Sneak Peek at the 2JZ (Lexus Inline 6 Motor) I am Cramming into my Ex-Girlfriend's Engine Bay

There are two completely different 2JZ setups throughout this page. You'll probably feel a lot of frustration but see the breakthroughs as well. Enjoy the read! Truck has since been sold and is somewhere in NorCal as far as I know. I got tired of it, didn't care much for it after I broke up with my girlfriend whom I built this for, and had a lot more interest in building my regular cab. Nonetheless, learned an insane amount of knowledge from this build and really kicked off my passion for Toyotas.

V1.0- Originally we planned for a direct 5vz swap when her motor gave out. Unfortunately due to some serious issues that came up with the two different motors we bought I ended up in frustration getting a better taken care of JDM 2jz-ge VVTI with A650 5 speed automatic transmission. The motor was out of a Toyota Aristo or better known here in the US as a Lexus GS300. You can scroll through the pages and see the frustration and evolution of making this work which had running on the road well over a year and had brought a whole lot of fun.

V2.0- Fast forward to 'now' with a salvaged 2002 Lexus GS300. Literally everything from this car has gone into the truck. The massive dash harness, steering column, shifter, everything. In fact it probably would have been easier to put the Tacoma body on top of the GS300 and call it done... Here is what we end up with until I got tired and moved on from the truck.

 

nice job, but should have thrown in an LS motor

 

Haha it was honestly an idea I had in the back of my head, but for the price of the JDM motor and transmission together we couldn't pass it up! Plus the 2jz fits in there like it was nearly made for the truck...

 

Update from late last night...

 

Whats the gain with this motor over the stock 4 cylinder?

 

Other than the fact that it is a bigger motor than a 4 cylinder, it is also an inline 6 which most likely will be noticeably smoother than her V6 5vz-fe that was previously in the truck. Because the transmission is in stock form and came from a "luxury" car, I am assuming it will be smoother. Not 100% sure about that though. Won't know till I get the wiring done and driveshaft shortened and can update you all on that. Most importantly though, there is a much larger aftermarket for parts thanks to the 2jz-gte Supra.

 

subbed

 

What are you doing for EM? I assume a stand alone?

Has this been done before? You're gonna go through some tires like crazy.

 

Wiring is a mess right now. Don't even know where to begin. Anyone know of any companies that modify harnesses? I know of Tweaked Performance. Any options other than them? I don't want to hear reviews or anything. I can find that myself. Can anyone throw some names of companies that customize/build new/preexisting wiring harnesses at me I would greatly appreciate it. A lot. Because I am really frustrated right now. I would rather pay up and just plug and play after. Everything else was cool, but wiring is over my head.

 

Painless wiring still in business?

 

Cool!

What did you end up doing for engine mounts? Factory exhaust setup?

 

I'm seeing HP and torque numbers in the 220-230 range. Sound right?

I'd bet it would be pretty similar to the 1GR-FE, with the I6 layout helping it feel similar in torque to the larger 4.0.

 

I came across painless a while back when I was looking to build a whole wiring harness for my dad's hot rod (which hasn't happened yet unfortunately...) and it sounds like they offer kits and stuff, not a service to convert the 2jz harness plugs and such to be plug and play with the Tacoma's body/dash loom. Just got home from work but will look into painless again more tomorrow, possibly giving them a call. Thank you so much for putting that out there.

Yes, definitely sounds right. That is also what I am coming across. But I think that is the bhp rating on the 2jz although I am hoping not, but it might be. While several sources is saying 190hp for her 5vz, which I think could be accounting for losses like drivetrain. I really don't know though.

But heck, if it is saying 190hp for her 5vz and as you said ~225hp for the 2jz regardless of rotational/frictional losses if they're both measured the same way, that'd be absolutely awesome without a doubt.

Honestly 1GR would have been an even better option, but the JDM place didn't have it.

It still bothers me the whole situation that happened. I've bought new "crate" motors, but never used ones. This whole JDM thing has been new to me. Thought these were all supposed to be the same pretty much. Found out they're all different. That was the moment I pulled a spark plug out that looked very wet. Found out even more when I took the exhaust manifold off to find rusty valves. On top of all that when I was confused enough, I had orange oil. Took it back and looked at all that stuff on another motor. I was so tired though and somehow missed the part where the breather lines on the back were all smashed like it had been dropped on its back (making me fear something on the crankshaft might as well have been bent, who knows...), so took that one back too. They only offered stupid "store credit" so I was screwed either way. Found out that these motors came out of service/maintenance trucks. I've heard of the 2jz swap on these Tacomas and went back home and did as much research as a could in a couple days and decided this was honestly my best option at this point in time for her daily driver. Unfortunately this is where I am at. But it is what it is and I am doing the best I can to work with what I got. Otherwise I would've done a direct swap in a heartbeat like the original plan.

Thanks again everyone for sharing your input.

 

Not sure what to do with the exhaust yet. The best way would be to use a modified Aristo/GS300 exhaust system. Option 2 would be to cut some plate and mate it to the 2jz header output flange, and then weld that to a step-down pipe going into her pre-existing system. All my plans right at the moment are to just get it started. I'll definitely post up what I do when the time comes.

As for the engine mounts, I am using the rubber mounts that came off of the 5vz with my own bracket stuck on top of them. I'll post up a picture of it later down the rode. Motor is in, but I'd like to do a little tweaking here and there and post something official rather than share something that could have been done better.

 

@Blackdawg

 

Here's a harness..get ready to pay out the ass for it though.

http://www.tweakdperformance.com/on...in_page=product_info&cPath=23&products_id=102

I don't think it is worth doing a 2jzge swap personally.

 

www.chasebays.com I know he does toyota 2jz harnesses and such but i dont know about your application. Only thing off the top of my head though, remembered from my honda days and really well known for his good work

 

Late night update... just got the motor started!!

 

Another update after a while... Still looking around and getting quotes on a harness.

Truck now has functional A/C which is great. Just need to get the power steering hoses crimped. Also using the stock air box which is kind of neat. Going for a clean factory look. Not too into the steel braided hoses and stuff like that for a car like this.

Found a perfect sized radiator for my application from Howe and will be going with some really slim electric fans from SPAL. Really hoping I can get these to fit without too much trouble and keeping my A/C condenser where it should be. Will be going with a separate transmission cooler rather than one built into the radiator for the motor.