Lextreme said:
John,
What is your plan for your projects?
David, my 1UZ is being built now. I held the short block up because I wanted to find a better deal on 10:1 pistons. Everyone seems to want about the same $$$ to build a one-off set, so we're going with Wiseco's 'cause that's what the builder likes. The heads are being built with Inconel exhaust valves, SS intakes, new SiBr guides, and some ungodly expensive, super hard valve seats. All this in an attempt to preclude valve seat recession, which is a known problem with LPG.
The plan with this motor is to build it to 10:1 compression, supercharge it with an M112 to 10 psi or so, intercool it with methanol/water injection, and run it solely on LPG with a dedicated SFI LPG vapor injection system. This package will then go into my '94 black Supra with A/T. I don't think it will produce as much power as the 2JZ-GTE presently does, but it'll be a starter platform, and I may add a couple of turbos to the mix later on, if I get tired of having my *ss handed to me by turbocharged Beetles. I still have those 8.5:1 Ross pistons, so if I decide to twincharge the motor with a pair of turbos feeding the SC, they'll come in handy.
The 2nd project started prematurely when a deal on my motor of choice came along very recently. This motor is not of the UZ family, nor is it even a Toyota. It's a 5.4 litre all aluminum BMW V12 which they call the M73. I plan to keep this motor naturally aspirated, put ITB's on it, and try to shoehorn it into my '97 Supra which presently has a very modified single turbo 2JZ-GTE and 6spd drivetrain. I'm currently trying to get pistons & liners sorted, as we'll be taking it up to 12:1 compression, and possibly punching it out to 6.0 litres. This motor will probably be quite a trick to fit into the Supra chassis, however its silhouette is actually about the same size as the 2JZ inline six, so it "should" go. This one will run on dedicated LPG also, assuming the system works OK on the 1UZ. Since this 5.4 litre motor makes all of 325 BHP @ 5200 RPM, we'll put new cams in it and try to bump the power peak a little closer to 6000 RPM. I would really like to see between 450-500 BHP out of this motor, but that's probably just wishful thinking unless we punch it out to 6.0 litres.
I hope the 1UZ engine build will be finished in the next month or two, and the V12 probably late this year or early next. I'm shooting to have the 1UZ in the car by end of 2006, and the V12 by the end of 2007.
So that's what's on my plate for the forseeable future.
John