My 85 FB lexus v8 turbo build
 

hello all, im going to start this off the lazy way and link you my existing thread on the RCC forum, and go from there.

rotary car club.com/rotary_forum/showthread.php?t=16210[/url]

I am looking for anyone else that is putting or trying to put one of these in a gen1, its not an easy task and would love to bounce ideas around.

past that enjoy and feel free to ask questions, suggestions welcome and as always think outside the box

teaser pic

Way cool!

I am starting an LS6/T56 swap in my GSL-SE. Using the second gen front subframe to start and pedestal style mounts. Should be a pretty simple affair.

I'm over in the Daytona area and would love to check it out sometime if you go to any local meets.

well I try to go to meets when its running :D thats why im putting a piston engine in it hehehe so it runs more often :D

ya a SBC/SBF/LSX would be ALOT easier to fit in the car, but no one else has one of these in one. plus its surprisingly cheap if you make your own parts, the engines are dirt cheap, the yards are full of them, and its not the engine that dies, its the other parts on the cars that make them BER to fix so they junk the car, engines last 400k miles or more.

this setup is set to yield and entertaining amount of grunt...

latest update, smoothed off the pistons, nearly ready to assemble bottom end.

also here is the link to my facebook album with the pic log

Facebook

I can't view any of your pics on the other forum without an account. How is the Oil pan to crossmember clearance?

thats odd....you can view the pics on my facebook album though, its public, link is above, the clearance is..way above the X, its the rack that causes the problem, i offset the rack as far down as possible with aluminum offset bushings, shimmed the X down from the frame 3/8" as well, the front of the oil pan just barely sits up off the rack tube, but that won me stock hood clearance, at the cost of ground clearance, i added a 1x2" tube to the bottom of the REspeed Xmember as a strike point, and i cropped the pan by 1 inch, and i will also make a sump guard/strike plate, i dont have any great pictures of that situation in a finished state because the engine is not back in the car yet, so i will make a point to put some views of that up once its back in

Have you ever thought about moving the radiator a little further into the "nose" and run an FMIC at a slanted angle the same as the stock fascia?

This would give you a little more room in the engine bay as you could run the turbo in front of the engine for a more equal length run from the manifolds.

Just a thought.

Something like this.... forgive my skills.... I do better putting pencil to paper
Attachment 698937

thats gunna be a tight fit, but an awesome project. cant wait to see how the engine bay comes together. good luck man.

i thought about that radiator/fmic config yes, but it doesnt give you much room for a very large radiator, and this is a street car, and i live in florida....and its a turbo v8...so i packed the largest radiator i could in it.

im going to puting twins on the car to avoid the runner length issue, and because twins are cool...ill have to make a custom fmic to fit the space available, my pics show how the radiator is tilted rearward, sorta like my corvette was, giving an opening for charge pipe plumbing.

the rest of the void in the nose will be occupied by the large oil cooler and twin remote oil filters, which both of those should make up the volume lost by cropping the pan, or enough to not worry about oil volume, the 1uzfe holds 6qrts stock so its a bucket anyway, i will run the oil level at a safely higher level though, and might add a braking baffle.

I considered mounting my radiator like that, but I had concerns for ducting.... Usually modern cars with no grill to flow air from rely on an air dam to create high pressure in front of the rad and low airflow under to radiator to create a low pressure area behind the radiator to pull air through.

http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9...ductinggq0.jpg

dunno if you can see in this pic but the radiator extends down below where the stock oil cooler mounts, in fact im using the stock oil cooler brackets for it, worked out well, the radiator consumes all the usable space available without making a custom shaped radiator.

and i mounted 2 10 inch fans on it fully shrouded, and ill duct it when its all done...i fear the heat, anyone from down here knows how much it sucks to deal with.


hopefully I will have the engine re-assembled and back in the car by october, have just a few things to do along with that before dropping it in, then starts plumbing the hot side and exhaust, then I will start charge side. im just eating this elephant one bite at a time...

revvingGS also makes a valid point, though with the oil cooler, and fmic the air flow to the radiator is going to positively suck....so im just using brute force with the shrouded fans and ill go from there with sheet metal to help as much as possible

a drop vent hood would be ideal....but i dont want to lose my nice pretty stock hood i worked so hard to keep :D

got the rotating assembly put together and my turbos came in the mail, now i have to assemble the heads...thats gonna take a while...because someone(me) thought it would be awesome to have a 32 valve engine...:D

engine almost completed, soon to be in car and plumbing begins....

also front view of car with mock engine to show placement

Cool build, thanks for posting it up. :)

im trying, im not the best forum person...still not great with pics...cant seem to make them full size...but o well, you can still see them...

its been a learning curve on the engine itself, its not so simple as a SBC/SBF or even LSx, but once you get going on it, the tricks to taking it apart and puting back together come pretty easy, finding parts is a small challenge...but not nearly as challenging(pain in the ass) as wankel parts, and A LOT cheaper for most parts, save for forged rods/pistons, they cost the same for everything.

fitting it in the car just took alot of nip and tuck and weighing the options, it would be pretty easy for someone that didnt mind hacking up the body, but i dont want to cut up my car for an engine I may not stay with in the end.

i have 3 build threads started on it now, so its a bit tedious duplicating them all and links dont work well...so if you dont see something you are curious about just ask.

this is my lextreme thread for the lexus engine guys. http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15479

timing belt installed, working on the new belt tensioning system, and making it all pretty, incidently strips of velcro mimic a serpentine belt pretty good for figuring out what you are going to do and how long the belt is going to be.

i have to dissect the stock spring tensioner...looks like that might be a dangerously amusing good time, then will mod/fab/machine accordingly and then i can put the darn thing in the car!!! then plumbing...yay....

awesome build. keep us posted

seriouly cool, i have the dream of putting the 4.6l 1UR-FSE and 8 speed auto with all ecu/wiring between the two, in an 1st gen 7 or 8.

then pay close attention to where i gained space at....these DOHC v8s dont just fit down in a gen1 unless your willing to have a goofy looking hood and want to cut on the car, there is a reason its the only example i can find of it in the USA, most people flake out and just put a SBC or SBF in them since its easy.

you will not get it under the stock hood without modifying it, either top or bottom, one of them has to be cropped, take your pick according to your steering and transmission clearances and get to it. and note that in the front of the engine is the cam gears that stick up high, and those arent something you can move, and they are right where the hood starts to drop off so clearance is tight.

i will post finished pics of the Xmember placement and clearances as well as ground clearances and hoodline once the engine is back in the car, the stock hood meant a lot to me, but ground clearance must be dealt with, ill be adding armor to the bottom.

and yes..the UR line of yota v8s are nasty...but they are externally MASSIVE, the 1uz is hard enough to squeeze in.

haha, i want to put a gm 04-06 6.6 turbo diesel in an rx8 also, with the allison 1000... but thats soo ridiculous i'll wait till i have another spare lly block and try to do some test fitting.. before i will say that i'm going to do it. pipe dreams really. thats a heavy heavy block. but 600rwhp 1100 ftlbs... with just two injection pumps...

BUT, i hear you on the clearances. i'm wouldn't be afraid of changing out steering racks/remaking the oil pan, and "clearancing" the firewall, b/c imo, stock hood, or go home. keep up the FANTASTIC work!

thats a bit silly...those engines are just heavy....but if all you want is a drag/burnout car it might be amusing

the addition of the 1uz and the other changes i have made, rear end and front end, with the turbos and what not, should amount to a total of about +100lbs to the car MAX, I will weigh the car when done and post its overall and balance. I am very confident the balance will remain the same if not better. as the added weight is in several places not just on the front wheels

I wish i had weighed the car before i took the wankel out, but my guess is that it was pretty close to stock weight, being that all AC and emmissions equipment was removed, but then the turbo and plumbing added in place, so it was either the same, if not slightly, and i mean slightly as in just a few pounds less than bone stock.

in doing all this the car will remain a nice handling road car that can be driven in the rain safely, still stop and turn like a 7 should AND accelerate with extreme authority, though my holeshot traction might not permit hard standing starts, i dont care, its not a "drag" car, nor a trailer queen.

engine should be going in the car this week, nothing to show yet, will take pics as events unfold, plumbing starts soon....and dont we all just love doing that...:D

I know heavy, but the torque is amazing :nod:

glorious torque is what we are all after....that and an engine that starts without feeding it rare earth elements....

the 1uzfe is no slouch in the torque dept, for such a small cu in engine, as opposed to chevy engines that were originally truck engines reworked for performance, the 1uz is the opposite, it was initially designed as a racing engine, then they decided to turn it into a low end power luxury car engine....so you get a cam profile that lumps up on the bottom end...but the engine will rev to 7500....turbocharging this combo yields some pretty nasty numbers well north of 500 ftlbs at the wheels, for a 4.0L thats pretty healthy, hell even the factory torque is like 280ft lbs at around 2800rpm(dont quote me on that im going off of memory)

and for a 400lbs engine its all good. yes the aluminum LSx engines have more...but so what...im tired of looking at them in everything. i might end up with one eventually but for now, as a street car ill keep it unique, but if i want to turn it into a drag car and run 8s i will use an lsx.

engine is in the car, here are some pics of the various clearances, and just...well pics..still a long way to go, but every step counts.

I'm with you for the most part, but the SBC was designed for and originally used in the 55-56-57 Chevy cars, which were performance models of their day. The LS1 design was originally used in the Corvette. Both have truck engine variants, but they were modified to use in a truck, not the other way around. ;)

while i refer to them as truck motors, technically you are correct, but they are truck motors, they are overly heavy, and overly common and they even sound like truck engines up until you make one really radical or with a 4/7 swap cam...those sound pretty nice.. and all aluminum SBCs are super expensive, the ls1/2 is a much better starting point than a boat anchor iron engine.

i dont hate them..i love engines of most types, my friend has a 427cui alum SBC that makes about 900hp on motor alone....i would run that in my car in a second, but i wont put an iron engine in it. on principle alone. that and as i said before...tired of seeing them...they are in everything...every hot rod at the local shows has one, every race car at the track has one....nearly every swapped 7 has one...i know they work good but man..there are other more interesting options lol though i dont recommend a DOHC v8 in a gen 1 7 for the average guy...its a bit of a squeeze to make it proper and not just cobb job it in there and glue a hood scoop on it.

Yes, DOHC V8. This is what i want.

Very nice project! Whats the build cost looking like for this kind of project?

What transmission setup you using?

the mazda T2 trans, its in the thread here or on RCC or lextreme and my facebook page linked here. read up.

cost...well not as much as you think since i do my own machining and fab...but if you had to pay someone to do it...quite a lot due to huge time investment.

pics and updates coming soon

actually i did not detail the trans here yet in this forum, sorry. the other forums are linked here though, as well as the facebook folder. in short here is some info

the choice to use the T2 trans is simple...cost, i already had a forged steel flywheel and nice ACT clutch/pressure plate capable of the HP intended so since i did all the adapters myself for free, all it cost me was about 25 bucks for some special hardware, and then bout 100 bucks for a brand new camry starter since the T2 starter lacks the testicular fortitude to roll over a 4 cam v8, as for the strength of the t2...we shall see, they are pretty tough, my 12a made a good 400+ and i beat it like a stepchild, trans still works and sounds perfect.

here are some pics of said adapters and trans, and subsequent shifter modification to move the engine/trans back 4 inches in the car which was very very needed...

the most annoying part of the conversion was having to make my own hardware...since the m10 x1.25 and m12x1.25 bolts needed for the bellhousing adapter were not available in a socket flat head, however both 1/2 and 7/16 fine bolts are both 20 threads per inch, and are available in socket flat head, and 20 TPI is VERY close to 1.25 pitch in 1 inch length it only varies like 10 thousandths-ish, so i simply made a set of soft jaws to clamp the screws in the lathe and turned them down to respective diameters and rethreaded them at 1.25mm and you cant even tell it was done, got lucky on that.

the rest of it was straight forward and fairly simple, all coords were logged accurately on a horizontal mill at work and it fits really nice, is doweled properly and should work as good as the trans will work. its strength comes into question, but i will just be nice to it at first and test it as i grow accustomed to it.

incidentally the alternative transmission solution is going to be the LT1 version of the t56 6 speed. with the same sort of adaptation configuration and it will use the lt1 starter in the same manner.
the t56 is nearly perfect dimensionally to what i have with the modified T2 so it will just need the new adapters, Xmember and driveshaft, then one of those nifty speedo drive units.

but thats only if needed, since thats a pricey addition, probably cost nearly $2k after its all said and done to buy it, the clutch/flywheel/press plate, the speedo box and mod driveshaft.

progress update, headers are fabbed and turbos hung in place to begin plumbing down pipes and intake piping, intake is bolted down now, just have to finish the throttle body and install it.

ill probably end up using a free standing IAC unit with a GM motor and billet housing so i can put it where i need to and run lines to it

still have to detail the underside of my hood before installing on car, then i can monitor clearances as i finish it out.

That is just beautiful.

Thing one: so what? Thing 2, as mentioned, neither the original small block Chevy nor the LS V8s were designed to be TRUCK motors, they were high-performance CAR engines.

Toyota UZ engines are truck and luxobarge engines, never came in a performance car as far as I know. But again, so what?

How much does a 1UZ weigh? I would bet it's about the same weight as an LSX, maybe more.

DOHC adds bulk and adds weight. And it adds the weight up HIGH. DOHC is the best solution if you can only have a limited displacement. But for the same external engine size and weight, you can generally get more performance with a larger-displacement cam-in-block OHV V8. And it will have a lower c.g. and get better fuel mileage for the same power.

On principal? There's a good enough REAL reason: the iron small block Chevy motor is about 100 lb. heavier! But an OHV ford 302 with iron block and aluminum heads isn't any heavier than an LS, so "iron block" doesn't *necessarily* imply "overly heavy".

Good to have some variety, but then again I've never encountered another LS V8 RX-7 on the road...

All that said, it's a very cool swap that you're doing, I do hope you can keep the gen-1 hoodline :)

^well if you actually read the thread you would already know its under the stock hood, with 2 turbos hanging on it.
as far as encountering other v8 7s, the last local car show there was 1 rx7 there, it was a gen 3 with an ls2, there were 3 lsx 7s and 1 lt1 7 at dgrr the year i went, and that is just a few examples, they are very common if you hang around car meets, shows and rallys.

and i dont care what info sights and speculation say, i weighed my engines, the 12a was 375lbs with turbo, the 1uz was 405lbs without turbo(s) so no significant difference in weight...but a HUGE difference in horsepower, torque and everything else except for center of gravity and im 100% unconcerned with that little detail.

now for updates

waiting on some mandrel bends to show up to begin the final plumbing, my exhaust isnt going to be as quiet as i had planned due to space constraints but it will still be fairly innocent sounding none the less.
i was hoping to have the final drive ratio changed before i drive it but time and money are pushing that back, ill just play with it as is for now, ill still get better mpg than the 12a regardless, it just might be a bit of a handfull to drive with the 3:90s...but that will make it fun.

more pics soon as plumbing begins, still waiting on my intercooler as well.

Looking good, should move out. Keep up the pictures. :)

thank you, and it better :D

I am very anxious to drive the car again, cant wait, i want to experience the new steering and suspension more than the power....but lets not BS...the power is going to be fun too hehehehe
that and i want to just drive it..its been down for just over a year now since the swap began, i remember that night well, my little 12a made it back home wheezing and coughing but it drove into the garage under its own power before it stalled and that was that, the process began that night with some teardown.

Didn't read every word in thread, not likely to, apologies there... Judging from the pics, I was worried about clearance at the front of the intake plenum, didn't look like it was gonna fit under the stock hood. Great job if it does!

Ah. I generally don't.

OK. For me, the lower the better. 405 lb. without turbos, but with all other ancillaries and the stock exhaust? Curious what it will weigh in at fully dressed, with turbos and intercooler(s). Total weight gain will surely be over 100 lb., which all considered ain't bad for a twin turbo V8 swap!

Will be interesting to see what the F/R distribution winds up being.

Anyway, disparaging LS engines for being "overly heavy" is a funny criticism as there's no way your twin turbo 1uz is going to be lighter than an LS. Granted, with twin turbos you'll have a TON more streetable power potential! But weight-wise, you're most likely going to be heavier than an LS swap...

3.90s would definitely be fun! Instant smoke show in the first 2, maybe 3 gears :)

Looking forward to seeing this run!

never said it would be lighter than an LSx, just more original, the lsx series is awesome in every way, there is no argument there, i just dont want to be another ls swap in a sea of many, as it stands my build is a 1 of 1 and that matters to me, i can swap an ls in easier than the 1uz, but meh no challenge there. any redneck can do that, takes a bit more finesse to do something special as for power potential, im nor worried it will have more than it ever needs as it is, it is a STREET car that goes turns and stops, not just a straight line car.

and yes i predict my total gain to be around 100lbs, mind you i added weight to the rear with the 8.8 and the battery so overall the balance should remain the same or better.

just a word of advice zdan, before trolling someones build thread that obviously has WAY more building experience than yourself, might wanna actually read the info contained and study the pics for the little details that make up a build, and do some real research on the subjects contained, because belting out a bunch of figures and speculations on a project already carefully planned just makes you stand out as a forum racer.
i know all about said engines, have owned many, built many of neat car, mine and for others, i have driven 1k+ hp cars, and therefore know what will and wont work for my application.
i have already done the supporting mods to make my car better on the road than it ever was stock, if you dont think it will be, come to the mountains with us and just try your luck against the little silver 7.
and i like being different.

that said..back to the build.

I am looking for a used(read cheap) autopower cage for the gen1 somewhere in the lower eastern states preferably, i saw a few for sale but are too far away to be realistic.

im also casually looking for a kamei front spoiler

and dont worry when its up and running i will be making HD vids of it on dyno etc.
and if you want a pic of a specific part of the build that i havent already posted just ask. but do follow the links to the facebook and RCC and lextreme forum as I have lots of info between them all.

thank you for the support guys
this website has always been usefull to me for info so just trying to give back what i can.

that bay looks awesome man

ah ha learned a new trick...sorry machining and fab i can do...not so great at forums sometimes
https://www.rx7club.com/attachments/...66842821_n-jpg

I always find this attitude sad.

Which redneck built this car?

Attachment 692637

Seriously though guys. This thread is a nice car and nice build. No need to give him shit and 85turbo, why talk down to other setups? FWIW ZDan has a very nice LS2 FD, that is quite sorted, I think he'd hold up pretty well with your car on the corners.

So, let's cut the bullshit. Less bitchin, more pics.

here is a pic of the hood closed with the engine in the car for all you skeptics out there :D
http://www.lextreme.com/forums/attac...5&d=1348985661

i wish i had even as much room as an FD to work with...and thats not saying much...but im not giving up...
as for talking down im not talking down on them except for not wanting them and the fact that everyone seems to keep trying to justify them instead of X engine, that FD in that pic is nasty no doubt, i dont hate it, but i dont want it either...see what im saying?

as for pics...im learning...bear with me...i just figured out the insert thingy...dont hate..im not a forum expert...

i weighed the 1uz with all the stuff i will be using plus a little fat like wiring etc, car does not have AC as there is no room for it and the previous owner of the car butchered the under dash and i just never wanted to go through the torture to replace everything, and living in florida i constantly slap myself for that..but now with the 1uz i cant have a compressor or condenser anyway...just have to man up, muscle cars didnt usually have AC and i love them too so its a muscle car yeah!!

dont know the weight of my cooler as i dont have it yet, but as for weights of coolers and turbos its negligible to me to the gains they provide, as for balance, again it should be fine if not better, im not sweating over that stuff im building it the way i want it, its a street car not a time attack or drag car, it handles like any other gen1 mildly scary at times with the straight axle but i dont push it that hard because the very last thing i want to do it wreck it or even put so much as a scratch on it, i drive it hard...but carefull...

but rest assured i will weigh it when done, i have a friend with race scales to mooch off of :lol:

my biggest concern after startup is the alignment of the car, with all the new changes i hope we can get the front end sorted out without much issue, then ill go toss it around in a parking lot or something and see how it acts, i dont want any suprises