KahnBB6

iTrader: (5)

It's true that the larger displacement and low end of the six makes revving at low engine speed less of an issue although 2nd gear at 25mph wasn't that great with the stock gearing, IMO. In general, yes, it moves without complaint when you apply the gas.

I've owned a classic Mustang with a 302 and have driven many other classic and more modern V8 ponycars. I love them and I understand where you are coming from regarding their lower gearing. Thing is, many of these vehicles have far more stock horsepower and low end torque and a lower power band than a stock 2JZ-GE does. In the case of any LS1 GM car, a very nice overdrive gear was available with the standard 6-speed manual gearbox. It makes total sense with a 320+hp V8 engine. In non-turbo form, however, the 2JZ engine just needs a lot of gearing to move. 4.10's in a Fox Mustang 5.0 was considered to be the upper end of barely streetable but it was also on the extreme end of fast if preceded by serious engine work.

I never expected great fuel economy from my SC, given what it is. Even attempting to utilize the V160's 6th gear overdrive to improve things it doesn't help too much for an NA car because you'd need 3.769 gearing just like the naturally aspirated Supra SZ-R. A turbo SC benefits more but even the MKIV TT 6-speed with 3.133 gearing didn't do better than 23mpg EPA. I'd venture a guess that 1JZ swaps, especially 1JZ VVT-i swaps, are the only good ones on fuel economy in an SC/Supra. Toyota/Lexus are to blame for that. Or perhaps the 90's lobbying power of Cadillac, Mercedes and BMW.

GM really did something right with their decision to keep selling pushrod V8's that get 28mpg. That's exactly what my old Prelude would get on the highway and that thing was woefully underpowered and under torqued compared to a Z28/SS.

misomeru

I have removed the intake y pipe and throttle for a sparkplug change and noticed a lot of gunk build up in the y pipe and air intake manifold. I suspect it may be due to a china made/faulty/old pcv valve. I also noted that the egr piping had no gaskets to the engine block or to the y pipe. I asked dealer if this is how it came from factory and they said no. I tried to use throttle body cleaner to clean the throttle plate and its passage and to clear out the egr piping of what seems like oil in the y pipe and also it's airway passages but gave up and it's now about 65% clean. I'm not so sure I want to take intake manifold off to clean since I would need to buy another gasket for that as well and it looks extra dirty. I inspected the spark plugs and they were all dry and the piston heads were a tad oily but not excessive and had what looked like little black/dark brown carbon flakes" laying on top of the heads looking through the spark plug hole so they were not perfectly clean (dont know if this is normal). I also checked the maf sensor and it looked clean except that the honeycombs had like a small cluster of about 6 of them that were very very slightly bent like if you bend the fins on a radiator. I left it alone since I think it is running right. I found where the coolant has been leaking from and it is coming from above the alternator in what I can guess is called the thermostat housing. I'm hoping its just that the thermostat wasn't opening and creating too much pressure and caused it to create a passage for coolant to leak or the gasket is just old. With the car running I squeezed both the upper and lower hoses when at normal heat operating range and the bottom one is "tighter" when I squeeze than that of the top one. I can tell its coolant leaking since I just changed it to Toyota Red and it was clearly red and gathered at the lowest point of the ball of the t-stat housing. I strongly hope that this was the culprit of me loosing small amounts of coolant everytime I drive it. I also noticed when I was about the change the spark plugs that there was oil in the spark plug galley coming from what I can tell to be the valve cover gaskets. Need help or advice on how to clean the area sos not to foul my new plugs I will be installing. I did allow a little bit of coolant to drip into one of the spark plug holes too. So I stopped my project till I can afford to buy the remaining parts which are as follows

New style valve cover bolts with metal/plastic washers pre-fitted
pcv hose that connect to pcv
new pcv valve
air intake coupling (found when removed that it was split more than 75 percent of the way through and last owner used electrical tape to hide the fact)
2 new rotor screws (lost them somewhere)
t-stat and gasket
egr to y pipe gasket
engine to egr gasket

I have already ordered
both valve cover gaskets
cap
rotor
packing dust proof for cap
o-ring distributor housing
tape, sealing
oil filter
fuel filter
throttle body gasket
spark plgs PK20R11
cord set, coil & spark
grommet for ventilation system
gasket intake air connector
air filter
gasket oil drain plug
gasket for oil filler cap
extra hex bolt for top engine cover
coil assembly
gasket air flow meter

I've installed the fuel filter which was a PITA and I really feel like I cross threaded the bolt that is nearest the tank like even thought I tried over and over to put the threaded end in and hand tighten it but it would only turn like once over and way I tried to start the screwing and then I used a wrench to tighten the rest of the way. Does not seem to leak (but I havent started the car till I fix all these problems)

I've also installed the air filter, oil cap gasket, air flow meter gasket, dizzy o-ring gasket. I need to redo timing since I didn't mark anything so I have to hunt down a timing light to get it right. Any cheap one will work right, i.e. Harbour Freight? No need for advaned timing feature?

Right now I am waiting for some more money to get those last parts and clean what I can and put it back together. I do not see any specific instructions on the tightening sequence of the valve cover screws anywhere. I need some help with that....

Thanks for reading. I never thought the car would need so much work. I do own a simple cylinder pressure tester but my question would be how to use it without coolant shooting out of the open hoses?