>> Prior to reading the progress thread, I'd like to thank my friend Carl who is the brains behind the whole conversion, and I barely knew how to use a ratchet/spanner before we started this. So without him we wouldn't have even started the conversion. So excuse my vague technical talk, that's his job.
If you have any questions regarding the conversion or would like to do it yourself, please feel free to message me and between me and Carl we will be happy to help you. Also sorry for not getting pictures along the whole way, but i'll try to include as much as I can about the process and steps involved and problems we occured.<<
Back in August 2014, me and a friend (Carl) set about building a E30 with a Toyota 1JZ engine in.
We spent a whole weekend driving round the country looking at 6 different E30's, all of which weren't quite what I was looking for. A week passed with no more leads then a too-good-to-be-true E30 turned up pretty much on my doorstep! Well in comparison to the others anyway! We went to look at it that evening and it was exactly what I was looking for, great condition for it's age and well looked after with plenty of history. So we snapped it up and drove her home in preperation for the heart transplant.
She got a quick wash as the location of the build wasn't the ideal area but we worked with what we had. Below are some pictures of how she looked prior to the conversion.
We then had to set about locating a gearbox which was easier said than done. We opted for the R154 box which is supposedly one of the stronger boxes. Luckily through the grape vine we located someone fairly local who had one for us.
So we went down and picked that up. We then had the task to locate a Bellhousing but again luckily we found someone who stocks them in the UK, so a trip down to Guildford and then that was another problem ticked off the list.
Picture below of old and new gearbox.
Prior to the conversion insurance was checked and it came back to £980 fully declared at 22 with 5yncb. Which I insisted on paying immediately before they changed their mind.
That was with Adrian Flux and all they did was send me a form to list and prove the values of the modifications and that was it. It went really smoothly compared to other stories I've heard from friends who have used Adrian Flux and had nightmares.Once that was sorted the car was booked in for it's last MOT as a 325 with a BMW engine in. It passed with flying colours and from there it drove back ready for it's heart transplant to begin.
Initially the plan was to take the BMW engine out, go to bed, drop the 1JZ engine in, do some tidying, take it out. But as we all know, nothings ever that simple. This build required an awful lot of Red Bull, Long Nights, Pizza and Trial and error methods. But we got there in the end.
The car passed it's MOT on the Thursday, come Friday after work, we set about getting the BMW engine out. This took a few hours and went without a hitch.
Once that was out, we set about to start playing with the 1JZ while it was out and we had all the room in the world. Test fitting things, removing unnecessary features and changing Belts etc.
So once we had finished playing around we put the engine mounts on and set about test fitting.
We had been in talks with a few different people who had also done the conversion or were further ahead than us at the time. All of which suggested that we would need to cut the front end up to slide the engine through with the gearbox already attached as there wasn't enough room in the tunnel to reach all the bolts when attaching the gearbox to the engine.
We done the manly thing and didn't listen and found out the hard way.
So we set about cutting the front end up allowing us to fit the new beast in! This was a scary time as it's something we hadn't ever tried before so it was a case of trial and error.
Once we were happy with that, we set about assembling the engine and gearbox ready for a test fit. This was an exciting but nerve-racking time nonetheless.
So here goes...
Once we eventually got it in, we realised we needed to change the sump as it was hitting the steering rack.
So we set about getting our hands on a 1JZ Front sump, which are like rocking horse sh*t it seems, due to how popular they are. Luckily I managed to find one but had to pay the price.
Anyway it arrived in no-time which allowed us to change the sump and have another go. Which was better however it was still just touching. So we had to set about modifying the sump to allow clearence.
We Cut and weld a flat section at the back of the sump to allow clearence and that was the end of that problem, onto the next.
Now the Sump cleared, we could drop the engine in and try to get the mounts to line up. The Engine mounts were fine however we had to spend quite a while modifying the gearbox mount to fit courtesy of KS-Racing in Thailand. It would of been easier to make our own, but we stuck with it and we eventually got it to work.
After a bit of shuffling and repositioning, we had the engine where we wanted it to sit.
A few weeks passed and a lot of man hours, playing around with stuff and we set about testing the front end components. I managed to buy a 17'' Kenlowe fan brand new for a good price so that took care of any cooling issues. The thing sounds like a jet engine when on full power!
I opted for a Skyline Rad as the Soarer one I initially bought was way too big.
See below picture for comedy value:
So the Soarer Radiator was sent back to Japspeed in exchange of a R32 one which fit perfect. So that was yet another problem taken care of.
We then set about mocking up the front end to see if we were going to have any clearence issues and generally just to see how everything would roughly sit.
At this point we were reasonably happy with everything. We realised that the front bumper would require some modifying and locating a suitable route for the pipework would require some thinking. But we decided to run the pipework under the headlights and into the car which there was just enough room for!
I then decided that I wasn't too keen on the Banded Steels so I set about buying some XXR 527 wheels and 4x AD08 Tyres for them to sit on.
They're not to everyones fancy however I liked them and liked how they looked on E30s. If anything they may look a better a different colour but at this point they are fine as they are.
Below is not the best picture, but that's how they look with some custom made Spigot Rings and a WMS 300mm 4 Pot Brake Kit.
Not long after this point the initial budget was reached and went completely out the window. We decided originally to go Single Turbo so I opted for a Holset HX35 capable of 600bhp. Which is way more than I ever wanted to achieve, but it was man enough for the job and got it for the right price.
So as the budget went out the window I decided to spend some more money. Ended up opting for Full Standalone and purchased a Haltech Pro Series 2000 which came as a flying lead harness and required some assembling.
I also bought some 750cc injectors and a aftermarket fuel rail with regulator. The regulator was changed later on due to not being good enough.
We installed all the Haltch, injectors, built the loom, got it to a point we were ready to crank and eventually she started.
At this point we noticed the Haltech was reading a constant 16,000RPM even with the engine off. Long story short, Haltech sent out a replacement unit and the original unit was sent back. We spent plenty of time testing it and lost 3 nights, scratching our heads and trying different things and tests.
48 hours later, the new Haltech unit arrived from Australia and we took a deep breath and got back to work. Literally put the new unit in, started her up and all problems were sorted. So we can only suspect a faulty unit was the cause of the problem.
We then realised that we would benefit from changing the Coils to ones with built in amplifiers so I managed to pick up 6x 1.8T Vag coilpacks for a bargain buy! These are apparently quite sort after and after implementing them into the loom and installing them, they worked fine and turned out to be a wise upgrade.
At this point in the conversion I stopped taking many photos as it was all Go-go-go. As deadlines were approaching and being missed, we set about going up a gear.
We had to re-assemble the front end which is now fully detachable incase of the engine ever needing to come out. We have made our own custom brackets which hold it all into place and it isn't going anywhere!
We started the conversion in August and it was now November/December. So the wiring had all been taken care of, the car ran, and the front end was back together. Big relief. Onto the next issue.
Prior research to the conversion showed that we would require a much smaller Brake servo due to the lack of room in the engine bay. We had 2 options from what people had said, and we opted for a Suzuki Swift 1.3 1999 Brake Servo. This was the biggest headache of the conversion.
As I don't have a week to explain everything after many attempts of getting the brakes to work. We bought another spare servo and had a friend breaking a E30 to use for parts to set about remaking the brake setup. We had to extend and move parts but eventually we got the brakes to work. They were working but no where near to their full potential. However now they work fine and stop as I imagine they should. We strengthened the bulkhead to reduce flex with the brake force and still have had no problems. Biggest headache out of the way we now had a running car and brakes that work.
We had a few minor problems which we overcome:
- Changing the Throttle cable for a universal one
- Changing the Throttle Position Sensor as the first one was a broken 2JZ TPS, second one was again for a 2JZ which are different and the third one eventually being a 1JZ TPS and worked.
- Heat on the exhaust side of the engine. We had to modify routes of pipework and heat protect anything that would get hot
- Heater matrix hose, very little room to access as the engine naturally sits so close to the bulkhead.
- Loom tape the whole loom and P clip it appropriately. Remove any wiring we didn't require and tidy everything up.
- Changing Rubber hoses for Braid in suitable areas
- Welding up un-necessary holes and oil breathers and getting AN fittings welded in to run a Catch can.
- Fitting Bonnet pins for quick release making it easier for access and to work on.
Here is a picture of the car once it was kind of all back together for the first time. She was off on holiday for a full custom exhaust setup.
Thanks to JDModified for building my exhaust and having input on the conversion, as a fresh set of eyes they recommended a few changes as to where things ran and after they was happy with it it went on the Dyno for some base mapping.
We opted for a 3'' Turbo back Stainless Steel exhaust system with it dropping into a 3'' Y section with 2.5'' exits as a backbox. Complete with V bands and 3 bolt SS flanges.
When I bought the Haltech they sent a base map for the engine with it, although this ended up with quite a few changes. After a bit of time on the Dyno it was clear the car would benefit from a different wastegate and a different Fuel pressure regulator.
So I bought a Turbosmart Wastegate with a 14psi spring and a more upmarket Fuel pressure regulator. Long story short the Japspeed manifold wasn't as good as I had hoped and required modification for both the original wastegate to be fitted and again for the second wastegate. Luckily the second wastegate was a V-band setup so after abit of cutting and welding at the local fabrication shop, it fit quite nicely leaving a lot more clearence from the steering column than the other one.
Once I purchased a new set of Gaskets for the Turbo and Manifold, we put it all back together and fixed a few other little issues ready for a return visit to the Dyno:
(They're pictures from the first dyno visit but didn't get any from it's second visit)
The car spent a few hours on the Dyno being base mapped for running in. It made 330hp @ 1.1 Bar of boost which has been done for cruising. I've left it at that for me to get used to it and to just give the engine a good shakedown.
We have installed launch control on a switch and had that plummbed in via the Haltech also.
Once we have installed the switch for the maps, and done some more driving to see if we can break anything, the car will go back for it's proper map and to see what she's capable of!
I'm after a compromise of power and driveability. If I can crack 500bhp on the Dyno that would be great, but more than likely be Mid 400's for some driveability as i'm not interested in drifting it or doing donuts everywhere. I'm especialy not after buying a set of AD08's every week lol.
So we took the car to be mapped towards the end of April and so far so good. Then it was a case of getting her ready for the shows!
Here are some pictures of the car after it's well deserved detail after gathering dust for months while we worked on it and after the front splitter had been put back on.
Close up shots of the final paintwork finish. Not bad for a 25 year old car!
We took it to BHP show @ Lydden Hill on May 4th and it got so much attention! I really didn't expect so many people to be interested in it. It got so bad that I had to avoid my own car
. Made it all worth it!Here are some pictures of it at BHP Show:
And below is my favourite picture of the car so far
:
It is still a project in progress, but it is nearing completion. Mostly tidying up and making it look pretty left to do.
If anyone has any questions then please feel free to comment on here or send me a message. Although your best bet is to add me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.blackman1
