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TT Lexus V8 into LJ


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#1 _LHoon_

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 02:02 PM

My mate and I are teaming up to work on fitting his 4.0L quad cam Lexus V8 into my LJ 2 door. We've been working on it for a few months now on-and-off, so I thought I'd share some of the progress, photos and plans.

My mate, Chris, owns the motor which he had previously fitted in his VL turbo interceptor. It had two T04 turbos, full manual TH400 It was an awesome car but he pulled it apart and has since sold it as a roller.

The motor made 360rwkW when it was in the VL with standard cams and just 15psi boost. The pistons and heads have been modified to lower the compression ratio to 8.1:1, 1000cc injectors, custom stainless extractors, custom plenum, EMS computer with 8 coils, crow valve springs, custom sump and intercooler.

Here are some pics of the VL setup...
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So we now plan to build up the LJ as a drag car. The setup will be different to the way it was in the VL. We want to go a bit more spastic and run the engine on Methanol (but also have the option of running it on premium unleaded occasionally). We also plan on getting new cams so that it can rev much harder. With the right cams and springs, these motors can rev to 10,000+ rpm without a problem. We want to use a powerglide instead of the TH400. It will get a full spool 9 inch diff and minitubs. New extractors, engine mounts, sump , and plenum will also be needed. We've decided on using a water-to-air intercooler. The aim (at this stage) is to get around 800hp at the flywheel.

Here's a sneak peak at the LJ. The front guard has been stripped of paint for repairs, but the rest of the car is pretty clean. Fixing up the body will come a bit later on.
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We initially sat the engine block in there to see if we had any chance of fitting it.
It will be a bloody tight fit, but it could be done.
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#2 Gump

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 02:12 PM

looks as if its going to be a prick to get it all in the bay. looks like your gonna have fun init when its finnished. what model torrie s-sl-?

#3 _brett_32i_

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 02:13 PM

good stuff.

i know its been done in a lh/x/uc shape, not sure 'bout an lj?

keep us all updated

oh, and you wouldnt have a spare cam gear would you??

#4 makka

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 02:14 PM

have you though about going to a single turbo? its gonna be tighter than a nun's in there with 2, not to mention the heat!

#5 _LHoon_

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 03:19 PM

Thanks for the quick comments guys!

Makka - yes, we've thought about single turbo, but we already have two turbos which are a good size. We're just trying to use the bits we already have. Don't worry - it will fit.

Brett_32i - I've seen a Lexus V8 in a blue LJ before. Naturally aspirated though. Sorry, no spare cam gear. But a whole replacement engine could be bought for less than $1000... so there must be plenty of spares around somewhere.

Torrietree - I was told that it could be a GTR but I have confirmed that its an 'S' 1973 model LJ.

#6 _Monkey_

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 05:30 PM

Im loving this thing,cant wait to see it finished.800hp YEER HAH. :bowdown:

#7 ToranaJudd

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 05:54 PM

1 word AWESOME!!!

HAHAHA

I am doing the same conversion into my LJ coupe.

I have the engine stripped right down to the block currently.

I will be attempting a 1000rwhp car.
Engine will have these items:
-Ross Forged 8.5:1 Pistons (www.lextreme.com/forums group buy)
-Argorace Forged rods (www.lextreme.com/forums group buy)
-Ported and Polished heads
-Kelfords TT cams
-Twin GT3071R Turbos or twin T3 60-1 and .63ar
-ARP head and main studs
-Some sort of aftermarket ecu and 8 coil setup
-Custom inlet and exhaust manifolds

Car-
-LJ torrie in brocks 28c scheme and advertisment
-17inch sprintmaster copies
-9inch diff with LSD
-Supra Turbo R154 5speed.

Thats it for now..

Will take photo's etc of erveything and start a buil;d diary when i get a chance..

Cheers, Judd.

#8 _jap-xu1_

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 06:57 PM

that looks sweet, a tube front chassis would make it a lot easier
or maybe remove the inner guards

#9 Evan

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Posted 16 November 2006 - 07:22 PM

plain crazy mate!, that is awesum!, keep us posted!

Evan

#10 _LHoon_

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 09:38 AM

Since Chris had already made an adaptor to suit TH400 for the lexus block, we bolted up my TH350 and sat it in the car. I also have a CRS crossmember lying around the garage waiting to go into my LC, so we fitted it up in the correct position (using the standard bolt holes). We wanted to keep the engine in a fairly standard position.

The block was going to fit without any firewall modifications if we used the most forward crossmember bolt holes. Perfect! Next on the list, is to make engine mounts...

In the meantime however, we started thinking about where the turbos would go and how we wanted the setup to look. There were a number of options, but we settled on having the turbos sitting above the inner guards, just above the wheels. It would look a little like this dodgy schematic:

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We would have to cut some holes in the inner guard. This wasn't ideal, as I wanted to be able to return the car to standard if I had to. After all, I may want to sell the car again one day. So we decided that we could cut out clean/easy rectangular sections out of the inner guard which could be welded back into place if required later on.

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Its a bit frightening cutting out the chassis number!

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Then we started fixing the turbo flange plates into position. We just tack welded brackets to them and to the inner guard. This was a bit tricky, because everything had to be perfect. The angles had to be right. Once the plates were fixed, work on the extractors could commence.

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#11 _RpM_

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 01:04 PM

...PHATT!!!

#12 LhMusL

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 01:04 PM

dude that is so cool, wish i had the skills/space to do this to my lh. great work can't wait to see it in action :spoton:

#13 _brett_32i_

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 02:06 PM

very nice!!

Are you using solid engine mounts, and bracing the turbo to the rail??

or will the manifold support the full weight of turbo and exhaust?

#14 _LHoon_

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 03:02 PM

very nice!!

Are you using solid engine mounts, and bracing the turbo to the rail??

or will the manifold support the full weight of turbo and exhaust?

Thanks for all of the comments!

We've made engine mounts using a round rubber suspension bush. So they're not soild, but still extremely strong. If you look closely in some of the pics above you will see bits of them. I will post a better pic of the engine mounts, but I haven't got a good photo just yet.

The exhaust manifold will support the weight of the turbos. For now, we have brackets tack welded to the body to keep the turbos from moving around. The brackets will be removed when we've completely finished the extractors.

#15 smeer

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 03:18 PM

100% awesome.

#16 _HatchmanSS76_

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Posted 17 November 2006 - 07:34 PM

Wow, awsome job with the pics and all. This combo is going to haul some ass.
Great work keep it up and don't stop posting pics of your progress.

#17 _postal_dood_

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Posted 18 November 2006 - 08:56 PM

that thing will HAUL ASS, please dont pull up beside me. i dnt like loseing.

i also think you totally crazy for trying it by the way, but, if speed is the aim of the game, i supose a TT setup would certainly acomplish that.

good work tho :D

#18 _LHoon_

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Posted 18 November 2006 - 09:22 PM

We bought a cheap WRX top mount cooler off ebay a little while back. They're selling heaps of them, and they're only about $270 or something. We only wanted the intercooler core, as it was a nice small size but is 100mm thick. The tanks would be changed.

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First we sat the intercooler core in the car, and figured out how it would be best. We've decided to save some space in the engine bay and have the radiator in the boot. Only the intercooler would sit up front. Its probably overkill (particularly if we're running it on methanol), but we wanted to make a water-to-air intercooler, rather than the typical air-to-air type. Its only a little bit more work making water tanks either side of the core, and a bit of plumbing. And besides, it will look cool!

We designed the tanks on computer (AutoCAD program), and then cut the sheetmetal out with a jigsaw. In the past we have gotten stuff laser cut because its neater and easier. But they�ve put their prices up so we just jigsaw it now.

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The fold lines are scored with an angle grinding disc so that it can be folded easier (and straight).
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It all folds up perfectly like a cardboard box, and then welded together.

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The intercooler will be water-to-air so (water) tanks are required for the front and back of the cooler. Again, these were also designed on computer first, then folded and welded.

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We started making a new sump as well...
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I'll post more updates soon!!
We've chosen to go for a single throttle body arrangement. The old setup had twin throttles. But we're trying to keep things neat and simple, as much as posible anyway. So we'll be buying one big-mumma throttle body!! I'll post pics of that really soon.

#19 _LX406_

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 01:39 AM

Fully sick bro!

#20 Bart

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 10:18 AM

I love your work mate :spoton: :spoton: :spoton:

#21 _HatchmanSS76_

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 02:46 PM

Each next steep just blows me away with the fabrication you guys are doing yourself. I'm envious of anyone that can construct their own parts with the quality you've shown. Please keep posting those progress shots too. I hope I get to see the car up close one day, I promise not to drool on it too much.

#22 _studricho_

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 05:04 PM

Great work boys!
With making the sumps, i've found they can leak around the welds. I'm using a mig. Is it poor setup on my behalf or do you use a special wire/gas setup?

I love the fab stuff, just nuts. Keep up the pics.

#23 _LHoon_

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 05:33 PM

Thanks guys!!

We've been using TIG on everything, with great results. Welding can be done slowly, with almost perfect welds everytime! We haven't had any problems with sumps leaking. :rockon:

There wasn't much room for the sump though. It will only hold just about 4.5 to 5 litres. We would have liked to have a bit more up our sleaves. I hope that's enough! Didn't want the sump to hang any lower than the crossmember... just in case its gets bashed when the car comes down from a huge wheelstand at the drags. ;-)

#24 _studricho_

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Posted 19 November 2006 - 06:17 PM

Ahh, i thought it looked like a tig. I've been told the mig welds are porous therefore that's why it leaks. Is that true?

#25 _LHoon_

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Posted 20 November 2006 - 08:51 AM

I don't know about that! I think that a MIG would be able to seal fine if it was welded properly. Check your settings. Then make sure the two surfaces to be welded are clean.

What do you guys think about the idea of having the radiator in the boot??

The plan would be to remove the standard fuel tank, and have a radiator lying flat (horizontally) in the hole where the tank was with thermo fans. We'd use a small fuel cell instead of the fuel tank. Has anyone done something like this before?




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