Been pondering selling my sc400 m/t swap to go to JZ as my budget wont do much for a 1UZ right now.. I know the differences between ge and gte but I"m looking for opinions on if you would save then few thousand on a jdm gte (I've heard so many horror stories of the "30k uncut harness" motor the jdm supplier sold you showing up with half the plugs either missing or broken and every gasket leaking) to buying a ge from a local wrecker out of an sc300 that I know has low k and is running fine and building that na-t since essentially the block is the same. Of course leaving my hp dreams behind and enjoying my 1UZ until I can afford dome pistons and custom turbo setup is an option but have been feigning for some power lately.

Cheers, Chris

 

Sorry mods, it's 1:21 am here a bit sleepy meant to post in performance and maintenance

 

Your budget and power level dictates whether the GE or GTE is better in the long run.

 

Budget changes often as I'm constantly between school and work and will be for the next 5 years. I have shop space, There's no set limit but will be a very slow build on an engine stand not in the car. Power wise I mean the more the merrier but I can honestly say anywhere above 400 rwhp I am a happy camper

 

Listen man, since your talking bout keeping it on a budget and reasonable heres my opinion. I wont go too much into it but pm me if you want more info


GE swap
TT computer (and piggyback when you want more power than 14 psi or so)
diy turbo kit (or xs power for that matter find a used one for 1k or so)


You could do this for less than 2k with some know how and planning. Any gte swap is gonna run you 3k+ and then your taking a gamble (with odds not in your favor) that someone didnt beat the **** outa that boosted engine for that 30k (which i doubt it has that low anyways)

 

If budget is no issue, I would get a USDM 2JZGTE w/ v160 and swap it in.

The more budget friendly solution would be to get a 2JZGE with a NA-T kit on it to make 400whp. The horror stories you hear about JDM motors are true. Every once in awhile you can get a good one, but lots of them have been sitting around forever. I always personally at least tear them down before installing them - while the majority of the time I rebuild them while they are apart.

 

Just go GE..a TT headgasket and FFIM with a turbo and you might as well call it a GTE..the amount of money extra for a swap just isn't worth it IMO..you could do a turbo GE safely with lowered compression and bigger injectors, a tt ecu, and an R154 for the price of a GTE

 

Ahh its the monthly na-t gte debate, and for the 1uz and you don't have to mess with the pistons for low to mid boost levels.
please do a search and post in one of the many existing threads on this topic.
for example:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...te-thread.html