Why did YOU go 1JZ?

[Doward]

No flames, no arguements.

I just want to know why, you all that went 1JZ over 7MGTE. Doesn't matter what the reasons are, I'd like to know.

I'm debating a 1JZ or a forged 7MGTE, and just wondering why some of you chose the 1JZ over the 7M.

I don't want anyone going 'but omg you can do that to a 7M as well!' These are people's reasons why they did something - don't call them stupid, or anything similarly flaming.

So why did you go 1JZ?

 

[OneJoeZee]

I used to do tons of reading and google searching about the engine years ago when I first got started. It's always what I wanted to do with my Supra. And I knew when I had the opportunity to do it, I would. A took a ride in a good friend's car when it was stock and was even more convinced and determined to do it then.

The opportunity to swap presented itself about a year and a half ago while I was at college without my Supra. That made it easy for me to sell my 7M and all the 7M mods and stuff and arrange to get them to the buyers when I got back. I sold alot of small parts like intake and BOV from my 7M through people stopping by my house and my mom selling them for me and just putting the money in my room. The buyer of my 7M had his car towed to my house about 2 weeks before I came back home for the spring break. When I got home, Jose(driftmotion) and I swapped my GTE into the NA car and the guy came and picked it up. I went back to school with a chunk of cash and used it to buy my 1JZ harness and new radiator for my swap. Then I waited for my clip to arrive for about 2-3 months. Get there almost the same day I came home from school. Went and paid cash for it and did the swap with Jose again. And I've been enjoying my car more than ever since then. So much more fun than my 7M was with the same basic mods.

The engine is incredibly smoothe, the stock power is wonderful, and the stock turbos have very little lag. Full boost a little under 3000RPM. Whoever says the 1J is too small for our hefty Supras is insane. I've raced other 7M cars with similar mods and some with more and they never got the jump on me. Same with some V8 cars I've ran before. I only have DP, intake and exhaust, it's incredibly fun to drive, and I haven't even started to really mod it yet! The engine sounds amazing and takes a beating without issues. I drive it in the CA summer(100+) in stop and go traffic and never have cooling issues.

I'm 100% satisfied. I'm on my 2nd 1J currently after I toasted the first one due to some very bad boost and detonation issues. Didn't get too discouraged, got a new engine and got it running again. Still 100% satisfied. Now I'm looking to upgrade to single turbo in the not so far off future :biglaugh:. And I want a real JZA70 eventually too. Not a swapped car, a real factory car. That would be nice.

My 7M is still running in another car in socal and I have tons of respect for the nice 7M builds out there. It just wasn't for me.

edit: Before anyone jumps in to disagree with my statements, I don't really care. Everytime I drive my car, it's just as exciting as the first time and I have zero regrets about the swap.

 

[Kazooie]

because it was in my car from the factory :biglaugh:

 

[Big Wang Bandit]

I liked that Joe. Ideally I would want to go with a 1JZ. Ive done some reading and such. But I dont think I have the $$$ to do it. The avalibility of 7M's is really what got me.. I do see me in 2 - 3 yeas with an 89+ car with a 1J tho lol.

 

[Insidious Surmiser]

never went 1j, but the reson being, probably because i've never had the oportunity to either ride in/drive a 1j car... i blew my original gte (due to previous owner's lousy care) and just figured the easiest/most cost effective optionw as the 7m... so far, i'm very pleased with the motor, but i'm sure the 1j is on a completely different level, as far as efficiency, and technology goes.

 

[Brewster]

because it's also easier to change the sparkplugs.

 

[ProjectGoFast]

For me it was never a matter of going 1JZ because I've never owned a supra with a 7m I went from a 5m mk2 to a 1JZ mk3 I just skipped the 7m I'll never own a 7m car. I've driven, and worked on plenty of them and they just seem to have alot of reliabilty issues I've seen post where people dont want to do track days with there 7m because there afraid they will get rod knock because of the 7m's poor oiling design. I can go and beat the piss out of my 1j 24/7 and all I fear is getting a ticket. For me it was the motor I fealt better suited what I wanted, beat the shit out of it then drive it to work everyday for the price I dont think there are to many motors out there that can beat it

 

[Stanzaspeed]

because it was in my car from the factory :biglaugh:

same :biglaugh:

 

[87CandyBlueT]

I have love for my 7m. However I have to agree with the reliabilty issues as I see many her eon the forums. My 7m has never really given me problems. Just a few minor problems with the car in general. Engine runs great and very strong. I do think in the years to come I will do a swap. I wanted to do a 1uz-fe swap when I first got my car but theirs to much involved there and would be to much downtime for me. I thought about 1jz swap and was seriously considering it, then I looked into the 2jz swap. I figured for about $450-550 more it would be well worth it. 2jz has a huge aftermarket and they are beasts it's got the displacement and the right design. Parts are easily acquired for 2jz compared to 7m and 1jz. Even though some 1jz parts and gaskets are will work on either.

 

[Kai]

The reason i'm swapping to a 1JZ is mainly, I want turbos and more aftermarket part availability. 7M-GTE is a good engine, if your supra came with one, no point swapping to a 1JZ at all, just build power with it. Then again, i'm N/A and although swapping to a 7M-GTE is cheaper, its not really that much harder to go for the 1JZ, which is higher revving and a better designed engine. It's what should have been in the Supra's all along

 

[poppincaps88]

I liked that Joe. Ideally I would want to go with a 1JZ. Ive done some reading and such. But I dont think I have the $$$ to do it. The avalibility of 7M's is really what got me.. I do see me in 2 - 3 yeas with an 89+ car with a 1J tho lol.

Wow that just about summed up my feelings on the topic. One day...one day..:nono:

 

[itr206]

I planned on swapping the motor before I even bought the car. I set a goal for the car before I got it and stuck with it.
I orig wanted a 2JZ, but then saw the 1JZ and it was easier to get in, original for the chassis and looked perty. Plus I just so happened to run into money at the time.
Plus the 7M just got on my nerves. It drove great and made power, but I did not trust it one bit and there were many things I don't agree with on how toyota did that motor. So i decided to go with a more usable platform in my opinion.

 

[tissimo]

though it was a cheap 2jz pretty much, but was wrong.. i still want a 2jz

 

[92gtapex]

Ive always wanted/respected the jz series of engines. and always wanted a supra. I cant justify spending the money at this point on a jza80 (im only 19)
I brought a ma70 Supra rolling body with no motor or trans (was originally 7m auto) for $200 (New Zealand dollars) and then purchased a 1jzgte and auto for $1200 which I am going to put in. Will probably end up with fmic, aftermarket dump pipes, 3" exhaust and about 15psi and thats about it for now.
the reason I have stayed away from 7mgte is lack of reliabilty, a lot older engine design, there not a common engine to find in good condition, or for companies to import. and m,ainly I just dont have the trust in them that i do in a 1jz
those are the main reasons that I can think of at the moment

Logan

 

[annoyingrob]

After failing to find any decent supras for what I wanted to spend locally, I happened to meet a friend of a friend who ran a small business importing cars from Japan. I've always wanted a unique car, which is why I wanted a supra in the first place, there's not a lot of them on the roads anymore. I figured I would give it a shot, and see if I could get my hands on a very unique supra, a JZA70.

After about 6 months of various delays and crap (not due to the importer), I ended up getting a beautiful 91 supra. Not a lot of JZA70s with the factory Recaro interior around here

The engine is so smooth to drive. It's great to work on too (although i don't like the oil filter placement). I know a lot of people go 1J just to be different. Yes, that was why I did it, and I'm glad I did. The engine is very strong, has a nice power curve (I have a dyno with a FLAT torque curve from under 3k to 6300k), and is quite reliable.

It's a blast to drive, and the chicks dig the RHD (although that has nothing to do with the engine). Best part of it, I haven't had a single person go for a ride in it, and not say "I want one" when they get out.

 

[lifesnotfair]

I had many reasons. I live in the Dominican Republic, and in here, some things are different than in the US, for example: (keep in mind I was N/A)

1. The 1JZ motor + swap costs maybe less than USD$1,000 more than the 7M-GTE motor + swap. Labor doesn't cost that much here.
2. "Good toyota mechanics" in here all hate the 7M, they say it stinks, and they say I will blow out 6 or 7 7M's before I blow a 1JZ.
3. The JZ's have a reputation for almost never breaking in here.

Then, MY personal reasons....

It seems the 7M-GTE needs to be VERY WELL BABIED... and I'm no mechanic, and I wanted a daily driver. Also, it seems with any used 7M one must rebuild it, maybe machine the head/block to put a metal HG, change a crapload of parts, etc.... I just dropped a used 1JZ straight from japan into my car, didn't change anything and been daily driving it for a few months now, no problem.

This are MY reasons.

 

[devil358]

I have love for my 7m. However I have to agree with the reliabilty issues as I see many her eon the forums. My 7m has never really given me problems. Just a few minor problems with the car in general. Engine runs great and very strong. I do think in the years to come I will do a swap. I wanted to do a 1uz-fe swap when I first got my car but theirs to much involved there and would be to much downtime for me. I thought about 1jz swap and was seriously considering it, then I looked into the 2jz swap. I figured for about $450-550 more it would be well worth it. 2jz has a huge aftermarket and they are beasts it's got the displacement and the right design. Parts are easily acquired for 2jz compared to 7m and 1jz. Even though some 1jz parts and gaskets are will work on either.

forgive if I'm wrong, but how did you manage to work out that a 2J swap would be only around $500 more than a 1J? Either your 1J swap is GROSSLY over priced or you're severly underestimating the price of the 2J swap...maybe it's just me, but the 1J swap is seeming to be a hell of a lot easier.

Hey tissimo, mind explaining what you mean by "though it was a cheap 2jz pretty much, but was wrong.. i still want a 2jz" ? I'm just wondering what your reasoning is...I see you have a decent sized single. are you meaning 3.0 vs 2.5 or what?

 

[cbutler]

After failing to find any decent supras for what I wanted to spend locally, I happened to meet a friend of a friend who ran a small business importing cars from Japan. I've always wanted a unique car, which is why I wanted a supra in the first place, there's not a lot of them on the roads anymore. I figured I would give it a shot, and see if I could get my hands on a very unique supra, a JZA70.

After about 6 months of various delays and crap (not due to the importer), I ended up getting a beautiful 91 supra. Not a lot of JZA70s with the factory Recaro interior around here

The engine is so smooth to drive. It's great to work on too (although i don't like the oil filter placement). I know a lot of people go 1J just to be different. Yes, that was why I did it, and I'm glad I did. The engine is very strong, has a nice power curve (I have a dyno with a FLAT torque curve from under 3k to 6300k), and is quite reliable.

It's a blast to drive, and the chicks dig the RHD (although that has nothing to do with the engine). Best part of it, I haven't had a single person go for a ride in it, and not say "I want one" when they get out.

You summed up my thoughts before I bought my jza70 quite nicely. This is my first summer with it and I am very happy. I'm moving to Calgary in September so maybe i'll have to look you up.

 

[hardcharger]

I just skipped 7m and went straight to 2j but i'm tellin you unless you plan on making 600plus the 1j is the way to go, if I could go back i would've gone 1j cuz my car would've been driving about 4 months ago. if you really want a burner just do a twin turbo 1uz and call it a day. you can get a 1u for $500, which is cheaper then both a 1j and a 2j.

 

[mattjk]

because I couldn't afford the 2jz.