(Turbo Magazine page 32 March 2003 issue)

 

All stock motor dyno numbers: 300.4 hp and 247 lb-ft

Article reads:

Text and Photos by: Evan Griffey

Chuck Tobey has been happy rolling his 1997 Lexus SC300, but the allure of the Supra's potent 2jz-gte egine was too strong.

Chuck put his own spin on the situation by electing to drop in a 1998-and-up JDM Aristo TT engine with Variable Valve Timing with Intelligence (VV-Ti). The swap included the VVTi automatic gearbox as well. SP Engineering was put in charge of the transformation.

The big hurdle was getting the "digital" VVTi ECU to interface with the "analog" non-VVTi SC300. The SC lineup went VVTi in the 1998 model year, which would have elmininated the two main hurdles SP Engineering faced.

The totally stock powerplant was a drop in installation using the VVTi engine mounts. The tranny was also an R&R propostion, with the only mod being a custom driveshaft to join the VVTi engine mounts. The tranny was also an R&R proposition, with the only mod being a custom driveshaft to join the VVTi tranny to the original-issue SC300 rear end.

The swap utilized the VVTi harness and ECU, and this combo got the car up and running. The challenge was getting the tach and speedometer to work. The signal the ECU sends to the tach could not properly interpreted and displayed.

After trying a number of diverstionary tactics, SP's Rex Kieu found the answer. MSD's new Tach Adaptor, which converted the data to a square wave signal and pu the tach back on the job. For the speedomeeter, split second came to the rescue by custom-building a signal converter that takes 16- pulse speed data from the ECU and converts it to the four pulse data the speedometer needs to accurately display the Lexus' speed.

And speedy it is. That speedometer needle is arcing across the gauge face quicker than it was ever moved.

Chuck has healthy twin turbo trust at the end of his right foot and he uses it. Set at 1.1 bar of boost pressue, the all stock JDM Aristo engine put 300.5 hp and 247.9 lb-ft of torque to the ground. Best of all, the VVTi automatic shifts much more crisply than a Supra with a slushbox, and the car has met and exceeded Chucks's expectations.

This puts a decidedly JDM twist on the All American 2JZ-GTE/SC300 swap and this powerful comb delivers the goods when the hammer drops.

 

awesome, what mag was that in?

 

Can youn post closer scans?

 

brb, i'm off to buy the mag!

 

wow, i could have sworn that i saw that exact same engine up for sale on the parts trader.

 

Heres the cover of the mag.

 

Thanks

 

nice find, I like when our car gets a little of the limelight