1UZ VVTi Race Car

[Frank Clark]

Just a little something to spice up the day...

Superlite Coupe, converted from LS to 1UZ Turbo.

Ross Pistons
Eagle Rods
Valve Springs
Mechanical TB
Garrett GTX4294R Turbo (1.28 A/R)
Electric water pumps
Graziano 6 speed trans-axle (think Audi R8/Lamborghini Gallardo)

Shop made cooling fittings (cast aluminum)

Shop made flywheel (from billet)

With twin disk clutch and trans adapter

In the car

Side mounted twin scroll

All together

The car

 

[cribbj]

Nice! Interesting that Fran's original prototype had a twin turbo 1UZ in it. I always thought that was the perfect combination for the SLC

 

[Frank Clark]

New setup is a plumbing/wiring nightmare. Is setup for Flex Fuel and 32 lbs of boost with megasquirt, water cooled wastegates, water cooled turbo, three fuel pumps (one lift, and two staged pressure pumps), electronic boost control, pressure/temperature sensors out the wazoo along with wheel speed sensors on all corners.

 

[cribbj]

That'll be a BEAST Is that a water to air intercooler I see sitting atop the engine? Or are you using an air to air, hidden somewhere else?

Has it been dynoed?

 

[Frank Clark]

That is the stock 1UZ VVTi intake manifold (with some welding, a 90mm throttle body and machining to fit standard 14mm injectors). Behind it is the intercooler I spent a large number of hours welding up. It sits above the transaxle and under scoops in the tail section.

You can see it all in this pic, along with the fuel rails I had to make to feed those 1200cc injectors.

 

[cribbj]

How did you route the exhaust to feed a single turbo?

 

[George_R]

Pics don't work for me =(

 

[cribbj]

George can you see this one? I've attached the image here, instead of hotlinking to it as the OP did. Perhaps his server is rejecting your IP? Do you have a VPN you can try, or a spoofed IP address?

 

[Frank Clark]

George,

Sorry. Our servers do block all traffic from a number of other countries.

 

[George_R]

WOW thanks for the heads up!
vpn worked for me, now I can see them all
Brilliant build
More pics of the internals would be cool though

 

[Frank Clark]

On the exhaust, there is a cross-over under the oil pan (behind the sump). 2.5" tubing. I had intended from the get-go to be dry-sump, but did poke the motor in wet-sump. That required removing removing about 1/4" from the pan for clearance. The motor is coming out in a week or two for dry-sump which will give a bit more clearance. I assume on a Lexus chassis the area behind the sump is frame. Fortunately on the SLC there is only one small crossover there and it's the actual motor mount.

Still trying to figure out how to fit alternator, A/C compressor and drysump pump and the associated drive into the car.

 

[Frank Clark]

No real pics on internals. Just not real big into taking pics when I'm working. Sorry!

But I will share that for folks building their own 1UZs, these are the correct ARP part numbers (So you don't need to pay 'extra' for a '1UZ' set):

ARP Head Studs, 10MM (replacement for standard bolts): 203-5407 - You need 2 sets for an engine (Toyota 1.8L 2ZZGE DOHC 4-cyl main stud kit)
ARP Main Studs, 209-5401 - You need 2 sets for an engine (ARP Vauxhall/Opel 2.0L 16V main stud kit)
ARP Main Side Studs, 673-1006, You need 2 sets for an engine (Bolts, 12-Point Head, Chromoly Steel, Black Oxide, 10mm x 1.25 RH Thread, 45mm UHL, Set of 5)
ARP Main Side Washers, 200-8745, You need 1 set for an engine (Washer, Flat, Chromoly, Black Oxide, .393 in. I.D., 0.750 in. O.D., .120 in. Thick, Set of 10)

On the Head Studs, you do need to slightly trim the one that is directly under the cam gear on VVTi head. I took off about 1.5 threads to get 0.030" clearance. YMMV.

You DO need to line bore the motor if you use main studs! The aluminum block distorts with the extra torque from the studs. Not boring is asking for main bearing failure.

I assume above also works for 3UZ and the head studs for a 2UZ.

I do have a spare motor to build. Have better rods for it and planning CP pistons and 11MM head studs. Will try to take pics next time around. Also planning on Cams. There is a shop in Australia that has cast blanks made for them.

I used all new connectors for my wiring harness, so have those part numbers if folks need them.

 

[Frank Clark]

I also have a torque plate if anyone in Dallas/Fort Worth area needs to borrow it.

 

[cribbj]

Frank, thanks for sharing all that! Can you share the name/contact for the cam shop in Australia and any budget pricing for the cams? I've been kicking around the idea of doing a flat plane 1UZ for years; the crank isn't that expensive, but the cams are like $2K per stick, so that's been the hurdle.

BTW, for one of my 1UZ's I went to 1/2" head studs, and still lifted the heads at 24 psi of supercharger boost, but there were cam timing issues with that build. The next 1UZ we stayed with 11mm as you've planned. That one hasn't seen boost yet.

I had approached Bill Dailey to do a dry sump for the 1UZ, since he built/builds them for TRD's V8 race motors, but we never really got the project going. He designed/built one of his dry sump systems for a BMW V12 I was fooling with a few years back, and it turned out brilliant.

Does the Megasquirt have enough I/O, etc. to control the VVTi functions of the 1UZ?

 

[Frank Clark]

On the cams...

Tighe. Don’t remember which of the two guys I talked to at PRI. But they said $1500USD a set. I’m interested in 2 sets. If we get enough together for a decent run perhaps they’d work with us. I believe they provide the billet blanks to Hartley as well but don’t know that for a fact. But they agreed it’s better to bite the bullet and have them cast.

On the dry sump....

I am giving casting my own pan a go. Have not cast something this large so we will see how it goes. This pan is setup for 5 evac & 1 turbo drain or 4 evac and 2 turbo drains. Of course you could not drill all the bosses if you want less. I need 2 pans. If they work out I might be game to make an extra or two - but not looking to start a business.

Does the Megasquirt have enough I/O, etc. to control the VVTi functions of the 1UZ?

Yep. I have the ultimate version. It’s loaded. VVTi for 2 cams is no issue. With 4 you might have to limit your non-engine inputs.

 

[Frank Clark]

On my engine, I plan on limiting boost/rpm on the current one. Looks for 600rwhp @ 7,000. On the second engine I’ll see what she will do.

We mainly do open road racing with this car. Would like to have a “reliable” motor for that and a second motor to do some mile and road racing.

 

[Frank Clark]

cribbj,

On the motor that lifted the heads, had you surfaced the heads and or block? I went ahead and cut the heads 0.003" to get a good surface. That little should not noticeably effect cam timing, but did give a good surface.

 

[cribbj]

Both block & heads were skimmed to get a good surface for the Cometic MLS head gaskets. I don't have the exact figures, but it was enough to affect the cam timing as we later measured the exhaust cams to be out of time around 13 degrees. We were shooting blue flames of methanol out the exhaust and actually blew the dyno's exhaust system off the engine a couple of times. This out of time situation also contributed to detonation issues too. We blew the insulators off several spark plugs, and the rod bearings looked severely hammered. Only managed 498 HP out of the engine at 24 psi so we knew there were some serious "issues", but didn't realise at the time how far out the cams were. The engine "builder" and the dyno operator were two different shops.

 

[Frank Clark]

13 degrees is huge! I’ve not done the math on how much one tooth in the cam pulley is, but the I’m guessing it’s in the teens. Timing the cams off a tooth might have gotten you closer!

Any interest in a dry sump pan?

 

[cribbj]

When I assembled the engine, I put the OEM timing belt on, matched the marks in the correct places then noticed it was extremely loose. So much so that I had to use a cap on the hydraulic tensioner plunger to get the belt to an acceptable tightness. Thought it was strange at the time but didn't think to check valve timing at that point; only afterward.

I'm not so interested in a dry sump pan, as I would be in a set of cams, but they'd be ground much differently than yours. I would want mine setup for a different firing order, ie a flat plane setup. However, if you need someone else to come in to make the dry sump economical, I'd be willing to do that.