i'm thinkin' about buying an is300, but if i get it, i wanna swap a tt supra motor in it. anyone ever do it, or hear about it?
I know it's been done, just can't find too much info on it, also wondering if it's really worth it,compared to just turbo'ing the is motor.
any help you guys give me would be helpful cuz i'm kinda new with is, but like the way they look, just think they need sum help with the power,lol

 

yeah, ive been thinking about it too. so far the info i got is, the motor mounts may not be exactly the same so you modification might need to be done to that and some other small things may need to be modded for clearance. Head over to isfanatics.com and go to 1st gen IS, then Forced induction under motor swaps, they're should be plenty of info there.
-Travis

 

idk wut to do, if i should swap it, or just see wut happens cuz i've seen a couple 4.5 hundred whp ge motors

 

Depends an a bunch of different factors as well. Just swapping in the TT motor works fine, but is it cost effective for the power gain? And the more you know about the motors in question can lead you in the right direction as well. An IS300 with a blown motor is a great candidate for a swap, whereas a mint IS motor would be better off turbo'd. Also theres the chance of a bum GTE motor. Look to see whats around.

 

just turbo urs mines turbo with a ballbaring t3/t4 3inch downpipe all the way back. and i made 311hp 309ftq tune on piggyback.

 

wasnt there a recent post from another member that is doing this right now? check around on the 1st gen and i am sure you will find it...there where pics also.

 

don't go TT, you'll run into too many problems in the long run. Just get the IS and turbo, then tune it. You'll be happy you did.

 

This is not a simple swap, that is one reason that it is not done more often. The motor doesn't come close to just bolting in, there are quite extensive modifications that need to be done to get it to fit. I do not recall with magazine I read it in but one of the Super Street or Hot Compact Car had an IS featured with this swap and that is where I got this information.

 

I was also looking at getting the IS and doing a swap but i want to go with a single turbo conversion on the 2jz. I think i read the same story you did about the 1053rwhp IS 300. it also had a 200 shot of nos he was to scared to shoot off. it did 9.5sec in the 1/2 with a trap at 153mph w/o the nos. also does anybody know a good tuner shop to go in vegas??

 

If this is something that you guys want to do and are serious about it, let me give you some advice.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU BUILD THE MOTOR BEFORE YOU DO THE SWAP, THIS WILL BE MUCH EASIER ON YOU IN THE LONG RUN. DO NOT SWAP IT AND THEN TRY TO DO MODS LATER ON DOWN THE ROAD. THIS IS A BIG UNDERTAKING, PROBABLY MORE THAN I KNOW AND IF YOU GUYS ARE ASKING THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SWAP IT IS MORE THAN YOU KNOW AS WELL. I HAVE RUN A SWAPPED MOTOR IN A CAR AND HAVE HAD TROUBLE AFTER THE SWAP WAS DONE. TO AVOID HEADACHES AND HAVING A CAR THAT DOES NOT RUN OR WORK PROPERLY DO THE WORK FIRST THEN THE SWAP.

 

That is completly understandable.. My plan was when i decide to do this swap to completly tear down and rebuild the engine before i put it in. like you said to eliminate the headache of modding the engine after install.

 

What's a supra motor?

All kidding aside... You have barely scratched the surface in finding out all you need to know to do this swap. You don't want a supra motor, you want an Aristo motor.

So far, I know of 9+ FULL (head and shortblock) swaps in existence. Most all are still sorting out problems, trying to mod further and further in an attempt to fix little issues they cannot figure out.

If history proves anything, you do not want to do this unless you seriously know what you are doing unless you want a useless pile of problems sitting in your driveway. It's not so much the physical part (which is not easy) but the engine management and electronics.

That said, I'm loving my car. Runs like stock except way more power.

 

wow. the never ending saga of to swap or to just turbo.....
I went with the swap spent about the same money that I would on a tubo kit. then i got hungry and decided to build the motor so I spent another 10K on going single turbo and building up the motor. then you throw anothe 5K on a v160 6pd to modify it and make it work on an Is300. before you know it you have spent the cost of the car 3 times. and don't even realize it. only you can answer what is best for you. if your thinking 500hp or less go with stock block and turbo kit. if you want more than 500 hp be prepared to drop a years salary on building a beast The hardest part for me has been to make the electronics interact properly with the car. I went standalone, I have been through several tuners, and I am about to embark on my forth build now. Once you have the car and have decided, how much power you want, how much money you want to spend, and how much are willing to spend, pm I will offer as much info as I can so that you don't hit some of the same walls I did.

 

IMO, just buy another 2jzge block, and build it from the bottom up with gte internals or forged Carrillos and all, then heads, turbo to your taste, and direct swap that. It's your best bet for fit and finish.

And the new AEM fic is way awsome to use now, so alot of the issues that most other stand alones and piggybacks are now not a problem, even with the Vvti.