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By nastynate, May 1, 2007 in Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm



Well, awhile ago I had a thread here about a possible 4AFE to 4AGZE swap. That was before I scored a 4AGE 20V Silvertop for $340!!! With tranny, ECU, etc., just no harness.

So down to the big question: what else do I need? Will I need to buy anything else for it? (other than the harness) That brings me to something else though, can I use a cut harness? Or do I need uncut? I'm kinda confused right now.

Anybody with ANY info about this swap, you have no idea how much I'd appreciate it.

That is a great deal - for engine and tranny. Cut harness means that the harness was removed the easiest way - just cut anything that goes through the firewall and impedes getting the engine out of the car. If you have two cut harnesses - engine side and car side - might be able to make it work. Easiest way - find someone to do the wiring for you or buy a full harness for the particular car. Wiring is the #1 reason why so many swaps go unfinished and are abandoned. Even with a full harness - things can creep up that are unexpected (ie. AFM air/fuel metering programmed in ECU and car has MAP management = Opps).

What else you need - depends on how much fabrication you want to do. Couldn't hurt to get some new engine mounts (or the ones that were attached to the engine - should be close to the 4AFE mounts, as they are the same family, but not 100% the same). Axles? Accessories? Do you want to keep the A/C or not (need to make some new brackets and possible re-route some piping)? Tranny issues (if original was auto and now you have a manual - mounts are different, need to make appropriate mods to car body).

Big point - depends on where you live and local laws regarding smog inspection / vehicle safety inspection. Silvertops generally do NOT have EGR (depends on where they are sourced). If you live in an area that has smog inspection - you will automatically fail the visual portion. If you live in an area without smog inspection - have at it.

OK, I'm gonna ask somebody tomorrow if emissions/smog is required for my car. If it is, is there any way to make it work?

Well, good news. It appears an emissions inspection is only required for vehicles 1996 and newer, since they do it thru OBDII. Yall read the law and tell me what you think it means. The third paragraph is the only thing that worries me. Is it still talking about vehicles 1996 and newer?

Emissions inspections are required in 48 counties: Alamance, Brunswick, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Carteret, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Craven, Cumberland, Davidson, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gaston, Granville, Guilford, Harnett, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Johnston, Lee, Lenoir, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pitt, Randolph, Robeson, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Stokes, Surry, Union, Wake, Wayne, Wilkes, or Wilson.

If you own a 1996 and newer vehicle registered in one of the above counties, an annual OBD "emissions" inspection along with a safety/tamper inspection is required.

In these counties, an annual emissions inspection is required for gasoline-powered-light-duty vehicles (less than 8,501 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)). The GVWR rating can be found on the driver's side door.

An annual safety inspection only is required if you own a vehicle 1995 and older, diesel powered, powered by alternative fuels without gasoline, or a heavy-duty vehicle (greater than 8501 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)). The safety inspection also includes a visual check for tampering of emissions components.

If they're saying that my car is emissions-testable, I might just be able to duck it by claiming it as a custom car due to the engine swap. The DMV allows exemptions for customs.

Sounds like thsi is for NC? Last statement indicates a visual check for tampering of emissions on 1995 models and older (this includes your car). I'm pretty sure that a 4AGE 20V will not have an EGR and/or a charcoal canister. Unless you are able to hook up the EGR to the Silvertop (also will complete kill most of the power gains from the better engine) - it will fail the safety inspection.

Not sure what that will mean for your state - in mine, it means that I can legally register my car for highway use. Get caught and they impound your car until it is fixed. Was a big problem for people swapping in SR20DET into 240SX here in the states - lots of people lost their cars.

Claiming a custom car status might work - also depends on your state. A custom vehicle/kit car still needs to pass a safety inspection - ie. safe for highway use. When I did it before, I had to basically re-register the car, couple of inspection, re-title, pay a bunch of fees and a "highway useage" tax. Total PITA - but doable. But this was also a 1960's car - with NO emissions from the factory and otherwise. They might look at your car differently because it originally came with pollution control equipment. Hard to say for sure - you'll have to contact the DMV. Make sure you get the OK in writing - no sense spending all that work to mod the car only to potentially have it impounded for something you missed.

Yes it's for NC. I'm gonna try to keep it legal -- I'll get it worked out one way or another. I need this car for daily commute. Right now, I've got a 4AFE with a blown head gasket and a rapidly failing transmission. I really need this transplant.

Is there anything else about the engine that I need to know? Any quirks? What kind of gas can I use? Please help, I have no clue when it comes to 20V. It's all so new on me.

Gas depends on the ECM and what it was originally tuned for. Though, you should be safe running premium fuel to start off with. Then as things get tuned up and running well. Then start experimenting with running the lowest octane rating that does not produce detonation - that will be the minimum octane rating to pump in.

Quirks - part of engine swaps. Unfortunantly, you just have the major bits - would have been nice to have a half-cut, since you may find yourself running to the hardware store or dealership often to pick up little nuts and bolts, fittings, and lengths of tubing, clamps, sensors, etc. Having the Toyota Factory Service Manual around is a must - will save your hours of your time debugging simple issues.



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