BuffNStuff

Okay, so I have a 1997 sc300 auto with 55k miles that I am going NA-T on. This is my first turbo build so please feel free to treat me like I am stupid. It will help if you guys can point out every little thing that I still need (engine wise, I know my tranny is a weak POS and it wont handle much over 320whp). When I say point out everything, I mean it. This is my first build and I have no idea of what kind of hurdles I will come across. I came from the f-body game and I have torn down engines and all that, just never messed with turbos.

Power goals are around 300whp for now. I will be installing this myself, and doing a basic tune myself on the AEM FIC-6

Here is what I have so far:

*62/62 .70 AR Turbo with ebay housing and Garrett internals from DriftMotion
*DriftMotion manifold
*50mm HKS style wastegate
*4" intake pipe
*Dump tube
*Fasteners
*oil lines and fittings
*Gaskets
*adaptor flanges for turbo/block oil lines
*Air filter
*AEM boost gauge
*AEM wideband
*2.5" intercooler piping kit
*24x12x3 bar/plate intercooler with 3" inlet/outlet
*Planning on getting AEM FIC-6 for fuel management.
* I know I need a BOV but I dont know which one to get. (dont know if I need a recirculating one or not, and dont know what size I need)

I know for higher boost, Ill need a thicker headgasket, walbro pump, and injectors. BUT I am going for the basic, get it on, get it running, low boost set up for now.

What am I missing??

BuffNStuff

Here is what my car looks like, incase anyone cares haha.

jwin

iTrader: (16)

Your car looks great. Your list looks pretty good as well. I would go with a standalone for a OBD 2 car. I have a 97 as well and with the OBD 2 it really messes up the tune of the car with a piggyback. Countless people have told me that and I eventually just brought a AEM v1, but now I want a Proefi EMS. I know its expensive expense when you look at the dollar amount, but your car will drive better and be more reliable in the end plus if you ever upgrade to bigger injectors you already have the system to support it. You can keep your stock compression and run e85 which will save you money that you can put towards a EMS, but you will need bigger injectors.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

^^^^^this to the tee

but question , what are you going to do for tranny .. ge auto will not last .. why not take the above advice and if stayin auto , use a supra tt auto with a shift kit and big tranny cooler and have the aem fully control it .. it will survive into the high 400's provided you dont beat the crap out of it

other alternative is a 1jz auto which also uses a kickdown cable whereas 2jzgte auto if electronic and is esily pinned to the aem ecu

sj408

iTrader: (6)

Really? thats weird cause i always hear this, i beat on my auto for the last 12k at 14 psi. Sure the trans doesnt feel brand new at 130k but it always shifts on time and the only thing i see trouble with so far is that 1-2 shift.

I imagine with a 50k trans you could slap a fat cooler and a shift kit in it and be good for quite some time. Im sure i could get another few years out of my trans but will be upgrading either way.

BuffNStuff

I decided to go with the AEM FIC-6 because it is meant to work with your stock ecu. I need to pass obdII plug in emissions. It also lets you use the full functions of your dash and climate control. The FIC-6 will also allow for upgrading injectors. It is about as close to a standalone as you can get with a piggyback.This is the easiest and most hassle free way of dealing with emissions that I have heard of. Unless you guys know a better way?

Do you have to deal with emissions? I am always so jealous of people that don't.

So, would you say my list is complete? I am just worried about tearing the car apart to get this kit in there, and then have to stop halfway through because I am missing some small part. I basically want to be able to go from start to finish within a week, as I do not have a back up car. (luckily my work is only a 1/4 mile away)

BuffNStuff

Like I said in my original post, I know that the stock auto is weak. This is one of the reasons that I am staying at low boost for a while until I come up with a solution that suits my needs. As of right now, I just want to get the turbo on so I can look cool in front of my friends

BuffNStuff

Have you had your car dyno'd? Just curious as to how much power you are making with a surviving stock auto. It is encouraging to hear that your tranny has held up.

jwin

iTrader: (16)

Your list is pretty complete. The only person I know that has a piggyback that works well is clublexus forum member JeffTsai with is 2gs. You can read his build thread in the 2gs forum. He uses the Greddy Ultimate piggyback and he passes inspection with it. He also tunes his own car and is making about 800whp on e85. Thats the only person I know of that has made that kind of power on a piggyback and he drives his car daily. I really think he is the key to making the piggyback work well with the stock ecu since he spends the extra time to tune his car to work with the piggyback. I think most tuner don't wanna spend the time to deal with it because its not something they deal with on a daily basis. The OBD2 ecu is very smart and adaptive which is why you might have it tuned one way and under different conditions it changes itself and your car will run like crap. I was just advised by many people (not tuners trying to sell me on a standalone but just random people from the forums that I brought parts from) not to go that route and with a price of a AEM v1 being as low as it is I didn't see why I should bother with the headache. Tuning isn't cheap by any means 4-800 dollars depend on piggyback or standalone and for me I didn't want to gamble with the piggyback only to go to a standalone because it didn't work right and pay more money for another tune.

We have inspection in texas, but if your car is an OBD2 then they just hook it up to the machine. They don't sniff your tail pipe. I am planning on having my car pass inspection without it getting hooked up. Yea it cost 80 bucks instead of 40, but I can live with that instead of a blown motor or something.

lexforlife

iTrader: (7)

its all subjective .. it all depends on how driven and how maintained .. at 12psi i would imagine you are in the mid 300 rwhp range .. once you cross into the 400's , good luck with that

we have had to change trannies more often then we would like to say , but if it TRULY works for you

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

yeah if you have to have an odb2 SC and pass emissions, you may just loose all your hair with a piggyback.
sounds like you may be a candidate for the tt ecu mod since you are 96-97 and non-vvti.
you can use a 96+ USDM 2jzgte ecu, and once you wire everything up you should be able to get the odb2 working and also have a factory tune that can support up to 500hp out of the box as the US ecu requires 550cc injectors. it take some wiring, but in the end it's worth it, I am running an aristo ecu and my car has never run so good and I have run many many ecu's including the aem.
then you can spend the extra money that would be spent on piggybacks getting a 2jzgte trans and it will plug right up to the ecu, or you can use your stock one and tie the pressure cable tight but may have cause cel but it can probably be bypassed with a resistor or just plug in a spare one from a tt trans and tie it up somewhere.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...-obd2-car.html

sj408

iTrader: (6)

no not on a dyno yet, but i run 14psi on a t61 (which actually measures out to close to a 67 pretty much according to all sources) and the only real fault i notice with my trans is the 1-2 gear shift. It doesnt hang or slip or anything but you can definetely tell its not ment to hang with full boost at 1-2 but other than that the trans seems solid. Like i said, it shows its age for being 130k but the past 10-12k were at 14 psi daily drive boosted like a boss...... no ***** footing.

My car has put away ss camaros and hung just fine with a c6 vette..... thats my dyno

One thing i will say is i dont believe the torque converter is up to this task, Mine is prolly falling apart because i can hear the trans oil pump whining from time to time because of some clogging either from clutches or tc.... either way its a high mileage trans.

I have a tranny ready to go in and i BEAT on the original one thats in the car and it hasnt let me down yet

I imagine with your trans having 50k you could get away with a 50-100$ cooler and a shift kit for quite a while. Now by no means will it be ideal in comparison to say.... a tt trans or a built trans but your trans is not just gonna magically explode when you throw power at it.

It should give you the opportunity to save up for some of the ideal options, mine would be a built auto and high stall.


EDIT: Also Ali's idea is great, go tt ecu and hook up a tt trans. Only reason i didnt go this route is because i want to install a supra stick.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

sj408 you could try tightening down your shift cable and locking it, may help with the 1-2, Lookevo was telling me that it makes the trans shift faster with less slip, which is actually better for the trans cause it puts less stress on the TQ converter, and bonus is faster shifts at the same time. I thought this would add more wear to the trans at first, but I thought about it again and its probably adding more wear to try and make it a smooth lexus shift instead of just shifting right away.

BuffNStuff

So, I read through the thread you posted, and I am still a little unclear as to what I would need to make the tt ecu work. I need a USDM gte ECU (the aristo one?), I need to somehow wire it all together(I hate wiring, and I am worried that I will fudge it since I dont know what needs to be wired to what), a tt MAF, 550cc top feed high impedence injectors (is there a specific type I need and where could I find some?), and......thats it? The tt ecu wont need any tuning? Wouldnt it need some tuning since I am going to be at different boost levels with a single turbo as opposed to the stock GTE parts?

Where could I find all the connectors I would need for the wiring? Just through Toyota?

The pictures posted in the thread didnt load so I dont know if some of these questions were answered in the pics.

I am worried now that this is going to be a huge nightmare because of emissions lol

jwin

iTrader: (16)

You will need

USDM Supra Twin Turbo obd 2 auto ecu (must be USDM or you won't pass inspection)
TT Maf
TT Map sensor (pressure sensor)
550cc high impedance injectors any brand or low impedance and a resistor box. I prefer high impedance
Fuel pump - a simple 255lph should do
is300/gs300 VVTi coil pack and igniter (dh61 or dh62. dh62 is cheaper)
HKS FCD or Greddy BCC so you can boost more than factory

That should be all you need and you don't need a tune because its already tuned for a factory turbo car (Supra Twin Turbo)