1UZ in a 98 Tacoma (Hilux) what year motor do I want?

[Speed Freek]

As the title states I am doing a conversion, I have a 1998 Tacoma 2wd that I had turboed for a couple of years, as time went by I started towing a big trailer with a buggy quite often and the little 4 cylinder was not too happy when heavily loaded. Dont get me wrong when my truck was empty it was extremely fast, especially at 23psi..
Anyway long story short I was going to try the 1GR engine and trans combo and that fell through and I really want to go the V8 route instead and have seen it done in the Tacomas so I know it can be done with some work and research...

Is there a specific year of motor I want to try and keep things simple? I have heard the VVt setups are difficult to make work for some reason? I would possibly want to turbo it at some point since everything I own has a turbo or a supercharger on it.

The motors I have access to are JDM motors, so I am not exactly sure which of those are good, or bad, years to stay away from?

Thanks guys and I plan on documenting my build here since I am sure I will need the expertise of the members here for sure.


Heres what I was planning on doing with the 1GR-FE until I found out the motor was junk...






Thanks guys! Sorry for all the questions, I just really need some direction here so I do things right, this is something I want to work, and I want to do it right the first time. I have plenty of fabrication and wiring / tuning experience, but not on the 1 UZ, so I dont know the ins and outs of these drivetrains.

Oh, and by the way heres what came out of my truck (2RZ), it was making near 400whp@ 23psi but had a powercurve like a 2 stroke dirtbike, it was controlled by a Haltech PS1000 ECU and was blown by a Garrett GT3076R Ball bearing turbo..awesome when empty, but not so nice when towing 3500lbs..

 

[Speed Freek]

Wow so many views so little response, lol.

I am starting to lean towards a 2JZ at this point, but still undecided, I was hoping some peeps would chime in and throw in their 2 cents....

The one thing that sort of puts me off of the 1UZ is the cost of aftermarket parts in the US, not to mention the cost of standard Lexus parts..

1UZ or 2JZ? Whatcha guys think? yeah its a 1UZ forum so I think I know the answer to this one...

I know what it takes to make 450rwhp from the 2JZ (not a whole lot) what will it take to make that from the 1UZ (general costwise), and is that motor able to handle the amount of boost in stock form it would take to reach my HP goal (450rwhp)?

Comments, complaints, send em!!! C'mon give me some feedback even if it sucks, lol.

 

[Jamezzy]

Well I'll be the first. And here's my 2 cents.

The 1UZ is generally, lighter than the 2JZ, has more power stock, MPG is considerably the same. Not to mention 2JZ may also cost more because of the demand. And yeah 1UZ swaps are rare probably to the fact that everyone is so hyped up about the 2JZ when the 1UZ is behind the curtains not soaking up the spotlight and is being overlooked. So a 1UZ may be cheaper. I'd go with a 1UZ. Afterall, it's a V8. Although I'm not hatin' on the 2JZ

 

[sideshow]

u just cant compare a 2j turbo i pressume to a 1uz
ive driven both and a 2j might cost mroe at the start
but to get a 1uz going just as good it would cost u heaps more than the 2j job

so depends what u want do u want an average powered v8
or do u want a good powered 2j turbo which all u do is up the boost to around 14 psi with decent cooler and not much will catch u

 

[gloverman]

An early 1uz with boost up it will make around 400RWhp on 14psi. We have a RX7 with twin TD04L turbos and it make 250RWKW on 8psi which makes heaps of torque and would tow really well. The 2JZ is easy to make power out of. What about a 2UZ or even dear I say it a LS1.

Cheers

 

[Speed Freek]

An early 1uz with boost up it will make around 400RWhp on 14psi. We have a RX7 with twin TD04L turbos and it make 250RWKW on 8psi which makes heaps of torque and would tow really well. The 2JZ is easy to make power out of. What about a 2UZ or even dear I say it a LS1.

Cheers

Thanks for the responses, finally, lol.

Anyway I have been going back and fourth between a 2JZ and a 1UZ and after about 10 more hours of research I think I am going to go with an LSX motor (5.3) since they are easy to find, very cheap, and can be made extremely fast for not a huge dollar amount.

The problem with the 2JZ is that I am putting it in a truck that will be towing quite often and its a heavy load, my turboed 2RZ pulled it but would struggle down low, and was fine when above 3000rpms, I am thinking the 2JZ would be similar due to its size 3.0L and its rather low static compresion ratio. So I am opting for something larger in size and cheaper to buy and modify, the 1UZ can be had for cheap, but here in the US parts srent very cheap and the aftermarket is mostly in Aus...since the American dollar is worth its weight in tiolet paper at this time buying performance parts from AUS is out of the question..

So an LSX motor it is, thanks for your comments fellas and I will keep on lurking from time to time, I love a good engine swap...