new owner 89 gts liftback

one thing is strange though... if it is indeed a bypass switch to get the compressor engaged, how come when i took the fuse off, the compressor still engages when i turn on my ac blower? weird... well rigth now, the car is in the shop waiting to get a tranny swap... i took the hvac controls out but i was not able to re-solder the joints...

this is actually where the other end of the wire is tapped into...

 

Once i get the car i would investigate on this. My uncle just told me he may be able to get a tranny for 250usd. I told him to look for a camry tranny from a 5s but i dont think he realizes it is direct bolt on to the celica.

 

just a little update... we are probably using a 3sge tranny we found from the yard... however the donor car has very high miles in it so we might open the case and check the internals... we're also going to freshen the suspension components and wondering if there's a kit to buy that contains all necessary rubber bushings already instead of buying it piece by piece...

 

Id probably just piece it out. I dont think i need a high perfromance buahings since ky goal for the car is to be my daily commuter.

 

still looking for a tranny... i may eventually go with a 5sfe tranny... just don't know where to look and how much to budget for it... i can get a 3sge s53 tranny for cheap but donor has almost 200k miles so most likely tranny may eventually give... or, if i go rebuild, is the $499 kit on ebay all I need? this is getting frustrating... i its been two weeks that my wife and i are sharing a car...

is the cover plate needed when doing the tranny swap from s53 to the 5sfe one?

 

i just called a rebuilder in Florida... they gave me a price of $700 OTD for a fully rebuilt s53 transmission... what do you guys think? the tranny itself is priced at $550 plus $150 shipping both ways...
OR
I can get a salvaged 5sfe tranny from ebay for about $350 shipped... used the old components from my tranny... maybe buy new clutch kit, flywheel...
OR
see if i can just buy seals and syncros to rebuild my stock s53? I found a rebuild kit for $315 for seals,bearings and syncros. Labor would probably cost 600 to rebuild.

 

finally made a decision to pull the transmission down and do a rebuild... has anyone used this kit BK193WS and what has been your experience like?
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/buy/products/253248-manual-transmission-rebuild-kit-includes-syncros-by-pro-king-part-bk193ws-bearings-bearing-kits.html
I can get the part from another online reseller for a much cheaper price...

 

Car is still sitting in the shop. Tranny has been pulled but for some reason mehanic does not want to open up the tranny and rebuild. It sucks cuz i dont have the luxury if time to fix it. Now i am scouring over to find a tranny from the yard and swap it. Most likely i am going with a 5sfe tranny from a camry or solara. Im starting to get impatient...

 

Ill be usig a 5sfe yrany from 2000 camry. unfortunately i cant really bust the mechanic since he works for my uncle and i havent even paid the car. more than likely the cost will be cheper overall if i get it done there. also, i can have the opportunity to work with him given i can find time. i know it sucks that he lwft it hanging but it will get done eeventually

 

So we finally did get a 5s tranny from the yard as well as the flywheel and starter for $350 all... hopefully by saturday this baby is on the road... BTW, i will have the timing belt done... is the ST/GT timing belt kit same for the GTS? I'm thinking it's not because they have different engines... I'm having a hard time finding a timing kit for the GTS...

 

thanks for the part numbers... is there actually a kit i can buy with all needed components in so i don't have to buy it part by part? or if someone can point me the parts numbers so i can search for it... BTW, is rockauto reputable? their prices seems to be very competitive but the shipping is the killer...

how about partsgeek? anyone has experience from them?