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My Soarer just got to Minnesota Thursday evening. I am beyond ecstatic. I worked with Toprank Vehicle Importers and it was SUPER smooth. I love driving this thing. The 1J is soooo smooth and the R154 is wonderful to shift with a properly weighted throw. It came to me completely stock. The very first thing I did was take it to a Dyno to see how the 26 year old rig performed and it was great! In 90 Degree heat with 50% humidity it put down 240 HP and 262 lb-ft tq at the wheels! I have already put a set of Supra TT wheels on it that I had powder coated Highland Bronze and I love the Royal Jade look with the matte of the bronze. Sooooo excited to keep the build going.
My Soarer just got to Minnesota Thursday evening. I am beyond ecstatic. I worked with Toprank Vehicle Importers and it was SUPER smooth. I love driving this thing. The 1J is soooo smooth and the R154 is wonderful to shift with a properly weighted throw. It came to me completely stock. The very first thing I did was take it to a Dyno to see how the 26 year old rig performed and it was great! In 90 Degree heat with 50% humidity it put down 240 HP and 262 lb-ft tq at the wheels! I have already put a set of Supra TT wheels on it that I had powder coated Highland Bronze and I love the Royal Jade look with the matte of the bronze. Sooooo excited to keep the build going.
YESSSS, I like the look with the bronze, I'm glad you're enjoying it, I honestly just got back into town today after picking mine up from Savannah at the port. Heck of an experience getting everything done in time, and done properly, holy crap XD
But I got it, and made it's voyage trip about 300 miles back to Marietta and it seriously drives like a dream! mine is just an automatic (but I love it!), but I bet the manual feels soo good, I mean that's seriously impressive numbers for being a 26 year old car. I'm sure the low mileage on it helps a lot too, mine is just shy of 50k miles and the first time I put my foot down (after driving it cautiously for a day) it pushed me back and felt sooo good lol. I'm happy, I got work to do on it, Im sure some bushings and sway links could use replacing, and possibly other suspension components that have just gotten old, but I'll be doing a deep inspection tomorrow.
Only down side.... no A/C... compressor comes on, but Im sure the refrigerant has leaked out over time. and I totally forgot that being a 93, it still uses r12, so Im going to have to figure that out.
GAHHHH, so happy. glad you got your soarer as well and are enjoying it thoroughly!
Congratulations to you both!!! It's a great feeling picking up a classic car and taking it home!
dclevs, I believe the JDM A/C compressor may use something other than US-spec R12 refrigerant but I could be wrong. The good news is that you should be able to change out anything necessary with the current available Denso A/C R134a parts for SC300's. The compressor and the R134a specific seals should be what is needed to convert everything although I'm not sure if that means you'd need to get into the A/C evaporator core and thermal expansion valve or not.
Congratulations to you both!!! It's a great feeling picking up a classic car and taking it home!
dclevs, I believe the JDM A/C compressor may use something other than US-spec R12 refrigerant but I could be wrong. The good news is that you should be able to change out anything necessary with the current available Denso A/C R134a parts for SC300's. The compressor and the R134a specific seals should be what is needed to convert everything although I'm not sure if that means you'd need to get into the A/C evaporator core and thermal expansion valve or not.
Thanks Kahn, I was reading up around the internet trying to find refrigerant that could work for early Japanese vehicles (the r134a conversion will be done later down the road, I have to lay low for awhile so my wife doesn't kill me for digging into this thing - one project at a time) and came across some enviro-safe refrigerant that people had been using in their r32's, I found a lot more info by researching what the skyline guys were using lol. I know the compressor is working well, once the refrigerant and gauge come in I can determine what the issue is. I'd guess a leak (obviously) but I'll find out how bad it is with some dye. Other than that, I begin sanding the body down today and prepping in for some paint. what's nice is going over the body, there is seemingly no dents which is amazing. The auction sheet listed like 2 small dents on the quarter panel and hood, but I had trouble finding the ding on the quarter panel, and I think on the hood they were referring to a chip, so I really got lucky with this one.
Oh, and on a completely different side note, this car came with a 10 disk changer and dvd player installed in the back... very cool... I guess... but the 10 disk insert is missing, and for some reason there is one cd in there, with one song on it.... when I shazam the song Ill post a link for it.... I listened to it at least 30 times on my way back, as the aftermarket head unit only picks up low frequencies from 70 Hz to about 90 Hz, so I didn't really have any good radio stations to listen to on my way back home....
so a new head unit is in the works too!
the other parts I'll need to do some research on is the TEMS strut/shock assembly. the ride feels wavy when hitting bumps in the road, almost scary at times, and I can feel the TEMS system working on the struts when I turn it on but I feel like it doesn't just counteract dampening, it over does it, and the ride feels even scarier with it on! So if any of you guys have some input into these assemblies that would be great, I just need to sit down and do some research when I have time. been really busy when I got back to work but I'll try to update as I get work going on the Soarer.
If you put in the dye and can't find the leak under the hood it's probably all under the dash on the evaporator, that's where my leak ended up being. The whole system would leak down in a few days.
If you put in the dye and can't find the leak under the hood it's probably all under the dash on the evaporator, that's where my leak ended up being. The whole system would leak down in a few days.
Thanks man I may have to check there eventually, so far after the refill it's been blowing cold again and the pressure inside the system hasn't decreased, I've got it at a steady 30psi which is awesome because I was having some issues with air in the lines. But it's working pretty well now!
Finally got it registered yesterday, ONLY ONE DAY FOR MY DMV TRIP!
though I did have to go to the dmv twice, and 2 different police stations for the vin check. but to have it all done it only took like 4 hours yesterday, so that's not bad at all! I have to thank the r32 forerunners because if it weren't for all the skylines coming in, the ladies at the counter probably would have needed a refresher on foreign vehicle registering. It was nerve racking watching her go over each different piece of paperwork, making sure everything was in order XD
but it is finally all done! I believe the total cost of everything was about $5230, so a bit over what I was expecting but hey, close to my 5k mark.
Congratulations!!! I'll bet it was a nerve-wracking process but for only four hours at the DMV and police stations for all the verification and only $5300 or so out the door total to date you've done very, very well! I have friends who have gone through crazy runarounds and massively higher costs with their imported vehicles to get them legal. Granted... these guys are in California where the problem of grey market emission compliance is at play.
(...and FYI to anyone reading there IS technically a legal way in CA to deal with emissions compliance if you have an R32 Skyline, Z30 Soarer, etc. and it is not a loophole... but the cost for officially approved modifications to make most grey market original engines CA emission compliant starts at costs in the many thousands once official CARB lab testing is factored in... and so it is quite financially prohibitive for *most* to pursue. Unless the groundwork for emission compliance modifications and the work itself for a particular engine has been done already it is an expensive and time consuming process that only one or two places are authorized to do. G&K Auto is one such place but prepare to open your blank checkbook and get ready to wait with the other clients. But... Sean Morris who is now years divorced from his earlier involvement with the unfortunately poor and unscrupulous management of Motorex has talked about getting RB26DETT's in stock tune into emissions compliance in CA. He's suggested the same could be done technically for a Soarer's 1JZ-GTE engine if someone wanted to be the first guinea pig to get the groundwork laid out and see if a positive result could be reached. Again... the cost and wait time for this would not be for the the faint of heart and a USDM 2JZGTE legal stock engine swap would still be cheaper, probably).
It ridiculous how restrictive California is compared to every other state, and it's a bit sad honestly because that really only allows for expensive methods of getting an import compliant over there. But I have a lot of respect and admiration for your 2jzgte build Kahn, going over your build you have put so much into making it as reliable and properly built as possible. It's on another level compared to the typical engine swap write ups I've read through, trust me. so kudos on your attention to detail for every bit and piece! Im really looking forward to seeing it up and running!
As for the Soarer, I have run into another snag. I performed a coolant flush today as the coolant was looking old and I had noticed an issue with the temperature gauge bumping up a bit when I really put my foot down a few times on the highway. Needless to say the flush didn't do much good, in fact it made things worse. I discovered that the radiator is pretty gunked up, getting very little pressure or water going through the bottom hose while the top hose feels ready to explode. So I ordered an sc300 radiator from amazon for a good price, and looking over all the connectors, fittings, and mounts, it looks nearly identical (though I hadn't found a reliable source that said the soarer and sc300 radiator were interchangeable, it seems legitimate as the sc300 also has the transmission cooler built in). I'll be getting that Wednesday hopefully and then changing it out and making sure that is my culprit, thermostat could always be an issue, but from the feel of it, not much water is really making it to the thermostat to begin with.
Can confirm SC300 radiator is a direct swap to a JZZ30. I bought the Spectra Premium replacement for cheap, and have been running it for 3 summers now without any issues.
Hopefully that's the end of your hiccups and you can get to driving and enjoying the car.
Can confirm SC300 radiator is a direct swap to a JZZ30. I bought the Spectra Premium replacement for cheap, and have been running it for 3 summers now without any issues.
Hopefully that's the end of your hiccups and you can get to driving and enjoying the car.
Thanks man for the confirmation on this one, I'm supposed to be getting it in tomorrow so hopefully I can get off work at a reasonable time and get that knocked out. definitely not the worst problem to have, but certainly have other things I'd like to be working on XD
Can confirm SC300 radiator is a direct swap to a JZZ30. I bought the Spectra Premium replacement for cheap, and have been running it for 3 summers now without any issues.
Hopefully that's the end of your hiccups and you can get to driving and enjoying the car.
Also, I noticed you have a 94 GT-TL, do you still have the TEMS shock/strut setup or have you converted? I'm trying to consider if they are worth keeping or if I just need to switch to some coil overs or something. I believe bushings need to be done too, I'm just trying to figure best ways to tighten up the suspension.
Also, I noticed you have a 94 GT-TL, do you still have the TEMS shock/strut setup or have you converted? I'm trying to consider if they are worth keeping or if I just need to switch to some coil overs or something. I believe bushings need to be done too, I'm just trying to figure best ways to tighten up the suspension.
TEMS was removed and replaced with HKS coilovers by the previous owner in Japan so unfortunately I can't provide a comparison between the two. There's a ton of coilover threads on here in the suspension and brakes section if you do decide to go that route.
dclevs, I hope I'm not too late to inform your radiator decision. You can use the OEM SC300 lower radiator hose if any replacement is needed (the lower hose should be exactly the same for both the SC300 and Soarer) and an MKIV Supra TT upper radiator hose which is P/N 16571-46150 (or you can use the slightly improved version for 1998 Supra TT's: 16571-46230).
The later 1997 or 1998 spec SC300 radiator has only a single row core while the earlier 1992-96 (or up to 97?) radiators have two rows. You want the earlier spec version for the better cooling.
ARC in Japan does or once did make a drop-in aftermarket aluminum radiator for the Soarers but it doesn't make financial sense to import one of those from an overseas distributor. Maybe if some company sells them in the USA which is doubtful.
Over the long term for improved cooling if you do any heavy modifications you can do an MKIV-spec Mishimoto or Koyo aluminum radiator swap. The fan shroud you'd want to re-use from your Soarer and I am not sure if all the mounting points for that shroud are the exactly same (they might or might not be). A Koyo or Mishimoto radiaor used on an SC/Soarer with an automatic transmission will require the addition of an external A/T trans cooler.
So long as you are stock an OEM early SC300 Denso radiator should do OK to cool your 1JZGTE while using the stock mechanical fan and retaining the auxiliary electric fan that kicks in when temperatures are high and whenever the A/C compressor is turned on.
Originally Posted by SC_coupe
Can confirm SC300 radiator is a direct swap to a JZZ30. I bought the Spectra Premium replacement for cheap, and have been running it for 3 summers now without any issues.
Hopefully that's the end of your hiccups and you can get to driving and enjoying the car.
SC_coupe, when you installed the SC300 stock radiator into your Soarer did you notice any significant differences between it and your old Soarer OEM radiator? Thickness and/or number of rows were basically the same?
06-30-18, 02:37 PM
