Supra NA>turbo conversion

[SircatmaN]

Considering picking up a NA Supra and turboing it myself, I have read that a lot of people have had success with turboing a NA model and they drive it hard with not really many problems.

Had a few questions though for those that know.

1. How much do turbo 2jz's go for these days, if the price is similar might just be worth the swap considering I wont be paying labor and doing it myself.
2. Is the 6 speed manual gearbox in the NA version the same gearbox that came with the turbo model?
3. I know that the brakes need to be upgraded but would the diff or anything else need to be replaced?

[shifted]

To get the 6 Speed in the NA, you need a Series 2 SZ-R which should already have the larger brakes as well so basically you only need to swap the motor or turbo the NA motor, probably the sway bars (RZ were different) and whatever options you may like from an RZ that may not be present eg. Carbon Steering Wheel, Recaro Seats, automatic front lip, etc.

You'll pick them up for $14-$20k generally depending on the options/mods etc. Realistically, you'll probably pick up a turbo model over east for similar (if not much more) money and save yourself the hassle. Stick to 1997 if you want to do an engine swap, VVTi motors are fantastic but people still think they are limited in modifications (which they aren't, really) the truth is they are just costly as a separate item to purchase for conversions ($4.5k to $5k motor, ECU, loom). There's actually an engine for sale on Supraforums right now.

IMO - the only NA worth converting is the Aerotop/Targa - the rest is a waste of time. Just buy a turbo already. Heaps for sale currently over east, heaps on Supraforums, heaps of NA-T and conversion information on Supraforums as well, and if you haven't already go and join the Supra facebook pages (Australia's Supras, Australia's Supras Buy and Sell) - far more active than the forum itself which has kinda died on its arse.

You could go a Series 1 NA but they are lacking the face-lifted items, generally are automatic so you'll have to purchase a manual trans tunnel to weld in, then you'll also need a manual boot surround which may or not come with a half-cut car. You're best bet there is to get a half cut so you can get the manual pedals and cylinder etc. Then you'll be up for brake upgrade cost as well, need the RZ swaybars or aftermarket items. More hassle than what the end product will be worth to be honest. Not many people like butchered/back-yard spec cars with undocumented history.

[catchya]

Ive seen early 6spds asking price in the range of 11-15k IMO avg condition depending on mods. Auto's can get cheaper.

Yes.. Na version had the v161 gearbox and the w58 boxes

Brakes don't have to be upgraded TBH. Nothing braided lines, good fluid and pads wont fix. Go for the later n/a say 96 and onwards. They had the A02b diff same as the
auto 6pdsTT, therefore no diff upgrade.

[SircatmaN]

I'm fairly certain the one I am looking at is a later model, it has the 6 speed manual and afaik the earlier model came with the 5 speed? I'll check the year and everything when I check it out. I am getting it sub10k so at this price range its makes the Na>turbo swap a bit more enticing.

For that price do you think its worth it? I will be doing all the labour myself except for a final tune (And probably just get the tuner to check over the conversion to make sure they are happy before dynoing it).

[catchya]

The w58 boxes were optioned right through till final production on the SZ model.

The SZ-R model were optioned as Shifted pointed out with the 6pds. The Toyota vin tag info will have the specifics and it should be plated on the drivers side inside engine
bay. Yours hopefully should read V161/A02b.

Is it worth it?.....Sitting on the fence with that question. Too many variables that solely depends on what you want to do with the car.

[SircatmaN]

The w58 boxes were optioned right through till final production on the SZ model.

The SZ-R model were optioned as Shifted pointed out with the 6pds. The Toyota vin tag info will have the specifics and it should be plated on the drivers side inside engine
bay. Yours hopefully should read V161/A02b.

Is it worth it?.....Sitting on the fence with that question. Too many variables that solely depends on what you want to do with the car.

TBH My car recently got written off and this car popped up looking clean with a nice kit, manual 6 speed and around the payout figure I am getting. I've always wanted a supra and for this price I can pick it up, daily it for a bit whilst I get parts and then Turbo it for a bit of fun. I had just read that it was a pretty reliable conversion as opposed to nissan +T conversions and that there were many people running good power figures with upgrades to single turbo.
I would consider a halfcut swap to a GTE but it looks like drug money. The other option is a 1jz gte conversion I guess or I just hang out until a cheap 2jz gte pops up. I'm new to the toyota scene.

The other benefit is I'm in my last year of uni and was starting to find my wrx getting a bit thirsty, dailying a na 6 banger might save me a little on fuel whilst I gather the parts together.

[shifted]

The w58 boxes were optioned right through till final production on the SZ model.

The SZ-R model were optioned as Shifted pointed out with the 6pds. The Toyota vin tag info will have the specifics and it should be plated on the drivers side inside engine
bay. Yours hopefully should read V161/A02b.

Is it worth it?.....Sitting on the fence with that question. Too many variables that solely depends on what you want to do with the car.

No it wasn't. Series 2 never came with a W58. SZ (Series II) was Auto, SZ-R was 6-Speed (V161). Providing the chart below is correct, no SZ/SZ-R in Series 2 came in a 5 Speed Manual. It was either the Auto, or the GetRag. Series 1 SZ stopped in '95 with the W58.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~lair/supra/models.pdf

SZ-R should have a suitable diff, the RZ came with an A03b in Series 2. In Series 1 the equivalent is a B03b and out of the UK I believe the B03b had a cooling system also.

Is it worth it? No unless its a Targa/Aerotop. The value of the car will be fuck all even after the conversion (again, people don't like backyard jobs/undocumented work) and for all the hassle you would have purchased a decent 1997 Turbo model as it is... That's if you're adamant about the 2JZ-GTE. Let alone swapping necessary parts, looms, ECU, sway bars, any optional extras you may want etc. etc. The time you'd waste putting it all together you'd probably earn more working...

A 1UZ is a common decent conversion, 1JZ as you've stated, or go NA+T which has been well documented on the Supraforums pages. :)

[SircatmaN]

No it wasn't. Series 2 never came with a W58. SZ (Series II) was Auto, SZ-R was 6-Speed (V161). Providing the chart below is correct, no SZ/SZ-R in Series 2 came in a 5 Speed Manual. It was either the Auto, or the GetRag. Series 1 SZ stopped in '95 with the W58.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~lair/supra/models.pdf

SZ-R should have a suitable diff, the RZ came with an A03b in Series 2. In Series 1 the equivalent is a B03b and out of the UK I believe the B03b had a cooling system also.

Is it worth it? No unless its a Targa/Aerotop. The value of the car will be fuck all even after the conversion (again, people don't like backyard jobs/undocumented work) and for all the hassle you would have purchased a decent 1997 Turbo model as it is... That's if you're adamant about the 2JZ-GTE. Let alone swapping necessary parts, looms, ECU, sway bars, any optional extras you may want etc. etc. The time you'd waste putting it all together you'd probably earn more working...

A 1UZ is a common decent conversion, 1JZ as you've stated, or go NA+T which has been well documented on the Supraforums pages. :)

Any idea on the costs of the 1uz or 1jz conversion or where would be a good place to start researching? I want to have my research done before I commit to anything. I need a car soon and I will end up with another dirty s13/r32/r33 or WRX so this is my chance to step out of the familiar and try something new.

The car is a 1996 btw so it seems to be a series 2? This would mean that chances are it is a SZ-R?

[shifted]

No, 1996 was an in between, a Series 1.5 if you will. It may not be face-lifted, and may not have all the boxes ticked to be an SZ-R. Follow the chart above and check the car out, see where it sits.

1996.5 through to about 1997.9 is "Series 1.5" territory. May have the bigger brakes and the GetRag, may not be face-lifted though - in your case.

No idea on costs of conversions, never bothered looking into it - you'd have to get a motor from a car the same year/month build or younger to keep registration (as far as I am aware) - to do with emissions?

If you want to go 1JZ or 1UZ - buy crashed/parts Soarer - easiest way. The last of the Soarers run a single turbo 1JZ if I recall correctly. Would make you're conversion a whole lot easier buying a parts car, plus it would off-set your costs greatly. There's a Soarer group on facebook as well.

[SircatmaN]

No, 1996 was an in between, a Series 1.5 if you will. It may not be face-lifted, and may not have all the boxes ticked to be an SZ-R. Follow the chart above and check the car out, see where it sits.

1996.5 through to about 1997.9 is "Series 1.5" territory. May have the bigger brakes and the GetRag, may not be face-lifted though - in your case.

No idea on costs of conversions, never bothered looking into it - you'd have to get a motor from a car the same year/month build or younger to keep registration (as far as I am aware) - to do with emissions?

If you want to go 1JZ or 1UZ - buy crashed/parts Soarer - easiest way. The last of the Soarers run a single turbo 1JZ if I recall correctly. Would make you're conversion a whole lot easier buying a parts car, plus it would off-set your costs greatly. There's a Soarer group on facebook as well.

Great will do, thanks for the help.

A quick question regarding compression should I go ahead. Is a thicker headgasket enough to lower the compression from 10:1 to 8.5:1 or will other supporting modifications need to be made?

[shifted]

http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/57916-mr-rees-na-t-projectthe-story-so-far/?hl=%20na%20t%20%20conversion

Post #2.


Rather than boosting the 10:1 NA motor and being limited to relatively low boost, I decided on installing a 1.3mm MLS headgasket to bring the CR down to around 9.2:1. As everyone will attest to, once you have driven a boosted car, you will, more times than not, end up wanting to run more boost, so installing the HG will give me some headroom in the future when I decide to wind up the boost, without detonation becoming as much of a problem.

The build thread above documents one persons conversion to NA+T for a track dedicated car so it seems some use, that thread alone will provide far more knowledge than I can.

I myself have not undertaken a conversion, having an RZ. Your best way of finding out anything to do with an NA+T conversion is to discuss with the people on Supraforums. A UK powerhouse (Whifbitz) has their own NA+T developer car also and may be able to provide everything you need as a package. They can also be found on facebook or the forum.

[catchya]

No it wasn't. Series 2 never came with a W58. SZ (Series II) was Auto, SZ-R was 6-Speed (V161). Providing the chart below is correct, no SZ/SZ-R in Series 2 came in a 5 Speed Manual. It was either the Auto, or the GetRag. Series 1 SZ stopped in '95 with the W58.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~lair/supra/models.pdf

SZ-R should have a suitable diff, the RZ came with an A03b in Series 2. In Series 1 the equivalent is a B03b and out of the UK I believe the B03b had a cooling system also.

Is it worth it? No unless its a Targa/Aerotop. The value of the car will be fuck all even after the conversion (again, people don't like backyard jobs/undocumented work) and for all the hassle you would have purchased a decent 1997 Turbo model as it is... That's if you're adamant about the 2JZ-GTE. Let alone swapping necessary parts, looms, ECU, sway bars, any optional extras you may want etc. etc. The time you'd waste putting it all together you'd probably earn more working...

A 1UZ is a common decent conversion, 1JZ as you've stated, or go NA+T which has been well documented on the Supraforums pages. :)

Shifted, unsure on that chart. All of my info sustains that the w58 was present on the N/a as well as the 4sp auto option right through till final production, with optional LSD. I always use this link http://mkiv.supras.org.nz/specs.htm as my reference as with both of my Supra builds, it has never let me down when cross checking the nitty gritty's with overseas suppliers.

In the end who gives a ..!! The vin tag will say all..

Would't bother with the 1UZ unless you want turbo v8 it. 1jzvvti is worth it, quite punchy down low but I would stick with the 2j. In fact whack a 2j in the s13, plenty of kits so they tell me.

Goodluck.

[shifted]

I've seen that link before too - there is every potential, I can't recall one late model with a 5 speed I've come across though. Who knows really, all info that has been compiled has been from people's own research. :)
I've only ever been interested in RZ models and their running gear so I haven't bothered researching further than that when I've looked around previously.

Here's some 1UZ threads anyway for a bit of light reading, there's plenty of 1JZ info around on the forums as well. If you look up a guy by the name of "iwantablackrz" on the forums he had previously owned a converted NA -> 1JZ that I believe he did himself if memory is correct.

http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/75002-toyota-supra-v8-turbo-1uzfe-swap-80k-spent-all-engineered/?hl=1uzfe
http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/72579-project-century-1uzfe-6-speed-jza80-supra/?hl=1uzfe
http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/70239-jza80-auto-1uz-auto-conversion/?hl=1uzfe#entry1066015
http://www.supraforums.com.au/forum/topic/65543-1uzfe-conversion/?hl=1uzfe

If that SZ-R is clean, has the big brakes, the 6 speed and is in good condition - for $10k not a bad buy, people still asking more than that on the forums.

[Skitzo]

For turbocharging the NA motor, just throw in a GTE Headgasket. You'll still run higher comp than a normal GTE due to the shape of the piston face, but it'll be fine. Obviously, oil feed needs to be sorted. Throw on a GTE sump (for oil drain). Think that is most of it. Possibly turbo oil pump? i can't remember from when i was looking at 1.5J with GE motor.


1JZ conversion - 1JZ is $800. Uses same mounts as 2JZ and same bell housing. I know a 1JZ loom and ECU can run a 2JZ in a jzx90, so there shouldn't be too big an issue with loom and ECU either.

[SircatmaN]

Depending on how things go I could have around 3-4k to spend on a swap so if a 1jz is 800 I might be happy to go that route.

[d1mitch]

Any idea on the costs of the 1uz or 1jz conversion or where would be a good place to start researching? I want to have my research done before I commit to anything. I need a car soon and I will end up with another dirty s13/r32/r33 or WRX so this is my chance to step out of the familiar and try something new.

The car is a 1996 btw so it seems to be a series 2? This would mean that chances are it is a SZ-R?

why dont you get a series 4 or 5 RX7 and put an LS series engine in it?

[SircatmaN]

why dont you get a series 4 or 5 RX7 and put an LS series engine in it?

Because I literally just parted out the rx7 before this idiot reversed into the wrx. I could have bought another motor and box, fitted it and still had some money left over!

[shifted]

Go with the Supra, it looks better. :P

[SircatmaN]

Go with the Supra, it looks better. :P

Has Brian Spilner swag.

[Pav]

Just get a nice JZA70 with mods and shit, fuck playing around with A80 conversions. 'Can of worms'.

[Risk10k]

Paging crash...

[d1mitch]

Because I literally just parted out the rx7 before this idiot reversed into the wrx. I could have bought another motor and box, fitted it and still had some money left over!

lol i thought my sarcasm was implied without the italics

[SircatmaN]

lol i thought my sarcasm was implied without the italics

Yeh I thought you were just giving me shit but at the same time I seriously am pissed that this happened like a month after stripping the car lol.

[Fukushima]

We can build n/a into turbos now. We have the technology (modern ECUs and injectors), and e85 makes higher compression awesome. Why spend the extra for a factory turbo model when you'll just want to bin the standard ecu, turbos, injectors, fuel pump, intercooler and piping anyway?

I like everything about this idea except the Toyota part.

[TJ]

Richard will do you a group buy on parts you need

/supraforums

[catchya]

Richard will do you a group buy on parts you need

/supraforums

lol

[2jzlux]

http://performanceforums.com/forums/showthread.php?67294286-JZA80-Supra-project

Have a read, this pingpingpingping knows what he's doing.

[d1mitch]

after reading this thread i have a desire to find an areotop supra.

[Bomber]

after reading this thread i have a desire to find an areotop supra.
I've got 90% of my heart set on going for an MY14 1.8TFSI Audi A3 Quattro, and then desire to get turbo Supra keeps popping up. I guess it's a good problem to have in the first world problem group.

[masTers]

If your going to do it, do it now.

The longer you hold off, the more scarce decent parts and cars get, and the harder the process.

Remember these cars are now pushing 20 years.

[Damo 69]

2jz engine no shit

[shifted]

If your going to do it, do it now.

The longer you hold off, the more scarce decent parts and cars get, and the harder the process.

Remember these cars are now pushing 20 years.

This - especially if you're after a Series 1.

Aerotop/Targas stopped being produced in 1998 (Series 2 then) - they're rare in themselves to be honest, the driveline isn't so much of an issue in my opinion either but you have to fit 1998 or younger gear (so VVTi turbo motor, v161 GetRag box etc.). Finding the actual car though is the hard bit, there's only a handful here in Australia that are known on the supraforums and they don't pop up often for sale. A complete parts car can easily be sourced ex. Japan or over east through Import Monster etc.

First JZA80 Supra rolled off in 1993 (well, end of 1992 actually though very few of that year are known to exist) so its potentially a 21/22 year old car - some parts are still available new and most people update them to S2 items anyway. Parts cars in WA practically never pop up.

KYP may have a stockade of bits and pieces though/half-cuts etc. locally?