Engine swap questions for 7mge auto to 7mgte manual

[mkiiisupra91]

A couple of questions on my swap that is currently going on. The recipient is a 1991 7mge auto car the donor drivetrain is from a 1988 turbo 5spd.

The first question i have is that I noticed that the shifter opening is quite small. Will I need to modify the trans tunnel(ie: sawzall it) and do i need to get the 1991 shifter boot assembly(the rubber part, not the leather) as the holes do not line up to the 1988 boot?

Second question is a wiring question pertaining to the engine harness, more specifically the plugins behind the glove compartment. The turbo motor has 4 plugs on its wiring harness, yet the 1991 only has three plugs behind the glove box and they are different styles than the turbo harness. Do I need to make a hybrid harness using the 1991 connectors or what? Thanks in advance.

 

[natedogr]

you need to get a '91 turbo 5psd wiring harness and ecu for it to work since you're swapping the engine in to a '91 chassis. the '88 wiring and ecu won't work.
and as for the shifter opening, i've seen a guy on his build thread cut the opening a little longer. maybe an inch or two off the side that faces the rear of the car.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Well, you may be able to "translate" the wiring harness from the '88T donor, but there are issues.

I swapped an '87T engine into my '89NA. Both cars were 5 speeds, both cars had ABS.

My '89NA (recipient) is an early model '89, so MOST things just plugged in. There were a couple of connecters that didn't, however, and I made up adapters using the wiring harnesses from the chassis of the '87T (donor) and the engine harness of the '89NA. I am very confident in the wiring job at this point that all is working well. My biggest issue was that the headlights wanted to be on all the time. Everything else seems to have been worked out, and I solved the headlights by replacing the wire that does that job.

Now the early '89 has a lot more electrically in common with the '87 and '88, wheras the late model '89 has more in common with the '90 - '92. Another of Toyota's infamous mid model year changes. So my swap is somewhat different in that respect.

I would recommend though that you look for a wire harness and ECU from the correct model year, and one with similar options to what you have. It will save you a LOT of headaches.

 

[mkiiisupra91]

Ok, i do have the ECU from the donor car. The plugs in question are what looks to be like the plugs for the main harness and the gauge cluster?? A 1991 harness is out of the question. Ill post pics of the plugs in question a little later.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Okay, but don't say we didn't warn you. Where the harnesses connect there will be a lot of work to do. I suggest that you build adapter harnesses by taking the plugs and some wire off of your '91NA engine harness and the donor '88T chassis harness to connect 'em up.