Progress on 1UZFE > RA65 swap

The 1UZFE EGR Delete Kit is available for sale here.
Well, not much progress to report, but here is an update at least. ELHSupra is selling me his old set of stock LS400 exhaust manifolds so I will have more material to work with, while keeping it stock looking for the emissions inspection, but in the meantime the car is sitting outside my friends shop since he got a bunch of good paying jobs in so he needs the lift. He should have my manifolds off in a couple days and the re-shaping to clear the steering shaft will begin.

I will try to add another picture, here goes.
 
I finallyhave some progress to report. The driver's side exhaust manifold is done. My friend did a beautiful job scullpting 2 peices of stainless steel tubing in between the 3rd and 4th portsof the manifold to move the collector out so that the pipe now gos around the outside of the steering shaft with nearly 1/2 inch of clearance everywhere, and over an inch around most of it. There is certainly no performance improvement from stock ,but it should not lose any either. The 4th port stil hits the main log at basically 90 degrees, just like the original 4th (and the 2nd and 3rd ports) did.

I got to se it myself as I was in Chicago on Business as he was finishing up the welding. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me, and the area is so tight, it may never be seen. This may not be all bad as I still have to get it by the California emissions police. I think I can get most of the stock heat shield back on so it should look unmolested. Of course Neil's welds look far nicer than stock. He even used argon purge gas inside the manifold so there is no oxidation of the stainless around the welds. This can't be said for the factory welds.

Tom said he should have the motor fired up within a week or two now that the exhaust is handled. The next hurdles are the drive shaft and shifter. The big ruber drive ring barely fits in the tunnel behind the trans. I am thinking about using an axle C.V. joint at the back of the motor instead. I have a spare pair. The joints allow for well over an inch of plunge which should make shaft installation a snap.

Gary M.
 
We are in the process of connecting up the drive shaft. My trans is the LS-400 style with the big rubber driove ring on it. The Celica tunnel is about the same size as this ring. Less than 1/4 inch (6 mm) of clearance around it. With the very stiff motor mounts this may work, but it sure looks tight. I am hoping someone can help with a few questions.

Can I swap a different drive flange onto the lexus output shaft? Are the splines the same as a 4x4 transfer case? If it is, I could use a telescoping shaft and u joints from a pickup. That would sure make things easier. Or, if I cut off the threads and pin, are the splines the same a a slip yoke from say a Supra auto box? This would also be an easy fit. If I do any of these, is the tail shaft of the Lexus trans setup to hold a slip yoke? I seem to remember reading that the extension housing does not oil the bushing for a slip yoke, but I have not been able to find this again.

My other option is to make a 1/4 inch thick steel plate that bolts onto the 3 finger flange and has the holes to bolt on a 4x4 drive shaft U-joint for a telescoping shaft. Since my car is IRS I don't really need any travel, but a 1/2 inch or so of compression room would make installing the shaft far easier.

Thanks for any info

Gary M.
Celica 1UZA-65, still not on the road after 18 months.
 
If I was not 2500 miles away from my car, I would gladly take a ton of pics and post everything. I have a trip planned to visit my car (as well as my familly) in April. i will get a bunch of pics then. My friend working on it says it should be on the street by then.

Gary M.
 
I posted an update, some questions, and then some pics, and it all went away ;-(

I will try to repost the pics (down rez'd this time) in a day or so. But I wil re-ask my questions here.

1) Do I need to do anything with the TRAC ABS or Cruise wires from the ECU?

2) Can I just plug the tiny coolant line that cam eoff by the left side dzzy to the resevior tank? I am using an old style radiator with a pressure cap and non pressured overflow tank.

3) Is the sub throttle held open by a spring or anything? Can it vibrate closed? Should I block it? Is the ECU happy with it just staying open all the time?

4) It looks like my motor has the California electric air pump, but the car only has 2 cats, not three? Do I have a 49 state car with a CA motor??

5) How much current does the stock '93 LS400 fuel pump draw? My pump sucks 7 amps at 50 psi, will the Fuel pump ECU take that without smoking? Does the FUel ECU check current? Can I just have the pump ecu operate a relay to run my pump whenever it is on low or high mode. 9 volts will hold in a 12 volt relay. I need the pump ecu as the main ECU will set a code if the DI signal is not corrent.

I already got a reply on the shifter and I am looking for a stock MA/RA 6X auto shifter.

Thanks in advance.
Gary M
1UZA65C Celica V8 Coupe
 
1) I don't think so, but I lucked out when I bought my loom, as it was a non-TRC loom, so I didn't have to deal with any potential TRC issues.

2) Yes

3) Leave/ignore it

4) Not one for me

5) It should be fine straight off the ecu. ECU should not throw a code if the FP ECU is not connected. I've done a car without one, saw no codes. Friend did a car without one, saw codes for a while, then they disappeared and never came back.
 
Thanks Peewee. My friend is working on getting the Fuel Pump ECU (FPE?) connected, but having its output just pull in a relay that will run my pump. The book show only a single error code for the FPE if it does not send the DI signal back. The tests for this code are really dumb. Basically you get that code it says, if the wires test good, replace the FPE and/or ECU. Never even mentions a voltage that should be on the DI wire. The FPC wire goes high for pump on full, low for pump off, and pulses for pump at 9 volts. I wonder if it is as dumb as a PWM signal and the "FP ECU" is just a big transistor PWMing the power to the pump? The DI could just be the pulses after the transistor and it looks for them just like the IGF?? This is just a guess, but I don't see what else they could be doing unless it is a smart box with real data going back the DI line, in which case it could be hard to fake out.

Gary M.
 
I finally found time to resize and post the pics. Too bad these were all taken before the progress I made in Chicago 2 weeks ago.

I will write up more later. I also made a good haul at the jumkyard and have most of the odd parts I need to get this thing closer to running. I found a 1984 Celica auto shifter with the O/D switch. I also found a Camry Power/Normal switch that fits in the Celica console where the sunroof switch would be. I also got a new driver's side mirror and the cast part of the dorr that cracked. Accept for the sheet metal damage, this will fix it up.

Well, enjoy the pics. Man the bottom of the car got oiled down when the turbo motor blew out the crankshaft seal.

Gary M.
1UZA65C Celica V8 coupe coming soon.....
 
Engine mounts?

Care to sell a copy of your mounts, or a CAD drawing of them? I am using an 83 Celica crossmember to install the 1uz in my 74 celica GT. Engine mounts are something that I will have to create otherwise. Name your price.

Thanks

Thom
Savannah GA
 
I will probably be making up something better when I have the car out here in Cali. Tom (my friend doing the install in Chicago) is good at "making it work" but his details are a bit rough. The mounts holding the motor in place in the pics are nothing but some heavy wall water pipe with a big bolt up through the middle. Basically he chopped all of the old Celica mount riser off of the cross member using a cutting torch. The stock Lexus motor mounts used straight vertical bolt holes with a rubber isolator between the cross member and the ears sticking out of the engine. He tried to use those, but they are so soft that he was worried the motor would move far enough to hit the oil pan against the cross member as well as the intake against the hood. He had to torch out access holes in the cross member wherer the suspension arms connect. There are holes in the top of the cross member that line up with the holes in the ears off of the engine. Use the right length of pipe and a long bolt and the motor is in place. Like I said, pretty cheesy, but it is in for now. I plan to use shorter pipe sections welded to the cross member and some rubber above and below the engine ears to give a little isolation. The trans cross member is also the stock 83 Celica, but it is only mounted by two bolts instead of four and it is hacked out so the Lexus rear trans mount is bolted to the bottom of the support. I hope that makes sense.

Gary M.
 
Not much new to report other than I am setting up a trip back to Chicago to get the Celica/Lexus up and running. If all goes well, I will be at a much nicer shop with 2 hard working buddies on Aug. 28,28, and 30th. With a real bay to work in, and good help, I think it will be running after that. I am doing as much prpe work as I can so when I am there with the car I can get straight to work. I have diagrams for the remaining electrical, a list of the hard parts needed, and a box of stuff to ship ahead of me. since I will be in a good shop, I am planning on even doing the mandrel bent exhaust and all on this trip. I have to get it running good enough to satisfy the Illinois emissions test. Once I am past that, I have 2 years to do the rest. Since Illinois uses the IM240 test though, it is not an easy task. The actual sniffer test is much harder than the one they use here in California. They will also read out the ECU diagnostics for no codes. If it is throwing any codes I will probably have to pay the shop owner to track it down for me since I won't be there long enough for serious trouble shooting. I hope to have lots of pics and a road test to report after the trip. Look for a report in early September.

Gary M.
My Celexus will live!
UZA65C GT 4.0
 
BIG NEWS TO REPORT

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!

Thats right, after a very long delay, I finally took a week off work, flew to Chicago, and spent 4 days working almost straight. Yesterday was about 22 hours working on the car, but my trip is over and I am on my way back to L.A.

I will post a pic or two now, I have a few more for later. I am uploading this while I wait for my flight at the airport.

I completed almost all of the wiring. Tested it before pluggin in the ECU and found just 2 minor problems. One of them was a relay with a shorted coil. Good thing I checked as it was the engine main energized by the ECU MREL lead. I just jumped the ECU pins to power up the motor and it blew a 20 amp fuse. OUCH. The other was a wire that pulled out of a crimp. After that, I turned the key and it fired to life on the very first try with no error codes at all. I even drove it, 40 feet, under it's own power, and it really wants to take off. Running with just open headers it was much louder than I expected. It roared like an unmuffled bug block, but settled into a smooth 600 rpm idle. Just touch the throttle and it jumps to 2000 in a blink. It acts like a light flywheel. We did et the exhaust built back to the cats. I am using the original Lexus cats, but they are moved back a bit to put them in the stock Celica(left side) and Supra(right Side) cat positions. I made my own heat shields for the right side, and the one over the cat also has ThermoTec over the shield for a little extra insulation. I also plan to wrap the pipes before the cats with the ThermoTec since they are so much further from the ports.

Alternator and powersteering work fine. I never got it hot enough to open the thermo stat though, cooling fans never came on. It was just too loud to run much longer at 2AM.

Enjoy the pics, I will post more when I am back in LA.

Gary Meissner
 
Congrats man! I have an 85 RA65 Coupe and this is the exact conversion I have wanted to do for some time, actually almost 5 years,until the birth of my son put that on hold. To my knowledge I haven't seen a 1UZ put into an RA65 yet so I think you may well be the 1st in the world to do it!

There are a few decisions for me that a holding me up before I consider embarking on this conversion. Seems there is some confusion atm about our modified car rules regarding the vehicle weight vs engine capacity for FI conversions. It use to be a 4.0x vehicle weight but the National rules state only 3.0x now and if that's the case it rules out a twin turbo 1UZ into the RA65. For me that would be a deal breaker and I would do a 1J conversion instead but for 5 years now I have wanted to do the 1UZ twin turbo conversion.

I'm interested to see how it goes NA though once you get it fully sorted. Are you going to dyno it and do a 1/4 mile time? If so post up the results.

Cheers
 
Awesome Gary! Congrat's!

It looks like a nice fit. That was an incredible amount of work to sort out in a few days. I like the cat placement for weight and packaging. Hopefully that will fly with the Smog Nazi's.

I need to get busy now!

Regards,
Al K.
 
A friend is posting more pics on his web site, I will put the URL up here when I get it. I have a few close detail shots of the modified driver's side exhaust manifold. Since mins is a US car, the steering shaft problem is on the left side. Left hand drive people have the exact same problem on the right side. Even after making the manifold clear the steering shaft itself, we still had to massage the power steering hard lines a bit to get some room. I will be wrapping some ThermoTec around the power steering parts for a little protection. On the right side (not sure if that is different on right hand drive cars) the fuel lines go across the path of the exhaust just behind the flange. I wrapped the lines in thermotec and put an aluminum heat shield over it.

As far as the Ausie laws, I can't help you. The 3x and 4x you mention, is that 3 x Kg = cc's? My car weighs in at about 2800 pounds / 2.2 = 1270 Kg. 1270 x 3 = just over 3800 cc's. That is sure close to a 1UZ.

I will post more later,

Gary
 


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