Timdog1650

Hey guys,
Allow me to preface this post by saying that I'm asking for advice regarding this topic because I don't have any experience with the 2jz platform in the sc300....however, I have built a 400whp WRX/STi swapped car, so I know about tuning, turboing, built motors, all that jazz...I just need SC300 and 2jz specific information so please keep the "built motors are strong but less reliable" or "you're going to need a new ecu to turbo the car" comments down to a minimum, I realize the necessary mods are going to be costly regardless of how I go, I'm looking for an economical yet "proven" path for rebuilding my car with horsepower goals in the 500-600whp range on a daily driver, tranny plans still TBD.

Okay, so if you're still with me....I recently bought a '93 garnet red sc300 automatic with 110k miles on the clock, one owner Florida car, all that good stuff that you look for in a car. B+ exterior, B+ interior, really nice condition for a 13 year old car. I ignored the suspiciously new radiator and figured it just got fixed up to be sold, hence the brand new part. Bad move by Timdog...turns out the last one popped, overheated the motor, most likely melted some pistons. The other day the car started stumbling and hesitating, smoking oil like a bandit, so I got a compression test done (didn't have time to do it myself).

cyl1-175
cyl2-125
cyl3-195
cyl4-205
cyl5-205
cyl6-175

Obviously cylinder 2 is toast, and 1 and 6 are hurting (outside allowable variance between cylinders). The dealer's tech said that doing a wet test with some ATF yielded really good results on each cylinder, so I'm thinking melted/fried compression and oil rings...Since my plans all along were to put boost through this motor, I've come up with a couple of possible rebuilding plans, and I would appreciate anyone's input on which is the prefered, most reliable, least costly, or just flat out "smartest" way to go about doing all this...here's what I've come up with so far

1-Pull engine down, replace pistons (since they're most likely melted) with 2jzGTE pistons (do these work with 2jzGE rods and wristpins?) or comparable forged aftermarket replacement, put engine back together with a metal headgasket and ARP studs, do a normal NA-T setup.

2-stock Supra bottom end, Stock head w/metal headgasket, ARP studs, put it all back together and do a normal NA-T setup (boost logic kit looks nice and I can get it for cost).

3-Full 2jzGTE swap with big single kit, full wiring harness swap, AEM for the GTE motor, already tuned all coming out of a crashed car...everything I'd need for the swap, only it's kind of pricey and it would involve a LOT more swapping just to get the thing to run rather than using the existing wiring and sensors from the sc300 modified to accept the AEM.

4-Fix the stock motor, put it all back to working stock condition, then just do an NA-T setup on what the car comes with stock since it can handle some boost in stock form...

I have all these options, all of them are going to cost me big, but in the end my goal of a "reliable daily driver turbo car" is pretty reasonable given other peoples' experiences with these cars. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate everyone's input .

Regards,

~Tim

Dx3

iTrader: (13)

Well option 4 would be nice - but you said earlier 600hp and I don't know how long the stock motor would last with that much boost. I say if you are going to do it - do it right.

#3!

But first, is this your daily driver?? Do you have time for all the added work?

Jonny

Timdog1650

Hahah, I know..."do it right the first time." yes and no, I am in college at the Naval Academy, so I COULD have it down for a few weeks while I built the hell out of it, but before early May I need the car running again, hence my urgency and lack of desire to put the thing on jackstands for half a year. I'm starting to consider another option....just dropping a supra TT bottom end in the car and being done with it...it's already drilled out for oil feed/return, has piston squirters, and would be reliable as hell as long as it wasn't super high mileage....the problem is just where to find one that isn't a lemon. If anyone has any ideas, hit me up.

~Tim

95 Integra

Might also want to note that if your rings/pistons are damaged that your sidewalls are probably pretty toasty too, thus you will most likely need to get a .25 or .5mm overbore and run oversized pistons. So on that note, Im gonna say to roll with a stock GTE bottom end w/ TT head gasket. I dont really see a need to upgrade to ARP head studs and in the past (on the integra) Ive had bad experiences with them. Ofcourse the full GTE swap might not be so bad either....that plus some bolt ons should get you to a much happier place.

kietlander

o yeah with that much power you will need a biult tranny from BL.

SUPRMSC

iTrader: (7)

If you want 500+ horsepower thats headache free and built, then I would suggest the GTE swap. But for that amount of power you will need to go BPU+++.

NA-T 500 hp is easily obtainable. Its not the motor that is your biggest concern but your transmission. If I were in your shoes I would buy another 2JZ-GE (Really really cheap motors), swap out the shortblock, machine/clean the head, and drop it together with a 2.5 mm headgasket & ARP headstuds, and that motor is strong enough to withstand 600 rwhp with a good tune.

VJ RC51

i got a few GE motors if u wanna pay shipping from FL

Timdog1650

What kind of condition are they in? I PM'ed you....

As for the "tranny being the weak link" What's everyone's preference for slushbox? I have heard that the boostlogic built NA auto trans is a "good to go" solution, also heard of people who got 3 shifts out of them and they blew....Is it really necessary to get a Supra TT auto trans and build it or can I use the box the car came with stock and build that....so confusing...

~Tim

VJ RC51

Stock 1JZ tranny with upgraded clutches, bands, torque converter works fine if u dont go WOT everywhere.

Th400 is nice, but no OD. Get a TH700r4.

aliga

iTrader: (147)

whats the diiff between the r4 and the th350?

Timdog1650

What about some ghetto aristo ebay TT tranny, do a full rebuild with a converter and upgraded everything...is there any advantage over the 1jz trans or the NA trans there?