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Rotary Rocket: Starlet

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Old Feb 27, 2006 | 07:02 PM
  #1  
RotaryJun's Avatar
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Rotary Rocket: Starlet

Well my brother has an '81 Toyota Starlet. He did some research for the common 4A-GE
swap. Later, I convinced him to drop a 13B in it, instead . Well anywho,
we tried searching around and didn't find much detailed info on the swap. Does
anyone know exactly what needs to be done? Like, cutting the tranny tunnel, firewall,
custom mounts, etc, etc. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Well we already know about needing the ECU, wiring harness, blah blah. We
have done our own swap already. But what kind of custom work is needed? That's
the real question.
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Old Feb 27, 2006 | 07:14 PM
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87 SE WITH S5 T2 SWAP
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From: allentown pa
Talking 13b In Starlet

When a use to live in PR my brother and i built a 1972 dodge colt with a 13bt,for the tranny we use a rx3 tranny cause there shorter than the rx7 tranny we just bang up the floor a little.for motor mounts we swap a 12a front cover with the cross member and build new motormounts then he install a marine holley carb turbonetics presuriser hat and a firts gen dizzy and thats it.that thing use to be fast.
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Old Mar 2, 2006 | 07:49 PM
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Thanks for the reply. Now you said that an RX-3 tranny would be better because it's smaller,
but what about using the 2nd gen tranny? It should fit with shortening the driveshaft right?
Oh by the way, all these questions are for the '81 Toyota Starlet.

Does anyone know what kind of cutting would be involved?
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Old Mar 2, 2006 | 08:01 PM
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From: Phoenix
Just curious, is there a reason why you dont want the scarlet turbo engine from Japan? If I recall correctly those thing were pretty fast.
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Old Mar 2, 2006 | 08:05 PM
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From: allentown pa
Thumbs up its way to long

the secong gen tranny its way to long,in other to get the shifter in a confortable position you need to move the engine forward and thas not good the closer to the firewall the better,theres shop that actually do something in the output shaft so they make the actual tranny smaller,i now shop down in pr but nobody up here that i now off,try to go to latin american forum and post your questiuons there i now they have the anwers
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Old Mar 3, 2006 | 05:39 PM
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an rx-4 tranny is the ancestor of the t2 tranny, but i believe its shorter so it might work but i dont know. Your best bet is to get out the ol' tape measurer and see how much room you have to work with, then get measurements for specific parts on here or on your own and see what you need to buy or do. chances are no one else has done this swap so there arent going to be people who know this offhand. good luck!
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Old Mar 5, 2006 | 03:55 PM
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From: Cleveland, TN
Some good info/ideas

http://ausrotary.dntinternet.com/for...ic.php?t=91026

My car

http://tech.classic-celica.com/modul...view_album.php

Hope it helps feel free to pm me with any specific questions on the swap

I used a 2nd gen tranny and just shortened the shifter shaft works nicely.
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Old Mar 5, 2006 | 09:11 PM
  #8  
RotaryJun's Avatar
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From: OR
Okiboy - Well we could use that, but then again we could use the more common 4A-GE. But we
decided to go rotary for this one. That's why I'm asking on this forum.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm guessing that we're gonna have to go with an RX-3 or RX-4
tranny.

Rotary-Celica - Thanks for all the info. Which tranny did you use?
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Old Mar 6, 2006 | 04:05 PM
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hey rota jun im an owner of an 81 starlet with a 12a nitrous just a word of advice if you planning on running that thing hard or dragging dont u waste ur money on an rx3 or 4 tranny those things are junk since ur goin 13b turbo just let it be with a nice beefy turbo 2 tranny they dont break no headaches at all thats what i run on my starlet with an 8 inch ford rear end and custom made driveshaft good luck with ur project
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Old Mar 6, 2006 | 05:57 PM
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From: NW of windy city
a-spec tuning has a 13bt starlet........contact them if you are that serious
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Old Mar 7, 2006 | 04:30 AM
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From: Cleveland, TN
Im running a 86NA tranny with a shortened shifter tube.
I have several of these so I coudnt see buying a turbo trans.
I am planning on running a Toyota Hilux rear.
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Old Mar 7, 2006 | 07:01 AM
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This is my starlet and im using a turbo2 tranny. 13b turbo
Attached Thumbnails Rotary Rocket: Starlet-la-starlet.jpg  
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Old Mar 8, 2006 | 03:51 PM
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From: OR
Alright, I guess we're gonna have to go with the TII tranny. What kind of modification is
needed for the shifter and fitting and so forth?

Next, how about a rear end? Which one would be best to use? I hoping someone will
suggest a good LSD unit.

Rotary-Celica - What type of rear end is that? And how much does it go for?

I really appreciate all the help guys. Keep 'em comin!
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Old Mar 8, 2006 | 04:03 PM
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From: Cleveland, TN
Hilux is the old 2wd toyota trucks pre tacoma. They are only about 1 inch longer then stock rear but it has the big gears in it. and only needs a few mounting brackets changed some line right up.
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Old Mar 11, 2006 | 10:06 PM
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From: Atlanta, GA
the only safe way to go is with a ford rear end 8 inch to 9 inch thats the safest rear end period. all others break. if u are low in cash a 1970 datsun pick up rear end is the next level just gotta relocate the brackets good luck with ur project
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