I moved recently and am renting out my old place. That means that Oct 1 is D-Day. Everything must go. Sep 29, everything is moved except one thing: My 1987 Toyota Supra with a Trailblazer I6 engine, a Pontiac Solstice 5 speed manual, and a VVT turbo out of a Duramax. That also means that all of my tools and equipment are already moved.
I came back for the Supra carrying a small plastic tool box, a jump starter, a laptop, a HPTuners interface, and -I figured- maybe a 40% chance of success. I knew the Supra would start and run, but with the move I hadn't had a chance to do any sort of shake down run. It was 6:30 PM on Sep 30. I touched the white hood and said a small prayer to the god of engine swaps. "One more time, old friend. For old time's sake."
I popped the hood and hooked up my charger, hoping some juice would trickle in while I worked on other things. Installed the intake tube v-clamp and slid the air filter over the other end. It was already getting dark in the 4 car garage, so I pushed the Supra out onto the lawn to giver her the once over. Turbo oil feed? Check. Oil drain? Check. Coolant lines -uh- can't really see in this light. Check.
I had not much idea what state the engine calibration was in, so I pulled down whatever was on the PCM and had a look. I had to switch PCMs a while back and never updated the tune. Looking now, I could see that it was still setup for an auto trans, but most non-existent emissions systems were already disabled. The 80 lb/hr injectors were already configured. Good, that's the hard part. Worked some Lime-Swap voodoo, and started reflashed. Said another prayer to the engine-swap gods that the battery had enough juice to keep my HPTuners interface alive. Reflash complete. Shadows getting long.
Turned the key to "On." Listened to the fuel pump run for precisely 2 seconds. Left foot, clutch in. Right foot touched the accelerator. Key turned, and the engine reluctantly rolled a bit then stopped. And then started to roll again. Feathered accelerator and she barked and settled into a nice idle. And then a not-so-nice idle. The interior lights brightened and dimmed as the PCM tried to decide whether it wanted to continue running or not. Not. Stalled. Back to HPTuners. Bump idle by 200 RPM. Reflash. Turned the key and nothing. Then a slight electric whine. A cough, and she's back to life at a comfortable idle. Surely, that consumed the very last electron from my charger. It was then quite dark.
I hopped in and turned on the flip-up headlights, happy that the added alternator load didn't kill the engine. I worked the clutch extra delicately, so as to not stall. The engine sounds happy and the shifting is smooth. I had planned to take backroads on the 30 mile journey, but I can see the coolant gauge creeping to an uncomfortable position. Fuck it. Hit the freeway. We're going home.
One eye on the laptop and one eye on the gauges. I drove by braille. God, the 4200 is a sweetheart of an engine. Smooth, linear, and torquey. And now, what's this? The VVT is definitely spooling, even with the vanes fully open! I watch on the laptop as the MAP sensor maxes out at 103 kPA, even though I'm only half way through the throttle range. Oh man. I CANNOT wait to get boost control on this thing!
Other than some high-temp excursions, the trip home was easy. No stalling. No driveability problems. Now this is my driveway:
