amnjr96

Whats up everybody. New to the forum, new to owning my 2000 SC300. Ill try and make this short so i dont **** to many people off with a repeat question. Do i swap my motor for a 2JZGTE or build a GE. I cant pull my motor out to do the work as its my DD so i would be buying a used motor from a wrecker/facebook, building the engine and then doing the swap over the course of a few days. Shooting for 500 whp. After running the numbers for the GE build with having to buy a 2nd motor, Im looking at around $6k for used motor, used internals from a gte (just rods and pistons/piston rings), all new seals and gaskets, timing belt kit, tune, ecu, fueling and cx racing kit. Not Including Trans. Meanwhile theres a "jdm" depot in philly near me selling a twin turbo aristo motor with 90k miles, trans, ecu and harness. For $3500. Is this a no brainer? Seems like on the GTE motor the only thing ill have to upgrade is the fuel system and the turbo kit, along with seals/gaskets. Anybody have experience purchasing from these import warehouses?

KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

Hello and welcome! Congratulations on the 2000 SC300!

To try to answer your question, since you will need to buy a used engine to prepare to swap in anyway it will actually come down to how you want to set up the car towards your goal of 500whp. Your situation is the same as mine was with the SC being my daily driver as well.

Now you can get pretty close to your 500whp goal if you use an OEM 2JZ-GTE ECU with some add-ons like a boost cut controller and boost controller and then you can avoid a costly tune with an aftermarket ECU.

You also will need to modify your 98-00 style gas tank for a return fuel setup like 1992-1997 SC gas tanks or swap in a 92-97 tank with the return plumbing already there.

I have no experience buying from one of these JDM engine importers myself but you will want to go there and fully inspect the engine, check that there is nothing glaringly missing from the wiring harness, check that the ECU is included, that it has the correct advertised transmission, etc.

You will want to freshen everything up on it anyway but you might do very well with an Artisto 2JZ-GTE engine and trans set with ECU included. Honestly that is probably a very good bet *IF* it is in good condition because:

--You'll already have an appropriate A341E transmission capable of handling the power so long as you add a couple of trans oil coolers upgrade the torque convertor.
--You'll already have a good matching ECU for the engine and wiring harness
--You'll already have a wiring harness for the engine that you can start going through to do your own wiring conversion or use as a basis/core if sending it out to a specialist company to convert for you
--You'll already have a set of hopefully working turbochargers on the engine to start with
--You'll already have a good strong bottom end capable of a reliable 500whp right out of the box (early GE and all GTE stock rods good for 500whp max without ARP studs added at a machine shop, GTE pistons good for 700whp max)

Basically if the price is right and the included equipment in the motor set are right it can be a very good move to buy a good condition Aristo 2JZGTE. Just make sure you can inspect it and know the the bottom end, top end, transmission, wiring harness, ECU and even the stock turbos are good.

You'll need to pick up at minimum a 1992-1997 SC400 rear diff with the 3.92:1 final drive ratio or at best a Supra TT Auto or JDM Aristo 3.769:1 rear diff. Bonus if you can manage to find one with a Torsen T-1 LSD but those diffs with Torsens included are very pricey now, plus the Torsen T-1's are not the ideal LSD to have if you are going to 500whp and above. Below 500whp is fine for a Torsen T-1. The much, much rarer Torsen T-2's can handle higher power I think but I am not sure how much. This means if you are going to go for the high horsepower right fro the start it may be better to consider an aftermarket LSD anyway.

But just to drive the car normally with an ideal ratio against that A341E 4-speed automatic you will need a 3.92 or 3.769 rear diff ratio rear end to swap in.

You can also produce some amazing results with a built 2JZ-GE engine but out of the box a totally stock 2JZ-GTE will be set up to make and handle respectable power numbers easily. And that stock GTE ECU is a very good basis to start from and use as a baseline. Even if going a GE VVT-i NA-T build I would still recommend an Aristo 2JZGTE VVT-i ECU to begin with.

Furthermore, is the Aristo 2JZ-GTE engine set you are looking at a VVT-i type? If so you will have an easier time wiring it for your 2000 SC300 since it is VVT-i and you would be installing VVT-i engine wiring.

I think one thing to consider is that you don't want to get into using any Aristo 2JZ-GTE VVT-i ECU that has an immobilizer since those are difficult to work with.

Bottom line is that it's not exactly a "no brainer" but close given all the right things being OK with the imported full Aristo drivetrain it can be a very good option for the right price and $3500 for all of it doesn't seem off the mark to me. There is never a downside to going with a 2JZ-GTE swap.

...

A lot of small things about any NA-T build or swap is what will nickel and dime you so I would suggest getting an NA-T build or GTE swap right first and work your way up to the 500whp goal.