Milkmann01

Hello so i am a huge fan of the sc, always been a dream car of mine and thankfully it’s realistic, however my question is if i were want to mod one up to around 400-500whp, with prices going up for the car and whatnot, what would be the most realistic option, the 300 or 400? If i got the 300 which was my original choice i know the GE can’t handle power like a GTE so i’d either need to do a swap or put GTE parts on from my understanding but i also hear that is getting unrealistic because of rarity/price, and not to mention the manual swap, any input would be helpful, not only on what’s the bets option but what route i should take as, for example if i got the 300 what i should expect to do, what manual, and vice versa for the 400, thank you!

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

The SC400 has virtually no aftermarket support, so aiming for 400+ HP makes it an easy choice for the SC300. If you want to go M/T, that makes it doubly so, as SC300's have that option directly while SC400's require adapters and a lot of nagging ECU headaches.

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

If you want a 500whp SC then the starting point withe the least extra work needed will be an SC300 mostly because it comes with a 2JZ-GE engine that you can build. However if you want to swap a JZ engine into an SC400 I recommend a 1992-1997 model. 1998-2000 SC400 VVT-i's are much harder to swap, are very rare and are in demand for what they are in stock form.

Either way you'll be changing a lot of parts to get to your horsepower goal anyway. It is the cumulative total number of things that these cars need to be built up for long term reliable turbo duty that more or less evens out the playing field.

Starting with an SC300 is the best thing but a clean body 92-97 SC400 that is affordable (and not some super low miles time capsule example) can be fine to use... if you don't ind sourcing a 2JZ and all the parts that will be needed to swap it into the SC chassis.

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

What it comes down to is which engine you like better and your budget.
Both SC300s and SC400s will need a transmission swap to hold 500whp. Manual swap, or something newer like a DCT.
Both will need standalone ECUs.
Both will need upgraded fuel systems.
Both need a pile of aftermarket parts that seem to be increasing in price as time goes on.

The easiest way to 500whp with as little skill as possible is buying a 92-97 SC300 and going NAT. Manual or auto, you will need to swap the transmission to something that will hold the power.

In the old days guys had a harder time finding clean SC300s, so they would buy cheap SC400s and swap out the motors for JZs. That practice has pretty much ended; there really aren't any cheap JZ motors anymore.

There is a growing number of SC400 owners that are turbocharging their 1UZ motors. This is because they can reach their power goals for "less work" than the average SC300 owner, and the novelty of owning a turbo/twin turbo 1UZ tends to get more attention than big turbo JZ engines.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

That's becoming a thing? Is it all DIY turbo'ing, or is aftermarket support developing for the 1UZ?

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

There is aftermarket support now. RareFab was the first shop to mass produce a kit, but they stopped not long after Lextreme made their own kit and competed directly against them. Lextreme stopped selling kits last year, however when he stopped he made posts where he wrote down how he made the kits and where he sourced the material, the tricks he'd learned over the years, and so on (how to do things as cheap as possible), so now there is a good how-to guide for single or twin turbo-ing SC400s. I don't know why Lextreme stopping selling his kits when he did, but since covid this new site called 1UZTech has been coming out with a lot of Lexus V8 specific stuff and right now their kit is the one everyone wants. It uses the HellSteel manifolds

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

^ Lots "new" there I wasn't aware of. I didn't even know Lextreme ever sold a kit. I thought it was all DIY over there, and mostly archival in recent years. I also didn't know he's the person behind 1UZTech, which I have run across when looking at headers (but never looked at the home page, where I now see there are full engines and turbo components).

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

What part of Florida Milkman?
To answer your question it literally doesn't matter which one you get just find the best deal that you come across both can get 400 to 500whp.
only ones to some what avoid are the 95-97 "thin rod" sc400s but if you get a deal it will still be fine you would just have less space for error when boosting.

The sc400 has plenty of aftermarket options there is a low and high mount adapters for Roots superchargers,fish brackets for centrifugal and Exhaust manifolds for turbos. sc400 centrifugal would be the cheapest option followed be NA-T you do not need a piggyback or standalone for 400hp 1uz if you want 500 you will though.

Milkmann01

A turbo sc300 intrigues me a lot more to be honest, my biggest concern is i hear tons of people say the GTE swap is worth it and building the GE is too expensive and not worth it but then i also hear the GTE is too expensive now and to just build the GE

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

just Curious .....Why does the Sc300 intrigue you more

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

Well it sounds like you answered your own question. If a turbo SC300 intrigues you more, then you want a SC300.
So now what you want to do is find yourself a clean SC300 to start with.

As of right now, it is cheaper to got NAT and build a fuel system to run E85. Once you do that you can get 500s, low 600s on a stock GE non-VVTI bottom end.
Trying to find a GTE block/engine to swap in will just add at least $3000 to your build (if not more). That's not really a good investment considerings both engines, if the head studs and headgasket are upgraded, are limited in stock form to about 700whp by the main bearing caps. The only advantage the GTE has over the GE is the lower compression, which is not important (as much) with E85 as it is with pump gasoline.

Milkmann01

so if the stock bottom end can handle the much power how do i prep the top to be ready? thank you for the advice, also what manual transmission would you say right now is the best option for a swap

Milkmann01

I hear the sc400 is a lot more expensive for engine mods aswell as to swap to a manual

SexCoupe

iTrader: (6)

Its costs more if you want to do internal modifications. that's about it. transmission swap is only slightly more because of the adapter for the bell housing but it all depends on the deal you get. i got my trans for 350 adapter for 300 driveshaft 30 transmount custom it came with the transmission just drilled new holes, slave came with the trans etc.... How much car work do you do yourself?

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

^yeah he is correct. I posted before if your goal is 500-600 it will cost about the same to get that power level regardless of JZ or UZ. You don't change internals on early 1UZs (92-94) because they already have a bottom end that can hold about 800 (Sean Musa's single turbo build proved that). Toyota really overbuilt the motors in the beginning