thinkin about try in to pick up this sc400 he's asking 2950 and it's smogged with 207k on it do have the vin if anyone want to check it at dealer for me hehe JT8UZ30CXN0008857.
what do you guys think should i grab it or wait for a 300

 

I would start off with something that has less miles. But that's just me. What are you looking for in an SC?

 

at i'm short on cash so gotta get something to start the project just need it to last 8 months or so just not sure if i wanna do a 1jzgte swap or a supercharger .
bad part is i have to use it to get to work til i can get nother block build . kinda to give you a idea how i do things cause i'm new to sc's .

you should have seen it when i bought it the front bumper was draggin on the ground the stock wheels had a 1 inch gash in the rims etc

 

Well as you know, SC300s are better for 1jz. I suggest doing some research. Here's a great site to peruse and get some info on what you can do to SCs. http://intellexual.net/

If you are on a budget you can still find something with lower miles. All it takes is patience. Good luck buddy, and welcome to the club.

 

hey are you from fresno?

 

na sold it to some kid who couldn't see over the steering wheel . i lost my butt on that car about 16k invested sold it for 5500

 

If you're on a budget, get a low mileage JDM 1UZ V8 engine and swap it in. Most of the JDM engines are for the LS, so you'll just need to swap the SC oil pan onto the JDM LS engine and it'll be done. A JDM engine will be around $650 if you can pick it up in the L.A. area. The V8 will turn to a completely different beast when being force fed.

 

Thats it?!!? $650 for a complete JDM 1UZ... wow, i had no idea. Did you go this route yourself?

 

The motor itself is $650. Yes. I picked it up from a local motor yard that only carries JDM engines/trannies. The nice thing about this place is it had about 5 or 6 JDM 1UZFE at that time, so I could personally inspect them and pick the best. The seller said they all have about 60,000 miles, which I kind of believe due to their good condition. I didn't really trust Ebay engines.

None of those engines had any leaks, but I still went ahead and replaced all gaskets/seals along with ARP head studs & Cometics head gaskets so my motor costed more than that. When I did the compression test, all cylinders were in between 185-190 psi. Perhaps those motors should have similar compressions as mine. If you want to know how the JDM engines look like, let me know and I'll show you. Even the USDM engines with the same year/model will look different from the JDM engines. Other nice thing about these JDM engines is they're in between 1991-1994 so that they have beefy rods and are more friendly for boost.

 

You can do alot better. I got mine for 2500.00, he wanted 2900.00 It had 136,000 miles and a clean title.

 

interesting. thanks for the helpful info...
and yes, i'll take a look at your motor pics... those are always fun.

 

The JDM engine's top will have the logo "T and Toyota" instead of "L and Lexus". It has a cold start fuel injector underneath the throttle body. You can plug it or use your existing SC400 throttle body. It also doesn't have any EGR at all. Its headers are LS headers. My JDM engine didn't have the A/C attached, but I read somewhere it's also different. Some other parts are also different. However, you don't need to worry because all holes/threads on it are the same as the USDM, so you can replace with the USDM parts.

You can ask the motor yard to check for the spark plug wires. The year on the wires will tell what year the motor is, unless it's replaced.

Here's my thread on the complete build: http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10637

 

stevechumo:great build thread, never saw it before. thanks for all the great info... something to definitely keep in mind when it comes time to do the engine swap(whenever this may be). I'd love to find a low mileage 1UZ and turbo or supercharge it. As for now i'll keep running the original motor b/c it still runs like a champ and giving me zero problems....

 

You're welcome. Boosting the 1UZ isn't too hard as most people think. You'll just need to know your power goal and then you can go to the right route. I've seen several 200K miles stock LS/SC that are still running like the champs. Not a lot of engines can do that, can they?