Sacrilege! 1JZ in my MKIV!

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
Hello,

My name is Glen, I live on Prince Edward Island on the east coast of Canada, and I am the happy and proud owner of a MKIV Supra.

I purchased it sight-unseen 18 months ago. It's a JDM 1994 Super White SZ - by far the cleanest 17-year old car I had ever seen. It had 105,xxxKM on the odo, and after driving it for a few weeks to give it a proper shakedown to see what it needed chassis wise, (not too much) I turned my attention to the 2JZ-GE and auto trans. And by this, I mean I removed them and sold them ASAP...likey for far, far less what they would be worth....

I'm no stranger to 'tuning' nor am I to turbocharged cars, and all things automotive. This is why, after a LOT of reading and deliberation, decided to install a 1JZ-GTE Engine and Trans from my recently crushed-by-a-freak-garage-roof-collapse 1991 Soarer. Seeing as how the engine was unscathed, and relatively, er.....free, it seemed the way to go. I toyed with the idea of a 1.5JZ, but it seemd like erroneous work in the end. I'm very happy with the outcome. I like the uniqueness, despite having to explain what's going on under the hood, when confronted with statements/questions like, "Sweet! 2JZ?!?!" :naughty:

With priceless assistance from Australian SupraForums member, 'Wizzard', I was able to get my stock 1JZ ECU wired up to the body loom of the Supra with relative ease...only like 50 soldered connections? lol... The mechanical swap part was very straightforward. Take 2JZ-GE and weak-ass trans out, put Soarer engine and stronger auto in. EVERYTHING bolted up. Mounts, driveshaft, even the exhaust. I finished the swap late one night, just to drive the car 150 miles to a dragstrip the following afternoon, and repeatedly flog it. 52 passes that weekend, netting a best of a 13.39 @ 103 MPH on stock boost (12psi-ish) with the SZ open diff on my 18" street tires, car not skipping a beat.

Fast forward to today, I've since installed a few upgrades on the car which I will list shortly, and a few short weeks ago, telltale signs of a BHG surfaced with the arrival of puffs of white exhaust, and a 'mysteriously' overflowing coolant overflow resevoir. Head's off, twins are off, time to upgrade. ;) I've been lurking all over the place to get some solid info, and it seems that there is no real place for my particular car to call 'home', what with a JZA80 chassis with an engine from a JZZ30 Soarer which was also available in the last MKIII Supras as well.... Club Lexus seems to have some info I'm after, and 1J's seem to find there way into SC300s with decent frequency, and the SC and MKIV have a LOT in common...but I digress.
I've found fantastic info on this site, and I actually have a bit of free time to type this up tonight; And I figure at the very least, perhaps I can be one more small contact or source of info for someone else out there by making myself known. Forums work. And I like this one quite a bit.

Specs:
1994 JZA80, Super White, SZ trim
1991 Soarer 1JZ Eng/Trans/ECU
HKS HiPower Catback, Air filter, SSQV
3" Catless Midpipe
FMIC (Brand unknown, took from the Soarer)
Turbosmart FCD-1
JoeP MBC
PHR Rad Cooling Plate

TRD Front Strut Bar
Tein STech lowering Springs
Tokiko Illumina Shocks
Drilled Rotors
18x8, 18x9 Koenig Specials 3-Pce Wheels (no, they are NOT POS "KONIGS")

'97 Front Bumper w/OEM Lip
Black Housing headlights,
6000K HID Kit

PICS!
 

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Beals

JZA70 TT-R
Feb 3, 2009
591
0
16
Alberta, Canada
that's tiight I like! I'm more from the west coast of canada =p I got a 1jz in my mk3, I debated doing a 1.5jz too but my bc272 cams were the deciding factor for me lol why auto though? why not slap a v160/v161 init
 

RazoE

Boobs/Boost, my favorite
Jun 13, 2006
4,946
3
38
38
Los Angeles
www.cafepress.com
Why not just keep your 3.0 block and use the 1J head to make it a 3.0L 1JZ? Either way I like it:D

EDIT: Just read you did consider this. Sorry for not reading first..:p
 

kelson

New Member
Apr 17, 2009
270
0
0
Socorro, NM
I think this is an awesome idea. I have a 1jz that I have been building, so if I had a chance to pick up a clean mkiv shell or maybe an auto N/A I would take it and slap my 1jz in there.
 

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
Beals;1887557 said:
that's tiight I like! I'm more from the west coast of canada =p I got a 1jz in my mk3, I debated doing a 1.5jz too but my bc272 cams were the deciding factor for me lol why auto though? why not slap a v160/v161 init
Slap one in!? lol... Not quite a cheap purchase! I use the car for two things...cruising and drag racing. Auto FTW. :)

RazoE;1887649 said:
Why not just keep your 3.0 block and use the 1J head to make it a 3.0L 1JZ? Either way I like it:D

EDIT: Just read you did consider this. Sorry for not reading first..:p
Thanks!

turbodriz;1887744 said:
already done but i would have boosted the 2jzge motor and slap a r154 on it and called it a day. motors are not that far apart internally.
I wasn't claiming exclusivity in my setup, just an unusual swap in a 2J fanboy continent. I also don't enjoy how the NA-T setups look, but I did consider just boosting the GE! A manual trans was never in the cards.
 

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
kelson;1887761 said:
I think this is an awesome idea. I have a 1jz that I have been building, so if I had a chance to pick up a clean mkiv shell or maybe an auto N/A I would take it and slap my 1jz in there.

Thank you, and if you ever go that route, I'll be here to help Beautiful MKIII!!! Very happy to be here.
 

NecroCyde

Lurk R
Apr 5, 2005
221
0
0
39
Calgary/Brooks, Alberta Canada
im surprised more people didnt swap soarer 1jz's and trannies into N/A mk4's. Its just like SC300s, much cheaper then a full GTE swap. I remember seeing that video of a guy in the UK showing off his mk4 with a 1jz swap, went pretty damn good. Great job dude, id love to see that car sometime if i was ever out east. My 1JZ swap was alot of fun to drive before the snow hit, but thats fine, then i just take my sled out.

**JEEZ!! What the blue bloody hell happened to that poor soarer!!!?@! Crazy.
 

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
AbsoluteSpeed;1887804 said:
You bastard!! lol just kidding, that motor looks right at home it there. Great work!
Haha! Thank you. I really wanted to make it look as clean and proper as possible...aside from the top engine covers, it looks and smells just like a 2J...But SOUNDS (howls) like a 1J. ;)

NecroCyde;1888201 said:
im surprised more people didnt swap soarer 1jz's and trannies into N/A mk4's. Its just like SC300s, much cheaper then a full GTE swap. I remember seeing that video of a guy in the UK showing off his mk4 with a 1jz swap, went pretty damn good. Great job dude, id love to see that car sometime if i was ever out east. My 1JZ swap was alot of fun to drive before the snow hit, but thats fine, then i just take my sled out.

**JEEZ!! What the blue bloody hell happened to that poor soarer!!!?@! Crazy.
Me too. I think there's some some of stigma, lack of information, or it's just not fashionable to do so? I'd do this again in a second. For what you can pick up a JDM N/A auto for, and a complete auto 1JZ swap (rear sump) and if you do the work yourself, you can be driving with a factory-feel TT MKIV for as low as 8,000. I'm not the 'stereotypical' MKIV owner who has cash to burn. I work hard, do all my own work (aside from bodywork), and I love this car. Supra for life. :)
As for the Soarer, that happened a year and a half ago. It's shell is still sitting waay in my back yard, waiting to have the suspension stripped off of it, so I can refinish it all, install new poly bushings in everything, then swap it all over to the supra when I have a chance. You can see the steel building in the background that crushed her. 8 other cars were in there...no others were touched! The insurance came through(thank you fresh appraisal!!!), and I bought my Supra. Soarer was a lot of fun. I'd own another!
 

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
NecroCyde;1888545 said:
Go 2JZGTE oem MHG and ARP head studs, its what i did, works great! Odd that 1jz hg went on you.

Get some more solid mods on that thing and you will have an even faster rocketship.
It IS very odd...but I'm not asking any questions of it as seeing how old it is, and I'm unsure of the engine's treatment for it's previous 18 years of existance. It was a small leak-caught early, and from what I could tell it appeared to be coming from the #6 cylinder area which runs quite hot from what I've gathered. I didn't perform a leakdown test or anything, the symptoms were telltale enough for me to pull the head.
I already purchased the 2JZ MHG, actually, and am thinking about ARP head studs (thank you for the recommendation!), but I have so many different things to purchase/upgrade, some things my not make the list due to budget constraints.. OEM bolts are plenty strong enough for my future goals, but now is the time to upgrade too......decisions! ;) I'll probably just get them. lol

I'll be starting a build thread shortly with my single turbo setup I've decided on once a few more parts start arriving in the mail. Should be solid, and as unique to match the car! Would like to see some low 12's or 11's next year at the 1/4 mile.
 

NecroCyde

Lurk R
Apr 5, 2005
221
0
0
39
Calgary/Brooks, Alberta Canada
You should send your valve body down to devin leblanc and get it worked for you, will save that tranny, along with a good hayden cooler for it. Especially if your going single. Id love to see that car sometime.
 

Vintage91

New Member
Oct 28, 2012
29
0
0
Calgary SW
NecroCyde;1888841 said:
You should send your valve body down to devin leblanc and get it worked for you, will save that tranny, along with a good hayden cooler for it. Especially if your going single. Id love to see that car sometime.
Get out of my head! lol... I DO intend to have the valvebody modified, and running a bit larger cooler (I installed a 6x12" cooler when I did the swap, right off the bat...). A built trans will be next, once (if) I need more HP.
Who and where is Mr. LeBlanc? ;) Thanks in advance!

If you're ever out east (the REAL east..haha), let me know.