LX torana Hatchback

[haydo_v8]

Well I'm new to this "thread" business but thought I'd give it a crack. I'm past the point of no return for a twin turbo 1uzfe into a LX torana hatch and have been told many times to keep the rana standard as they are getting more collectible.... not going to happen. If you want a 2 door Lx hatch with 253, trimatic, and banjo then keep searchin.

This one has recently aquired 9 inch diff, 31 spline axles, 3.5 ratio limited slip, disc brakes all round, new booster and master, tremec tko 600, billet twin plate clutch, crs bellhousing, 1uzfe with crow cams (.441" lift, 248 duration @ 50 thou), argo rods, custom pistons, arp head studs. I'm aiming for 700hp with two 2860rs turbos, and I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with sump modifications, engine mounts and intercooler for this swap. Also, I'm keen on the cbr coil on plugs and c2di ignition but no one has been able to give me piece of mind that this will work. Decision between autronic and wolf v500 is proving difficult also.

This car is my first and only car since 1997, when I got my licence, and will be engineered for street use in queensland, australia. Any help to make this project happen will be appreciated.

 

[1uzvl]

Pics of mentioned hatchback??

 

[haydo_v8]

It isn't much to look at, at the moment. Just an empty shell.

I will update again when I have the new driveline in.

 

[Shuey]

LX... Hard to find...

Hey mate,

Interesting conversion! I'll be keen to see some photo's as it progresses. have you aleardy built up the motor or still in progress?

I have just bought an LX Hatch myself (253, trimatic with a banjo...would you believe). I'm doing a conversion, but in my case, an LS2 + Tremec 6speed and a 31 spline 9".

For the record, I do have a 1UZFE in my hilux and just about to supercharge it (waiting on the spray painter to finish the body off) and a spare motor, just in case... So, I'm a fan of the motor... but for $5k you can get an LS2 307kW... cheap power!

Keep us updated mate... be keen to see it.
Cheers,
Shuey!

 

[Shuey]

Any updates???

Hey there...

Any updates on your conversion?

Regards,

Shuey

 

[sideshow]

ive got a customer who wants to bring his car in to my work and get me to wire up his lx torana with l76 6lt

and rewire the front end to make t neater
ill put a tune in the ecu and should make very good power

should be good thing ill get some pics when its in

5 k for ls2 is ok but yr forgetting the rest
3k for wiring ecu and electrical parts
2k for gbox

go for an autronic

never had much work for wolfs i guess they are better these days but due to how crap they were originally i dont go near them
but i guess the mor eu do them the more u learn about them

id even get an autronic before id get a motec

 

[stormtrooper]

For a (relatively) cheap and incredibly reliable ECU conversion go Delco with Kalmaker.Check out the Kalmaker website for details. I know there are a few UZFEs around with variations of this conversion and make good power. The Kalmaker business owners own conversion (waiting for an update but have heard its doing well) and another one that is listed on this site in a V8Supra.

 

[sideshow]

its cheap if u do it yourself

but if u have to pay someone why stuff round fit a microtech

wired in 2 hours if car is already running or 5 hours to make new loom
and never even have probs or have to think about where wires go
i know the wire colours in my head

ive seen backyard wiring jobs with delco systems and i recon my new 3 week old boy can do a better job

and not many kalmaker tuners around its all old school these days

lsx engines and hptuners or efi live is the big thing these days

 

[Zuffen]

Kalmaker have been trying to make the Delco work properly for at least 4 years.

It isn't cheap by the time you get it all together.

You could fit an Autronic cheaper thean a Kalmaker. And there are heaps of Autronic tuners around.

One of our members has one running (and has had it running for years) but it does need some trick electronics to run the 2 distributors.

 

[sideshow]

i recon if u cant afford 1100 for microtech then get out of the automotive game

 

[sideshow]

just a thought

if your goin to go to the hassle of a delco

why not upgrade to an ls1 ecu

just need to sort out the reluctor wheel and crank sensor from the ls1 and replicate it on the 1uz

i cant see it being any harder and sort out the cam sensor pickup

not to hard either if u had a brain

then u can run 8 injectors sequentially and 8 coils

now i can get all needed parts for under 500 bucks

and i have the tuning software to go with it too

im surprised no one has ever thought or suggested this

as i have shitloads of ls1 and l76 parts and shitlaods of info on them

 

[stormtrooper]

Kalmaker have been trying to make the Delco work properly for at least 4 years.

It isn't cheap by the time you get it all together.

You could fit an Autronic cheaper thean a Kalmaker. And there are heaps of Autronic tuners around.

One of our members has one running (and has had it running for years) but it does need some trick electronics to run the 2 distributors.

Sorry but this is just biased and incorrect. I do Kalmaker and have never had a problem with it.

In NSW, at least, if the Rego man sees an aftermarket ECU you can get a canary instantly. I have seen this happen to MoTecs, Links, Wolfs, Autronics. I have never seen or heard of anyone copping a defect for a Delco.

Kalmaker might be old school, I am not disputing that at all, but I think some old school is still relevant and when done by someone who is capable then it is as good as an aftermarket setup. Give an Autronic to an idiot and he'll stuff it up to.

 

[Zuffen]

I tried to go Delco and all I got was waffling.

I have all the hardware needed but making it fall into place was too hard for them.

They would have preferred me to run an 8 cylinder distributer as the twin distributors was just too hard.

I've wasted enough money on Delco to move along.

The LS1 idea sounds interesting though.

 

[madhun]

Hey Haydo,

Should be a nice conversion mate.

The best thing you could do for an LX is remove any trace of Holden "engineering" and build something that will work.

If you want advice re the Wolf ring George May or Racecraft Automotive Engineering on the Sunshine Coast.

Could tune a wolf in his sleep. In fact he could probably tune a wolf in his sleep post 2ltrs of Quality bourbon.

Mate of mine has pretty much the same conversion. In fact it's the same colour. Only difference is the donk, his has a TT 383 Chev.

Regardless who installs what ecu, ask them how they join wires. If they mention the word crimp, twist or tie, run like hell. Make sure whoever installs your ecu loom only solders and heat shrinks any wire joints! It might take a little more time and perhaps cost a little more if you are not able to do it yourself, but you won't be chasing poor quality electrical connections with soldered joints!

Wolf has been very good since the v4 and later. Very reliable, rarely have any problems with them. Having said that and it is said in this thread, regardless the ecu, if it's installed by an incompetent hack you will always run into problems.

Well I'm new to this "thread" business but thought I'd give it a crack. I'm past the point of no return for a twin turbo 1uzfe into a LX torana hatch and have been told many times to keep the rana standard as they are getting more collectible.... not going to happen. If you want a 2 door Lx hatch with 253, trimatic, and banjo then keep searchin.

This one has recently aquired 9 inch diff, 31 spline axles, 3.5 ratio limited slip, disc brakes all round, new booster and master, tremec tko 600, billet twin plate clutch, crs bellhousing, 1uzfe with crow cams (.441" lift, 248 duration @ 50 thou), argo rods, custom pistons, arp head studs. I'm aiming for 700hp with two 2860rs turbos, and I'm wondering if anyone has dealt with sump modifications, engine mounts and intercooler for this swap. Also, I'm keen on the cbr coil on plugs and c2di ignition but no one has been able to give me piece of mind that this will work. Decision between autronic and wolf v500 is proving difficult also.

This car is my first and only car since 1997, when I got my licence, and will be engineered for street use in queensland, australia. Any help to make this project happen will be appreciated.

 

[sideshow]

the stuff i have learnt on ls1 **** in past year is shitloads

i have everything needed to to do the job

i can make it fly by wire even

hardest part is crank sensor

the cam sensor wouldnt be as hard

ls1 coils are pretty good too so maybe u could try fititng them with linger leads

kalmaker is not too bad

the main prob is look at who plays with cars

i have hassles trying to sell a microtech to half the people

and when u dont mak emuch on labour and bugger all on parts

its not really worth me figuring how to run a old delco and trying to charge someone for research and trial and error cause thats how kalmaker started for the 1uz but it was not done by good workshops back then

it was prob done by diy home guys who probably done work on cars during the day and then they are ok with diy stuff on cars on weekends

where i work on cars all day buger if i feel like diy stuff on weekends

it took ages to sort kalmaker out for 1uzs and i think people got sick of waiting to see if it will work ok

then after few years they might have worked it out

maybe if they had a kit to sell that can be garanteed to work faultlessly
and at a comparable price to a microtch or haltech or ems

then they might have sold some stuff but no one really ot involved to start a delco kit for 1uz
i might be wrong ther emight be something out there but i havent seen anyhting

maybe someone can make a ls1 ecu and loom work on a 1uz

anyway when running a shop with bills and a house to pay i guess the diy home stuff has stopped for me

 

[stormtrooper]

I agree that DIY stuff is hard to make money with but DIY stiff is what has kept the aftermarket industry alive cause its what got it started. I think sometimes we forget that. If it wasn't for places like CRS and Marks4WD, and also Kalmaker for Delco's then the aftermarket industry wouldn't exist. It has to have at least someone to do the DIY to get the ball rolling.

As for successfuly using a Delco on a UZ I seem to remember a V8Supra that ran damm well with it. It had 2 Bosch V8 Commodore Ignition boxes hooked up to a d1kcs(lol, hte things we have to do to get passed the sweairng filter) box hooked up to a Delco. It ran both UZ distributors.

Zuffen I don't know your situation apart from what you have said here so really cannot make much comment on it. I've never had a problem with the Kalmaker crew so can't fault them.

I have had incredible problems with another crew who'se ECU is used by some members here and all I had from them was the waffling you speak of, to the point where they told me that what was happening with my Engine-ECU conversion couldn't possibly happen. When I'm the guy who is fitting this stuff to a car and basically only charging a customer a pittance over and above the price of the parts I didn't appreciate the "thats not possible in the real world" crap thrown at me.

I know Delco's, I did my Apprenticeship when the early ones come out and have kept up with them till the LS1 ECU system come out. To me they are not a prob and when it comes to a setup thats a little outside of the ordinary for them I let the customer know that the prices are an approximate only but they will have an itemised account and tey can make the choice from there.

 

[sideshow]

i do know that supra wiring was a total mess originally when they first got it going

they asked me to look at tidying up

 

[stormtrooper]

i do know that supra wiring was a total mess originally when they first got it going

they asked me to look at tidying up

The wiring may have been a total mess but did that mean the ECU was a problem or just that the wiring wasn't done very well initially. My point is that no matter what ECU the person chooses to use unless they spend time doing it properly its not going to look good, wiring is fiddly thing to do but that doesn't mean the ECU is automatically better or worse than any other ECU.

 

[madhun]

The wiring may have been a total mess but did that mean the ECU was a problem or just that the wiring wasn't done very well initially. My point is that no matter what ECU the person chooses to use unless they spend time doing it properly its not going to look good, wiring is fiddly thing to do but that doesn't mean the ECU is automatically better or worse than any other ECU.

I concur.

Wiring that looks a mess generally is. Look a little further and 7 times out of 10 you'd find poorly crimped connections or worse. Even a Motech or Autronic won't cope well with dodgey wiring.

 

[haydo_v8]

Hi all, didn't realise there were replies to the thread i started.

Motor is finally getting some machine work done - valves, bores, decks. I got a pair of garrett gt2871r turbos in the post yesterday and am anxiously buying up wiring harnesses, gauges, interior, fuel system, I think I'm almost sold on the wolf v500 with aem cdi and coil on plugs.

Should have the block back in a few weeks with heads assembled, 3 angle valve job, new springs and retainers, cams in and shimmed. Also should come back with some new pistons. Intake manifolds and plenum just got back from the powdercoaters - matt black. Going to do the rocker covers the same with polished alloy covers down the middle. 120L drop tank is ready to go in.

I'll post some pics of the goodies later.

Hayden

PS - bought another project, 1950 dodge truck and another 1uzfe to squeeze into it