2jz swap questions

[jimmyjayt]

Hello forum! Im new on hybrid z and through reading through threads on other websites it seemed like this was the place to explore for all my Z swap questions. I have tread through a few threads regarding 2jz engine swaps on 240zs here on hybrid z and have found some answhers here and some there but i have a few questions that i would like to get sorted out straight forward. I am thinking about taking on a Z project once some more funds are built up for it. Ill start by saying what i want out of this car. So first i want a 2jz. Im in love with that motor and i am also in love with the 240z and it seems they can make a deadly fun combo when mated together. This car will not be a daily driver, i dont expect it to get any mpg, i dont expect this build to be quick or cheap. I am however, expecting plenty of smiles per gallon when its done. My plan for this car is a weekend car, spirited driving through canyons, maybe a track day here and there. I would like the car to be pretty powerful but not absurd, maybe 400-500 horsepower to the wheels, and would like it to have a single turbo. 

 

Here are my questions:

1. Which 2jz? For a single turbo application is it better to get a 2jz-ge or a 2jz-gte? VVTI or no VVTI? Which is more reliable and which is more expensive once all the parts for the single turbo are taken into account? Which is the bigger hassle? 

2. Through my forum digging i found that the r154 transmission is a common swap for the 2jz. I would hope to find one with the marlin crawler internals. Is this tranny a solid one for a 400-500 hp setup? How about if its not marlin crawler? Is there a more cost effective option than the r154? Also, does the r154 require specific transmission mounting to mate with the 2jz?

3. What year of 240z accepts a r154 and 2jz the best? What sort of mounting should i expect to need to get this set up in the 240 properly and where might i find it? Will i need a shifter relocation kit?

4. Will i need any power bracing for the power goals i seek. Also, i saw a couple different options for a the differential for this sort of setup. Some suggested a subaru STI differential. This car wouldnt be doing any hard drag race launches. What is a good cost effective differential that can handle the power goal and what does it take to install?

5. Ballpark pricing. Lets subtract labor and tools cost for this as most of the work for this will be done with friends of mine who posses extensive experience and have all of the necessary tools. What is a realistic ballpark range that i could expect to pay for all of these parts i would need. engine, wiring harness kit if i need it, transmission, transmission mounting if i need it, shifter relocation kit if i need it, differential, parts needed to make this a single turbo, the turbo itself that can suit 400-500 hp, intercooler, injectors etc..

 

Thank you all so much in advance! 

[Geno750]

If you're after 400-500whp, you've got a wide variety of options. Due to the age of the engine though, I think you're right to go with a single turbo setup. The stock twins on the US model supra's are capable of 400whp, but they're getting old. However, if you find a set of rebuilt ones though, its a really good setup.

 

Almost all of these questions have been answered tons of times on supraforums.com, I'd suggest going there and continuing your research. Anyone can get behind a keyboard and give you bad information, so its on you to verify. So any answers to your 5 questions are going to be mostly opinions. So I hope you have your large grains of salt handy, because here are my opinions (answers) to your questions.

 

1. Get the 2JZGTE VVTI engine. There is literally no reason not to for your stated goals. They are cheap at under $2000, and a decent importer is straight south of us in Arizona. They also have a shitload more power under the curve, and will aid in spooling a single turbo (Side note, if you get one with an auto transmission, Keep the bellhousing, more on why in question 2&3)

 

2. R154's are prohibitively expensive, and in my opinion, not a viable solution for people who aren't swapping a MK3 supra that had one already. This is especially true if you're chasing MC internals. Its a $2k transmission that is old as hell. The exception to that is if you can find an AR5 (essentially same thing as R154)a transmission on the cheap, which is somewhat possible since you're in the midwest. Driftmotion even sells a pilot bearing for people using that transmission. Driftmotion also sells an entire swap kit for the AR5 https://www.driftmotion.com/product-p/dm3445.htm

 

I would suggest looking into the CD009 transmission from a 350Z, the gearing is better suited for the 280Z R200 rear end as its the same final drive as the 350Z's at 3.54

 

3. Any year, the transmission tunnel doesn't change lengths so the issues are the same across all years.

 

4. Search the forum, as this has been covered in depth a lot here. This is also going to vary depending on your budget.

 

5. Nobody can accurately tell you that. There are simply too many variables to deal with. The quick and dirty ballpark is to budget $10k and hope you stay under it.

[Nelsonian]

If you are not familiar with companies catering to the JZ engine, here are a few. Driftmotion, Power House Racing, Real St Performance, Titan Motorsports, Suprastore, MVP Motorsports just to name a few. I have bought parts from most listed with good results and best results from Dusty at MVP Motorsports. 

As far as bolt on mounts for engine and R154 trans Tech 2 Motorsports has a complete kit with the shifter mod and mod to the shift housing. If you look in parts for sale you will see a Marlin Crawler built R154 with the Tech 2 parts as a kit for sale as we speak, HInt, Hint shameless sales plug.

[jimmyjayt]

If you're after 400-500whp, you've got a wide variety of options. Due to the age of the engine though, I think you're right to go with a single turbo setup. The stock twins on the US model supra's are capable of 400whp, but they're getting old. However, if you find a set of rebuilt ones though, its a really good setup.

 

Almost all of these questions have been answered tons of times on supraforums.com, I'd suggest going there and continuing your research. Anyone can get behind a keyboard and give you bad information, so its on you to verify. So any answers to your 5 questions are going to be mostly opinions. So I hope you have your large grains of salt handy, because here are my opinions (answers) to your questions.

 

1. Get the 2JZGTE VVTI engine. There is literally no reason not to for your stated goals. They are cheap at under $2000, and a decent importer is straight south of us in Arizona. They also have a shitload more power under the curve, and will aid in spooling a single turbo (Side note, if you get one with an auto transmission, Keep the bellhousing, more on why in question 2&3)

 

2. R154's are prohibitively expensive, and in my opinion, not a viable solution for people who aren't swapping a MK3 supra that had one already. This is especially true if you're chasing MC internals. Its a $2k transmission that is old as hell. The exception to that is if you can find an AR5 (essentially same thing as R154)a transmission on the cheap, which is somewhat possible since you're in the midwest. Driftmotion even sells a pilot bearing for people using that transmission. Driftmotion also sells an entire swap kit for the AR5 https://www.driftmotion.com/product-p/dm3445.htm

 

I would suggest looking into the CD009 transmission from a 350Z, the gearing is better suited for the 280Z R200 rear end as its the same final drive as the 350Z's at 3.54

 

3. Any year, the transmission tunnel doesn't change lengths so the issues are the same across all years.

 

4. Search the forum, as this has been covered in depth a lot here. This is also going to vary depending on your budget.

 

5. Nobody can accurately tell you that. There are simply too many variables to deal with. The quick and dirty ballpark is to budget $10k and hope you stay under it.

Thank you for hitting each question! i like the 350 trans idea. Its probably smoother than the r154 anyway. Know where i might find more info on mounting that trans to the 2j? Also, what kind of wiring harness would i need to find to hook up a VVTI gte? 

[jimmyjayt]

If you are not familiar with companies catering to the JZ engine, here are a few. Driftmotion, Power House Racing, Real St Performance, Titan Motorsports, Suprastore, MVP Motorsports just to name a few. I have bought parts from most listed with good results and best results from Dusty at MVP Motorsports. 

As far as bolt on mounts for engine and R154 trans Tech 2 Motorsports has a complete kit with the shifter mod and mod to the shift housing. If you look in parts for sale you will see a Marlin Crawler built R154 with the Tech 2 parts as a kit for sale as we speak, HInt, Hint shameless sales plug.

Thank you for listing those. Ill take a look at those brands. I went on the tech 2 website and saw that 2jz mounting kit youre talking about. Does that kit work with a different tranny besides the r154? For example the CD009 tranny Geno750 mentioned?

[jimmyjayt]

Im thinking i would try to budget $15k for this build, does that sound reasonable?

[Greeko]

Im thinking i would try to budget $15k for this build, does that sound reasonable?

 

I spent 10k just on motor/tranny swap (1jz/w58).  $15k sound reasonable based on your expectations

[seattlejester]

I have a thread in this section that covers all of this I think.

 

1. 2jzge non-vvti, 2jzgte non-vvti, 2jzgte vvti, those are the three options. Price it out. It depends on what route you take. With a GTE motor you can skate by without changing injectors or the ECU maybe even the stock turbos at that target power level. Motionautotv is running his single turbo GTE on a stock ECU as well so if you are on a budget that would be the route to take. If you plan on pushing the motor or tuning it in any capacity, they pretty much break even, especially if you factor in a rebuild it really doesn't matter. The end goal will be which manifolds you go with whether you find ebay parts acceptable etc.

 

2. Honestly the only real weakness in the R154 is that thrust bearing washer, once that fails it will knock out the first gear and down the line. When it fails is anyone's question some have never had problems others have had immediate problems. Good fluid like redline seems to help. An R154 with Marlin Crawler upgrades or a Driftmotion rebuild should be able to handle that power level without a problem and will overall probably be the cheapest option. It can bolt up or will bolt up depending on if you can find a 1jz R154. If not you have to source a flywheel and bell housing to convert the 7m R154 to a jz compatible R154. That package in the for sale section is awfully well priced and complete for what it includes. Other options are T56, CD009, Getrag, Z32, etc. All will require adapter plates, custom mounts, custom flywheels, etc.

 

3. 70-71, custom based off of your desired location, not required but would be nice. Standard 2.5 inch one seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

 

4. Yes, axles, stub axles, brakes, all should be looked at. No sti Diff is not a good idea. I chatted with johnc about it and he steered me away and I sold mine in favor of an R200.

 

5. 15k would be a good start. If you start playing with a CD009 or going with a custom ecu and wiring harness I might say another 5k on top of that just to have nice breathing room. So 20k and you can order everything out of a catalog, have your pick of motor, probably even get it rebuilt, get a brand new CD009 or a rebuilt R154, pretty much breeze through it from the financial department. People here have done it for much much less, but as a target it isn't a bad value to have.

[jimmyjayt]

I have a thread in this section that covers all of this I think.

 

1. 2jzge non-vvti, 2jzgte non-vvti, 2jzgte vvti, those are the three options. Price it out. It depends on what route you take. With a GTE motor you can skate by without changing injectors or the ECU maybe even the stock turbos at that target power level. Motionautotv is running his single turbo GTE on a stock ECU as well so if you are on a budget that would be the route to take. If you plan on pushing the motor or tuning it in any capacity, they pretty much break even, especially if you factor in a rebuild it really doesn't matter. The end goal will be which manifolds you go with whether you find ebay parts acceptable etc.

 

2. Honestly the only real weakness in the R154 is that thrust bearing washer, once that fails it will knock out the first gear and down the line. When it fails is anyone's question some have never had problems others have had immediate problems. Good fluid like redline seems to help. An R154 with Marlin Crawler upgrades or a Driftmotion rebuild should be able to handle that power level without a problem and will overall probably be the cheapest option. It can bolt up or will bolt up depending on if you can find a 1jz R154. If not you have to source a flywheel and bell housing to convert the 7m R154 to a jz compatible R154. That package in the for sale section is awfully well priced and complete for what it includes. Other options are T56, CD009, Getrag, Z32, etc. All will require adapter plates, custom mounts, custom flywheels, etc.

 

3. 70-71, custom based off of your desired location, not required but would be nice. Standard 2.5 inch one seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

 

4. Yes, axles, stub axles, brakes, all should be looked at. No sti Diff is not a good idea. I chatted with johnc about it and he steered me away and I sold mine in favor of an R200.

 

5. 15k would be a good start. If you start playing with a CD009 or going with a custom ecu and wiring harness I might say another 5k on top of that just to have nice breathing room. So 20k and you can order everything out of a catalog, have your pick of motor, probably even get it rebuilt, get a brand new CD009 or a rebuilt R154, pretty much breeze through it from the financial department. People here have done it for much much less, but as a target it isn't a bad value to have.

Thanks for the in depth response! I feel like my path for this will be pretty smooth. I'll check out your threads for other details.

[RonA]

This is a quote I got for a 600hp(on E85) build with proper electronics, single turbo, and a set of injectors that would be good down the road if I decided to build a stronger sbort block. Add $3500 for a CD009 with adapter and clutch, $1,500 to 2500 for a non-vvti motor in ok shape. Probably looking at 20K if you do the swap yourself.

 

 

Here is a ballpark estimate for the 2jzgte build

 

 

TURBO SYSTEM

-BW Sxe S362 ( customer supplied) $0

-3" Stainless downpipe with 3" vband flange $350

-Turbo Feed line kit $100

-Turbo Return line kit $150

-2jzgte SPA turbo cast manifold $700

-Precision 46mm wastegate $340

-4" intake pipe and filter

 

 

Total$1840

 

 

ELECTRONICS

-Aem V2 2jzgte ems $1825

-Aem 5bar map sensor kit $150

-ID1700cc injectors $1450

-2jzgte Fuel Rail kit $245

-AEM air temp sensor kit $50

-Mac 3 port Boost solenoid kit $60

-Flex fuel sensor kit $95

-8AN stainless fuel filter $110

-Fuel lines $500

-Fuel pressure regulator with Gauge $190

-AEM fuel pressure sensor $105

- Stand alone wiring Harness (estimated) $1150

-Misc installation$300

 

 

Total $6230

 

 

VALVE TRAIN

-Gsc S1 cams (pair) $952

-Supertech Double valve springs $565

-GSC valve stem seal kit $35

-Installation $550

 

 

Total $2102

 

 

MAINTENANCE

-Water pump assy $195

-Timing belt $35

-Timing belt Idler $75

-Timing belt tensioner $65

-Front main seal $22

-Rear main seal $35

-Intake lower gasket $20

-Intake upper gasket $20

-ATI balancer assy $370

-Valve cover gasket set $35

-Cam seals x2 $40

-Installation $225

-Misc welding unused water ports and water neck (single turbo preparation) $200

 

 

Total $1337

 

 

 

 

Total Ballpark estimate $11,509-12,000

 

RonA

[jr_soliz2010]

Can we post all questions here? dont wanna thread jack

[seattlejester]

I would suggest posting a new topic as to prevent that, unless your question is directly in line with the OP, which given this is specific questions regarding his build may not be the best. 

 

Short of being something really silly I don't think anyone will beat you with a stick in this section.

[makaofox]

On 4/24/2017 at 9:44 PM, RonA said:

This is a quote I got for a 600hp(on E85) build with proper electronics, single turbo, and a set of injectors that would be good down the road if I decided to build a stronger sbort block. Add $3500 for a CD009 with adapter and clutch, $1,500 to 2500 for a non-vvti motor in ok shape. Probably looking at 20K if you do the swap yourself.

 

 

Here is a ballpark estimate for the 2jzgte build

 

 

TURBO SYSTEM

-BW Sxe S362 ( customer supplied) $0

-3" Stainless downpipe with 3" vband flange $350

-Turbo Feed line kit $100

-Turbo Return line kit $150

-2jzgte SPA turbo cast manifold $700

-Precision 46mm wastegate $340

-4" intake pipe and filter

 

 

Total$1840

 

 

ELECTRONICS

-Aem V2 2jzgte ems $1825

-Aem 5bar map sensor kit $150

-ID1700cc injectors $1450

-2jzgte Fuel Rail kit $245

-AEM air temp sensor kit $50

-Mac 3 port Boost solenoid kit $60

-Flex fuel sensor kit $95

-8AN stainless fuel filter $110

-Fuel lines $500

-Fuel pressure regulator with Gauge $190

-AEM fuel pressure sensor $105

- Stand alone wiring Harness (estimated) $1150

-Misc installation$300

 

 

Total $6230

 

 

VALVE TRAIN

-Gsc S1 cams (pair) $952

-Supertech Double valve springs $565

-GSC valve stem seal kit $35

-Installation $550

 

 

Total $2102

 

 

MAINTENANCE

-Water pump assy $195

-Timing belt $35

-Timing belt Idler $75

-Timing belt tensioner $65

-Front main seal $22

-Rear main seal $35

-Intake lower gasket $20

-Intake upper gasket $20

-ATI balancer assy $370

-Valve cover gasket set $35

-Cam seals x2 $40

-Installation $225

-Misc welding unused water ports and water neck (single turbo preparation) $200

 

 

Total $1337

 

 

 

 

Total Ballpark estimate $11,509-12,000

 

RonA

Very accurate post. I spent less than that going NA-T but also blew the more 2x due to bearing issue probably due to an oiling/debris issue which brought the cost back up. Alot can be done to achieve high hp and not spend a fortune thats the beauty of the 2j.

[RonA]

The guy that gave me that quote is one of the best 2jz guys you'll find. It sucks that it costs so much, but it is what it is. 

[makaofox]

Honestly no matter WHAT swap you do it will cost around 10k-15k. 1j, 2j,sr20, vq35, rb25, rb26, ls1, lsx, and any other swap. The only cheap swap are the typical small block chevy/ ford, maybe rb20 and maybe L28ET but you can easily drop 10k into it getting to 500+hp. What adds up are things like brakes, body repair/reinforcement, rear end, fuel and interior components like gauges.

 

I built my car in stages. First year rebuild it all suspension with poly bushings and drive it stock as I brought it. Year 2 brakes+fender flares/wheels. Year 3 collect 2j parts continue to drive car. Year 4 collect suspension bits plus rear end ie coilovers and LSD 3.90 gear. Year 5 install 2j swap. Year 6 shake down and enjoy car (blew up 2x so missed out on most of the season). Year 7 drive z and pray she makes it through the season no issues lol. Over the winter ill install the coilovers and rear end as this winter I got caught up one buying another z and gave that one some love in the hopes when my 2j is down I can still drive a z.