-to" regards each of the following if you can find the time Malcolm (cos each would be a gem for a lot of folk out there)
http://www.fasterthanjesus.net/
Yep, lots of info on there, I'm actually working on updating it using a sweet content management system (Joomla) which makes it way easier to add content, so hopefully I'll be able to bring it up to date and start adding some more useful technical articles since I've done an engineering degree and designed/built 4 race cars since I last updated it :D

So a lot of the information on there is very outdated, although the write-ups on how I did everything are more accurate than my memories of it :lol:

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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Ollie »

There is also a heap of information about the 3S swap on the net, including a couple of pretty much step by step guides... they almost make it look easy. Twobrutal is always a good place to start. Never hurts to have a closer contact though.

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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Boosted »

Ive always loved this car :D and funnily enough, ive known Malcolm for many years and still havent been for a ride in it :lol:
Current: BCNR33 Skyline GTR

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iOnic
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by iOnic »

Probably my favourite AW. Lost count of how much time I've spend on your website reading :lol: Keep it up!
SW20 GT-S - 5SGTE
Corolla - 4AGE Redtop Smallport

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Malcolm
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

cheers guys, Craig - didn't your cousin buy BBBrad's old one? I'm sure mine would pale in comparison - except perhaps for my mad driving skills :lol: Don't suppose you're going to come on the run tomorrow? Could jump in for a quick blat if you did

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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Boosted »

Malcolm wrote:cheers guys, Craig - didn't your cousin buy BBBrad's old one? I'm sure mine would pale in comparison - except perhaps for my mad driving skills :lol: Don't suppose you're going to come on the run tomorrow? Could jump in for a quick blat if you did
It was a mate of my cousin, but he did sort me out for a ride... Holy shit that was an eye opener, by far the fastest car ive been in. Nah not planning on coming out tomorrow, but im sure ill get a ride one day...(or ill buy it when you want to sell :lol:)
Current: BCNR33 Skyline GTR

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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by mickeyduck »

Boosted wrote:Nah not planning on coming out tomorrow
Why not mate? Eh..? C'mon man come show us what you're made of... :twisted:
#8^) Charlie the certified Westie
Retired - President 2012 - 2018
Retired - Committee Member 2009 - 2018
Retired - Auckland Area Coordinator 2009 - 2018
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Financial Club Member since 2004 and thanks to *84vvt and co-conspirators, Life Member since April 2017 8)
100+ MR2OCNZ runs and counting... When going hard, good rubber's your best protection against unwanted accidents. Buy good tyres!
When you're nearing the end of the drag-strip and you have no 'chute, you may as well keep your foot to the floor... Live life. There ain't no second pass. :twisted:

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Malcolm
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

Time for an update! Late last year I took the MR2 to Meremere, the occasional misfire suddenly got a lot worse and I wasn't able to run more than 10psi without the car misfiring wildly. I got one cleanish run at the low boost setting and ran a 13.1, but on the drive home it was obvious something wasn't right, low compression on one cylinder which I'm pretty certain is piston damage. I was already planning an engine drop and a partial upgrade to Gen 3 bits (head upwards). Decided to instead go for a complete Gen 3 swap now, which I'll be starting just as soon as I've sold a bike and cleared a bit of space in the garage.

So I thought I might write up the swap to SW20 power window controls, since I have now pretty much finished it. The motivation for this is that virtually all AW11's seem to have broken window switches, and I'd rather have more modern ones which seem to be a lot more durable.

So way back in 2007 I did the electrical side of things. The difference between the plugs for the AW11 and SW20 is minimal - the AW11 has 2 extra pins on the side
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I just cut the end of the plug off and it fit perfectly into the SW20 switch box.
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The AW11 has a control module in the driver's door, whereas the SW20 incorporates the functionality of that unit into the switch panel itself. Because I was trying to do this without cutting any wires (can't remember why, probably just for the challenge) and I needed to re-route a couple of the wires from the control module to the switch panel, I just cut the socket off the module and bent a couple of the tracks together and soldered them.
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I don't have the details of the changes I had to make to the wiring, but basically at the switch panel end I just removed all the terminals and rearranged them to suit the SW20 switch panel.
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No pics of the passenger side, but it was a walk in the park. just had to pull the terminals out of the AW11 plug and put them into the SW20 plug.

So then I was left with this problem:
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So, fast forward 3 and a half years and I did this:
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Glued them together with hot glue, then more thoroughly with 5 minute epoxy

Then using cardboard I made up the rough shape I wanted and covered it in masking tape
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Laid up a couple of layers of fibreglass over the top
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Removed the piece
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Glued back on, using epoxy thickened with colloidal silica (makes it into a thick, stiff paste)
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Bog
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Nearly there
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Done
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mickeyduck
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by mickeyduck »

Nice mate, nice!

You're right, it's a very common AW problem. Thanks for posting this eh, a lot of us fellow AW enthusiasts will find it helpful, cos good AW window switches are like rocking horse shyte. :D

And I'm so looking forward to seeing your beastie back on the road Malcolm.

Here's to next summer maybe...?
#8^) Charlie the certified Westie
Retired - President 2012 - 2018
Retired - Committee Member 2009 - 2018
Retired - Auckland Area Coordinator 2009 - 2018
Retired - Webmaster, Forum Host & Admin 2010 - 2018 - Now it's mknz

Financial Club Member since 2004 and thanks to *84vvt and co-conspirators, Life Member since April 2017 8)
100+ MR2OCNZ runs and counting... When going hard, good rubber's your best protection against unwanted accidents. Buy good tyres!
When you're nearing the end of the drag-strip and you have no 'chute, you may as well keep your foot to the floor... Live life. There ain't no second pass. :twisted:

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Malcolm
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

If anyone else does want to do this, I can see if I can remember/work out details of the changes in pin arrangement and wiring at the old control module.

Fingers crossed for next summer, the current list of stuff to do during the upcoming round of work is:
- Swap engines (will require re-wire and re-plumb of a few things)
- Gearbox rebuild (not sure how extensive this will be, will depend on cost of parts and how excited I get about spending money on it)
- Install KYB dampers

But I can see the above escalating. I also want to do the following, but will try and wait until I've finished off the above before doing any of it:
- Finally finish making a damn fibreglass bonnet
- Finally finish making a damn fibreglass engine/boot lid
- Buy Aerotech front lip
- Find a nice, straight front left guard, install my good FR guard and paint the car
- Revisit the stereo (I'd like to ditch the sub, use only one amp, and try to get more out of the front components)
- General electrical tidy up
- I really need to do something more awesome on the gauges/instruments side of things.
- Either tidy the interior up a wee bit, or man up and ditch it completely (probably the former)
- 5 stud conversion and new wheels :mrgreen: (every time I think about doing this, I've just spent a few hundred dollars on wheels, tyres, brake disks or something, but I swear I'll do it one day!)

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Malcolm
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Re: Malcolm's 3SGTE AW11

Post by Malcolm »

Thought I should keep this up to date, so I'm cross-posting some stuff from Toyspeed:

Picked up my Gen 3 motor from Craig yesterday. Swapped over a few bits that I already had, including the ST205 intercooler and exhaust manifold.
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Need to start on assembling all the accessories and working out what I do and don't have. At the moment the list of stuff I need is:
Fuel rail and injectors
Intercooler mount bracket/engine hook
ST205 alternator and bracket
ST205 BPV
Exhaust heat shield
Turbo oil and water lines
MAP sensor, coil and ignitor

Also time to start thinking about how I'm going to prettify the engine, been looking at ST205 engine bays for inspiration (but not sold on anything yet)

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