NEW REBUILD ENGINE W/ BIGGER TURBO

[stevechumo]

I have an update. The new engine is in. It has a super low mileage block with the new rebuilt heads. I replaced the shims to make sure the clearance between them and the cams are near to new factory specs. All gaskets and seals are new.

I only had a little trouble with the starter. So to alert anyone who reads this thread. Don't wash or touch the starter teeth. What happened is I washed the good working starter (I had it tested before) and pulled its gearing teeth out just for cleaning. I didn't test it again. Well, after that I put everything back, including the complete engine. The starter didn't even turn. "Bump".

You know how hard it is to replace the starter once it's in the engine bay? :Eyecrazy: I had help from David to diagnose why the car didn't start. Then after determining the starter could be bad, it took me 5 hours to replace it. It's a real bad starter that has a sticky gearing teeth and isn't turning at all. I think the water got inside the starter and I mislocated the gear when I tried to pull its teeth by hands. Live and learn..hah!

Just a note for anyone who is putting the engine in the SC400 or replacing the starter: To save the future hours if you have to replace the starter next time, it's now to replace the 2 OEM starter bolts with the longer bolts and nuts. You screw the new bolts from the starter inside out toward the tranny, and have the nuts tightened from the outside. The OEM way is to screw the bolts from the outside in and toward the engine. This is David's idea. I was prepared with this method so it only took 5 hours. If not, I believe it'll be a lot longer and a PITA.

After replacing the starter, the car started at the 1st crank. :biggrin: I drove the car around a couple of blocks and it drives so smooth like new. I'll need to take it to smog station (The state requires most old cars with every 2 years for smog inspection). After the smog inspection, I'll put in bigger injectors and ECU, have it tuned, then boost it. If I put in the big injectors now, my car will fail the inspection for sure.

Bigger turbo..It's a T60-1 built by Turbonetics.

 

[drifty325i]

Thats clean man i like it

 

[spf_lexus]

Looking good steve. How does your standard boost feel w/ the new engine? When I test drove mine it felt super smooth, like all of a sudden my intake temps dropped 30 degrees... sorta like picking up a pound of boost, great low end revival.

 

[cribbj]

Congratulations Steve, always nice to reach the end and hear it fire up when you turn the key, isn't it? Hope the new engine and turbo work well for you.

 

[stevechumo]

Thank you, gents. I hope it'll boost as I've been hoping for.

 

[Chris's (1UZFE) SC400]

Lookin awesome Steve, keep up the awesome work man thing should be a beast:veryhappy: . It's been awhile since I have posted on here and talked to you. I have been very busy building up the Lexus and busy with life. I think the last time we spoke was when we got the same bodykit. I ended up only using the side skirts and scrapped the front and rear due to poor quality and major fitment issues. I ended up going with the authentic T&E Vertex front and rear lip. I am going to make an intro thread very soon once I have a nice day here in MO to take pictures. The weather has been bad, and very cold, snow, ice, etc. I am hoping to make the thread here in the next couple days. I am eventually going to follow behind you with a single setup when I get some bills paid for.

 

[stevechumo]

Lookin awesome Steve, keep up the awesome work man thing should be a beast:veryhappy: . It's been awhile since I have posted on here and talked to you. I have been very busy building up the Lexus and busy with life. I think the last time we spoke was when we got the same bodykit. I ended up only using the side skirts and scrapped the front and rear due to poor quality and major fitment issues. I ended up going with the authentic T&E Vertex front and rear lip. I am going to make an intro thread very soon once I have a nice day here in MO to take pictures. The weather has been bad, and very cold, snow, ice, etc. I am hoping to make the thread here in the next couple days. I am eventually going to follow behind you with a single setup when I get some bills paid for.

Hey, it's been awhile...:yo: The bodykit looks nice on the car, but it breaks so easy. I have to be very careful driving the car to avoid it to hit anything. The copied bodykit usually has bad fitment. Therefore, I have to screw a lot of screws to hold it, and do a lot of bondo to make it smooth. The authentic Vertex is a nice kit, but it's expensive.

Boost your SC up...You can go with a turbocharger or supercharger, whichever is convenient for you. The supercharger setup will save you a lot of time and headache. There're some Eaton superchargers already done on the SC, and the "Fish" bracket from Lextreme for the centrifugal supercharger. I think the quickest way is the "Fish" setup.

 

[Lextreme II]

Steve drove his car to my place last night and the engine look so clean and the engine idle so smooth too. Great job Stevy....

 

[Sabre_Logos]

Very nice install, Steve. Everything looks like it came from the factory. I'm looking forward to the performance numbers.

Just curious, what is the hotside a/r for the turbo?

 

[stevechumo]

Something new is coming along! Before the main picture, I have some teaser info and pictures.

I'm running 8 RX7 fuel injectors with 460cc/min and a AEM standalone ECU made for 93-98 Supra TT. However, with a handful of knowledge and magic of Mitch Pederson, he made it work on my 95 SC400 single turbo. He also helped to sort out the bugs from the ignition timing and fuel issue. I couldn't thank him enough.

Picture 1: ARP head studs and Cometic head gaskets are used. I had to re-torque 2 times. It's holding up so far.

Picture 2: Engine after the dyno.

Picture 3: Dyno result from 13 lbs of boost. I'm glad with the power curve. It made 340 rwhp and 371 rwtq.

I'd expect more rwhp & rwtq with 13 psi, but somehow the dyno machine showed a lower number from what I expected. The dyno machine is a single roller Dynojet with a somewhat old computer so I don't know if it read correctly. I'll take my car to another Dynojet machine to see if it's any different. If it's the same, then it's time for a bigger turbo. The turbo already was maxed out. It's a T04 turbine with 60-1 compressor housing.

However, I'm very happy with the result. The car ran very strong and smooth.

 

[stevechumo]

Sorry. It showed 334 rwhp.

 

[4000GT]

I think I did around 120WHP more at 13psi. Something is up somewhere!

 

[XR8tt]

We have had T04 on another 4.0 engine..
The most that could be pumped out of it was 212 rwkw..[Under 300 h.p]
I would say its the turbo, especially compressor side..

 

[Lextreme II]

NICE WORK STEVE!.... 334 rwhp will be a fun car to drive..... Now.. its time to boost higher...lol....

 

[4000GT]

We have had T04 on another 4.0 engine..
The most that could be pumped out of it was 212 rwkw..[Under 300 h.p]
I would say its the turbo, especially compressor side..

Agreed, I had a 60-1 on a 2.5 motor, it maxed out around 365WHP at 20 something psi.

 

[stevechumo]

Mine is a T04 60-1 with T4 turbine housing and not T3. I spoke to Turbonetics (a turbo manufacturing company that built this turbo for me) and they said it's capable of 550 bhp, which should be at least 400 rwhp for the SC400. I don't remember the A/R spec but the compressor side is big.

Other thing is the graph shows the smooth linear power without any restriction for the power to go up. This is kind of weird when the dyno machine shows too low for 13 psi. I can't really wait for a dyno session at another place.

 

[stevechumo]

I forgot to add that the air temp was around 102 Farenheit at peak boost, so it's not too hot for a turbo, which is a good sign because the turbo didn't really try to squeeze the last breath out of it. The outside temperature was around 75.

 

[JamesN]

Good job Steve. I think you can make more power with that amount of boost. But the numbers is still impressive none the less.

 

[4000GT]

yeah my turbo was a custom Turbonetics build also. As long as it gives you the power and curve you want, numbers dont matter

 

[stevechumo]

Thank you, gents. I just couldn't wait to get home after work everyday to take the car out for a couple of runs. I think you all feel the same with your babies. I love how it chirps the tires in first gear and second gear everytime I floor it. I'm looking for a LSD. :tongue: