seattlejester's 1971 240Z

[seattlejester]

You can see why I was irritated, finger is close to perpendicular. That bolt is screwed, hopefully it didn't rip through the seat mount.

 

Figured I would install my new trans mount since it was sitting on the shelf. Put the car up and realized that I need to take the exhaust off again which is quite an ordeal to do for one person. I think I might take it back to the exhaust shop and have them install another v-band in the middle to make it easier to remove, also the exhaust touches the trans cross member so they could deal with that as well. Noticed that the trans mount is missing a retaining nut and a bolt to mount to the transmission. I never gave it two looks when I got the transmission, seems more and more like this guy just threw some parts on his old transmission and sold it to me. That might account for the rattling and such. 

 

Painted my other wheels with the bigger tires. Also tried my hand at the white lettering. Kumho isn't a great name for a tire, I probably should have left it out, with the two it looks a bit too american for some reason.

 

I think the konig has a better design. Mesh wheels just make the car look off, reminds me of jeep wheels from the 90's. The lettering also doesn't help either. I don't know, I'll have to think about it.

 

 

The konig's for comparison look much better despite the tiny tires.

 

Metal ordered for my tubular bumper along with a new fuel cell cap. Turns out the diameter is too big for the retaining tab on the cap. I basically ruined mine figuring that out so I should be able to get this one to fit nicely without grinding most of the tab away.

 

Found a pretty good deal on some Sparco seats, a little sooner then I had planned, but combined with my F'd up seat bolts I might just bring the schedule forward for getting those installed with the new harnesses.

 

Also welded holes and cracks in the spare driver door shut and threw some primer on. Pretty excited to have a working windows on both sides. 

 

More to come, there is a car show on the 12th, I am shooting for. Nothing big or special, but would be nice to be mostly complete.

[seattlejester]

I started the weekend with a couple hours of work, I installed some new to me seats and harnesses that were more legitimate. Was very happy that they were nearly spot on and very easy to install. 

 

Finally added some bolts to my front spoiler instead of just zip ties. 

 

I packed up and with little drama, made it to the show.

 

There were lots of awesome cars, the weather was good, and good atmosphere. 

 

Friend and I decided to leave a little early to miss the crowd. Since i have had this motor it has been smoking a bit from the exhaust. When we got on the freeway, I was suddenly greeted with a plume of smoke. I checked my AFR gauge to see if it was stumbling and running really rough, but it was showing a cruising of 14ish and 13 when I tipped into it. An exit was coming up, but the road also opened up, I decided to try and drive it a little more to see if the cool air would help it run a little better. I was an idiot.

 

What I didn't check was the gauge two over. The oil pressure gauge. A little bit later and I signaled my friend to pull off at the next exit, as I was getting off I heard the ever so slight bit of a clatter. Pulled over to a furiously smoking engine bay. A quick look and the problem was apparent, an oil line had blown off the remote oil filter. Dip stick confirmed no oil left. Damn.

 

Cleaned it up as best as we could, tightened the oil line back down with a leatherman multi tool and filled it with overpriced gas station oil. Took it to a car wash to get rid of the oil residue and hoped for the best. Right as I got on the freeway I could tell it was a bad idea, a small rattle was definitely audible over the exhaust. Oil pressure was still being generated and I was hoping to limp it home, but two exits later the drive line jerked and I pulled over. The off ramp was a hill and I couldn't make it with inertia, I had to put it back into gear and my fear was confirmed it sounded like a can of bolts. To my great dismay there was no shoulder. So back into gear to get it over a hill again and still no shoulder. Whoever decided that needs to be shot. After an agonizing two blocks mercifully some side streets appeared and I was finally able to coast into a safe spot off the main road. 

 

Called AAA thanking my former self for getting the premium package and went to a DQ to drown my sorrow in sweet frozen treats. 

 

Toe truck driver arrived and pulled my powerless car onto the flatbed. 

 

This sorry puppy followed me all the way home.

Finally got back to my storage unit and unfortunately had to turn it on to pull it back in. 

 

Engine is completely toast. I almost don't want to open it up in fear of what I'll find. Turbo is also most likely toast although it did sound like it was spooling.

 

I had planned on renewing the drivetrain, but that was in several months. I'm not sure what to do at this point. 

 

Kind of bummed out.

[seattlejester]

 

Sludge all over my magnetic drain plug.

 

Pulled some of the oil out of the pan that was sitting at the bottom after the oil drained, and put it on top and let the oil drain away. Came back to all these bits of metal.

 

 

Surprisingly I didn't find any rod ends. Given the absolute clatter I was expecting to find bolts, nuts, and rod caps if not crank caps, but all of them are in place. These big chunks do point towards me finding a couple rod bearings missing.

 

 

I took one of the rod caps out and was surprised to see a bearing in good condition. 

 

Given my limited space no real ability to use a hoist, there was some talk about this being the end. Talk about parting out and cleaning up and such did come up and I have to admit there was a part of me that wasn't too opposed. I could pay off my lease on my car and start saving and buy something else down the road. Adding the part out however shed some light on things. I had an upgraded 7mgte specific turbo that I had paid good money for, valve covers that I never got a chance to install, and some parts that I would really have a difficult time parting out like my bare shell. Then there is always the concern that I would part out my suspension or something critical to the car functioning as a car and then find no one wants parts which would leave me absolutely screwed.

 

So my plan is to do a complete tear down with the block in the car for the most part. Take off all the accessories and manifolds, then remove the head, jack up the engine via the transmission. Then pop out pistons and rods one by one. After which I will hopefully be able to identify where all this bearing material came from and if the crank and the block survived. If not I should be able to lift the block out as the bare block only weighs 130lbs. I can have it machined and rebuilt it and my friend's parents heard of my mishap and offered their driveway for a weekend, so I could put it in that way.

 

I also figure a complete running car will fetch more then a part out. And I STILL haven't driven this thing in anger. This was my first drive after my alignment and I had just sunk like 3k into the suspension. I really want to get some use out of this thing.

 

Then there was talk about the rebuild. I talked to some people, I was thinking maybe I should go all out and just do forged rods and pistons etc, but the consensus seems to be that the return is always going to concerning as it is not as stout a block as a 2jz. In the scheme of things a used 2jz almost fetches as much if not more then a built up 7m. An engine builder familiar with the engine said the stock rods are good to about 500hp, and the forums say the stock pistons should be able to withstand 400whp. I don't plan on going above that, and I have to say I am a bit fickle and not sure this will be the last power plant to grace this engine bay.

 

The rebuild parts are actually not that bad, I think about 600 for new pistons, rings, bearings, seals, gaskets, thermostat, ARP bolts, and a set of used rods. There is a bit of "while I'm at it" in the form of doing some reliability, flow, and quality of life upgrades in regards to the oil in the form of a new cross over pipe, higher volume/pressure oil pump, and AN feed and return lines in addition to AN lines and adapters for the culprit which was the loose worm drive clamp, that is going to set me back about another 7-800. The clutch would be my next weak point and is a reused stock unit with unknown miles. Throwing in my light weight fly wheel with a new friction disc, a higher rated pressure plate and a new clutch and a new starter is going to set me back another 7-800, but would allow the power to get to the wheels without problems. 

 

All in about 2k just in parts. I'm really hoping to get away with minimal machine work in the form of resizing rods, maybe a deglazing of the cylinders and a polishing of the crank, not adding up to more then 500 would be great. 

 

Theory would be that after this I still have a shelf of parts to install and solutions to come up with for things like a heater that should keep me occupied. The power will be reliable and stout at the 350-400whp mark.

 

That is the plan. 

Edited June 28, 2016 by seattlejester

[calZ]

Glad to hear you're not giving up on it. Would be a shame after all the work you've done.

[seattlejester]

I've thought about it and I think I am glad too.

 

Honestly the picture that kind of pushed me over the edge.

 

 

Pretty sure he used photoshop to clean up all the dirt and the smudge that is imbedded into the paint, but makes the car look like it has potential

[seattlejester]

Well it took a while, but I managed to pull the engine out.

 

The plan was to man handle the block out, a friend and I had lifted a fully assembled short block for his BMW a while back, and when I did my L28, I took the block to and from the machine shop and lifted it in and by myself. So off came the accessories.

 

First both manifolds were removed. The first error of my ways showed up when I went to pull the intake manifold. The front strut brace was in the way. When I put the engine back together the first time, I modified the brace after I put the manifold on. A bit of hammering removed the retaining pin and removing the sway bar bushing allowed me to pull the front portion of the brace system. Pretty dam happy that I didn't just weld it right to the tower.

 

 

With both manifolds removed I started to pull the head the second error of the install showed up here. By moving the engine so far back in the engine bay, the driver side valve cover was now comfortably sitting under the hood latch. A u-joint and an extension gave their lives in removing the nut that sat under the latch holding the ARP stud, I will probably have to cut that latch out, which was a plan at some point anyway so no huge loss.

 

 

With the head off I could now start popping the pistons out 1 by 1. However since I had to rotate the crank, and the crank pulley was obscured by my trigger wheel, I had to first remove all that. I pulled the radiator along with the trigger wheel and associated sensor. With the trigger wheels off I could turn the crank.

 

I did find my culprit, the big rod end of piston number one was loose. Bolts were tight, but I could move it quite a few mm side to side.

 

 

(good one for comparison)

You can see how badly the bearing was worn, the only lucky thing is that it seems like the crank may have been spared as there was still parts of the bearing preventing the rod end from contacting the crank. Hopefully it will just need a polish, it will be up to the machine shop to decide on the health of that one

 

 

Also found piston 4 was almost completely cracked through as well.

 

With all the pistons out I pulled the oil system. It is only held in with two bolts, one on the pump and one on the pickup tube, but it gave a bit of a fight just in friction before it moved.

 

With the oil system removed I figured I could start work on the front pulley which would prevent me from pulling the front cover that retains the crank. I had feared this moment as the pictures showed many special tools being required to pull the crank pulley and the timing pulley behind it. I wanted to see how a claw would hold the pulley and put my hands at 3 and 9 o clock to simulate and to my surprise the pulley moved. With a little more back and forth the pulley pulled off. Same with the timing pulley and the oil gear. No real trouble as I looked up instructions to pull the crank, disaster. Toyota has a rear crank seal retaining plate that sits behind the flywheel making removal of the crank impossible with the engine in the car.

 

With the daunting thought of trying to lift 200lbs, up and over the lifted front core support, I just knew it was not going to end well. Even if I had a friend on the other side it was not going to be a smooth process.

 

I rang a friend who I had borrowed a crane from the past, and he said that he wouldn't let me borrow it, but would sell it to me for cheap as he did not want it back afterwards. I don't have much space, but I figure I can sell it for pretty much the same if not more then the amount he wanted so I picked it up. 

 

A couple measurements showed that I could just pull the engine using the crane as long as I just turned the crane to clear the core support instead of pulling it straight back. 

 

I loosened the bell housing bolts ready for my triumphant moment soon to come to find the transmission was not separating from the engine. Then I recalled that the R154 is a pull type clutch and the clutch fork is actually attached to the pressure plate by a lip. So engine crane was removed, and back under the car I went to pull the clutch fork out. 

 

That alone was quite difficult as there is a e-clip that holds the pin that the clutch fork pivots on that I had to fish out blind with little room. It all came out and back came in the crane. A couple bruises later and the engine finally separated with the transmission. The rest was easy with the load leveler. I swung the crane out and built the engine stand so that I could pull the crank. I took off the pressure plate, the clutch, the flywheel, and finally that pesky seal retaining plate.

 

In retrospect I think this was wiser to do as the amount of prying required the engine would have most likely been dropped at some point. 

 

So now I have the dilemma of what to do next.

 

The original plan was to strip the rest of the block, take it to get cleaned, inspected, then order pistons. 

Take the pistons along with new rod bushings and arp studs with my spare set of rods and have the pistons and everything fitted and resized.

Have the block honed or deglazed to fit the pistons, new freeze plugs installed and oil drive shaft bearings installed and sized.

Have the crank inspected and polished

Then bring that all back and do the reversal of the removal and install the assembled short block onto the transmission with the new clutch and oil upgrades.

 

The problem is now I am staring at my dirty transmission. It works, but it does feel like it catches some gears sometime. Getting access to the bell housing bolts wasn't exactly easy (error number 3), which means I may have to pull the engine with the transmission if I decide to do transmission work. Where as right now it would be two bolts to pull the transmission. $1200 would pay for a rebuilt with upgraded parts that fix some of the known issue by driftmotion which apparently does a lot of these, shipping would be $200 or so. That means I would have a transmission that would be rebuilt with new syncros, bearings, seals, stronger gear selector forks, new thrust washer and bearing retainer plate, and it would also give me a chance to install my 1.25 inch shifter extension, or I could go all out and buy the even longer extension which would be 2.5 inches which would put the shifter very close to where it should be (this job requires the removal of the tailshaft and is easily done with the transmission out of the car).

 

So the question comes down to if I just fix the engine, put in a new clutch and deal with the trans later, or do I upgrade the trans now. If I were to jump the 7mgte ship and do a different engine swap down the road a rebuilt R154 would be usable for a 1uz, 2jz, 1jz, 4g63, rotary etc. On the flip side the CD009 is becoming more popular to swap and is compatable with Vq, lsx, 2jz, rotary, and more. 

 

Thoughts?

[1969honda]

If you have the funds get it all done and have peace of mind that all will be good and reliable for a while. As for transmission the CD009 is becoming very popular so if you already need a new clutch you could probably pick up a good low mileage transmission and adapter plate for the cost of the rebuilt r154

[seattlejester]

I'm not sure you can adapt a cd009 to fit a 7mgte, hadn't really thought too much about that. That would also require a new drive shaft, and I literally have 40 miles on this drive shaft right now. 

 

I have the money, and I was planning on rebuilding the trans later this year, but the engine going out kind of took up that budget. I could swap it around I suppose, and just slow down the rebuild of the engine and have the trans rebuilt now and installed. That does mean I loose out on yet another beautiful summer, on the other hand, peace of mind would be nice.

[seattlejester]

After a long deliberation, the current thought is to not rebuild the transmission. If I plan on keeping it there are some other things I want to do to it down the road, and I can tackle it then when it starts to show problems or when it is taken off the car for the next clutch job.

 

Crank seems to be the first major hurdle. The rod portion of the crank seems fine, but two of the block bearings seems to be fairly scored. One of the bearings actually had material that was foreign to it under the bearing cap, as in metal sludge slid under there and formed a new layer. It is probably fixable, but at a price of around 300 just to get started with welding and grinding, I contacted someone about picking up a used crank that might be a better starting point.

 

The block: after a lot of back and forth, the bores looked good so I decided I would buy a brush hone and see if the bores were hiding anything. The thought is if they clean up nicely, I can just preemptively order a standard set of pistons and rings and send it to the machine shop together and save a lot of time.

 

 

Results were not very good. The brush hone works fine, it does make quite a mess,

 

 

but on a few cylinders it left very good cross hatching.

 

 

On three of the cylinders there are still marks remaining. One cylinder has some vertical looking grooves, two others seemed to have some pitting from when the engine sat for a long period of time with the PO. Nothing really catches my fingernail, so I'm kind of on the fence.

 

Vertical Lines

 

Pitting

 

 

So what to do?

 

Part of me says to just throw in the standard set of pistons since the engine ran fine before until the oiling problem, none of it catches on my nail, although there is a texture difference on some of the pitting. Even if using a standard piston set compromised engine life and brought it down from say 150,000 miles to 50,000 miles. That would still take me 50 years to hit that given my average mileage. 

 

Another part says to do the bare minimum I can live with, either buy oversized rings or try and source slightly oversized non-forged pistons (seemingly very difficult) and just go with that. I'll be paying about 250 to start the hone, but it will be better for it, won't have to revisit it within my power goals.

 

Then there is the F*** it part of me which is saying if I am paying to have the bores honed, might as well get forged pistons, if I am getting forged pistons, might as well get forged rods. Then step up to a bigger turbo and stuff a butt load of boost at this thing. The problem then becomes needing to upgrade the fuel system, the transmission, the rear axles, I'm not sure I want to go play with that big can of worms again. I think even the cooling system will need addressing if I go much above 400hp.

Edited August 8, 2016 by seattlejester

[seattlejester]

So some news.

 

Went to a new machine shop to me. Action Machine.

 

I have heard some pretty good things so I thought I would give them a shot. Pretty much only one more place left to try in the area and I will have visited all the machine shops I have heard about. 

 

Friendly guys, I called them and they asked me to bring in the block along with the main caps and the front timing cover. 

 

Basically a dead or alive test is what they did off the bat. Made sure the bores weren't oblonged of cracked, that the main line of the crank was still in place. Basically a measure of if the block is salvageable. The verdict was that my block survived.

 

Bores were worn and will need to be honed out over standard so standard pistons are pretty much off the table. They did find a supplier who makes decent cast pistons that they could throw in for less then $300, so not all bad news, I think I will try and get my hands on the probe forged pistons. I have a line on the final set available still NIB on a shelf, so if the bores are salvageable at 84mm, then I will try and grab those, only $100 more and if I am paying for the hone, might as well put in pistons deserving of it.

 

Next step was to bring in the rods and crank. I received the verdict today that they are junk. Couple of the rods are worn out so bad that they aren't even worth welding up to grind back down. Crank is apparently garbage as well. 

 

They haven't taken a look at the other set of rods I supplied so I have my fingers crossed there. If I strike out that means I need to get eagle rods, another nice cost of $500. The benefit would be that those come with oil bushings and ARP hardware, and in theory should need absolute minimal fitting, so I would save some money there.

 

For the crank, I'm planning on visiting someone I bought parts off from the past, he said I could have one of the blocks lying around so if the crank is salvageable then great, if not then I will have to buy a replacement crank. I found a company that does remanufactured cranks for 425 with bearings, if I return a used crank I get 150 back. Not too bad, but another $300 or so.

 

Best case scenario, the used crank and rods work or can be salvaged, I buy cast pistons, they do the inspection and cleaning work.

Clean & inspect block ($150)

Hone block with torque plate ($250)

Size rods, install new bushings ($100 in parts + $300 in labor)

Polish crank or weld/grind/straighten/resize crank ($50-$350 in labor)

Bearings ($100)

Gaskets ($100)

Cast or forged pistons ($300-$400)

Oil upgrades, cross over pipe, oil pump, oil soft line kit ($700)

$2050-2450

 

Worser case scenario, I need to order a reman'd crank, eagle rods, they don't have the probe pistons left which means next step up which is wiseco, and all the machine work there. I save a bit here because I don't have to have the crank worked on, the rods worked on, but I also am out more for parts

Clean & inspect block ($150)

 

Hone block with torque plate ($250)

Order, inspect rods ($500 + $300 in labor)

Order Reman'd crank, and inspect ($425 + $50 -($150 for core))

Gaskets ($100)

Oil upgrades, cross over pipe, oil pump, oil soft line kit ($700)

Wiseco Forged Pistons ($700)

$3025

 

So many options below this price point, like I can buy a miata around there.... There is an RB20 driveline for sale for $1k, although that could be a pitfall, some RB25's are also floating around, 2jz's are also an option. In theory not too much fitting required, would bolt up with the correct bell housing and has parts support like no other. Then again I also have quite a bit invested in the 7mgte, the front facing intake manifold, the new turbo, the valve covers, those alone amount to a very hefty sum.

 

I don't know if I have mentioned this, but while searching for a better setup for the oil filter to keep this from happening, found out that the 7mge runs a union bolt to put a filter directly onto the block. The 7mgte has a weird adapter as it runs through a factory over pressure/temperature activated oil cooling system, which is deleted in my setup and problematic in the stock setup. $10 bolt and I wouldn't even have had this problem. Granted also doubling up on the clamp or running a T clamp which costs about 3$ would have also prevented me from running into this setup. 

 

ARRGH 

[Zetsaz]

If it wasn't for all you've invested already I'd honestly be leaning towards a 2jz myself

[seattlejester]

I am tempted I can keep megasquirt and reuse my ignition coils. I am definitely keeping an eye out, need the rear sump oil pan and a 1jz bell housing to start. I just don't have the room or the space to start fabricating new engine mounts.

[seattlejester]

Had an unreal moment, felt like I had to share.

 

I had been looking for a crank when I stumbled upon an add on CL, 7mgte rebuilt, with 550 injectors, 264 cams with chevy springs, missing the manifold accessories, sensors, etc for $1000 located less in my city.

 

I talked to the guy and he said he didn't know much about it, but knew the previous owner, I contacted him and he was super helpful and told me he did a preventative rebuild with plans to push it to 500hp when he worked at a machine shop. 

 

Pretty much as perfect as it could be. We struck up a deal and we were waiting time when he could compression test it and I could pick it up.

 

Then disaster. His engine blew on his car and he decided to swap this engine in. Back to square one.

 

I called the machine shop, now I pretty much had made my bed, my 7m was going to have to be revived. I told them there were now zero leads for a crank other then online. I asked how he felt about it if I got one online. They asked for the name of the company and as I was saying it he said "oh no, not them" so now I was down to negative, he said he would call around and see what he could find.

 

Got the call earlier this week, he managed to find a crank that should be build able. Was not cheap, but I am hoping with the oil modifications, running excess oil as recommended and a critical bend in the oil pickup with perhaps a bigger sump will prevent me from having to revisit it.

 

They do want to do a pre-hone which I fear will add more to the cost, but at this point  I think I will have to build this to last.

 

Costs planned:

Crank core - 250

Crank measure and polish - 60

Crank work (straightening and welding) - 0-150

Pre hone - 100?

Hone with torque plate - 300

Rod resize, bushings, balance, shot peen - 300

Pistons - 300, unless I go forged then 600ish

Oil upgrades - 700

Gaskets and bearings - 200

Head work - 420

Install core plugs - 50

6 cylinder short block - 255

 

Then some other critical things

thermostat - 30 

timing pulley - 30

timing belt - 70

dip stick -100

modified oil retention plate - 60

 

I think probably around 4k all said and done with the new clutch, flywheel surface, and injectors. 

 

If this thing goes on me I think crying myself to sleep is going to be an understatement.

[Zetsaz]

Scrap it, buy 2jz for that cost

 

Kidding, hope everything goes well. What's the appeal of the 7m for you, anyway?

[seattlejester]

I know right? Get a little bit for scrap, sell the expensive bits, then keep an eye out for a 2jz. Problem is I would need to find an oil pan from an SC300 which is seemingly getting rarer by the moment, knowing what I know now, would be amiss if I didn't take it apart and do a preventative rebuild so I don't have to deal with a catastrophic failure, and would have to find a way to turbo it that I feel would be reliable, meaning a quality manifold and turbo which wouldn't be cheap unless I planned on running it NA, which wouldn't be all that bad now that I think about it.

 

The appeal of the 7m as in the motor in general or in comparison?

 

In general: twin cam, more displacement, factory turbo, pretty good aftermarket support, my preferred orientation (intake driver, exhaust passenger), high hp tranny, and so on.

 

In comparison: 1jz is not as easy to find parts for and also a step down in displacement, and despite the legendary hp numbers of the 2jz, apparently it is not without its own downfalls, they too can suck up money as much as you throw at it. 

 

Personally for me, it is convenient. It is in my possession, it will bolt back in with relative ease, I have a bigger turbo and fancy valve covers waiting to go on, I also have bespoke exhaust and mounts for the motor. 

[1969honda]

Doesn't sound unreasonable for the rebuild prices, it sucks but you do get what you pay for. I'd look into the forged pistons if you really are going to put a bigger turbo though, $300 more for a quality aftermarket forged set with good rings might be the difference between running for a long time and where you are right now all over again.

 

Of course I'm slightly crazy and building a one off Nissan VK56 with a TVS2300, custom ground crankshaft, rods and pistons... pistons alone are going to be $800-1600 depending on vendor, rods have been worked out for $700 and the crankshaft was $400 for bearings, grind mains and micropolishing

Edited September 10, 2016 by 1969honda

[Ryan Merrill]

Would it be a big problem swapping to an aristo 2JZ engine? There in the wreckers here all over the place. Found a few complete motor, auto trans, complete harness for $1100 CAD. If your going to add more boost, just fo forged from the beginning. Bore it and add a new piston.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Ryan Merrill

[Zetsaz]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-00-LEXUS-SC300-OIL-PAN-6-CYL-69597-/271713735973?fits=Model%3ASC300&hash=item3f43669525:g:8l8AAOSwjVVV12vl&vxp=mtr

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GENUINE-TOYOTA-SUPRA-LEXUS-SC300-LOWER-OIL-PAN-12102-46031-/321779523443?hash=item4aeb8ddf73:g:hskAAOSw3ydVynrF&vxp=mtr

[seattlejester]

1969honda: I agree, not very expensive, but I did my last rebuild for under 1200 IIRC, so in comparison it is a bit more, that and the fact I'm throwing in improvements over the factory it isn't terrible, but still a big chunk of change. I'll have to give the forged pistons some more thought, I was chatting with a friend about power goals, and I don't think I'll be going all crazy, and my tune is modest so I don't think there is much danger, still an added measure of safety I suppose. That engine sounds ridiculous!

 

Ryan: We don't have aristo's in the states so it would have to be a import, then on top of that I would need a rear oil pan which has been scarce in my searchings, and I would want to keep it manual which means a 1jz bell housing as well. If I was going forged, then that means a full tear down, which would mean I would be back to where I am now except more money down on a new motor and time on mounts. 

 

Zetsaz: those are unfortunately just for the metal pan, you need the whole aluminum brace structure, http://my.prostreetonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/how-to-convert-a-2jz-to-front-sump.jpg

Edited September 12, 2016 by seattlejester

[Greeko]

Gosh darn thats quite the dilemna.

There are a lot of choices for swaps... Just across the border you can get a 1j or 2z engine for 1500-2000.

 

What did you end up deciding?