I have a stock 95 SC400 that im looking to get around 300hp or a little more. This is my first project and im hoping to eventually make it into a driftable daily. I already have a cold air intake I'm planning to add soon but what should i do as far as preventative maintenance and performance? NGK spark plugs are the only thing that has been added so far. No plans for a turbo anytime soon.

 

Unfortunately your only realistic options for getting that kind of power (or more) from your 1UZ-FE is to go with forced induction. A custom twin turbo system is very expensive on a UZ engine. Slightly more affordable is a roots supercharger kit from Bullet Cars (Australia) using an Eaton M-90, Eaton M-112 or M-122 blower at around the $2,000-ish range just for the kit parts.

That kit will not include required fuel system upgrade modifications, required additional cooling system modifications, driveline upgrades with a stronger transmission, LSD, standalone engine control or some piggyback tuning system or highly recommended braking upgrades. What their kits do for you is take the guesswork out of just the supercharger installation part of the vehicle upgrade equation.

If you want to make a drift-able daily you can very easily have this by upgrading the suspension, brakes, wheels, tires, seats (the stock seats have zero side bolstering), add an LSD and most crucially... manual swap your stock 250hp 1UZ. That alone will totally change how your car feels. Not to mention that with a simple middle resonator delete on the stock exhaust alone the V8 sounds awesome.

Easy and meaningful naturally aspirated power upgrades aren't really much of a thing with the 1UZ-FE V8 and 2JZ-GE. They are tuned well overall in stock form but both aren't the kinds of engine designs that will yield power increases without forced induction in the same way that a Honda K-series, General Motors LS, Ford Modular or Ford Coyote will.


Definitely do a full tuneup and check very basic things such as whether or not you have a timing belt service due, require new spark plugs, new plug wires and distributor caps, etc.

Also don't throw away that factory air box and its intake tube. Both are far better designed by Toyota to draw in cooler outside air than they are given credit for. If you intend to use a an aftermarket intake, consider combining it with an air isolator box such as the MVP Motorsports "Max Air Box" which only needs slight modification to fit the SC's engine bay.

I have used one of those and found it to be very good with my previous K&N cone filter setup (JZ engine but in that airbox location it is all the same).

Honestly unless you have a very heavily modified engine I feel the factory air box still does a better job overall so long as you have a good filter in there.

Also, random but important note: DON'T EVER CLEAN YOUR KARMAN-VORTEX MAF SENSOR!! The older SC's use the KV style MAF with an internal mirror based sensor. No matter what some general maintenance guide may say, never clean it because if you do you will internally foul that mirror and sensor and you will need to find a new one pronto. Just leave that part be.

 

Thank you for your helpful response. I will be looking into the Max Air Box and getting a full tuneup asap. Also looking into getting a manual swap conversion kit to add a 350z trans. I appreciate your help!