The "just give me the cliffs" thread - my turbocharge/nitrous powered '97 sc300
#1
The "just give me the cliffs" thread - my turbocharge/nitrous powered '97 sc300
I've been a long-time member of CL and built my first car about 15 years ago. I wanted to undo all the errors of the past but needed to start with a fresh platform. I found a Pearl White '97 automatic with 55k miles back in 2010 and have been working on it ever since. Instead of dragging you through 7 years of the build, I'll simply give you the cliff notes with links and a summary. All assembly and tuning is done by me; I find a great joy and satisfaction building from the ground up.
So, lets get to the "cliffs". Here's a list of mods:
Motor
Built GE block 8.5:1, Wiesco pistons, Eagle rods, stock GE head, shimless buckets, BC springs/retainers, custom intake, Sound Performance GE turbo manifold, HKS 60mm gate, and HKS 272 cams (exhaust and Intake)
Ignition
Stock VVT-I coils/plug wires, Iridium plugs
Power adders
Precision T71-GTS turbo, NX direct-port nitrous, 10lbs bottle
Driveline
Supra 6-speed, Tilton triple, retubed 6-speed driveshaft, JDM 3.26 diff with TRD LSD
Electronics
AEM V2, Racelogic traction control, Cam/Crank Hall sensors, GM Flex fuel sensor, Tundra alternator, Yellow box speedo converter, MSD tach adapter, clutch activated line-lock release, and line-lock pressure sensor
Fuel system
Twin Densos in the OEM tank feeding a Magnafuel 4303 mounted under the car, or all 3 pumps can feed the fuel rail in parallel; all fuel lines are PTFE steel braided Teflon.
Suspension/brakes/wheels
Megan Racing coilovers, TT front brakes, Line lock, and TT polished wheels.
Here's a pic of the car; paint and interior are all original. Motor is about 10 years old:
Here's the nitrous arm switch.
Nitrous purge switch and aftermarket sub gain control. Also mounted the USB input to the head unit here, as well.
Here's the dyno sheet. 919whp, 767 ft-lbs torque at 23 psi and a 150 shot on E85.
Cliffs: Horsepower climbs the whole way, and torque is pretty flat. Very happy with the results; 1k whp should be easy with 12 to 15 psi of boost left in the turbo.
Details on the pull: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...ous-hit-on-E85
Cliffs: E85 makes more boost at the same wastegate duty but doesn't have the knock suppression I was expecting. I'm running a low compression motor by today's standards, but I can't imagine knock gets lower as compression is increased. The nitrous fuel was over-jetted and really fat; timing was about 13 degrees. I've jetted the fuel down and will make another pull here soon; so, she has some room to get better once I get the AFRs right.
Nitrous installation: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/arc...t-647841.html?
Here's a pic for reference:
Cliffs: It took some practice to bend the lines, but the real trick is making good flares. On the first test pull, nitrous and fuel went everywhere! :-P So, I had to re-do ALL the flares. I'm also using a User-defined PWM channel to pulse the solenoids.
As mentioned above, I had issues with the hardline flares. Here's the difference between a good flare and a bad one.
Bad flare:
Good flare:
Ignition details: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...ll-and-results
Cliffs: If coil dwell is optimized, stock VVT-i coils are good to 1k whp. A CDI or DLI isn't required.
Fuel system: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ml#post9819896
Cliffs: The fuel system is mounted under the trunk area and supports 3 configurations without moving lines around: 1) 2 Densos feeding the fuel rail, 2) 2 Densos feeding the Magnafuel, or 3) all three pumps feeding the fuel rail. Consequently, the fuel system will support anywhere from 800 to 1500 whp on E85. With the spare tire cavity removed, the fuel system is out of sight and fairly well protected from road debris as shown in the picture below.
Exhaust details: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ml#post3571028
Here's a couple of pics with the exhaust out of the car.
The Y-pipe was done by Burns Stainless, and it's a work of art.
This is all you see from the rear:
Cliffs: You can have your cake and eat it, too. A 4" downpipe to dual 3s and Vibrant Performance 1127s work great. Plus, the exhaust is very quiet. I might be boost limited to about 33 psi because of back pressure, but I won't give up noise to make more power. The nitrous system will more than make up the loss without having to make more boost.
Cam/crank Hall sensors: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...all-sensor-mod
This mod is pretty advanced. In hindsight, I recommend just getting GE regrinds, and call it a day.
Line lock: I don't have a separate thread on line lock, but I'll provide some details here. I added an electronic N.O. pressure switch to the line lock solenoid, and it closes the circuit with light brake pressure. It's shown to the right of the solenoid below.
After a burnout at the strip, I'll pull up to the pre-stage light and then set light brake pressure using the line lock switch. Then, I'll transfer the pressure by depressing the clutch pedal; the line lock switch and clutch switch are on the same circuit. Once boost builds, I'll bump the car into pre-stage and stage with light brake pressure on the fronts without rolling through the lights. When the tree goes yellow, I'll release the clutch just to the engagement point and then dump it. That has worked really well in the past on 60' times, and the reed switch on the clutch pedal will release the line lock instantaneously. I then have a programmed relay to disable the clutch switch after 7mph.
Stereo system: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...tallation.html
Here's all you see in the trunk; I mounted the amp on the back trunk panel with access to the fuse and channel settings. I wanted a functional trunk to look OEM without carrying extra weight of speaker boxes. I never understood putting speakers in the trunk when you sit in the cabin of the car.
Cliffs: I should have probably just swapped out the 6.5" speakers; the 6x9s are nice but overkill with an aftermarket sub.
Backup camera: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...post-here.html
Cliffs: While the installation looks good, the camera is too low to be functional, but I had no other option without a trunk spoiler. Although, I love the wingless look.
I have a few other details I'll add later, but that's the bulk of the work. Thanks for checking out my thread; hopefully, I saved you some time. ;-)
Thanks,
-scott
So, lets get to the "cliffs". Here's a list of mods:
Motor
Built GE block 8.5:1, Wiesco pistons, Eagle rods, stock GE head, shimless buckets, BC springs/retainers, custom intake, Sound Performance GE turbo manifold, HKS 60mm gate, and HKS 272 cams (exhaust and Intake)
Ignition
Stock VVT-I coils/plug wires, Iridium plugs
Power adders
Precision T71-GTS turbo, NX direct-port nitrous, 10lbs bottle
Driveline
Supra 6-speed, Tilton triple, retubed 6-speed driveshaft, JDM 3.26 diff with TRD LSD
Electronics
AEM V2, Racelogic traction control, Cam/Crank Hall sensors, GM Flex fuel sensor, Tundra alternator, Yellow box speedo converter, MSD tach adapter, clutch activated line-lock release, and line-lock pressure sensor
Fuel system
Twin Densos in the OEM tank feeding a Magnafuel 4303 mounted under the car, or all 3 pumps can feed the fuel rail in parallel; all fuel lines are PTFE steel braided Teflon.
Suspension/brakes/wheels
Megan Racing coilovers, TT front brakes, Line lock, and TT polished wheels.
Here's a pic of the car; paint and interior are all original. Motor is about 10 years old:
Here's the nitrous arm switch.
Nitrous purge switch and aftermarket sub gain control. Also mounted the USB input to the head unit here, as well.
Here's the dyno sheet. 919whp, 767 ft-lbs torque at 23 psi and a 150 shot on E85.
Cliffs: Horsepower climbs the whole way, and torque is pretty flat. Very happy with the results; 1k whp should be easy with 12 to 15 psi of boost left in the turbo.
Details on the pull: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...ous-hit-on-E85
Cliffs: E85 makes more boost at the same wastegate duty but doesn't have the knock suppression I was expecting. I'm running a low compression motor by today's standards, but I can't imagine knock gets lower as compression is increased. The nitrous fuel was over-jetted and really fat; timing was about 13 degrees. I've jetted the fuel down and will make another pull here soon; so, she has some room to get better once I get the AFRs right.
Nitrous installation: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/arc...t-647841.html?
Here's a pic for reference:
Cliffs: It took some practice to bend the lines, but the real trick is making good flares. On the first test pull, nitrous and fuel went everywhere! :-P So, I had to re-do ALL the flares. I'm also using a User-defined PWM channel to pulse the solenoids.
As mentioned above, I had issues with the hardline flares. Here's the difference between a good flare and a bad one.
Bad flare:
Good flare:
Ignition details: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...ll-and-results
Cliffs: If coil dwell is optimized, stock VVT-i coils are good to 1k whp. A CDI or DLI isn't required.
Fuel system: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ml#post9819896
Cliffs: The fuel system is mounted under the trunk area and supports 3 configurations without moving lines around: 1) 2 Densos feeding the fuel rail, 2) 2 Densos feeding the Magnafuel, or 3) all three pumps feeding the fuel rail. Consequently, the fuel system will support anywhere from 800 to 1500 whp on E85. With the spare tire cavity removed, the fuel system is out of sight and fairly well protected from road debris as shown in the picture below.
Exhaust details: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...ml#post3571028
Here's a couple of pics with the exhaust out of the car.
The Y-pipe was done by Burns Stainless, and it's a work of art.
This is all you see from the rear:
Cliffs: You can have your cake and eat it, too. A 4" downpipe to dual 3s and Vibrant Performance 1127s work great. Plus, the exhaust is very quiet. I might be boost limited to about 33 psi because of back pressure, but I won't give up noise to make more power. The nitrous system will more than make up the loss without having to make more boost.
Cam/crank Hall sensors: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...all-sensor-mod
This mod is pretty advanced. In hindsight, I recommend just getting GE regrinds, and call it a day.
Line lock: I don't have a separate thread on line lock, but I'll provide some details here. I added an electronic N.O. pressure switch to the line lock solenoid, and it closes the circuit with light brake pressure. It's shown to the right of the solenoid below.
After a burnout at the strip, I'll pull up to the pre-stage light and then set light brake pressure using the line lock switch. Then, I'll transfer the pressure by depressing the clutch pedal; the line lock switch and clutch switch are on the same circuit. Once boost builds, I'll bump the car into pre-stage and stage with light brake pressure on the fronts without rolling through the lights. When the tree goes yellow, I'll release the clutch just to the engagement point and then dump it. That has worked really well in the past on 60' times, and the reed switch on the clutch pedal will release the line lock instantaneously. I then have a programmed relay to disable the clutch switch after 7mph.
Stereo system: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...tallation.html
Here's all you see in the trunk; I mounted the amp on the back trunk panel with access to the fuse and channel settings. I wanted a functional trunk to look OEM without carrying extra weight of speaker boxes. I never understood putting speakers in the trunk when you sit in the cabin of the car.
Cliffs: I should have probably just swapped out the 6.5" speakers; the 6x9s are nice but overkill with an aftermarket sub.
Backup camera: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...post-here.html
Cliffs: While the installation looks good, the camera is too low to be functional, but I had no other option without a trunk spoiler. Although, I love the wingless look.
I have a few other details I'll add later, but that's the bulk of the work. Thanks for checking out my thread; hopefully, I saved you some time. ;-)
Thanks,
-scott
Last edited by motorheaddown; 10-30-17 at 02:02 PM.
The following 3 users liked this post by motorheaddown:
#3
Thanks,
-scott
Last edited by motorheaddown; 04-03-17 at 07:18 PM.
The following users liked this post:
aswang (04-03-17)
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#8
I appreciate the compliments; it makes all the hard work worth it.
Honestly, I love this stuff. If I could turbocharge and add a little to my lawnmower, I'd do it!
Thanks,
-scott
Honestly, I love this stuff. If I could turbocharge and add a little to my lawnmower, I'd do it!
Thanks,
-scott
Last edited by motorheaddown; 04-06-17 at 05:40 AM.
#11
On an unrelated note, I also figured out how to electronically disengage the Racelogic traction control system when the nitrous system is spraying. That allows me to run traction control on boost at low speed while enabling nitrous once traction is available. Should be a giant killer on the street.
Thanks,
-scott
#12
Test fitment of the slicks
Getting close to track time; so, I worked on trimming the fenders for 28x10 slicks. Just need to work on banging out the inner fender well.
Didn't bother throwing on the skinnies; fitment isn't an issue with Alumistars and spacers over TT brakes
Didn't bother throwing on the skinnies; fitment isn't an issue with Alumistars and spacers over TT brakes
#14
Thanks,
-scott
#15
Did a ton of fender work this weekend and got MT 305/45s mounted on stockers. Fitment is close, but everything tucks inside the wheel well without pulling the fender. I opted to grind the lip almost flush at the top, and then it tapers wider from top to bottom. I also had to pound out the wheel well so it won't rub on a hard launch. This additional work was probably required for the Hooziers, anyway; so, it was time we'll spent.
The look is kinda meaty on the street, but she finally hooks in 2nd gear at low boost. So, it's time to turn her up!
Thanks,
-scott
The look is kinda meaty on the street, but she finally hooks in 2nd gear at low boost. So, it's time to turn her up!
Thanks,
-scott
Last edited by motorheaddown; 06-26-17 at 09:38 AM.