Which engine?

Nick M

Black Rifles Matter
Sep 9, 2005
8,873
37
48
U.S.
www.ebay.com
I don't care what engine you guys put in your cars. The threads of screwed up JZ's are getting numerous. The problem is the owner and where they have it repaired.

Case in point;

7MGE repaired, never ran right after that
 

OfnaRcR4

Shea!
Oct 2, 2006
1,340
0
0
kettering ohio
Nick, its really funny how many people dump on something because they know nothing about it. You should see my thread on MY IS. About throwing my 7mgte into an is300 just because I've already got it. One guy said he had a cressida with a 7m and he had the head gasket repaired and it blew shortly after and blamed it on the engine. When I said that bad repair work will do that to an engine the reaction I got was like I just shot a unicorn. Its painful.
 

Prism11

New Member
Nick M;1940381 said:
I don't care what engine you guys put in your cars. The threads of screwed up JZ's are getting numerous. The problem is the owner and where they have it repaired.

Pretty soon the JZ's will have the same rap as the 7M because of these guys.

gstsxtt, if you want an engine you can rely on without taking care of, as you stated you've done with the 7M, grab a 1ZZ out of a corolla and swap it in, they can run for years without oil.
 

S.A. supra

New Member
Feb 15, 2009
2,405
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Prism11;1940425 said:
Pretty soon the JZ's will have the same rap as the 7M because of these guys.

gstsxtt, if you want an engine you can rely on without taking care of, as you stated you've done with the 7M, grab a 1ZZ out of a corolla and swap it in, they can run for years without oil.

This coming from a guy with a 7m on a engine stand!!!! Lol.. might want to take that aviator down before you start defending the 7m.
 

jdmfreak

PACNW
Oct 8, 2010
2,232
0
0
north clark co. WA.
Hey the 7M engine lasts longest in the best condition while sitting (in the proper environment) on a engine stand... I am willing to bet anyone on this forum who has owned one can vouch for that fact... I would even dare say it's their natural environment :p
 

Dan_Gyoba

Turbo Swapper
Aug 9, 2007
1,836
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suprageezer;1940037 said:
My own personal 12 years of 89 Supra NA experience, blown head gasket on original 7MGE repaired, never ran right after that, 500.00 ebay jdm 7mGE motor, decent miles, then blown head gasket, professionally rebuilt 7MGE, began to have problems buring oil in number five cylinder within a few thousand miles, eventually died showing zero compression, Kaizen Motorsports installed used 2JZGE on 7MGE electornics, including smog equipment, runs perfect, burns no oil, reliable and a little more power. Next upgrade is CA 94 Lexus computer and harness, then a trip to the smog referee.
So what was different from my 12 years of 7M-GE ownership...

Bought the car Feb 29, 1996. Joined the mailing list at supras.com by June. Re-torqued factory head bolts to 72 ft-lbs when I did the timing belt in May 1997. Zero issues (Excluding A/C where I had largish issues for a while) until 1999 when the differential failed. Oh wait. That's not the engine either, though it did start using some oil around then, too. (~300,000 km.) Another new timing belt and new spark plugs. By 2004 there was a pretty consistent blue smoke on a cold start, and I was going through oil more quickly. I'd put almost 300,000 kms on the car over 8 years at this point. I never did do the valve stem seals. After ANOTHER 100,000 kms, I blew the coolant hose under the distributor, and the engine overheated. At that point, I pulled it out, and swapped in a 7M-GTE. 483,000 kms on the odometer, but since I was about 10% out since about 300,000 (3.909:1 means that the speedo and odometer were reading -10% vs the factory 4.300:1 differential), the actual chassis mileage would have been over 500,000. 390,000 of those was with me driving it.

Oil changes every 5,000-6,000km, coolant flushes every spring, when I also cleaned out all the crap that accumulated between the radiator and the A/C condenser. Amazing how well these engines last if you take care of them.

It it "the greatest engine ever"? Nope. But it can be a good solid reliable engine if cared for. I don't think that just swapping a JZ in is the answer to reliability issues. If you're not going to take care of it, NO engine is going to make reliable power. See how long your JZ lasts you without maintaining the cooling system.

Oh, for the cracks about a 7M on a stand... Yeah, I've got one of those. There's also one in my '89 and one in my '90. The one in the '89 is knocking. My own fault. I pulled one from a car that had been sitting with a quarterpanel smashed in for God knows how long, and put it in without having pulled the crank to even LOOK at the bearings. The one in the '90 runs fine, just needs a clutch. The one on the stand is being built to make considerably more than stock power, and it's been there a while because I'm only devoting spare time to it.
 

jarheal

Banned
Feb 26, 2012
37
0
0
florida, tampa
yup but I think he needs to just get a 7m since he's not to big on mechanics and not alot of time for the swap, cause your basically piecing it together
 

BryanDyer

New Member
Jun 13, 2012
654
0
0
Georgia
7m ftw!
idk why people hate on this motor so much when if you do the work right and take care of it, it's such a solid engine with a lot of capability...
 

S.A. supra

New Member
Feb 15, 2009
2,405
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jarheal;1940452 said:
yup but I think he needs to just get a 7m since he's not to big on mechanics and not alot of time for the swap, cause your basically piecing it together
Not if he can find a jza70 clip. Bolts right up since he has a 89 plus. You do know that the rest of the world got upgraded supras with a 1jzgte. right?
BryanDyer;1940454 said:
7m ftw!
idk why people hate on this motor so much when if you do the work right and take care of it, it's such a solid engine with a lot of capability...
Only people that still have 7m make this statement. I wonder if guys that own 1js and 2js ever wish they had a 7m. Y'all sound like the guy that owns a mkiii and says he wouldn't trade it for a mkiv......I hate that guy.
 

BryanDyer

New Member
Jun 13, 2012
654
0
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Georgia
I would definitely trade for an mk4 I love the 2j and I also like the 7m both great motors
I wouldn't want a 2j unless it's in an mk4 but that's just me like to keep it original
 

GrimJack

Administrator
Dec 31, 1969
12,377
3
38
56
Richmond, BC, Canada
idriders.com
supra_rulz;1939828 said:
You sir, need to go research. You arn't the first person to ask this and there is PLENTY of information, no, more than anybody could ever handle on EACH of these motors. 400hp daily is easy with any of those motors depending of how you go about building it, but again there are hundreds of different routs you can go. GO READ!
You, sir, need to either provide search tips, or shut up. There is a link in my signature about the search police, and why they are worse than useless. I'd suggest reading it.

To the OP, I've had both, and had great success with both. Each engine has some advantages. The 2J is nicer looking, has larger spacing between the cylinder bores, and has a lot more performance parts availability for a lower price than the 7M. The 7M has a longer stroke, which spools a turbo faster and produces more torque off-boost. You also already have one in the car, which means it will cost less, and there will be less PITA mucking about to get it installed and running.
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
2,663
5
38
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I wanted 2j.. but ended up with 7M... and Im happy.

7MGTE is native to my car (which is nice), doesn't look as "awesome" as the 2j, doesn't have a FFIM (which I would love.. but ignoring that for now)...

On a positive side.. when you dyno 300 rwhp and have 380 torque.. you understand why its nice having a "stroker" version of the 2j (kinda.. lol).

Both are good, but I find that a lot of people focus solely on the engine. A car this old has to have everything looked at.. cracked wires/hoses and your running poorly regardless whats in your car. My car so far has been pulled apart and inspected and corrected from the front seat to the front bumper. Its hella expensive (because I am not a mechanic or good at electronics on a car) for me, but totally worth it. At this point, my car will probably run (mechanically) for another 200,000-300,000 km with only doing proper maintenance.

I have yet to regret owning anything Toyota.

Go with either, but plan the entire thing out first. Its soooooooooo much easier. Remember to look at suspension/brakes and transmission/clutch at the same time. Its not a 1 piece replacement to hit 400 rwhp.
 

BryanDyer

New Member
Jun 13, 2012
654
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Georgia
Grandavi;1940471 said:
I wanted 2j.. but ended up with 7M... and Im happy.

7MGTE is native to my car (which is nice), doesn't look as "awesome" as the 2j, doesn't have a FFIM (which I would love.. but ignoring that for now)...

On a positive side.. when you dyno 300 rwhp and have 380 torque.. you understand why its nice having a "stroker" version of the 2j (kinda.. lol).

Both are good, but I find that a lot of people focus solely on the engine. A car this old has to have everything looked at.. cracked wires/hoses and your running poorly regardless whats in your car. My car so far has been pulled apart and inspected and corrected from the front seat to the front bumper. Its hella expensive (because I am not a mechanic or good at electronics on a car) for me, but totally worth it. At this point, my car will probably run (mechanically) for another 200,000-300,000 km with only doing proper maintenance.

I have yet to regret owning anything Toyota.

Go with either, but plan the entire thing out first. Its soooooooooo much easier. Remember to look at suspension/brakes and transmission/clutch at the same time. Its not a 1 piece replacement to hit 400 rwhp.
yep couldn't agree more the electronics especially need to be checked like for broken insulation..I recently had a problem with this I had a short somewhere causing my GAUGE fuse to pop everytime I drove it went through al my wiring finally found the problem was the back up lights wire was shorted somewhere so that called for a rewire
hopefully with upgrades here and there and the 7m being solid and reliable you can build it to be quite fast AND reliable at the same time
same for a 2j but it's personal preferance and all what your goal is and yes I've never gone wrong with Toyota now all you people (not on here) that like Nissan and the RB motors I've seen those go so many times and people who could never get it to run right atleast in my experiences lol
 

gtsxtt

Anti-rice
Jul 29, 2012
11
0
0
San angelo TX
Prism11;1940425 said:
Pretty soon the JZ's will have the same rap as the 7M because of these guys.

gstsxtt, if you want an engine you can rely on without taking care of, as you stated you've done with the 7M, grab a 1ZZ out of a corolla and swap it in, they can run for years without oil.

As I said I had no money to fix anything maybe instead of giving me useless advice you could comment on why you think I should go with a 7m
 

jdmfreak

PACNW
Oct 8, 2010
2,232
0
0
north clark co. WA.
Op: any way you choose to go keep this in mind....

Cheap, fast, reliable..... You can only have 2....so choose wisely on which two mean the most to you and go with it... that might make the difference between taking on a swap project or staying with the 7m

But taking the time to do a jz swap (which it seems from your original post that's what you want and have money for) might make you appreciate the car that much more and regular maintenance would be higher on your priority list thus making it a better choice for you personally
 

gsxr141

Active Member
Oct 24, 2010
1,158
10
38
rochester
i firmly believe in the 7m. don't let peoples past bad experiences sway you into doing a swap. all i can really say is this.......

if the 7m is good enough for duane's car, it's good enough for me. :)
 

gtsxtt

Anti-rice
Jul 29, 2012
11
0
0
San angelo TX
I am definitely not cheap when it comes to maintainence just to let everyone know, nobody Knows me here I figured a bit of background on me would be good, I'm not planning on skimping out on my swap. The car is non turbo so no matter what I go with it will be a swap and I'm making a new harness or getting one made whether I go with a m or a jz. I really like the proven reliability of the jz engines and I really want the most recent design so I can be certain I can get parts. The fact I was making was from the little I know about the 7m and me owning a n/a and it being unreliable I need all the information I can get to assist me in making up my mind thanks for those who help! :)
 

jdmfreak

PACNW
Oct 8, 2010
2,232
0
0
north clark co. WA.
gtsxtt;1939824 said:
I've had 0 luck with the 7m due to the previous owner and MY OWN NEGLECT.
I think what we are all trying to say is neglect is not something these engines handle very well and we have all seen way too much of it around .... I am glad it's not in your future plans. Lol
 

S.A. supra

New Member
Feb 15, 2009
2,405
0
0
Buda, Texas
Just saw your in San Angelo. To bad your so far away I could help you with your swap. Jz is the way to go. I have owned 3 mkiiis I blew the hg in my first one and bought two other that already had bhgs. I had a single turbo 1jzgte that someone had swapped. The swap was not a quality one. Now I'm working on a 2jzgte swap. I did this swap on my own and know everything done to it. I stopped short of a full rebuild, but I did refresh it with all new seals and gaskets except for the head gasket because it is metal from the factory. Good luck on your choice. If you are ever stationed in San Antonio let me know.