Just ordered the full rear sump oil pan setup minus bolts, cam seals and front/rear main seals.

Motor is finally out, pretty much got everything I want out of the car because I don't plan on reusing the fuel pump or clutch pedal/master/slave setup from the GS into the SC; all that is going to be new.




Starting to pull out my parts and organize them, excited to put the manifold on to mock it up.

 

Couple of updates, Starting taking things off the motor. I was going to go the easy route and just drop this setup into my SC using the harness and OEM ECU/440cc injector setup I had but plans changed. My buddy needed a vvt-i intake manifold/TB setup for his project and had two full JDM GTE non vvt-i intake manifold setups so I traded.

New plans include Standalone (haltech or link), new custom harness, non VVT-I intake with drive by wire delete, radium fuel rail and will probably do single -6 feed/return using the OEM hardlines for now; but I've been considering dual in-tank pumps that Y intank to the stock feed, or running dual -6 feeds.

Wiring harness and intake off, will also be deleting the stock oil heater sandwich to reduce coolant lines under the intake. Might run a stock IACV so considering whether to heat it with coolant or not. Doubt this car will be driven below freezing ever.

Harness off, ended up breaking a couple clips from brittleness that didn't get replaced the first go-around. Cant wait for ALL new.

This dang engine stand sits so high its kind of crazy; but current point before I remove the turbo manifold.


So decided I did not want to rob the rear sump off my GE SC300 motor so I ordered everything new, total came out around ~700 but I think its highly worth it to have this motor assembled ready to swap when I decide I'm ready to yank the other.
Also my tomei baffle came in, which I forgot about and ended up ordering an OEM baffle as well.. I heard some people say this had to be modified to fit because it would hit the lower oil pan; but I assembled and did not notice any clearance issues.





Been about 4 months waiting for my blitz nur spec exhaust to show up; but I was originally given a JUNE ETA! so hopefully it doesn't take that long. But I'm at a little bit of a contemplation on whether I should be aggressively be trying to get a new house closer to work; or put some money towards getting my play car to make turbo sounds again

 

Couple updates. Got a suspicious garage block adapter; i didn't really like the designs that had to be double nut'd to tighten and this one was a nice one piece design. Also comes with a washer preinstalled.



Found out from SF that a 2018 Tacoma coolant hose part number 16295-0P020 fits perfect to delete the OEM oil cooler/warmer. Combined with a new WIX filter it looks simple and should boost oil pressure. I plan to remove the rear TT feed line block off and install a oil pressure/temperature combo sensor, this makes the most sense with deleting the OEM oil pressure sensor. Also




The throttle body TRAC delete isn't the most fun; of course even after torching the bolts, the brass instantly strips and needed to be drilled out. I used some grease to prevent a huge mess and aid in cutting; went pretty straight forward. This moment of sliding the blade out is the feeling of success! Popped out the shaft with one of the bearings with a couple light taps, then I used a box end wrench to pop the shaft through the bearing so I could shove out the other side from the throttle body. Worked in a jiffy.






Contacted Wiring Specialties and they will make me a PNP harness if I send them mine; and I really don't want to take my OEM harness out right now so it kind of puts me at a fork in the road on whether I decide to speed up or slow down my project. Seems like my car being a 95 california car makes finding an exact harness to use as a spare is pretty difficult and a post by Gerrb pointed out that different OBD1 years included extra body plugs in comparison to others.

Also got my new USDM 2jzgte IACV in, my parts guy said there were only 16 in the country at the moment and the part number was close to becoming discontinued. Figure it should work great into the future. Running a 3/4" K&N 62-1560 filter; and part numbers listed for the other parts needed. .







Thinking about my fuel system and I'm a little stuck on what to do with the gas tank. The things I know:

Radium top feed conversion fuel rail #20-0215
Radium 20-0176 FPD-R 8AN ORB direct mount fuel pulse dampener
Radium 20-0623-00 DMR 8AN ORB, black direct mount regulator
Injector Dynamics ID1050X 48-14-14
GM flex fuel sensor

I would really like to run the OEM tank, the fittings on the bottom are kind of lame. I was thinking if I ran something like the PHR fuel pump hanger with the dual walbro 450's that are staged, y the feeds and run checkvalves and single -8 feed/ -6 return out of the hanger, i was thinking to prevent pulling the tank or welding the bottom fittings I could use 8mm swagelok tube compression fittings with a weld fitting on the other side; these would be welded closed to cap the lower lines. The only issue would be if the lower mounts leak; the tank would have to be removed anyways to cap it all.

I'm not sure if the tank would be E85 safe though with the plastic pickup tray; or if the lower rubber grommet could somehow be effected. I would probably be better off removing the tank and having the bottom welded shut completely. I only really want to make about 600-700hp ~ 25 psi

 

You're killin it man - I love how well documented your thread is so far. Keep it up!

 

So the build is slightly on pause until I figure out my next directions in life, not really sure if I want to proceed sooner than later or vice versa. Might want to buy a house first and re-ignite this build in 2-3 years. I compiled a list and prices of the things I'm wanting to do:

PHR 4" Exhaust for 1992-2001 Lexus SC300Add 4" V-band to 3" 2-Bolt Adapter ( PHR 01011103 ) $1,355.00 (USD)
PHR Breather Kit Lexus SC300- Raw Finish - PHR 03081001.R $339.00 (USD)
PHR Triple Walbro 485 Fuel Pump Hanger for SC300 - E85 -- 2x 485 Fuel Pumps (Wal F90000274 x2) 2x Install Kits (PHR 01011240 x2) Harness for Dual Pumps (PHR 01011228) $1,180.50 (USD)
PHR Radiator Support Bracket for SC300-Machined Finish $159.00 (USD)
PHR Timing Belt Tensioner Bracket for 2JZ $194.25 (USD)
Radium 20-0215 Fuel Rail, Top Feed Conversion, Toyota 2JZ-GTE - ($199.95)
Radium Fuel Pulse Damper, Direct Mount Kits 20-0176 FPD-R, 8AN ORB $89.95
Radium 20-0408 10AN Male Press-Fit, 1JZ/2JZ Intake Excluding 2JZ-GE VVT-i - ($59.95)
Radium 20-0409 10AN Male Press-Fit, All Toyota 2JZ Exhaust - ($59.95)
Radium 20-0623-00 Direct mount regulator DMR, 8AN ORB, Black - ($149.95)
Haltech 150 PSI "TI" Fuel/Oil/Wastegate Pressure Sensor THREAD: 1/8 NPT Part Number: HT-010904 $186.00
Radium 14-0150 8AN ORB Plug $14.95

Wiring Specialties PRO series harness + Haltech Elite 2500 ECU $3,471.00
Aeromotive 15638 Swivel ORB-8AN to ORB-10AN Aluminum Adapter Fitting x1 26.72
Radium 14-0130 10AN ORB to 6AN Male $14.95
Radium 20-0589 Split-Flow Flex Fuel Sensor Adapter - ($99.95)
GM flex fuel sensor P/N: 13577394 $89.99
Haltech WB1 Bosch - Single Channel CAN O2 Wideband Controller Kit HT-159976 $299.00
Haltech iC-7 Display Dash HT-067010 $1,000
Mako Motorsports recessed cluster mount $322
Injector Dynamics IDX1300.48.14.14B.6 $1415
Aeromotive In-Line Fuel Filter -8AN Male Inlet/Outlet Ports 027-12375 $161
Fragola Performance Systems 601026 Hose, P.T.F.E, Braided Stainless Steel, -6 AN, 10 ft. x2 $149.98
Fragola Performance Systems 601028 Hose, P.T.F.E, Braided Stainless Steel, -8 AN, 10 ft. x2 $193.98
Tune $800-$1000
1 piece drive shaft $400

Grand total ~$12500

As you can tell, this is quite a bit that I want to put into the car to get to the "next step" and it doesn't include a new turbo or intercooler; which may be added if I decide to wait. Total build could easily reach another $15k from where I'm at now.

Although; I did just find a 1995 SC300 engine harness on ebay to use as a donor. Its a traction control harness; but the body plugs are all there. This will allow me to purchase the harness without taking the car apart quite yet, its nice having it still running and driving while I accumulate parts and work on the engine on the side.

 

Decided to go forward with some of my purchases, I would like to get this car done before this time next year but I feel it can be done much sooner if things go smoothly.

I feel like I'm going to cut down on some complexity of the build by staying with a upgraded single fuel pump; stock fuel filter and lines with upgraded rail, injectors, fuel dampener and regulator. Also think i'm going to go with the local wiring guy to make sure my harness is 100% plug and play; with a Link ECU because one of the main things that bothered me with haltech was that it didn't have a diagnostics mode to individually trigger circuits (fuel injectors, fuel pump, fans etc) which is huge for me planning on having an ECU for 10 years +. So the only things I'm missing at this point are the ECU and wiring harness. And perhaps a down-pipe (needs to be modified).

Ordered:
4" PHR single exhaust with 3" adapter to the midpipe (going 3" down pipe, 3" HKS mid pipe and 4" cat-back).
PHR oil catch can
Greddy 12010466 LS spec intercooler kit
Radium 2jzgte fuel rail
Radium direct mount fuel pressure regulator
Radium direct mount fuel dampener
Radium press in valve cover fittings (for catch can)
OEM GTE exhaust valve cover (mine has a welded fitting, and I want to go press in for the cleaner look and clearance).
Injector dynamics ID1050X (ID1050.48.14.14.6); I figure I will go a little higher than my fuel lines may support; maybe to be able to support some E25-E30 mixes.
Walbro F90000274 450lph E85 safe with the higher pressure relief + wiring kit with sock

I figure my real plans are to have a pump gas car that can occasionally be turned up slightly more. I'd love to make 500-600 wheel and I think that is attainable. I feel like my next moves alongside the wiring will be front LCA's and UCA's because with a 140k mile car that makes me feel unsafe for speed.

 

Glad to see you make a big push forward on this car! And I agree with you - sometimes the element of simplicity and serviceability out weighs an extra 100 hp. Having a car that's expensive and difficult to work on really puts a damper on things. Can't wait to see more!

 

Love the build, I would highly recommend 4 inch downpipe and mid pipe. It’s going to increase spool all around

 

With me already having a mid pipe and down pipe; and my down pipe only needing a slight modification I'm not sure its worth the spool vs cost savings of having a 4" downpipe and midpipe created on a 62mm turbo. Should be okay considering the backpressure will reduce after the midpipe ; that will help create a lower pressure zone and suck the exhaust out with slightly higher velocity. We'll see how it sounds!

 

Hey joe-

Heres a good read about turbo downpipe sizing from stav tech

I am doing to opposite of what you are doing , but in the End they all work. I’m going to run a 4-4.5 inch downpipe that will reduce after the mid pipe going into a 3 inch blitz nur spec.

anyways love the build and attached below is the article I’m referring to.
Stav-tech

I've probably talked about it more than any other tuning subject, and it feels lately like I'm just writing stuff for pages like Car Throttle to re-word and rip off, but as some people are still confused, I'm going to explain the 'big downpipe/dumppipe on a turbo car' thing a little more. Ok, a lot more, this is long...

If you're bored of this one, sorry, I'll talk about something else next time, promise!

The very basics of it is bigger the better, no such thing as too big, the best is none at all, and the main gains from a downpipe are in spool, but if the overall size is too small you can gain masses at the top end too (100bhp+ in some cases at the same boost).

What a downpipe (and indeed the full exhaust) is capable of at it's true maximum, and when it's at least 'some' restriction, is many 100s of bhp different, so don't take any notice of that.
A 3in exhaust can defo do 700bhp+ for example, but even at 500bhp pretty much always a bigger exhaust gives good gains (I've seen ~10% on back to back tests).
The rest of the exhaust isn't as vital size-wise as the first bit straight after the turbo (ie the downpipe), but personally, I'd stick with as close to the same as you can fit, partly as there's no disadvantage, and most importantly you'll never truly know how much you're giving away by going smaller as there's very few tests out there showing this exact thing.
I've gone 4in to 3.5in before, as my educated guess said it was fine at the level I was at and would be no restriction, but I had no proof, so that's going to be just down to your opinion. What I was 100% of was the 4in DP was going to benefit me.

ALSO, another thing many miss- It doesn't matter how small your turbine outlet is (your turbine wheel is ALWAYS going to be way smaller than your exhaust, and it's 2.5in even on some 600bhp capable turbos) when it comes to downpipe size- Go bigger. In fact it's not uncommon on some turbos for people to cut back the housing a little to start their downpipe closer to the turbine wheel.

Anyhow, HERE is the bit people don't get about big down/dump pipes- The "Why would a 3in/4in/9in/100m downpipe help? I've only got 250bhp, a 2.5in exhaust can do that power" etc etc questions.
And the answer is mostly turbo spool up speed. That's where the gains mostly tend to be.

Big downpipes are only a little to do with how your ENGINE works, they're mostly about how TURBINES (ie the exhaust side of your turbo) work.
The main reason a turbine functions, spins, is the pressure differential between pre and post turbine, ie in your manifold versus in your downpipe.
The bigger the pressure differential, the better it works.

This is why a smaller turbine side (which increases pre-turbine pressure by restricting it) helps spool.

This is why a bigger engine (which increases pre-turbine pressure by creating more exhaust gas) helps spool.

And most importantly, this is why a big downpipe (which reduces post turbine pressure by improving flow) helps spool.

Exhaust gas coming out of a turbine past a turbine wheel spinning at tens of thousands of rpm, often well over 100,000rpm, is super hot and mega turbulent, it's all over the place, and not flowing anywhere near as straight as it will further on in your exhaust system, and this is the biggest reason why the downpipe needs to be big even if the rest of the exhaust doesn't need to be quite as large.

Imagine it like hundreds of you trying to get through a crowed corridor as quick as you can, and at the end it suddenly opens in to a huge field- Goes from a super tight squeeze and you all bashing in to each other to suddenly no pressure and nobody even close to anyone else.

Because of the above, downpipe size to how much 'POWER' your engine makes is fairly irrelevant, as you're mostly going super big to help the turbine spool up as well as it can, which for most engine is at an rpm nowhere near peak power, so if your engine makes 200bhp or 2000bhp isn't the actual issue there.

200bhp or 2000bhp is more relevant after the downpipe, ie the main exhaust (but still, no disadvantage of going bigger than needed), but for downpipe, no- Just big.

Due to the nature of turbochargers, the turbine side is always going to create backpressure for the engine itself, which is bad for both power and reliability.
While bigger turbine sides lower backpressure and massively help create more power, it's a balancing act with your spool up- Ie generally a bigger turbine also means less spool- Mostly because you're lowering the pressure differential we mentioned earlier, as now you've less pre-turbine!

But once again, this is why a big downpipe is still important, no matter if your turbo is little or large.
LITTLE TURBO- Your turbine side is creating ****loads of backpressure for the engine, so ANY post-turbine backpressure will magnify the already huge restriction of your tiny turbo, and hold back power and increase engine stress, as well as the spool issue.
BIG TURBO- You've got a lot less pre-turbine backpressure, so you're making more power regardless, but as the pressure differential is less, you still want a big DP to eliminate any last bit of post turbine backpressure, to keep the pressure differential as high as you can to help make your turbo spool as fast as possible.

Here's an old test (see pics for the graphs) using a lightly modified twin turbo 2.5ltr Toyota 1JZ engine that Kurts jz customs"" did many years ago which demonstrates all this pretty well I think.
The reason it demonstrates it so well is this is both a fairly low power engine testing extreme size changes of downpipe, but also the twin turbo setup on a JZ means the turbine outlets face each other, so as ****ed up turbulent exhaust gas goes, these are some of the worst.

They tried 3inch, vs 4inch, vs 6.5inch, and this is downpipe only- The exhaust necks back down to 3in after that.

3inch vs 4inch back to back dyno, 18psi boost-
3in made 283bhp and 273lbft.
4in made 290bhp and 317lbft.
So only another 7bhp, but a massive 44lbft more.
More to the point, look at the graph, more power and torque everywhere, just from a freer flowing section immediately after the turbos.
The extra is mostly low down, but worthwhile gains across the board, despite only being a pretty low power engine.
The massive jump in torque is because full boost comes in about 500rpm sooner, more like 3200rpm with the 4in, rather than 3700rpm with the 3in.
In fact, as the turbo spools sooner, at 3200rpm the engine has 66lb/ft more torque!

Different day, but this time the 4inch vs the 6.5inch back to back dyno. 18psi boost for the 4in, but the 6.5in made the boost drop to 16psi for some reason, but as pressure is only a measure of restriction (it's all about flow when it comes to performance), that's not a bad thing as such.
4inch made about the same power as the previous dyno, so it's deffo comparable to the previous one, but the 6.5in made more right through the rev range again, now peaking at 327bhp, 44bhp more than the 3in.

Finally, on a 3rd day, they stuck with the 6.5in and increased the boost back up to 18psi using an external controller.
Again, at the lower boost of the previous run, it made about the same again, ~327bhp, so very comparable to the other runs, but with the boost back up to 18psi, now power was 342bhp, and torque was right up to 428lbft, mostly thanks to peak boost coming on incredibly low in the rpm (these are tiny turbos tbf), and the owner said (and as the dyno shows) it now felt like a beast out of slow corners due to this big lump of low down grunt.

Also, just in case anyone missed it the first time, Jamie P's 2JZ M3 dyno comparison too, going from a 3in downpipe and twin 2.5in system, to just a 3.5in downpipe and full system.
Massive gains right from the start of the dyno at 3000rpm all the way to the rev limiter. Same boost pressure before and after.
Peak gains of 120bhp (as 3in is just too small, full stop).
Hits 500lbft torque 500rpm sooner than before.
Torque at 4200rpm jumped up by 180lbft.

No dyno graph to show you, but a small engine example was my friends 1.4ltr turbo engine-
GT2560R .64 turbine housing and 2.5in downpipe.
GT2860R .86 turbine housing and 3in downpipe actually spooled faster.

Basically, if you can fit a bigger downpipe, whatever turbo car you got, go for it, your turbo and maybe your engine will thank you for it.
And if you've got under a 3in downpipe on pretty much any turbo engine at any power, you're likely giving away some spool at least.

 

I see what you're saying about increased down-pipe size reducing the back pressure, and that larger exhaust housings "spool" slower, but flow more; which makes sense when you think that the pressure differential between pre and post turbine are reduced dramatically. I still think that going from a 4" downpipe to a 3" exhaust system would create a similar effect as going from a 3" downpipe to a 4" exhaust system. Minimal losses I imagine with a properly flowing exhaust manifold and turbo setup.

I think one of the main reasons you're seeing the results you posted above are because of the stock 1jz twins exhaust manifold causing huge pre turbine exhaust pressures; and the fact you have two small turbos with facing exhaust manifolds; its just a terribly inefficient setup which is clearly benefiting from reducing any back-pressure post turbine to help alleviate pre turbine back-pressure and alas; increase spool.

I should be perfectly fine with my custom tube manifold; and super big borg warner SXE-362 with .88 AR exhaust housing.

 

Yeah, there was another guy with a bw 366 that gained similar results from 3 moving from a 3 to a 4 inch downpipe. Well I guess you’ll see if it works when your on the Dyno. Love the build! Keep up the hard work

 

Not to knit pick, and either way you're going to make good power. However, when it comes down to the actual fluid dynamics of air flow the 4-3 drop acts as a nozzle, and the 3-4 increase acts as the inverse. There are characteristics to both scenarios, however, a 4-3 drop is always going to make more power than a 3-4 increase. I'll spare you the boring details, however, just couldn't help but poke my nose in and make a comment. Love the build and am very excited to see more progress!

 

Rudy, If memory serves me right, this was brought out in the old book Scientific Design of Exhaust & Intake Systems. I just pulled it off the shelf and then decided I was not going back through all those formulas etc., but what you brought out was basic engineering that I had in the Navy with size of boiler tubes. If I am wrong correct me.
Bill

 

Bill,

You're absolutely right sir! I couldn't give you the formulas off hand these days, but both shapes (small to big, big to small) have different applications and purposes of course. I've got my old textbooks stashed somewhere in my dad's old attic, and also keep some old mechanics/engineers guidebooks that are from the 50's around for ****s and grins. Very cool to see the reference materials along with what old school mechanics and engineers all had to do by hand to get by.

Hope all is well man!