J's V8 Conversion - Pic Heavy

Hi everyone

I've finally begun the process of stripping my Supra's running gear for my V8 conversion project, so I figured I would put up a thread to share my progress - both good and bad.

Updates will be sporadic, but I'll try and do them as soon as time allows .

A bit of history…

I started with my ’92 Toyota Soarer 4.0 GT-Limited (UZZ31); once I’d resolved a couple of issues, I began stripping it and finally got the engine and auto box out in Oct ‘13:

I got the engine onto a stand (sourcing the correct bolts took a while) and throughout ’14 I replaced the following:

• 2 of the core plugs in the left bank head
  
• Timing belt
  
• Water pump
  
• Idler and tensioner pulleys
  
• Thermostat
  
• Oil filter
  
• The oil pump for the radiator fan with an idler from an LS400.
  

I got my exhaust system (amongst a few other parts) from a former member of this forum (no, they weren’t banned) and fitted the downpipes. I then painted the pulleys as some of them were looking terrible.

My handywork isn’t brilliant, but they looked a heck of a lot better than it did and that was what I was going for.

In December I finally reunited the engine and gearbox and it was at this point that I was ready to tackle the Supra, but that had to wait after I had my knee operation in January earlier this year.

Following some advice, I am going to use a plug-and-play adapter to interface between the 1UZ-FE and the JZA80 wiring systems, so I got all of the connectors from the Soarer and labelled up which wire needs to connect to which on the corresponding 2JZ-GE loom. I will be cutting the appropriate connectors off the 2JZ-GE loom, labelling the wires up and then soldering them together when I get some time in the evenings.

Recent activity…

On Sunday, I made a start on my Supra; I decided to start by removing the exhaust system, as they normally give me a lot of trouble and this one did not disappoint. Yesterday morning I finally got it off, but one of the flanges on the first cat was a casualty .

The heat shield and rear chassis brace were next and they came off without a fight; I’m assuming that because aerotops have extra bracing to strengthen the chassis, the rear brace is larger than ones I have seen in hardtop build threads. The bolts on the heat shield look wet because I sprayed them with WD40, I couldn’t get my PlusGas up onto them, but WD40 did the trick anyway.

The prop shaft came out with a bit of persuasion but it I had a much easier time of it compared to when I removed my Soarer’s prop shaft.

The underside is now looking rather spacious!

Late in the afternoon I started on the engine bay and mainly removed smaller items like to igniter and coil pack, freed up some of the connections around the engine and started loosening the fan shroud.

All being well, I should be back out on it sometime today and I’ll post the next set of updates as soon as I get the chance .

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Looks like an interesting project and would be nice to see the high and lows you have !

Good luck

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Nice work J, am doing roughly the same at the moment. But using a TT Supra body. Will be following your thread closely.

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Has anyone mounted a getrag 6 speed up to these engines?

Has anyone mounted a getrag 6 speed up to these engines?

Ryan G did but from what i remember he had issues with the adapter plate that he imported

Ryan G did but from what i remember he had issues with the adapter plate that he imported

Ahh yes, this one http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?238361-V8-Twin-Turbo-Project

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Nicely documented so far. Hope it goes smoothly for you

Subscribed And watching with interest :thumbs:good luck with the build.

J, Well done, its interesting to see what is actually involved as i didnt do my conversion, keep going.

Thank you all for subscribing and for the encouragement - hopefully you find this thread of use, even if it is just to kill some time .

Shane, all the best with your build, hopefully we'll be able to bounce some ideas around, should we need to. Will you be doing a thread? I don't (yet) recall anyone using a TT body as a base and in theory, it shouldn't make much difference, but I guess we'll see .

I did make some pretty good progress today and I'll try to post an update soon .

Subscribed. Dibbs when you're selling too

Thank you all for subscribing and for the encouragement - hopefully you find this thread of use, even if it is just to kill some time .

 

Shane, all the best with your build, hopefully we'll be able to bounce some ideas around, should we need to. Will you be doing a thread? I don't (yet) recall anyone using a TT body as a base and in theory, it shouldn't make much difference, but I guess we'll see .

 

I did make some pretty good progress today and I'll try to post an update soon .

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?319172-Shane-s-new-build/page2&highlight=shane+latest

Yesterday didn’t get off to the best of starts, whilst removing the earth bolt behind the battery tray, the head sheared off , so I’m going to have to find another location to use as an earth – unless I can drill it out ?

I then proceeded to disconnect all of the wiring from the fuse box. There were two extra wires running from underneath the fuse box and I have no idea what their purpose is/was. I’ll go into more detail on a separate thread.

The cooling system was next and the drain plug at the bottom of the radiator was rather stubborn, but it did twist and open in the end – I was worried that I was going to snap off the little plastic lugs but they held . Once the coolant was draining out, I removed the top pipe from the radiator and the block.

The fan shroud was removed whilst the system was draining and it became apparent that my radiator had gone way beyond its best before date .

Once the system had finished draining, I disconnected the auto box cooling pipes from the radiator; I did them one at a time so that any excess fluid in them could drain into the bottle I had ready. Whilst they were draining, I removed the fan to provide better clearance when I get around to removing the engine. The bolts on the fan were quite corroded, so I used PlusGas on each of them and they came off with little fuss .

Fluid was still dripping out of the cooler pipes at this point, so I moved on to draining the oil from the engine. This did get quite messy, despite my best attempts to avoid making such a mess, however, using a dedicated oil catch can and funnel did reduce the fallout .

Whilst my socket and gloves were still a bit oily, I decided to drain the auto box fluid whilst I was there. Again, this was messy, but not quite as messy as the engine oil…

The power steering fluid was next on my to-do list and I found it difficult to get my bottle and funnel into a decent position under the reservoir/pump. I removed the aux belt to get better clearance, but it wasn’t brilliant ; a smaller bottle or funnel might have made it easier.

Once the oil had finished dripping from the reservoir, the bolt was put back in to stop any extra leakage and I then removed the pipes from the power steering box on the rack. I tied a plastic bag around the pipe from the pump so I can tell the difference later on when I refer back to the photos. One of the pipes from had a lot of fluid in it and it took a while to empty; I would advise sticking a bottle with a funnel underneath it and leaving it for a while whilst you do something else!

I took off the pipes going to/from the heater at the back on the engine and, the vacuum pipe for the brake master cylinder and undid the pipes leading to/from the air con pump. Again, I tied a plastic bag on to one of them to differentiate them.

Finally, once all of the fluids had stopped dripping, I sealed up any open bottles/containers, loosened the 8 nuts on the gearbox support bracket (I’ll undo them on the day I’m ready to remove the engine), loosened the bolts supporting the power steering pipe brackets onto the underside of the engine and wrapped up there.

As far as I’m aware, I just have the fuel lines to disconnect, undo the linkage between the auto box and the selector, make sure any extra earth wires have been disconnected and then undo the engine mount nuts; I’ll give everything a once over and make sure .

Good Progress, I am guessing you are are using plus gas in a can. You can get a spray version which will help you for had to reach / inverted areas

Drill out the original and re-use the hole, I couldnt leave something like that, it would always bug me

Good Progress, I am guessing you are are using plus gas in a can. You can get a spray version which will help you for had to reach / inverted areas

Yes, I am. I will have a look for a spray version as it is useful stuff .

Drill out the original and re-use the hole, I couldnt leave something like that, it would always bug me

I know what you mean, I'll see what I can do once I've swapped the engines .

Subscribed. Dibbs when you're selling too

I have a feeling that you're going to be waiting for a LONG time

I have a feeling that you're going to be waiting for a LONG time

I'm a patient man

Subscribed, for inspiration!

Good work so far.

Yesterday went pretty well !

Disconnecting the earth wire from the fuel filter was a quick and easy job however undoing the 17 mm bolt at the other end of the filter was not . It did eventually move and come out but it did put up a heck of a fight; once it was out, fuel started syphoning out of the tank and putting the bolt back in (with the pipe removed, of course) did nothing to stem the flow of fuel ! So I had a mad dash to the boot to remove the (also stubborn) 17 mm bolt securing in the other end of the pipe onto the outside of the tank.

I then tackled the auto selector linkage but firstly taking photos of the linkage in the “Park” and “Neutral” positions, so I know what position they both the gearbox switch and selector need to be in when I connect them up later. I left the selector in “Park” whilst I undid the nut as it kept moving between “Reverse” and “Drive” when I first tried to loosen it.

The 12 mm nut securing the linkage together was VERY stubborn and I had to use my locking pliers on it just to get the thing to turn. Once it was free, one of the cooling pipes was in the way and stopping the nut from screwing off completely, so I had to gently pull the pipe away from the nut just enough for the nut and the linkage to slide off the end of the thread.

Whilst I was under there, I removed the engine mount nuts and bagged them up for safe keeping and it was at that point that I realised that I forgot to undo the drain plug for the coolant on the block on Tuesday, so I undid that once I had finished underneath the car.

So, apart from disconnecting the ECU and pulling the loom through to the engine bay (a 5 minute job), I am now ready to lift out the 2JZ and lower in the 1UZ. Fingers crossed, I should be doing this job on Saturday – as long as the engine hoist I am due to hire arrives on time! I would rather not have this roll over onto Sunday as that’s my birthday ! I’ll update this thread once I’ve got the 1UZ in .