Some newbish questions... "GE build or GTE swap?"

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

Hey alls...

Before I go into detail... I'll say ive spent the last several hours going through posts to find the info i need and have come up empty handed...

with that being said...

my car is a bone stock 87 NA w/ 130k on the clock (previous to about 8 months ago.... it had been sitting for nearly 10 years..) its low on compression (not sure which cyl. but it blows the dipstick out of the tube a good inch any time you get on it... so im guessing the rings are shot...)

anyways... ive been tossing the idea of a motor swap around but I dont really want to spend the money required to do a 1j or 2j swap and turbo build...

so... im now considering building my 7mge for boost but havnt figured out if its a worth while undertaking....

im wanting to go for the 500whp range... I want the car reliable... and if oil squirters are the only difference between the ge and gte blocks... I dont see why the ge couldnt be built to handle what the gte can do in stock form... (bottom end that is...)

so... with forged guts (will rods be needed also or could I get by with just pistons?)... could i see a reliable 500whp or should I look another direction?

main problem is lack of supra parts in my local area... finding a turbo motor isnt easy around here otherwise id just go that route and build it...

here are my basic questions...

can a ge be built to reliably hold 500whp?
can a ge be built for the same price as building the gte to hold the same power?
if its possible... would I need rods and pistons or could I get away with just forged pistons (if they make aftermarket pistons that can be hung on the stock rods... other motors ive built in the past that had great rods but junk pistons had this problem... no aftermarket pistons could be used with the stock rods... so you had to purchase both)

if it can be done.... where would be a good place to source internals? i hanvt found too many places selling 7m guts...

as for my knowledge... ive built quite a few cars.... several turbo motors... etc... etc... so the work wont be a problem...

 

[honestabe]

NA-T swap. Although you'd have to do a full rebuild on your motor (probably has a BHG, wouldn't shock me at all). Remember this famous saying

Cheap, Fast, Reliable, you can only choose 2. This is 100% true. Downside to forged internals (need to confirm this, but I heard it 2nd hand from a reputable source) is that they don't last for a long time. Honestly, I'd do a 1J swap. Although to get better bang for the buck, buy a MKIII already swapped over and upgraded. Buy a turn key car for about $8k and it'll have that 500 RWHP. It'd be a damn site cheaper than doing a rebuild or swap, especially if you have to hire a shop to do the work. If I could do it over again, this is what I would have done. I tell you, I'd be a lot farther along than I am now.

Hell, a 1J with a standalone, fuel system upgrades, intercooler upgrade, and a Driftmotion single turbo kit (either their 60-1 or their DM67 turbo) will get you that 500. And that's on stock internals, which are very reliable.

You'd be amazed at all the Supra resources in your area. Ask in the general section, a lot of people will pop up.

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

If i did go the swap route... i'd prolly go 2j... with that being said, I can pick up a 2jzge for next to nothing around here...

from my understanding.... they can handle 500whp in stock form... so if i can get my hands on a low mileage motor... hone the cylinders... rings, bearings, arp studs/bolts and a thick hg to drop the comp ratio for boost and would be set i suppose....

here is a question that i havnt found an answer to though.... i actually want to keep my atx... will the 7m atx bolt up to the 2jz block or will i need to get a tranny from the 2j car and fab up tranny mounts?

i know the tranny will have to be built... which isnt an issue..

ive been searching through the build threads and it seems that I could go this route cheaper then building the 7m (i dont really care which motor I go with... I like the 7m... I like the 1j and 2j motors... its what ever I can do to be reliable... cheaper)

so... as far as trannies go... how can this be done? I've also heard some running gm ATXs... would this be possible?

-AcId-

 

[honestabe]

I'd pick up a 2JZ-GE and do an NA-T swap on it. They can handle 700+ RWHP with stock internals, FYI That'd be your best route. Part out your 7M to recoupe some of your cost. As far as the auto trans goes, you'll just need a bell housing for it. The cost although for it (just looked it up on ToyoDIY.com) would make it much cheaper to just buy one from a MKIV or SC300. And yes, you can install a TH350, there's a couple guys on here who have done it. Slow66 comes to mind (Brian)

 

[AcIdBuRn02ZTS]

may just pick up a motor and trans from a low mileage sc300... will i need to make tranny mounts also or will it bolt in?

if a th350 can be used... then i'd assume a 700r4 could also be used....

ive got lots of planning to do either way... and a good bit of research

thanks for the insight... from the looks of it... spring or summer is when this is gonna be started on and I plan to pull it off rather quickly since this is my dd at the moment (however I can drive my focus for a little while if I need to... just dont like driving it back and forth to work...)

i'll get the motor and trans here within a few months hopefully... pull the motor apart and freshen things up a bit... hone, rings, bearings (if its a low mileage unit...) and run it NA for the time being as i put together the turbo setup for it....

anyways.. thanks again
-AcId-

 

[honestabe]

You'll need BIC motor mount adaptors. I'm running them on my 1J (both the solid mounts and adaptors) and love them. It's a quick thing to swap, only takes a couple minutes since it's only a couple easy to get to bolts.

 

[hornet7288]

I say turbo it. You just can't get much out of the GE engines. Maybe intake and exhaust, but besides that it simply isn't worth it.