I want to start this thread with the hope of getting ideas for my future engine possibly swap when my goes dead. I have 140,000 miles on mine and when it goes out i want to keep the car and put in a much more powerful engine. Has anyone seen a engine swap on either this forum or another, that can turn my sc into a beast.

 

I think many of us would cringe at thought of swapping engines in our beloved SC. After all, the powerful and smooth V8 in SC is arguably one of the best Lexus ever made. Why would someone want to destroy a crown jewel in SC? 140k miles is relatively little on that engine; many here would agree it should last another 140k with regular maintenance. Now if you are searching for a beast SC is just too refined to fit that role.

 

Search internet for "SC430 Tundra" or JoeDrifter. He did a 5.7L Tundra (~381HP stock) engine swap into the SC430 with a ton of other mods (transmission, suspension, wide body, etc). Not sure if it ever turned out, as he stopped updating his site and just went dark. Sent him a few messages via facebook. Never got a reply.

http://www.joedrifter.com/
http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/tun...s-sc430-3.html
http://www.drifting.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30744
http://www.importatlanta.com/forums/...xus-sc430.html
http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums...-build-thread/

 

Oh yea, and there's enough people that have done the swap to the Supra 2JZ motor. Search for "SC430 SJZ Supra."

https://dragint.com/2016/03/25/swap-...-single-turbo/

 

im not saying it isn't a smooth powerful great car, but I grew up in a family with very fast cars and having power behind the wheel is the lifestyle that I want, not to race but just to have fun when I want too. But yea who knows how long the engine will last and hopefully it does but when it goes out I want a project car and build this car to keep.
But as of the cars listed above and ideas seems very cool and I'll look into them further thanks for all the help.

 

Justin, if you are really into adding a lot of power in SC and you are in southern Ca I suggest you call Steve at Luxlink who I know has done a quite a few of those turbos on SC. He is the one who had the Luxlink remote top control, very knowledgeable guy on SC car. I would totally trust him to do a turbo conversion.

 

i was under the impression that he didn't do SCs anymore but turbo would be cool. How should I contact him, I wouldn't have him do it because I'm up in Northern California but I have a very good mechanic who does everything for my car who could probably do it but I'll need to ask Steve a few questions about it.

 

I have Steve's number as 6262564849. I imagine there are quite a few SC on this board that had turbo added on. You may want to ask them too.

 

Steve said he does not do sc motor mods anymore..

i understand the engines rods are the weakest point.

Yes i asked. Several times. He has a polished intake manifold in the waiting room area.

 

There's also a Youtube video with someone who did a Dry NOS kit (30-50 hit), and installed the bottle in the trunk. I debated this option for a while. I heard you would need stronger pistons and rings.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...s-install.html

Direct link to a video.

 

Former member sc430 owner Weny had nitrous and melted pistons blew up the engine. The sc430 is a go fast as it is as far as I am concerned. Fun video but would not want to trash my ride

 

^^^i second the statement above!

if you want to do nitrous, please take plenty of video when you hammer down!

 

"Plenty of video" will probably show SC going up in smoke. I am not sure it would be fun to watch...

 

i can answer some of the questions on this subject. In the CL thread, what was done right was a progressive solenoid, a rpm switch, and a WOT switch. In the video the only things they did right was mount the fogger in the air box, and a WOT switch. With cast rods and pistons you don't want the nitrous to come on like a 1978 911 turbo. Where it the power all the sudden slams on like bolt of lightning. That's why you want a progressive solenoid. You don't want the nitrous to spray with the engine rpm's under 2,500. As this reduces the chances of engine damage. Same for the wide open throttle switch. Next that no one mentioned is spark plugs. The sc430 has iridium plugs. Iridium is fragile, and even though it has an extremely high melting point. The fine Eire will glow, and cause pre detonation. If you run nitrous in your street care you need to run a copper core plug. You also want to run a step colder plug. Then you need to talk about length of the shot. Ideally 5 seconds, but definitely not more than 10 seconds. The point of putting the fogger in the air box is that it does Change the reading from the maf. The maf reading, intake temp reading, and O2 readings will allow the ECU to add extra fuel. Any thing over a fifty shot you are probably not able to supply enough fuel, unless you go with wet nitrous. Done and used sensibley, you can get longevity.