1UZ into a Commodore

[MaxPower]

Hi,
I have been looking at doing this for some time and have finally got around to looking into it properly. I will be running a Delco on it as i already have a pretty good understanding of it, just the twin dizzy setup that looks like it may take some time to figure out- but anything is possible, i want to try to do it all myself and if i get stuck a ****'s Magic Box may be the go.

My main question is to do with the sump setup, i can get a front sump engine and i *think* this will be the one that is required, the V8 that is in the car now has a front sump so would it be safe to assume that the 1UZ would require the same??

Also the engine i have found looks to be a 1992 model, iam going to have a look at it over the weekend to confirm this, its what the seller says, is there anything to look for, what I mean is anything specific to these engines as i know the basic sort of stuff.

Any help/tips/ideas would be much appreciated.

Ryan

 

[Peewee]

I take it your are getting Alan Gibbs to do the ECU for you?

I am actually the guinea pig for his setup and I have pretty much got the twin coil/dizzy setup sussed without the use of d!cks box.

I should be able to have it sorted this weekend./next week.
If I could only get the motor to run.....

Keep in touch

 

[400ZED]

i have spoken to people who check engines by valve clearence check if it needs re shimming.
things to look for is a complete motor and water damage as the starter will stay wet if it gets wet.
pull the plugs out and crank it over i looked at a motor with three pots full to the brim with oil.

 

[MaxPower]

I take it your are getting Alan Gibbs to do the ECU for you?

I am actually the guinea pig for his setup and I have pretty much got the twin coil/dizzy setup sussed without the use of d!cks box.

I should be able to have it sorted this weekend./next week.
If I could only get the motor to run.....

Keep in touch

Actually Iam doing it myself, i have the ignition side sorted *i think*. Using a moddified crank trigger with a camira ignition module. Ive got a little circuit that takes the crank signal and the right hand cam signal and works out where TDC is, then from there it uses two coils and just switches between them so it eliminates crossfire.

Oh BTW are u by any chance putting a 1UZ with a manual it into a Cressida??

 

[Pro]

how is that box coming along Peewee?
are you back from working yet?
mine should be very close, if not ready, by the time you get back.

 

[Peewee]

The box we *think* is ready.
But she still won't run
I get back on 25th June, so I'm gonna hopefully sort it out with Alan then

 

[MaxPower]

Just thought id add a couple of pictures and info about the conversion for those interested, I know a couple of others were looking to put a 1UZ into a Commodore. Surprisingly a fair few of the parts actually fitted as if Toyota had designed this engine for Holden - then there were parts that did not wanna fit but overall it went relatively smoothly.

All up it took me 4 weeks to get everything done. I had a little hang up with the ECU so from driving the car into the shed to driving it out took 5 weeks including 1 week of thumb twiddling waiting for the ECU to arrive. Ended up with a Wolf3d V4 Plus and it controls everything nicely and starts first turn of the key without a hiccup, so cant complain.

The main parts of the conversion for anyone undertaking it are probably...
* Get a LS400 front sump engine, fits perfectly with the engine set back around the same as a Holden 5L
* The oil filter assembly fits if u use a Ryco or the slightly smaller AC DELCO filter. A small amount of perssuasion with a gympie is need on the k-frame around the filter, only 5mm or so and once painted u cant tell
* Engine mounts are easy, make a rectangular tube 100x60mm and about 150mm long mount it to the commodore v8 mounts and straight to the 4 bolts on the block. I set the engine so the harmonic balancer is inline with the swaybar.
* Gearbox mount is also easy. Used a VL 6cyl crossmember, th400 rubber mount and some 12 mm plate to raise the gearbox to get the correct pinion angle. Weld it to the small V shape part of the original lexus mount (Cut it off the rubber mount first)
* Other things like radiator hose's and heater hoses were standard holden V8 items moddified slightly.
* Speedo cable, remove the lexus speed sender and screw in the cable, easy as! speedo is out by about 15% so needs to be calibrated.
* Crown log style headers will fit but none of the other styles will. I had some log manifolds made as i had the LS400 style, there is stuff all clearence around the stearing so proper pipes will be tricky to make plus the log pipes will be used for stage 2 - a little FI!! Make sure u are very nice to whoever takes on fitting the pipes as they wont be happy by the time its all done - we are talking millimeters around the steering and getting to the bolts are close to impossible (remove the manifold studs before the engine goes in).

Cant really think of any other things but yeah, most parts fitted easily except the exhaust!


So far ive done about 400kms and all is going well, quick 30min mapping session on the dyno netted 209rwhp in shootout mode but it will go higher once i mod the intake and the AFR's are tidyed up. So now its time work on the bling factor while saving some $$ for a nice turbo setup in 6-12 months.
Cheers to all that have helped with info and advice, couldnt have done it otherwise, hopefully more Commodore owners choose to ditch the iron dinosaur and move up to smooth japanese technology - 4k+ on the tacho and its as smooth as when its idling, cant beat that!


This is the old iron block, lost 120kg with the 1UZ in there

1UZ sitting in the bay with the mounts all made up

2 days ago

 

[Damo]

Fanbluddytastic!

That certainly is a job well done. Gets me excited again about my project. My half cut is paid for, and I pick it up in 2 or 3 weeks, then start in earnest for putting it in my VK Calais. Like you have found, I think the biggest problem will be the exhaust, I may have to source the original Crown type, as I have a Crown Majesta cut (same as LS400 if I am correct), anyone got spares?

Are you running the standard 4sp auto box? Can you give us any piccies of the tranny mount? How did you go with the driveshaft?

BTW, Brad from the Toy Shop reckons the cut I have (or will have) is fully dressed and comes with everything, so I reckon I'm gonna have spares galore after I rip out the 1uz. Orders taken now!!! Hehe

 

[MaxPower]

Cheers for that, good luck with ur VK, any questions just ask or if u want a close up pic of anything let me know, got pics of most of it.

BTW there was a guy saying that there would be bonnet clearance problems, well dont worry it sits lower than the old 5L that i had in there.

Heres a pic of the gearbox crossmember and adapter, i got a friend to TIG weld the lexus/toyota saddle at the front of the mount to the 12mm plate and other than that never picked up a welder to get the engine in.

 

[Damo]

Any piccies of your engine mounts? Oh, and your log exhaust would be interesting to look at!!!

Thanks MaxPower!

 

[Drizt]

hey mate that looks bloody awesome?

Is the thing on the road yet?

Is it at least drivable?

If it is can you tell us how the new set up compares to the old 5.0L ????

The biggest fear i would have with your conversion is the lack of torque compared to the trusty old 304efi

 

[Cobra]

Hey Maxpower

It looks like it belongs there. I have a question.

Do you have any probs with engine temperature? Reason I ask is because looking at your pictures, you have hooked up the radiator piping in the reverse to standard. You have the hot coolant exiting the motor and feeding to the bottom of the radiator. My Cobra has a standard radiator from a V8 Commodore and I have the hot coolant entering the radiator at the top.
If your setup works then I will be able to remove a lot of radiator hosing. Let me know?

 

[MaxPower]

hey mate that looks bloody awesome?

Is the thing on the road yet?

Is it at least drivable?

If it is can you tell us how the new set up compares to the old 5.0L ????

The biggest fear i would have with your conversion is the lack of torque compared to the trusty old 304efi

Yeah its been on the road for about 3 weeks now, gets driven everyday.

The torque is a problem. Down low it dosn't have the same wheel spinning grunt of the 5L but get a few revs on board and it keeps on pulling all the way to 6000rpm (the headers are very restrictive). I will take it down the 1/4 mile and see how it goes before and after diff gears - i think the gears should help a fair bit, either 3.7s, 3.9s or 4.11s still undecided as economy is a concern but want to overcome the low down torque issue.

 

[MaxPower]

Hey Maxpower

It looks like it belongs there. I have a question.

Do you have any probs with engine temperature? Reason I ask is because looking at your pictures, you have hooked up the radiator piping in the reverse to standard. You have the hot coolant exiting the motor and feeding to the bottom of the radiator. My Cobra has a standard radiator from a V8 Commodore and I have the hot coolant entering the radiator at the top.
If your setup works then I will be able to remove a lot of radiator hosing. Let me know?

Yeah after looking at the Lexus manuals I realised that the inlet will be in the wrong spot, but as i already had the radiator from the old setup i thought id give it a go and if cooling problems surfaced i would get a radiator made to suit. So far there have been no over-heating problems but the weather is still pretty cool over here, yet to experience a day over 25*C to test it but so far it just sits between 180-192*F (fans switch on and off as the coolant is cooled down so no problem there, only while stationary or coasting along slowly at say <40kph).

I will see how it goes when the weather heats up in a few months time.....

 

[Drizt]

How is it all going mate....

Just wondering if you will make a web site for the conversion..
something along the lines of a step by step comprehensive explanation of what is needed.

I just enquired about having a 1uz-fe put in my VR commodore.... i wont name the company.. but they said around $4500 (thats to install, add another $2,000 for a half cut)

out of that 4500 about 1500 was for taking the engine out and fitting the new engine in the bay....

If one had the time to do most of the work at home, how would u break up the work.... what im getting at is

How much of the conversion could be done by a home mechanic and what would have to be done by a professional?

 

[Zuffen]

I've spent $10,000.00 getting my creation to drive reliably. I have a lot more to spend to get it running FI. Say another $15,000

The exhaust alone will swallow $2,000! Clutch $1,000, flywheel $600.00 headers $600.00.

And I did everything apart from machine the flywheel and build the exhaust.

 

[MaxPower]

Nah wont be making a website, I dont have the time for that.

My total budget was $2000, this included buying a engine and trans and selling my old gear. Total cost of the conversion came to approx $2500 so wasnt that far over the budget.

Price break Down -
Engine and Trans: $2000
ECU: $1200
Exhaust: $750
Other fitting costs: $2000 (engine bay paint touch-ups, tailshaft, mounts, hoses, wiring for battery relocation and loom, general bits and pieces)

Parts i sold came to $3550

So total of about $2400, but everything except exhaust and a base dyno tune was done by myself over a 4 week period.

The $4500 u have been quoted might seem expensive but is a fairly good price for a drive in drive out service as there is heaps of work to do. Most things are pretty straight forward and can be done at home, there are only a few tricky bits but if u read the post i made above it explains almost everything u need to know. How much can be done at home really depends on what equipment u have, really only the tailshaft would have to be done by a pro if u have a well stocked home workshop.

Have fun!!

 

[MaxPower]

While Iam posting thought id also mention that the cooling system seems to work fine with the hoses the opposite way round, drove around in traffic and on the freeway the other day with the temp around the 35*C mark and it was fine, never over heated, coolant temp peaked at 95*C - then the fans turn on.

 

[luke454]

You've done a good job on the conversion, nice work. I am starting a transplant for a 1uz into the commo (VN) at christmas and I am a little curious about a few things regarding the installation.

*How did you go with the wiring? Did you ditch the old harness/fuse box etc? Also how does the shifter/selector line up on the inside? Any significant interior mods?

*Fuel pump, whats the plan here, stock ok?

*Power steering and A/C lines, I'm guessing I will have to rip up some custom suckers?

I have two weeks to complete the conversion so I need as much info as I can get. The plan is to find out all the problem areas before I start so everything goes smoothly, so any tips you can give about those lovely fiddely problems (if anymore than you have already stated) will be much appreciated.

Thanks chief,

 

[Damo]

i dont think the words "engine conversion" and "smoothly" go too well together

from previous posters it seems that the problem areas are mainly exhaust and some wiring issues. Good luck with your two week time frame, if you can do it, I shall envy you badly!!!