Hey there everyone, great to be apart of the community now!

I just bought a 1993 Lexus SC300 for $300. The head was blown, a little interior is missing and the exhaust obviously needs work! haha.

Im just curious as to how you guys would go about building this motor. its the 2JZ-GE correct? the GTE for the supra only stands for turbo, other than that everything else is identical from what I read, but I would love to hear yall's input regarding how to fix this motor back up; I'm more of the 8cyl type but I've LOVED the 2JZ, for the obvious F&F reasons, ever since I was a young boy. the outside is in great condition, hoods got some obvious wear from the sun, gas cover is missing as well. I wasn't given the head, and from what the prev. owner said i wouldn't have wanted it anyway(was that a mistake?)

What would it take to build a decent head to later support a turbo, what turbo should I use( yes yes i know, use the search bar) what problems should I look for fixing this car up, whats in store for me on this build, etc etc... I really want to do this car right, I dont want to rice it out, lowering with some awesome wheels( great user input of which wheels to look at or even sites/links to the wheels would be great), what suspension parts should I upgrade for lowering, which parts, etc etc on this one...

but mainly, where should I start on rebuilding a head, or where should I find one first of all? Like i said, I do want to build it for later turboing when I have the money for it! lol

Thanks again for everyone's input, know-how, guiding and links that yall provide; also, links to quality parts sites for the build would be great too, or where I can save money on parts(should I use used ebay options on his one??)
I hope yall have a great evening and again, glad to be apart of this community and looking forward to the knowledge yall share with me!!

 

Hello there!

So to start of i think you need to decide what you want the car to be. Are you trying to go high HP track car? stock cruiser? canyon carver? do you want a comfy ride or full out performance? do you want the cabin to be quiet or hear everything thats happening in the car and on the road? Basically figure out what you want your end goal to be and then plan accordingly. Personally I never see the point in taking a Lexus and making it a track car. Yes i know the 2jz platform and the fact that its basically a supra are very compelling arguments but it was meant to be a luxury coupe and a GT car so i would make it exactly that. Restore the interior and fix any issues first then get about 350-400HP to the wheels and find a nice set of soft but not too soft coils or springs. Add an exhaust system thats not obnoxius but has a nice tone to it and you got yourself a perfect luxury car for 2 people to take on a roadtrip through some winding roads.

 

like he mentioned above.. depends on what your overall goal is.. you are stepping into something that is very diverse..

 

First off, congratulations on the purchase! That car will need some work for sure but if it's a modified SC you want, especially with a turbo, you've scored a heck of a deal to start building up.

Echoing the advice above from others, it's a very versatile platform and it all boils down to what you want to do with it.

92-00 SC's are more luxury muscle car coupes with sports car mechanical leanings than a purist sports car despite being the basis for the MKIV Supra but people do regularly and easily make track machines out of SC's and Soarers.

Just the same, people keep them stock, modify them only for street horsepower or just stick to mechanical suspension and braking changes or just cosmetic changes for any variety of intended uses. They are very, very capable of being custom tailored to your specific requirements.

It shouldn't be too difficult to locate another 92-97 GE cylinder head and intake parts to get it all going again. If you're already at this point with it it's a perfect time to pull the entire engine for a refresh and turbo build.

We're here to help you with details, recommendations and many of the ins and outs of these cars. First thing is to think about and decide how you realistically want to use the car. I agree with - V - that even a mere 350-400hp setup will be plenty to completely transform the car and would even be perfect as a daily driver if set up well.

What you've heard about the GE vs GTE engines is partly right but it's more like this: the GTE engines were developed first and *then* Toyota developed the naturally aspirated GE engines from them. Thus, all the turbo specific parts were not included on the non turbo variants and a different intake system was used in order to increase low end naturally aspirated torque, plus a simpler and more common (for the early 90's) distributor ignition was used vs the coil on plug ignitions on all GTE's.

What did not change from the GTE spec other than the GE's factory 10.0:1 compression ratio and lack of piston oil squirters was the strong turbo-ready forged crankshaft, tough as nails cast iron block, turbo-ready connecting rods and strong turbo-capable pistons and rings. 1998-2005 VVT-i 2JZ-GE's got weaker rods, pistons and rings but those are upgraded in turbo builds all the time. Your car does not cover the VVT-i years anyway being a 1993 so you already have the strong rods, pistons and rings.

Just switching to a 2JZ-GTE OEM head gasket over the GE head gasket will bring that compression ratio down to about 9.2:1-9.3:1 or so. Strong ARP head studs are recommended.

There are many details to get you into reliable turbo territory but the bottom line is that the GE engines from 92-97 are very turbo ready if their compression and leak down test numbers are all good. Several supporting modifications are required of course but the GE engines themselves are built for turbocharging even though they didn't come that way stock. If you're a V8 guy and like power you will not be dissatisfied with a well set up NA-T 2JZ-GE or a swapped in 1JZ-GTE or 2JZ-GTE.

Think of how you truly want to and will use the car and that will inform everything needed to get you there.

Good luck!

 

damn guys, thanks for the comments and tons of crucial information on the car!!

performance wise, i'm not looking for anything crazy- i want to make sure the car's in working order first- starting with the head to make it strong. nothing stupid expensive, but i do want to build aftermarket into it. i have no idea what shape the transmission is in but they had said it was fine, which is a spectrum all the time. a new fuel system would be nice too since its obviously gotta have plenty of fuel, haha. whatever turbo you guys recommend building into would determine how solid i'd go on head parts/rear end parts for sure, but im sure ya'll have the best information to build something around the turbo. that said, anything over 400hp would be nice- it only being strictly a street car (with some fun play in it) 650 tops before things start breaking and more money needs to be sunk into it.

suspension wise- i love a great cornering car. this model looks pretty slick lowered, so that'd be something else i'd love to do. again, nothing super crazy. i mean just a little tuck if that- maybe bigger wheels to an inch, or inch n a half- may have to look at what drops are what on these cars. brakes will be taken care of as well- i have cross/slotted on both my other cars and i do enjoy those.

interior would be the last thing to take care of, some diy carpet, buckets and put the bells n whistles back together on the car as the unit is gone as well as the back interior/passenger door panel.

the car wont be going anytime soon so if i can save here and there to get a few things or a thing at a time i think it'd be a fun project. thanks again yall for commenting and asking- here's a few pictures of what I got!

 

All of your goals are very doable. 400hp and excellent handling are well within the capabilities of this chassis. For its size once it is set up well it drives like a slightly smaller car than it actually is. Lexus set them up a bit cushy and slow from the factory but all of that is easily corrected.

I am not the most well versed on the latest and greatest in the NA-T world but a good 2JZ-GE head, a Treadstone turbo manifold and a small modern 57mm-62mm Precision turbo will probably do an excellent job to achieving what you want. Many other options out there as well. Injectors choices aside you can probably get away with wiring in Aristo 2JZGTE non-VVT-i ECU and oil pack ignition using the GE distributor as the cam sensor trigger. A crank angle sensor signal can be had by swapping in a new 1996+ SC300 Aisin oil pump which has the factory crank angle sensor location on it (works the same for GE's and GTE's).

You'll need to pull the engine and pull off the oil pan to tap for the turbo oil drain anyway so it would be a perfect time to install the newer style GE oil pump with the crank sensor location on it.

Suspension wise there are many options for coilovers, a couple of DIY suspensions (Gixxer_Drew with some extra work involved), swaybars and LSDs. For your purposes on a budget I think picking up a 1992-1997 SC400 3.92:1 open differential will be best. An aftermarket LSD can always be installed into an SC open diff casing. Unless you luck out and can find a much pricier Supra TT Automatic 3.76 Torsen LSD.

In addition to the cosmetic TLC and other considerations don't forget to address getting new front lower control arms (buy those for a 93-96 Supra-- same fitment and better rubber) and Daizen Sport Tuning or Figs Engineering polyurethane steering rack bushings. That will tighten up any slop in the steering.

Since you have a big hole where the stereo used to be, look up Raine's threads on how to wire up aftermarket stereos in SC's. One shows how to with the factory Pioneer amplifier and one shows how to without. Front bezels to fit aftermarket stereos are available from Metra. For that missing side A/C vent on the passenger side get yourself to ebay and pick one up. Remember to make sure you're buying one for the LHD SC's and not from a RHD Soarer.

Good luck! We're here to help as you go!