Hey there, I actually JUST completed my engine swap last week after my car died in April from bad piston rings. I was faced with either rebuilding the engine, or getting another engine. I have a 2000 Celica GT and I have had her for about 20 years. The Celica GT has a 1zz-fe motor, whereas the GTS has a Yamaha 2zz-GE motor. There are quite a few differences but what's important to know is that they both burn oil, but the 2zz is more powerful. You can swap a 2zz-GE into a Celica GT frame, BUT you cannot swap a 1zz-fe into a Celica GTS frame.
So, I went to a few local shops to get quotes. The first shop quoted me $16,000 to swap the engine, BUT I would have to provide the engine. That was definitely not doable for me. I might as well get another car, and like you, I didn't want to. The other shops, I asked about rebuilding the engine, and the cheapest was $7,000 but I would have to remove the engine myself, transport it to the shop and they would rebuild it. Well, that seemed dumb to me. So, I went to ebay, and found JDM engines for about $2,000, and piston rebuild kits for $700. I might as well get another motor, drop it in, and then get a piston kit later on (like next year after my bank account recovers) and rebuild my original engine myself. In the end the idea is I would have two working engines for less cost than if I'd gone to one of these local yahoos.
So, I decided to remove the engine myself, and replace it with the ebay motor. I'd never done this before. The biggest job I'd done up until now was replacing and rebuilding my transaxle. So, while it took me a few weeks of work and research, my Celica is back on the road, and working perfectly minus the broken wire to the VSV I still have to solder back together which is making her run with a high idle.
Take courage and just do it! I am so happy I did. I love my baby, and I just don't see anything out there I like more right now. Plus while I was doing the work, I took the opportunity to upgrade a few things along the way. Since I had my transaxle off, I swapped the clutch for a stage 2 sports clutch, and I bought new OEM engine mounts from Toyota.
All total I think I spent $1,800 for the engine + $345 for the shipping cost, $275 for the new clutch, $50 for an engine hoist leveler (WHAT A GODSEND! seriously, don't do the job without it) $17 for a new exhaust manifold gasket, $6 for a new intake manifold gasket, $186 for two lower OEM genuine toyota engine mounts, and $36 for some after market engine mount inserts to help stabilize the engine mounts. Totalling $2,715 for the job. Actually, I bought the two engine hook hangers from the dealership and a serpentine belt (aka drive belt) too. I don't remember how much those cost, but they weren't much. I already had an engine hoist which was given to me, but new on ebay they are about $330 right now.
Honestly, I didn't have to spend as much time or money as I did. I figured since I had it all apart, I would clean parts of any rust, repaint them to help protect them for the next 20 years, and buy some new parts that would otherwise be difficult to get to later on down the road. While the job was time consuming, it was actually kind of fun. Like solving a puzzle. If you do decide to do the job, just make sure you label all of your electrical plugs to their matching sensors. Take pictures of EVERY hose!!! Lots and lots of pictures of everything you disconnect. download the repair manual PDF... and ask folks here. I saved a ton of money, I got my baby back, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be even though getting the engine back in was tricky. Pulling it out was super easy.... putting it back in, that took two people and some timing to get it in there without damaging anything. Just work slowly and carefully if you decide to do it.
I hope that helps amigo, and good hunting on whatever you decide :)
