Engine conversion confusion

[Sunny77]

I went looking out for a few engines on the weekend for my 77 RA28 and found out a few more bits of info. I definitely want to "keep it in the family" so to speak with a Toyota engine but originally wanted to stick to either an NA unit or a supercharged one. Possibly either the 18RGEU with a few webers and extractors etc. or the 4AGZE. However i realised that with the 4AGZE out of the AW11 MR2 a fair bit of tinkering would be involved as its an east/west engine and mine is a north/south one. Also, its out of a mid engined car and would be going into a front engine rear drive scenario and would also only go with the 4A gearbox which added another complication. The other engine option, apparently much easier and possibly even cheaper is the 1JZGTE 2.5 litre 6 out of the early Supra. Initially didn't want to go turbo but this may be most straightforward.

Anyone had any experience with any of this or otherwise thoughts?

[MR22ZZ]

1JZ can be a bit of a squeeze, but it can be done.

1G-GTE is by far the best bang for buck conversion for these cars, and has been done many, many times before.

[Hiro]

Could always go something different and put something like a 3RZ in there. A truck motor just like the 18R, but an extra 700cc and probably close to double the power of the 18RC. Only problem would be the height, as they're pretty tall motors.

[Canyonero]

Sunny, out of interest, how much roughly would those engines cost?

[MR22ZZ]

which one?

[Sunny77]

So far i only really have prices on half-cuts for either the 4AGZE or the 1JZGTE. And i only have those from two different dealers, not that i imagine the price differs vastly. From memory the 4AGZE is a little cheaper at around 1800 or so but would require extra work and a different gearbox so not sure how much the extras would cost and i think i got a price around 2k or so for the 1JZGTE which apparently slots in fairly easily.

[Canyonero]

which one?

Those ones above.. the... 4AGZE or the 1JZGTE?

So around 2,000. Niice.. I've been looking into doing the same thing, but being not all that tech savvy when it comes to engines and conversions, I'm really not sure where to start! So I'll be hoping that you keep us (me) up to date with your progress/issues! ;)

[Sunny77]

Ok... price update. I got prices from two places, one online and the other one from a physical visit. One place has the 4AGZE half cut for 1900 while the other price was closer to around 1800 i think. Meanwhile the 1JZGTE was 2300 from the more expensive place and i think closer to about 2100 or so from the cheaper place. Obviously while the supercharged engine is cheaper there are a few other bits and pieces that unit will need whereas the turbo is closer to complete at that price.

Incidentally i saw a price of 2000 for the 1GGTE.

I'm not especially tech savvy either, so i'll be handing most of the really tricky stuff over to some pros but whatever happens i'll be more than happy to keep people posted if they wish.

[Canyonero]

Yeah please, if you wouldn't mind. I'm really interested on what needs to be done after buying the engine.. apart from obviously swapping it over <_<

But all the other things you need to do.. which I'm really uncertain of. I sorta have this visual in my head where I'm comparing this to upgrading a video card in a PC. And THAT is how technical I can get.

[Hiro]

Yeah please, if you wouldn't mind. I'm really interested on what needs to be done after buying the engine.. apart from obviously swapping it over <_<

But all the other things you need to do.. which I'm really uncertain of. I sorta have this visual in my head where I'm comparing this to upgrading a video card in a PC. And THAT is how technical I can get.

Using the video card as an analogy, imagine you have an old PCI video card and motherboard. Thats your 18RC. Upgrading to a better carby engine like an 18RG is simply buying a better PCI video card and swapping the cards. Simple work.

A 1GGTE or 1JZGTE would be equivalent to basically buying a new AGP or PCI-X video card, then having to get a whole new motherboard (ie loom + ECU) as well, as well as probably upgrading PSU, RAM etc as well to get the most out of it. Not simple at all, especially for someone who is not an expert in the area. Best bet is to buy the components yourself and then give them all to a professional to build.

[Canyonero]

That's an awesome analogy! Cheers!

I've recently posted a new topic in the classic section about an engine conversion for a 60's crown here. If anyone can recommend anything or give any feedback, it would be greatly appreciated.

[Sunny77]

Yeah please, if you wouldn't mind. I'm really interested on what needs to be done after buying the engine.. apart from obviously swapping it over <_<

But all the other things you need to do.. which I'm really uncertain of. I sorta have this visual in my head where I'm comparing this to upgrading a video card in a PC. And THAT is how technical I can get.

Using the video card as an analogy, imagine you have an old PCI video card and motherboard. Thats your 18RC. Upgrading to a better carby engine like an 18RG is simply buying a better PCI video card and swapping the cards. Simple work.

A 1GGTE or 1JZGTE would be equivalent to basically buying a new AGP or PCI-X video card, then having to get a whole new motherboard (ie loom + ECU) as well, as well as probably upgrading PSU, RAM etc as well to get the most out of it. Not simple at all, especially for someone who is not an expert in the area. Best bet is to buy the components yourself and then give them all to a professional to build.

Yeah... that's pretty much the plan. Find out all the bits and pieces that i need for the conversion, purchase them and then hand the new components off to a pro with my car otherwise all ready to be converted. ie, the bits that need pulling out of my car would be already taken out by me at this point so ideally all that has to be done is that the pros in question just install the new components.

[wilbure]

hey their used to have ra 28 regret letting it go but was also looking at the time i had it fitting a more powerful motor

and i came across this ra 23 in hottest fours which was sporting the 1g-gze 2 litter in line six . this guy and his sister from newy had done two cars up she only had the 1g-ge norm asporated which is still an impressive bit of gear compared to the standardmotor had a mate at the same time do this conversion him self motor fitts almost strait in he recond. so good luck with it any way

[Nic1986]

Hey all ive just bought an RA28 from a mate and i love it just wonder if u guys think its worth it or legal to put in a 1uzfe 4L v8 from the soarer and 5sp supra box i thinks its been done and being an alloy motor shouldnt be front heavy just what ive been tossing up since ive bought it and being a mechanic shouldnt cost me too much if things go wrong hopfully lol any advice given would be great and just wondering what u guys think?