Project Thread Twin Turbo 1UZFE into HQ Coupe

[Cobber]

I was aware of the smaller rods in the 2-3 uz's but not the 1uz.
Hillbillys engine may have been rebuilt some time ago with "new rods".

 

[WDoherty]

so do smaller rods in the 95-97 early 1uz mean they are skinner or is thre actaully length difference. My question is will the higher compression pistons go with an earier 1uz with the original rods?

 

[Hillbilly]

Motor is standard bore size, so it has not been rebuilt with later rods.
First pic is broken rod with what appears a good one next to it.
Second pic is side view of good one, we thought lol.
Third one is of top of piston.
These rods measure exactly the same as 2uz and 3uz rods as quoted by Lextreme.

 

[WDoherty]

wow so you have made a discovery, the skinny rods were born into the later pre-vvti 1uz's before the 98's when we originally thought the skinny rods made their introduction.

 

[1uzvl]

Thats some tidy work there!!You going to use early rods for your build up or some thing completely different?

 

[Hillbilly]

Was going to get some Argo rods but funds are just too tight at the moment so will go with a set of early ones, which i picked up for next to nothing from a mate.
After spending near on $15 000 on this conversion my wife is getting a bit pissed off with me, already put off the europe holiday once, next thing will be a divorce

 

[LEXACE]

What ever it takes to keep the car running I guess.... (sorry mrs hillbilly)

Nice conversion... Very impressed.

Matt.

 

[JustenGT8]

Looks to me like those of us staying and playing with stock internals had best stick to the earlier UZs...question is, when did the skinny rods appear????

 

[krayn]

Is there a part number on the rods so we can identify the weaker ones? Im running a 96 model so Id better not boost over 10-12 psi.

 

[1UZ-HZ]

It seems that there is a change late '95. I found that ACL gaskets that I list at work are different from 12/95 onwards! So there may have been some other small changes as well.

 

[Sciflyer]

Ok this may or may not be related-

At some point in the mid '90s the CR of 1UZs went from 10:1 to 10.4:1, this was the first change in output for the engine

According to http://specs.amayama.com all Soarers (SC400) from May '95 and Crowns from August '95 on had this higher CR engine

But the Celsior (LS400) had it from as early as October '94

So if this change corresponds to the newer rods as well then only engines from 1989 to mid 1994 should be chosen for higher-boost FI

Woo first post, hi everyone

 

[cribbj]

Hi Sciflyer, welcome to the forum & nice find. The Lexus NCF has this to say about the '95 1UZ engine "proper" changes (these are not the only changes BTW, cam timing and lift were changed also), so it looks like your conclusion about the earlier 1UZ's may be spot on. It certainly bears investigating further:

 

[1ndecent]

Great stuff John!

It looks like the later blocks and pistons combined with early rods would be the best combo.

 

[Lextreme II]

I have a 95 SC400 engine at home and I can take a look into it.

 

[abustiffy]

Sorry about the luck shattering the motor. On a positive note, your swap looks nice and great output.

 

[Hillbilly]

Just a note to say the lastest edition of ZOOM magazine has a full feature of my car in it. I,m pretty happy to say the least

 

[JustenGT8]

Hey Hillbilly,
Nice write up. I didn't know Saf was involved in the build the idea stealing bastard Next time you see him, tell him Justen says hi and kick his wheelchair over

 

[Hillbilly]

Hey Hillbilly,
Nice write up. I didn't know Saf was involved in the build the idea stealing bastard Next time you see him, tell him Justen says hi and kick his wheelchair over

When we were first discussing the idea of the 1UZ conversion he told me about yours and a little later we found a feature on yours which really got me interested

 

[JustenGT8]

More than interested mate, you went the whole hog and a nice old skool result too.

So how is Saffo these days? Kinda lost contact the last 12 months or so.

 

[cribbj]

Small world, several of us from the Supra camp know Saf also.