Well I tried to go JDM

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CincinnatiFiero
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Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

Bit of a boring project but my cousin called me the other day and said a shop told him his GS300 needed a motor. I guess his fiancé ignored the low oil light for a day, or five. I offered to buy the car from him. I priced out toyota aristo 2JZ-GTE vvti engine, trans, wiring, ECU, driveshaft, etc for $2,000. However he's a friend of mine and asked me to give him a quote to fix it right for him. I guess I quoted too low lol so I'm putting a motor in it for him. Picked up a 73k mile 2JZGE for $800 with the core, core was $50 so I figured I'd keep it. Spare coils, spare injectors, etc are all worth $50 I think.

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We tried really hard to just pull the motor. On a Mercedes I typically take the transmission mount out, and use 3 feet of wobble extensions, and undo the bell housing bolts. On the GS (jzs161?) this simply isn't possible. I figured that out after trying to get at the top two bell housing bolts for 2 hours. Pulling the whole drivetrain took an additional 30 minutes so next time, just pull the whole package from the beginning.
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Once I got it out I was curious why a 125k 2JZ died, it looks like a really bad valve cover gasket leak, 2JZ is a 3 piece gasket. And maybe even an external headgasket leak.
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I've got a timing belt and water pump kit coming, front and rear main seals (got timken, rock auto claimed timken is the OEM), valve cover gasket, plugs (7.09 each!), filters, etc.

Ill post some updates, not the most exciting thing but I figured I'd post what I'm up to. And if anyone needs 2JZGE parts ill part out the rod knocking motor.
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crzyone
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by crzyone »

2Js are fairly bullet proof but running out of oil is just silly lol. Nice looking car, 5 or 6 years ago I considered picking up a Lexus is300 with a 2JZ in it as well. Fuel economy kinda scared me at the time but I've had worse cars since (Evo)
CincinnatiFiero
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

The new motor I got is from a 6speed IS300, the motor itself is the same, but the wiring harness is different because the transmission and engine wiring harness are the same unit, so I had to strip the harness off the IS motor, and I will transfer the complete harness off the GS motor. With the upper intake off the motor is begging for ITBs.

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CincinnatiFiero
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

Did a full timing kit. The old tensioner measured in spec but a new name brand one was $20 more so I replaced everything
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Headed in
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In, and the accessories back on
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Shaun41178(2)
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by Shaun41178(2) »

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CincinnatiFiero
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

The overwhelming majority of car people have no idea the 2JZ came in anything other than the Supra. A lot of car buddies saw the motor sitting in my warehouse and all of them asked what I was 2JZ swapping. I've even had a couple people tell me the 1JZ was N/A and the 2JZ was Turbo.

I'm going to throw the old longblock on CL, someone who thinks they will rebuild it an make an NA-T out of it for their 240SX will probably buy it from me and never get around to doing it because they've forgotten rebuild parts cost money.
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Emc209i
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by Emc209i »

Cool. I've driven a bolt on IS300 6 speed before and it was fun, very top end tuned, but pretty quick and would push you back in the seat. The GS on the other hand is a slug with the same engine. The "GS400" in Japan got the supra engine with the turbo, in the states it uses the 1UZ and 3UZ, which is the car I wanted to own back when you and I used to talk on AIM. I think an Eaton supercharged 1UZ is probably the way to go for power in a GS. There's a video on youtube of the turbocharged spec GS300 chasing a 540i around Suzuka, but I can't find it because it has a Japanese title. The GS hung with the 540i in the straights, but didn't have the sport suspension to handle in the corners. Coilovers for the GS improve the handling dramatically, probably somewhere inside M5 - E55 territory. And with any of the supra engine upgrades, I'm sure the powertrain could compete. I like the V8 though...

Hope the replacement goes smooth for you.
CincinnatiFiero
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

Dude good to hear from you again, oh the AIM days, send me a PM, I'd be interested to hear what you are up to these days.

As far as I know in Japan it would have been called an Aristo V300. My understanding is a 3.0L and below tax bracket prevented the 4.0L and 4.3L from being sold in Japan. The plan for me was to do a V300 2JZGTE swap, a tune, downpipe, exhaust, intakes, maybe the bigger USA (430? vs 550? its a common upgrade on ClubLexus) spec injectors, small front mount, and coil overs. Would probably run with my buddies C32 AMG (349bhp, they run like 13.2 stock). The GS is a bit of whale, but I like it, its a nice looking car. Lexus also never made any attempt at claiming the GS was a sporty car. The USA GS300 is a great car to haul your golf clubs in from the CPA office to the course. I'd expect a 540i to absolutely have its way with most, if not all Lexus' in the corners. Sort of bummed he did not want to sell it, but I have enjoyed getting to know the 2JZ motor a little bit better, and its always nice to break out of ones comfort zone (cough Mercedes) and learn about the way other companies did stuff.

Though the 2JZ bears a lot of resemblance to the Mercedes M104 engine which is interesting.

I could have picked up the GS for around $2,000, the JDM drivetrain for $2,000, and done bolt ons and install stuff for $2,000 probably. There would be a lot of better cars, but for $5-6,000 done, it would have been a cool car that was pretty fast.
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crzyone
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by crzyone »

Nice quick turnaround. Your buddy definitely owes you some beers :good:
CincinnatiFiero
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Re: Well I tried to go JDM

Post by CincinnatiFiero »

Got it done Saturday night and drove it around yesterday and took it to the class today. Wow this thing sucks on fuel. Getting 17 on the obc. EPA is 16/23. This car isn't nearly powerful enough to justify that. My friends 02 AMG Benz with 350hp gets 20.
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