Single Turbo Lexus SC300 2JZ-GE

[thor'svr4]

Im going to check it out this weekend as a possible trade for my vr4. The only things I know for sure is that it’s a 2JZ-GE motor, its got a thicker head gasket to bring the CR down to ~8.3:1, a turbo kit with a T-60 turbo, 450cc injectors, walbro fuel pump. Right now its at 5-7psi.

Im not 100% sure if I will go through with this deal though. It sounds like the car isn’t making much power and I really don’t want to trade my vr4 (with a forged bottom end) for a car with a stock bottom end that ill have to rebuild to make decent power with. From what I understand the stock GE bottom end is only good to around 500whp if you have a great tune.

im still trying to do as much research as i can on the different 'setups' and how much power they will support, but i cant find much info. what worries me the most is the fact that hes only at 5-7psi. i just cant figure out why a car with all the supporting mods wouldnt take advantage of the turbo and be running at least 18-20psi.

Im pretty much just going to check out the quality of the build/see if the owner knows his stuff and see what happens. I might walk away, or I might trade.

Anyone on here have any info on these cars? Or any info that will help me make the decision to either trade or walk away from it?

[IPD]

didn't j parker have one?

[thor'svr4]

PM'ed him. thanks.

[J_Parker]

I'd personally do the swap in a heartbeat if I were you, but that's just me. (I miss my Soarer very much) Just keep an eye on the standard things, really. They're very well built cars and didn't have a lot of problems, a few insignificant ones would be cracks in the door panels, sagging doors, (doors weigh ~200lbs) they're infamous for the stock radiators blowing the top tanks, so I'd save up for an aluminum if not already done, and depending on what the transmission is, it could be made of glass, the autos are pretty fragile once you hit the 400hp rage, the R-154 (5sp) is usually good for ~650hp with a rebuild, and the 6sp... Well, I'm sure you all know you can throw anything you want at those tanks.

Also, make sure both knock sensors are there and plugged in, if they aren't the car will run like a piece of shit and rich as hell. Sometimes they get knocked about and the plugs fall off etc.

If everything looks new, I'd say it's good. Most of the problems, mechanically, were on the stock engines and turbo related. The stock turbos had ceramic wheels on them that disintegrated around the 150,000km mark.If the owner did do a 1/2 ass job on some of the things, (previous on my Soarer did) it doesn't cost much to rectify. I was very surprised at how affordable most of the mods were to those cars.

I should also mention that the GE internals are significantly more frail than that of the GTE's, most GTE's have run in excess of 900hp, whereas the GE is getting shotty at 400hp. The 1/2JZ's mainly stick to a 9.0:1 compression ratio in their later years of production, and an 8.0:1 in the earler, I'm assuming that you will have a slightly newer model in yours. Also, the GE block does NOT have oil squirt jets in it.

If I remember anything else that I thing you should know I'll let you know.

Here's the thread on mine, it's very similar to what you'll be looking at, and will show you some of what the engine will resemble partially disassembled.

http://www.3sgto.org/f5/jzz30-soarer...sion-4889.html

[thor'svr4]

i dont know how i never saw that thread, the car looks amazing!

[UTRacerX9]

If you had a stock VR4, then I'd say trade. Since yours has quite a few goodies... I definitely wouldn't.

[J_Parker]

i dont know how i never saw that thread, the car looks amazing!

I might be seeing about getting it back in the spring sometime, I want it back very badly...

I didn't realize that you had so much done to your car either, I'd personally keep yours man, the GE bottom end will just be a headache for you.

[AudibleSilence]

IMHO, if it is done right, you'd be a fool not to do this swap. 2jzgte will take 700hp before it pops.. Hell the n/a 2jz is almost identical to the TT version. J basically hit the nail on the head... The only thing that stopped me when I was looking to build one was the fragile ass auto trans. sc300's can make power so easily it's retarded, getting it to the floor though is another issue.

But yea, I'd do the swap in a heartbeat if the turbo conversion was done right.

[thor'svr4]

i didnt get a chance to check it out in person, but heres his CL ad
turbo lexus sc300 looking to trade

it looks much better in the ad than how he described it over the phone. im going to try to check it out some time this week. hopefully tomorow...

the problem is, you can see some autozone parts in the vid's... and thats not cool. also he hasnt mentioned on the phone or in the ad what hes tuning with. not sure if that means everythings just bolted on without a tune and if thats why hes running 5-7psi...

anyone know what those 2jz guys use to tune?

[Gene]

the GE bottom end is physically capable of just as much power as the GTE. your main issue is compression but if it has a thicker HG or if you give it enough octane it can handle 800 horsepower without a hiccup. the crank/rods are IDENTICAL to the GTE, the only difference internals wise is the pistons and then its only in compression ratio, they are still forged.