1UZ Swap: Basic Obstacles and Overview

[iruyle]

I plan to pair up a 1UZ with a W58 and have what may be a silly question. Maybe I'm just over thinking...
Is there any definitive benefit to using a fabbed bell housing vs. an adapter plate? Do you require any less mods to your drive train components if you just use a bell housing? Obviously the adapter adds length to the drive train that has to be offset, doesn't it?

 

[CheesePhantom]

The benefit of an adapter plate is that it is machined perfectly to specifications which position everything perfectly, from the input shaft of the transmission to the clutch release bearing. You know for a fact that everything is going to line up straight and true where as this cannot be guaranteed by fabricating a bell housing. In most cases this is done by cutting the front portion of a 1UZ auto bell housing and welding it to the rear portion of the W58 bell housing and there's just no way to prevent human error. If for example the bell housing ends up mounting at an angle; you'll experience all sorts of problems and could theoretically end up blowing bearings in the transmission or flexing the input shaft to the point of shattering. Or maybe the bell housing could end up too long (which would position the input shaft too far away from the crankshaft) or too short (which would position the input shaft much too far into the crankshaft and could possibly leave a gap between the engine and the bell housing. Aside from the piece of mind and the benefit of being able to mount a clutch release bearing to the adapter plate it would end up working the same way.

 

[iruyle]

The benefit of an adapter plate is that it is machined perfectly to specifications which position everything perfectly, from the input shaft of the transmission to the clutch release bearing. You know for a fact that everything is going to line up straight and true where as this cannot be guaranteed by fabricating a bell housing. In most cases this is done by cutting the front portion of a 1UZ auto bell housing and welding it to the rear portion of the W58 bell housing and there's just no way to prevent human error. If for example the bell housing ends up mounting at an angle; you'll experience all sorts of problems and could theoretically end up blowing bearings in the transmission or flexing the input shaft to the point of shattering. Or maybe the bell housing could end up too long (which would position the input shaft too far away from the crankshaft) or too short (which would position the input shaft much too far into the crankshaft and could possibly leave a gap between the engine and the bell housing. Aside from the piece of mind and the benefit of being able to mount a clutch release bearing to the adapter plate it would end up working the same way.

Thanks for the input.
It just gets a tad hazy when you look at both the adapter kits and those kits based on a custom bell housing.

 

[Supra 702]

In a few weeks I will be purchasing a 1UZ from a SC400 and i plan on mating it with a r154. I know I need to ether fab or purchase mounts, purchase a 1uz to r154 adapter. There isnt much post about headers and exhaust manifolds. My question is are you and others running custom headers or exhaust manifolds? Is there a way for you to repost the photos that are no longer available?

 

[CheesePhantom]

For some reason, when I try to edit the original post all of the information is erased. I'll try to fix the pictures later on.
The stock SC400 exhaust manifolds fit perfectly into our Supras. I just had a Y-pipe made between the exhaust manifolds and my Apexi N1 cat-back exhaust.

I only have one picture on hand of my exhaust set up at the moment:

Edit: I took a better picture of my exhaust since I happen to have it apart at the moment.

Also, if you plan on fabricating your own motor mounts these pictures might help you out (if you have a zenki sub-frame):

My mounts aren't very pretty, but they work well.

 

[suprakidd]

here's the link to George's unlocked ECU's
http://www.lextreme.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16344

Whats the deal with these "unimmobilized" ecus? I read thru the pages they're pretty vague.. is this allowing us access and tune stock ecus??

 

[CheesePhantom]

These unlocked ECUs are simply VVTI ECUs with disabled security systems; it has nothing to do with tuning or chipping or what have you. The Immobilizers present in the VVTI engines are a security feature in the ECU which prevent the car from starting/running without the original key present. It's a great thief-deterring feature for a brand new Lexus but a terrible inconvenience when it comes to swapping the engine into another chassis. In the past we weren't able to run VVTI engines without standalone ECUs but now a couple of people have managed to disable these immobilizers. I'm still not sure what has to be done to allow the engine to run smoothly on a manual transmission but I'm sure that has been figured out as well.

 

[iruyle]

Nice work on the mounts.
How much to cut me a set?

 

[CheesePhantom]

Nice work on the mounts.
How much to cut me a set?

Haha. I don't have the time to reproduce my motor mounts, but I put the measurements right there for you. You can even put a protractor on your screen to get the correct angles. It would be easy to make some copies just based on those pictures.

 

[Satan]

I am putting an SC300 engine/harness into an MKIII. Do you have the wiring map for what you did for all the dash connections/signals? The harness and dash connectors are very similar (tho I plan to keep my SC400 intact).