KyleH

iTrader: (1)

Well I was back to it today. I was able to strike a few items off my to do list.

I was able to get the Trac/ABS/VSC ecu swaped. I came to the conclusion one should swap the case backing to make it fit. Seems easy enough.

I installed the Supra Throttle Cable. Also no difficulties there. Aside from the fact after both of these items, I muttered something about how getting old(er) sucks. Is it normal that the throttle cable comes out of the fire wall and just arches to it's anchor point on the intake? It looks kind of funny, but I guess it works. Wondering if I'm missing anything.




I cut a hole in the lower splash guard and slapped on the intercooler piping. It isn't pretty, but hopefully not too many people will see it.



I installed the bracket for the power steering reservoir that Japan Parts Service sent me, as mine was missing. I had hopes of installing the actual reservoir, but was bummed to find the large diameter hose off the pump was badly cracked / chipped. So even though it may have held fluid, I don't want to hassle with the mess later, so I'll just get a new hose before I hook it up. The question is... what hose? Is it the same as a Supra? Or do i need to source an authentic Aristo Toyota part from somewhere?


I have 2 vacuum lines runing up front the power steering pump up near the intake manifold. I believe one hooks to the intake manifold at the connection just above. Question I have is, where does the other one attach?





In the same vicinity as the power steering reservoir is the diagnostic plug and another electronic plug/box that doesn't mount to the same place as the factory one did up near the top of the strut. Any recommendations on where folks mount these?


I went ahead and installed the upper radiator pipe. Made a cut on the end that attaches to the water housing neck and it seems to fit well. The hose is a little thinner than the factory hose, so the spring hose clamps don't grip as tightly. I think it will hold, but I may try to find me some better fitting clamps before I fill it up with coolant.

I also changed the oil! Makes me feel like I'm getting that much closer to firing it up.

nyc80rick

Nice you're making good progress almost time to turn the key

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Kyle, I think you got the list of items done in the reply I sent you, but I see two questions here that weren't in your text.

Yes the throttle cable looks fine in your pic, you can route/tuck/hide it any other way you may like, just make sure the bend radius is smooth so it can't make the inner braid bind/drag/hang inside the sleeve.

For the small Diagnostics box, take the small metal bracket off your GE Diag box and snap it onto GTE Diag box then it will clip back into the stock location on the Box beside it just like OEM.

Think it's almost time for you to go do burnouts!

nyc80rick

Haha that sounds like the mike I know. Burnout time

KyleH

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, Mike. Couldn't do this without you. I got close this evening. Thought I was going to be able to fire it up, but ran out of time. I'm wrestling with the heater hose on the back of the head. Word to the wise - before you install the GTE motor, point the heater hose to the passenger side of the car. I believe once I get the clamp off and rotate the hose, I can reach the outlet on the heater core.

Until next time...

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Sorry I noticed you also asked about the igniter that is in the same harness with the diagnostic box.

The igniter will in fact remount onto the strut tower where the ge was, you just need to reroute the wire the proper way.

Once you get the diag box onto the GE bracket and clipped into place it will help visualize where to lay the loom for the igniter.

I fits, the GS and Aristo igniter mounting location is identical.

KyleH

iTrader: (1)

Getting very close now. Last night I got it buttoned up. Got it to turn over. But it wouldn't fire up. I'm not sure why. Notable- my Trac/VSC lights were on and the ECT light was flashing. Also, my outside temp gauge was showing -22 deg f. Weird. Any ideas where to start? (No pun intended)

Pic of dash:

Hameed

You are soooo hard core!!!!

I consider myself a car guy but when I read threads like yours, its a very humbling read and I realize I don't know anything.

Your build is looking awesome so far! . More power to you and I'm looking forward to following along on your journey.

Dumb question of the day - this is a GS300 and came with a 2JZGTE to begin with didn't it? I was kinda confused why the swap, unless you wanted to get a newer motor.

KyleH

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the kind words but I consider myself a novice, no where hard core. There are plenty of examples on this site alone that illustrate the immense creativity and expertise of many fellow gear heads. I simply am trying to share my experiences for amusement and or reference for others.

To answer your question, no the GS300 didn't come with a 2JZ-GTE. It came with a 2JZ-GE. They key difference is one is an inline naturally aspirated 6 with about 225 hp and the other is an inline 6 with twin turbos pushing 300hp that is an exhaust and boost controller away to pushing an additional 50-100hp. With larger turbos your wallet and breakable driveline bits are the limit of what this GTE motor can accomplish from a power standpoint. Beyond the turbos there are a number of differences in the engines which you can read about in plenty of detail online.

Cheers!

Hameed

Yes, I was being too general. I had meant to say the engine was the same, sans the turbos, that's why I was confused about the engine swap. In my mind I was thinking, why didn't he just slap turbos on it?

Anyway, as you mentioned there are other differences, hence you must have done your due diligence to justify the swap. Its all good.

When I bought my 99 GS400 back in 2002, I didn't know enough about these cars and after being on this forum for about a year, I was thinking I should have gotten a GS300 and slapped some turbos on it!. Anyway, that was a very very long time ago. I remember I took my younger son with me to the Lexus dealer when I picked it up and he was only 3 years old then. Now he's almost 17 and is almost my height! Good times, good times.

nyc80rick

Have you tapped into your tach wire yet? If i remember correctly i had the same lights on until that wire was tapped into. But the only issue is that wouldn't stop it from firing up.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

Very true, and a good tip for readers to know, don't worry about the dash lights until after the tach wire is added!

But in this case, I ran a tach wire from the igniter and soldered into the engine harness before the engine shipped out to Mr Kyle, so it was truely a plug and play when he got it.

Kyle is now up and running, the dash lights and no start situation was just an ecu connector not clipped into place completely. Easy fix and hopefully we'll get a one wheel burnout video here soon.

99 GS3

iTrader: (14)

That's a whole can of worms there! There are dozens of pros and cons on both sides of that fence, all of which have been debated to death here for many years. NA-T is alot more involved than just slapping on some turbos, and a *Complete* Aristo swap is a bolt-in affair.. A PROPERLY Built and PROPERLY Tuned NA-T will cost much more than an OEM Aristo swap. Not really a clear winner either way, they are just vastly different in both execution and outcome.

To each his own, and to anyone else thinking whether to NA-T or GTE it's best to read, read, read, and form your own opinion before one makes a decision. And once you think you've decided, go back and read some more!

Being as you have a 400, you've likely been content to stomp that linear powered gas pedal, where a GE 300 can barely get out of it's own way!

KyleH

iTrader: (1)

Ahh... SUCCESS!! Like a brain-dead fool, I left the ECU plugs disconnected on the engine ECU. I'm not sure why, but when I was re-assembling the car to tow it back to my own garage, I did the ECU swap but for some reason placed the plugs in their respective locations but didn't clip them in. So when I double checked them yesterday, all looked well. Was puling out my hair today trying to figure out why I had fuel but the car wouldn't start. Mike was helping me trouble shoot and mentioned it sounded like the ECU wasn't connected. I had that sense too, given some of the other signs - ex temp sensor was showing -22F, as Mike says, indicating it was disconnected, but it wasn't. So I popped the lid again and just to triple check, I pressed down on one of he plugs and found it wasn't connected. Then another, and another. DOH!

She started right up and sounded great! I spent some time watching and filling fluids for the transmission and power steering. I let it idle to warm up. Didn't find any noticeable leaks, so went ahead and put the front bumper back on. Headed to the gas station and came back.

First impressions:
You can tell it's missing a gear compared to the old 5 speed. Although the old motor had roughly only half the power, the off-the line feeling was actually as good or better in the old 5 speed automatic. However, once you're off the line and the turbos start pulling, they really start moving the car. It's not a hard kick like some of my other turbo cars, but rather a linear pull it seems. I pulled it into 2nd gear on the highway close to my house a few minutes ago and once the tach is sweeping past 4k the MPH needle is swiftly moving. I have really no modifications on the car other than a cat back exhaust system. In the coming weeks I'll put on a boost gauge and boost controller to get a little more out of these turbos. One thing will lead to another, single turbo, blah blah blah... it will never end.

I'll try to keep this thread updated, although I likely won't be posting as frequently as I have been lately. I want to get to know it and enjoy it as it is for right now.

Here's a video of the startup. That unpleasant noise you hear toward the end is the power steering pump yearning for more fluid. It drained the reservoir quickly!
Cheers!

nyc80rick

Nice. Glad to see you have it all figured out and running as Mike will say its now burn out time