Sketch_hs

Little bit of a background story first (long winded, feel free to skip!):

I had a 95 supra for the last 6 years or so I did a lot of work to. Single turbo blah blah, holset he351ve (variable geometry turbo) build recently.

A few months ago I was driving to work in wet conditions (my daily miata was busy taking on a t25 turbo) and some pulled in front of me, as in they didn't stop at all

Long story short, car was totaled, insurance paid out nicely and I had some money to play.

I looked all around for another supra and almost bought one. Hard to find what I wanted (white hardtop)...

I just bought my first house in December 2011 so I had some bills to pay and wanted to do some upgrades so I made the financially responsible decision to pay all my debts and put about 10k in the house... new floors, tile etc... VERY happy wife (best upgrade ever)

So that left me with 15k to play. Not enough for a supra like I had so I decided to move over to a FD rx7

Picked her up from the bay area. Ran perfectly! Pretty fast too, very fun car even mostly stock. The previous owner had $15k in receipts! This included a complete engine overhaul with 3mm apex seals and a street port. $9800 bill on that alone!

I drove it around for a few months, knowing I was going to eventually swap the engine. The rotary is cool and all, but 15 mpg is not. Neither is the constant fear of something going wrong, the annoying waiting when warming up, no low end torque etc.

I was considering the ls1 swap, toyota v8s, even the 4g63 was a serious contender.

I've done a few swaps already, a few v6 mr2s, 1jz fc rx7, 1jz datsun 280z, 2jz 260z, recently a 4age 20v on my friends 87 mr2, custom turbo setup on my miata, and of course the na -> tt -> single swap on my old supra.

I really love the toyota JZ family and have always been interested in doing a swap with VVTI! If I had picked up another supra I would have certainly done a 2jz vvti

The vvti 1jz is the lightest of the jz motors and also quite a bit shorter than the 2jz. The VVTI and factory single turbo spool VERY fast (full torque at 2400 rpm) and get great gas millage.

So I ordered the engine from nagano USA (very good seller in my experience) Usually I would have bought it from my local guy (Venus Automotive) but he didn't have any with the manual r154 transmission.


Here's the progress so far:
















Yes, it clears the stock hood (this was very important to me!) but just! Lowered the steering rack about 1/2 inch. Using the samberg bump steer correction kit.


More to come.

charlie 7

Sucks what happened to ur supra man... but it looks like u are on ur way to build another sweet ride!!!
Who made the swap kit?

Sketch_hs

Im doing almost all the fab but the subframe is sambergs designed for a ls1 swap. I had them make it w/out the mounts attached, then i made my own mounts for the 1jz

I completed the tranny mount, engine is sitting pretty!


Driveshaft is getting made, total length was 40.12 inches

charlie 7

Good to know... so thats the only modifications they did to the frame and the motor sits without any problems? ..
It will b nice if u put more info on tha subframe and modifications u have done...

Sketch_hs

I machined 2.5 mm off the steering rack spacers to make the rack clear the oil pan perfectly and the engine fit under the stock hood. To make the JZ mounts I used my own materials and ideas with some parts off the samberg v8 mounts.

Tranny mount is totally custom, im going to use the samberg diff mount kit too.



Looks like my plans for the radiators / intercooler will need to change a little too. :/ i know what im doing this weekend....

Trying to keep the piping as short as possible, going for maximum response.... fun street car you can daily drive and maybe some road racing in the future. Engine is 1/4 inch from the fire
wall

damnneeda7

I just picked up a roller and have been looking at a 1jz swap for a while. Did you convert the engine to a rear sump? Thanks!!

Sketch_hs

Yes, rear sump fits great, front sump wouldnt fit at all.

Sketch_hs

Mounted the intercooler, made a radiator and AC condenser support too. Trans mount done too





I'll probably start working on the intercooler piping today

Sketch_hs

Samberg rear diff kit installed! Project is coming together.... Should be running in a week or so! More pictures to come.

damnneeda7

I know there are two different tails for the 154 trans ( I assume you used that one) and I want to know which one you have and how does it line up in the tunnel cutout for the shifter? Thanks! It looks killer... cant wait to see more!

Sketch_hs

The longest. There are actually three that i know of. Usdm mk3 supra is the shortest, there is one thats about an inch longer i think the chaser, then this one thats about 4-5 inch longer like in a soarer or jzx100?

Sketch_hs

Worked on it a lot over the weekend.

Lots of stuff to do still, many bits you see here are temporary....

More to come.

blue87t2

looks good, how do you like the vvti vs the non vvti. i would predict it would be better, but what is your personal opinion. really thinking about doing a vvti project

Sketch_hs

Drove it around the block a few more times today, downpipe done, connects to Racing beat cat back and cat delete pipe. Nice and quiet.

Made some radiator top mounts, not super pretty but they do the job, may revise in the future...

VVTI not hooked up (broken solenoid) putting around in it, already way more torque that the rotary, not even getting into boost.

Tomorrow i'll trim the hood webbing where needed so it can close completely and wire up some fans, then i'll be able to drive it down to my shop and do a much needed alignment... it's set by eye right now LOL!

Still need to wire and run AC, cruise and other small stuff.

BTW, this motor sounds crazy!

Sketch_hs

Trimmed hood webbing in a few places, hood now closes with room to spare. Replaced vvti soleiod, all important things hooked up!

Drove it around a bit and popped off a charge pipe where i haddnt rolled a bead yet lol, engine feels pretty good at 10psi

Took it 22 miles to work yesterday so i could do an alignment, everything was way off, and the rear toe adjusters were stuck so i had to remove them and break them free in a vice! Took 3 hours to dial it in. Still a little too much front camber and caster, but im going to build some coilovers on the konis in it now so ill raise it up a bit and recheck that stuff later.

Need to get ac going asap, hot as hell in sacramento!

Sketch_hs

This weekend:

Made AC lines and wired it up

Wired up reverse lamps

Adjusted exhaust for better clearance and added a stainless resonator

Started to make a air box / heat shield. Using k&n ru-5111 filter works great

Bypassed stock FD fuel pump resistor (makes engine lean at full throttle!)

Clean it up a little. Just need my big koyo radiator now!

Sketch_hs

Big koyo rad installed, a few other things

Did valve stem seals, fixed the smoking issue. The old seals were thrashed!

Trimmed some of the stock airbox parts to make a neat little cooling plate for the top of the radiator.

charlie 7

Baddass man

Sketch_hs

Quick run in a vvti 1jz powered fd rx7. Stock engine, rolling start 0-112mph - YouTube

Sorry for the poor camera skills, but it was my phone, and I had to shift and steer etc :P

looking forward to turning the boost up. Not sure how much I can get away with on 91 **** gas. Maybe 15? I'd like to max out the stock turbo for a while. I love the near lag free operation!


By the way, for all your rotary guys... Got about 25-28 mpg on the highway and in town averaging 75-80mph with the AC on and a heavy foot. Try that :P


In all honesty I still have some ideas for a rotary powered car. Maybe a first gen rx7... I love those things.

There are some rumors about vehicles up to 1980 becoming smog exempt in CA. If that happens you'll see me in one rocking a 12a

speedsilver7

iTrader: (8)

very nice car ,im really love to have one in the future.let me know when you ready to sell her please
thanks

Sketch_hs

Update: I'll be building some coilovers on my koni shocks for the car today... pics later!

charlie 7

Man.. you make this look so simple ...my motor is already done but I jst dnt know where should I start .. i know first i havr to pull the Rotary engine out..lol...
hows the car running.. and the ac

Sketch_hs

Coilovers in! Ride is great, very smooth. Handles much better than with the racing beat springs I had on the same koni shocks (came with car)

The best budget coilover system is almost surely koni yellows with a threaded spring perch. The ride is very good and comfy over rough roads. Running 400 front 275 rears, may up the rates in the future. about 1/2 stiff rear, 2/3 stiff front. Two finger gap all around ... i'll do corner weighing in the future to perfect the setup.

They took about an hour to make with the available parts I have a work and our lathe. Konis came with the car so I've got under $200 into this setup

I work at an audi shop in davis CA called 2Bennett Audimotive. We build coilovers for just about any audi and VW, but will sell the components to just about anyone. All of the parts are top quality and made in the USA. Literally the nicest threaded sleeves, split lock rings, adapter seats, springs of many lengths and rates.

Sketch_hs

This swap has been a fun challenge for me, and I've done a few conversions before this. I've also been working on cars professionally for over 10 years.

Expect it to take a while and cost a lot. If you can't make things with metal you'll need someone that can, and the equipment etc.

I used my mig welder, plasma cutter, sawzalls, grinders, drills, etc and was able to make everything I needed. Most important tool is measuring tape, and your own brain. Think everything through, and if your part doesn't work quite right it's usually best to call it a prototype and start over.

I've got everything working except cruise control now. Just need a cable set up for that really. AC blows nice and cold in the Sacramento heat.

Pulling the rotary is the first step. I had mine out in about an hour

charlie 7

Yea i dnt have all those tools .... :-(
I guess im going to end up getting tech2 kit or shiftedperformance to make it simple .. jst bcuz i dnt have the correct tools to complete this kind of gorgeous swap lol you should move to long beach ..here is not tha Hot you we dnt need AC jaja well sometimes we do.lol