Feel free to skip the next paragraph, its just a little history before the swap started.
I bought the car in Dec '08 off a friend for $1200 with a seized motor and another parts motor on the side. The car had a few goodies already (carbon hood, ksport coilovers, hks exhaust, exedy 4 puck clutch and possibly more I have forgotten) So being young and dumb decided I would rebuild the motor in my friends garage with neither of us having any experience in this area. It was a great learning experience and the motor actually ran really strong for about 5 mins and then started overheating. We never took the block to any machine shop, but the head was and made sure it went on the car flat. The headgasket looked fine after and we came to the conclusion it might have had a crack in the block or something. We trashed the majority of that motor and threw in a known good running s14 motor. The car ran great for a while and eventually started blowing headgaskets more than I change clothes. Finally got everything sorted out and running fine then got rod knock drifting a few months later. Swapped another s14 ka and eventually just got tired of having no power. So in mid 2011 I decided I wanted to get rid of the ka all together and go 1JZ.
Picture of the car when I first picked her up
After I finally got it running
And right before I pulled the last ka out
Ok so now with the start of the jz build.
I started collecting parts and was well on my way to getting my car running in mid 2011. Then I got orders to Korea for a year so my car got put on major hold. The year went quick and I was saving money and collecting parts the whole time. So late 2012 I finally start tearing my car apart and doing some fun stuff. So this process was long and drawn out but a lot of fun. I started with plans of staying completely stock motor and R154. At some point I made the decision to switch from R154 to the Z33 trans(which pushed this back so much). When I chose to use the z trans there was a company in Florida making adapter kits and I purchased one. I got the kit and it was very incomplete. After months of back and forth with the company they completely stopped responding and now I was stuck with half of a kit that no one else makes. Finally a company in Phoenix, AZ started to do some R&D for a adapter kit. 8 long months of waiting later I finally got my kit in!
Parts list:
-1JZ
-New Toyota 2jz water pump
-New Toyota oil pump
-New full engine gasket set
-Cometic headgasket
-ARP headstuds
-Gates timing belt
-Toyota timing set
-Z33 trans
-Maverick Motorsports jz-z33 adapter kit (flywheel, adapter plate, all hardware, pilot bushing adapter)
-BC 264 cams
-Tomei cam gears
-Clutchmasters FX300 clutch
-Custom exhaust from y-pipe back to ISIS blast pipes(got sent the 3" instead of 4" but didn't have time to send them back)
-Custom short intake w/K&N filter
-Custom IC piping
-Mishimoto black intercooler
-Custom 1-piece steel driveshaft
-Custom motor mount brakets with stock ka mounts for now
-Custom trans mount
-Aluminum radiator for ka
-Aeromotive FPR and gauge
-Braided AN lines from tank to motor(pressure and return)
-Phenix Industries AN fittings and fuel filter
-AEM 320 E85 in-tank pump
-Q45 diff for gearing and LSD(then decided to wled it, works great)
-Evo 8/9 Brembo front calipers/rotors w/hawk HP+ pads
-Adjustable proportioning valve
-Hydraulic E-brake
-Buddy club seats on Bride rails
-G-Force harnesses
-Mazworks harness bar until I get a cage
-Sparco steering whel
-NRG short hub and quick release
Car already had suspension prior to swap (tension, traction, toe, RUCA's, RLCA's, and new tie rods/ends)
No angle mods what so ever as of now (drift build)
Only place I had room to work on it
Started taking everything out of the entire front end
Cut the inner fenders out so I could make tubs after pulling my battery tray and deciding it was to much rust.
Decided to try to make my own tubs having never fabricated or welded anything before. They came out ok
Painted my engine bay
Goodies
Had all my mismatch suspension coated to match and not look like a rainbow
I sold my coilovers to get a new nice set, also went 5 lug and Evo front brakes
My Volk Evo 3's getting stripped for fresh powder
Powdercoated
With new tires for the front
Tires for the rear (275/40/17 RE760's)
Got my motor and started pulling it apart
Got the head machined to ensure flatness
Started cleanup on the block
Mid re-assembly, staying stock twins
The custom flywheel I waited for 8 months to get
Clutch mounted and you can see the adapter plate also
Trans had to be attached before the motor went in because of tunnel clearance
Bellhousing shaved down to make up for the thickness of the adapter plate
Going in the car finally
Intercooler mock-up
Piping mock-up before welding to reduce coupler count
Piping welded
s*** cell pic of the upper radiator 'hose"
New Origin slightly raised and vented hood
s*** cell pick of the car
I finally got the car running the day before I had to go back to Korea again for another year. This time I'm getting stationed at Eglin AFB, in Florida around this time next year. I didn't really have time to take as many pics as I wanted and will try to get my girlfriend to send me more along the next year. Got a short video of the first startup and a race against a friend of mine in his single turbo 350z. Also got a little bit of drift action in and it is so nice actually having power (spins the 275's without hesitation and holds drifts amazingly). With the exception of still being on stock struts and no swaybars without having time for a proper alignment, the car was an absolut blast to drive for the single day I had it running before leaving the country.
Sorry for the bad video quality ahead of time but here is a little bit of the fun I had
First startup http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqq4uIZ7EE
Burnout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyOhnVRoZBQ
Race against a buddies turbo 350Z http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpiy0Xlt8Hs
Thank you everyone for reading. It's been a long painful process and any questions are welcomed, I'll answer the best I can.
