Engine Swap In 00 Corolla

Phoenix Tuning the way to go - that was one of the first groups to successfully complete an 8th gen Corolla 2ZZ-GE swap.

Not sure why you want to swap out the higher compression pistons - planning on boost in the future? If that is the case - keep the compression ratio - that old adage of running low compression pistons when running boost is no longer true. The key is in the tune. There are a number of 2ZZ-GE running stock compression or even higher 13.5:1 compression on boost.

Exhaust manifold will be in the right place, but I don't think the bolt pattern will match. The 1ZZ-FE exhaust will choke the 2ZZ-GE anyways - so I would not recommend running it.

As for rebuilding a 1ZZ-FE + boost vs 2ZZ-GE N/A - depends on what you are after. The 2ZZ-GE takes to bolt-ons very well, compared to the 1ZZ-FE. But that doesn't mean the 1ZZ-FE is a bad motor to play with. For boosted applications - the 1ZZ-FE actually does pretty well. Not talking about 3SGTE sort of power - but 250-300WHP are not uncommon. With internal work - some have pushed 350-375WHP range with the 1ZZ-FE.

Running N/A 1ZZ-FE with higher compression pistons and matching cam, punch out the displacement to almost 2L - might be able to touch 180-200WHP, but that is probably the extent of it. Not a whole lot of material to play with, porting and polishing can't really be done. Can't do too much with the valves. I/E/H bolt-ons don't make big numbers, even with tuning. In comparison - a 2ZZ-GE might easily make 200WHP with light mods - some were able to push almost to 250WHP with a completely stock engine, all with tuning and good bolt-ons.

All boils down to how much you want to invest - time and money wise. If you want to run boost - more cost effective to stay with the 1ZZ-FE. Even in stock form - 10-12PSI is doable - all in the tuning. If you want to run all-motor - the 2ZZ-GE is a better platform to build from. Later on, if you want to run boost on the 2ZZ-GE - that is still doable.

The exhaust was different as well. Might as well go custom, all mandrel bent piping - you'll already have to do some mods to make room for the exhaust manifold. Might have to cut into the lower portion of the firewall - as the 2ZZ-GE exhaust exits a lot straighter than the 1ZZ-FE. At this point - costs are pretty much a wash - but like you mentioned, if down the road you are looking for more power - the 2ZZ-GE is a much better platform to build power on.

Fortunately, with a resource like MWR around - there should be plenty of parts to pick for either the 1ZZ-FE or the 2ZZ-GE. Myself, I'm a little more biased toward the 2ZZ-GE, as it was a superb engine in stock form, good fuel economy, starts and runs like any smaller displacement engine. But once you get into lift, it literally pulls a Jekyll and Hyde. Much more pronounced than the crossover point in a VTEC. Engine wakes up and runs right up to the fuel cutoff if your late on the shift. Should try and test drive a car with the 2ZZ-GE to get a taste, if you haven't already tried.

Stock rods - anything more that 300HP and you are really pressing your luck. Most choose to upgrade the rods with the pistons - what MWR said about the crank is correct - some 2ZZ-GE stroker kits use a 1ZZ-FE crank, because it is pretty tough.

As for not cutting into the firewall - hard to say. Stock 2ZZ-GE header setup will run into the firewall on the 1ZZ-FE Corolla. To get around that - you'll have to modify the front pipe on the exhaust manifold to clear the firewall - might be able get enough clearance by just "denting" the lower part of the firewall.

If you go with a custom header - than anything is possible. You can get that bent, routed any way you want - just have to pay for it.

On boost? Should be completely doable as long as the tune is good. 200WHP on stock rods is pretty safe.

With the drop in compression - the car will run a little off until you get it boosted. A drop from 10:1 to 9:1 isn't a huge change - but you can almost guarantee a 5-10WHP hit right away, assuming the powerband didn't shift. If it did - power drop will be quite a bit more pronounced.

As far as which way is best - depends on what power gains you ultimately want to see, or even if you'll stay with the car.

From some of my past project cars - best advice - spend what you can spare, but don't go all out. Set a sensible budget - then double it, as you won't stay on budget. Build up on what you plan to run immediately - planning for the future can be problematic. Build it all in one shot if you can - as you'll find that you'll only get one chance/plan for one build at a time.

Stuff can and will come up - will push this boosted project further down the road. I've seen a number of build where the owner ran on low compression pistons while they were waiting for boost. 1) They ran into either time or financial issues which sideline their boost project indefinitely, or 2) since the engine was "broken" in without boost - as soon as they ran boost, they broke something, which in turn lead them eventually to point #1.

Automatic should hold under that amount of power, but you definitely want to run auxillary cooling to keep the ATF temperatures under control.

2ZZ-GE pistons are not interchangeable with the 1ZZ-FE - even though they have the same displacement (1.8L), the 1ZZ-FE uses a longer stroke and narrower piston compared to the 2ZZ-GE (1ZZ-FE = 79mm, 2ZZ-GE = 82mm). Surprised that you could not find any forged pistons for the 1ZZ-FE, Wiseco still makes a decent forged set - 0.5mm over.

Check out MonkeyWrenchRacing (http://www.monkeywrenchracing.com/) - probably the best place to source aftermarket performance parts for the 1ZZ-FE and 2ZZ-GE, NA or boosted applications.

The TRD supercharger, if you can still find them, was a low boost variant. Added about 30-40HP tops in stock form, more if you modified the pulleys. With that sort of boost level, as long as you had the right engine management system in place and properly tuned, the rest of the engine could stay completely stock and be perfectly fine. The transaxle is another matter - with manual transaxles, be a good idea to upgrade to a slightly beefier clutch and pressure plate - to make sure the added power could get down to the wheels. On automatics - almost require auxillary cooling to make sure that fluid temps stay under control. Running at elevated temperatures will kill an automatic transaxle more quickly.

The real key in any power adder is the tune. Without a proper tune, even a low boost application will kill the engine. With a great tune, even those high revving, high compression 2ZZ-GE survived 10-12PSI boost on a stock engine. On a 1ZZ-FE, with a good tune, 8-10PSI on stock internals should be fine. The crank on the 1ZZ-FE is actually pretty strong, those running a 2ZZ-GE stroker project actually run a 1ZZ-FE crankshaft.

Short ram might still be worth it - heat soak is your main enemy there. Once the car is under way, the outside ambient and underhood temps are pretty close together. With a CAI, depending on where you live, hydrolock is a possibility. Modifying the stock intake is a mixed bag - some have gotten similar power gains of a CAI by removing the stock resonator (behind the bumper cover, between the fender and wheel well) and dropping in a free flow panel filter. Atleast it makes the same sort of noise as an aftermarket intake.

Adding a piggyback might be worthwhile - will need to find one that can control the VVT-i to get any appreciable gains. That means something like a CAMCON or similar. Problem is, these are non-trivial to tune. Unless you can find a garage to help you tune this - it would be a matter of you street tuning it, trail and error. This would also mean adding a wideband O2 sensor to help you tune it. The factory tune is pretty conservative. Optimizing it with a piggyback might yield 5+ HP gain.

The classic I/H/E (intake / headers / exhaust) doesn't generate decent gains on the 1ZZ-FE, as it is already pretty optimized. The exhaust manifold is already a tubular design - some Celica guys were able to port and polish it and get a couple of HP gain. Surprisingly, just bolting on a TRD muffler made a decent jump in power ~ 5HP. But that was on a Celica - same basic engine, but they have a different tune, different setup of intake and exhaust, and slightly oversized valves in the head. In case you were curious, yes, there were a number of owners that move the Celica GT ECM and intake/exhaust to a Corolla - gains achieved was basically zero. Intake mods are a mixed bag as well. Some have reported good results with a composite shorter length runner design of the 9th gen intake with their larger throttle bodies. Not a huge amount of power, couple of HP, but the real gains were in throttle response. The car sound and "felt" like it had more power.

Tune for I/H/E + piggyback - maybe look at 10HP gain, possibly more. The engine is just too optimized to get a lot from bolt-ons.

To really unlock some power, need to crack open up the engine. Aftermarket cams have shown good results for the least amount of work on the engine. Coupled with a good intake / header / exhaust + EMS - could be realistically looking at 20+HP gain. But at that point - might as well strip down the whole engine and rebuild it with higher CR pistons, P&P, etc. - go all out N/A. Or go the other directions and pump money into a forced induction project. Cheapest way to get more go is to go nitrous. Can always do a swap as well - couple of interesting possibilities - depends on amount of money and time you want to put into it.

The 1ZZ-FE is a great engine - but to get any tangible gains - you need to spend some serious amount of money on it.

Lots of ways to go, if you don't want to run forced induction. You can keep the displacement the same or punch it to as much as 2.2L, though most tend to stay under that for engine longevity.

Replacement camshaft - just plug and play, you don't have to mess with anything on the timing side. Only thing that these aftermarket performance cams change is lift and duration. Timing will be uneffected, even with VVT-i in the mix. Some tuning will be required to make sure the cylinders get properly filled, also have to make sure that the lift isn't too high, as it could make contact with the piston. Remember that the 1ZZ-FE is an "interference engine" with a very tight taper squish designed combustion chamber. Choice of pistons, if you plan on oversizing the valves, shaving the head/block to raise compression, etc. - need to balance all this out.

Taking apart the engine isn't so bad - its getting back to get that this the hard part. You particular case, it is a perfect opportunity to look into engine mods - the engine has to come apart anyways, just depends on how elaborate you want to get with the mods. You are correct, you can easily spend the same amount or considerably more running a N/A engine vs a supercharger or turbocharger. As far as reliability - all boils down to the tune. If the tune is conservative - you can run a supercharger or turbocharger on a completely stock engine without any internal mods. Power won't be crazy high. but it will be more than what you have. If you want to build more power - completely possible with the 1ZZ-FE - just would take a small fortune to make it happen.

Take a peek at Monkey Wrench Racing - www.monkeywrenchracing.com - one of the few sites that cater specifically to the 1ZZ-FE / 2ZZ-GE engines. Their project cars have produced some staggering numbers - they list what they've done and how much it cost, so that people can get a handle on what it will cost them. If anything, be something good to price check against as your getting your wish list ready.