Enthusiast Finds One of the Earliest 1UZ V8s in a Junkyard
While hunting for a replacement engine for his JDM Toyota Crown, this enthusiast struck gold with a piece of Lexus history.
While on a junkyard crawl, Jacob Cirulis of Novi, Michigan made an incredible discovery. He believes he’s located one of the first 5,000 Lexus 1UZ V8s ever built, at Parts Galore in Detroit, Michigan. He posted the story and some photos in a Facebook group called ATOM (Midwest Toyota Car Club).
According to Cirulis, the engine came from a Burgundy Pearl LS400 with a build date of 8/89, with a VIN serial number 4229. Given that 1UZ production began the same month, he believes that this represents one of the first 5,000 1UZ V8s ever built.
Unfortunately, the gauge cluster was absent, so we’ll never know exactly how many miles were on this engine. However, the car still had service records from Meade Lexus of Southfield and Meade Lexus of Lakeside from 1989 all the way to 2011. The most recent record located was from February 10, 2020 at 140,636 miles. The oil filter present on the engine was marked “2022” with a Sharpie, so it was recently on the road.
A Legend Lives On
The engine appeared slightly worse for wear, with numerous seals leaking. Regardless, Cirulis brought the engine home and began to tear it down. We spoke to Cirulis and he states that this is the first 1UZ he’s pulled for himself, but he’s worked on 1UZs belonging to friends. He’s quite knowledgeable about these engines – both mechanically and historically.
While taking the engine apart, Cirulis discovered that the spark plug wires were original, marked “Sumitomo 1989.” It appeared that they’d never been unclipped from their loom. Furthermore, the Denso spark plugs were original and appeared to be in good shape. After removing the oil pan and valve covers, the inside of the engine looks to be very clean, showing minimal wear.
Cirulis bought this engine to replace the long block in his JDM UZS131 Toyota Crown. Cirulis has owned the Crown since May of 2020. Incidentally, Cirulis didn’t initially plan on seeking out one of the first 5,000 1UZs ever built. It just sort of happened that way.
In his words, “I knew I needed any pre-1995 1UZ, because they all have the same part number for the long block assembly. The fact that the one I found was so early was mostly just a bonus.” Cirulis is a big fan of the durability, affordability, and relative ubiquity of the 1UZ V8. “You definitely don’t see as many Nissan VH engines still ticking nowadays,” he says.
After replacing the engine, Cirulis plans on keeping his Crown factory original. “I even went to great lengths to repair the OEM air suspension when it broke,” says Cirulis. We’re happy to see an integral part of Lexus and Toyota history live on. By our estimation, Jacob Cirulis seems like exactly the right kind of person to preserve it.
Photos: Jacob Cirulis
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