Break Time- Finishing the season in August

For the last 11 years, I really haven’t taken a break from drifting, except for during the winter months (October-April). Typically, I won’t even consider working on the car between October and December as I take a breather from the hectic summer. At best I begin preparing the car for the next season in January, but typically this doesn’t really happen until March. It’s time to make a change.

Recently I have determined that my engine has rod knock due to worn out rod bearings. This engine is only 1 year old, it is a VVTI 1JZ bottom end that I purchased from a shop on ebay called JDM-Miami. I bought a barebones long block, no accessories or even cams. I went with the vvti bottom end simply because it would be more likely to be newer and lower mileage than another random non-vvti 1JZ. I prefer to have a bottom end that is assembled by Toyota, as they have the knowledge and quality control like no performance shop does. For this reason, I didn’t even take the rod bearing caps off, simply slapped my head on it. Because it is port and polished and has a pair of USDM 2JZ-GTE cams, I have used the same head for the last 8 or so years, on 3 different blocks. I had the head and new vvti block measured for flatness, which indicated neither needed to be decked, and I bolted them together with ARP studs and an OEM head gasket. My intention was for this motor to last several years of well-tuned 400 whp, utilizing an AEM Infinity tuned by Sound Performance, the supra experts.

But then tragedy struck, and I heard some tapping that was too loud to be just valves. It was an odd order of occurrences. I took the car to Canada, driving it over 1200 miles round trip, and beat on it without a hiccup all day at Gamebridge (which is a phenomenal track). I street drove it a bit here and there afterword’s, and then took it to Drift Day LE at USA International Raceway for another day of fun. It ran beautifully. I parked it for about a week , so that I could change the oil and clean it up a bit, which I did. I then took it out for a night of street drifting. When I left my house, all was ok, but after a calm 10 minute drive to the local meet up spot, I noticed some knocking on the next startup. Ignorant and filled with JZ egotism, I actually continued to drive and hit up a few spots. The noise didn’t get worse or better, but eventually I decided it would be best to take the car home and diagnose it. First, I began by using a ¾ extension to listen for sounds. This process entails taking a long ratchet extension, and placing one end on a location of the engine, and the other end gets pressed to your ear. It works a bit like a medical stethoscope, and can help you to isolate and locate a specific noise in the engine. Because the engine is a giant block of metal, it can be very misleading as to where a sound is actually emanating from. Just standing in front of the engine, it sounded like it was coming from the rear cylinders, in the valve train. Using an extension, it was clear the sound was coming from the back of the engine, as no matter where I put the extension, the farther back I got, the more loud the sound was. Vertically, It made very little noise on the valve cover, but was most clear on the exhaust manifold and bell housing. Next, I pulled the valve covers hoping for a simple valve train problem like a slipped shim. I found no problems, and thus drained the oil. As soon as I pointed my flashlight at the oil it glistened like glitter… the glitter of bearing shavings. As I pulled the bearing caps and bearings off each cylinder it was clear that they all showed signs of premature wear, but the wear became worse as you moved towards the back of the engine. Cylinder 6 bearing was pretty bad.

This progressive wear, getting worse as you move to the back of the motor, indicates that there was an oiling problem. Luckily I inspected early enough, and the crank journals were all fine. I can only theorize that this was from two potential problems. First was an off track excursion that occurred at Dday LE, where I severely misjudged a corner after we changed the track to reverse rotation. I hadn’t driven reverse in several years, and high on adrenaline and taco bell, I throttled into 3rd gear and hucked the car into turn 1, full bore, no attempt at feeling out the corner. Lesson #1…always feel out a new corner. I immediately knew I entered too late and no amount of braking finesse could keep me on track. The car finally came to rest on a pile of tires on the outside of the corner. I judged the damage as just being cosmetic, having lost only my rear diffuser and side splitters. I got the car back on track, and continued to drive, not considering that my oil pan could have been damaged and therefore, I was not paying attention to my oil pressure gauge. Lesson #2…always pay attention to your oil pressure gauge.

I drove the rest of the event loving the fact that I finally have my water temperatures under control after struggling with them since owning the car. A new vented hood, modified clutch fan, Koyo n-flow radiator, and Koyo oil cooler kept the water temperatures as stable as I could hope for on a hot 90 degree day. However, I have never had an oil temperature gauge. Not having a gauge, I can only guess here, but it would make sense that my oil temperatures were a bit hot. It’s very common for oil temperatures to increase at a slow pace, but at the same time decrease slowly as well. This is due to the engine oil not being primarily used to transfer heat out of the engine, but subsequently, the oil system does not have as proficient of a cooling setup as the water. Previously, with an inadequate water cooling system, I was forced to let the car cool down for longer periods of time, which luckily brought oil temperatures down as well. However, now I was able to hot lap the car and only stopped to let myself or the tires cool down. Lesson #3…get an oil temperature gauge.

As I have spoken about previously, I have really found enjoyment in taking my time and doing things “right” with the Supra. No longer do I enjoy slapping the car together with fingers crossed to make the next event. I want to make things clean, I want to assemble the vehicle with care, and I want to use the right parts regardless of price or lead time. Historically, this was only partially done, as I was most concerned with seat time and making the next event. While the “right way” to build a track car is somewhere in the middle of slapped together bucket and a museum piece, as time goes by, I find myself to be moving the needle further away from “slapped together bucket”. Thus, I think it’s time to take a step back and take a break from the season. It’s time to put together the engine setup that I truly want, and prepare myself financially for 2019.

So what is in store for 2019. To start, I’m going to move to a full VVTI 1JZ setup. I want a completely stock engine, assembled by Toyota, that will last for years. I have learned the value of an OEM setup, paired with well-engineered aftermarket components that are used for very specific reasons. It is common when building a race car to want everything. We can easily fall into a trap of thinking that just because something is aftermarket, or shiny, or expensive, that it is obviously better than OEM. Consider this…what aftermarket company has the workforce and budget to engineer anything like a multi-billion dollar OEM like Toyota or Nissan? Sure, mistakes are made in any engineering program, and OEM parts are typically designed with street duty in mind. But, don’t forget that in order to offer a 50,000+ mile warranty and allow the car to drive in any environment around the world, these cars are torture tested, often times with more abuse then we can give them on a race track. That is why each component that we change, should be done for a very well thought out and well understood reason. Additionally, any component that we change must be done with the highest quality component available.

Back to that VVTI 1JZ that I plan on installing. I had to consider, what my goals are. After doing this for 15 years, that was pretty easy to figure out:

1. Maintain the highest level of reliability

2. Have a solid 400 whp, but no more

3. Have maximum midrange power and transient throttle response

4. Ensure the engine is simple to work on for when priority #1 isn’t fully realized.

With that laid out, I wish I could give you some long paragraph about what the plan is, and which high dollar parts I will run. Luckily enough, priority #4 makes that pretty simple. A basic boost up VVTI 1JZ can attain around 320 whp pretty easily. At this point the turbo and injectors run out of steam. So I have to ask myself, what injectors and turbo meet the criteria that I laid out above? Well, the group of the best injectors on the market will surely include Bosch. They are a tear 1 supplier to the biggest OEM’s in the world, and have the experience, budget, and workforce to develop the best products. 400 hp can easily be hit on 600cc injectors, so Bosch 650cc injectors will be used most likely.

What turbo will meet all of 4 of my priorities above? My two top contenders are the Tomei Arms turbo and HKS GTII. Both turbos are a direct swap for the OEM CT15 turbo, but allow for up to 450 whp to be developed. I will pair this turbo with a set of Tomei Poncams to maximize midrange power, and because these low lift, low duration cams are a fairly low risk item to add to the engine, but will greatly increase midrange power.

That’s it! The engine will be bolted up to my current R154 gear box. I already have a great Walbro fuel pump setup, I already have the necessary FMIC and exhaust setup. I already have the AEM Infinity ecu, which so far has been outstanding in reliability and usability. The only other minor thing I will change is to fully utilize the safety and sensor capabilities of the Infinity ecu. Thankfully I already have a fuel pressure sensor sending readings to the ecu, which has saved my motor a few times already. I will pipe into the ecu the oil pressure and temperature sensors, and setup the failsafe guards incase oil pressure or temperature should get to low or high, respectively. Further time will be spent identifying any other sensors that might help me to keep this engine safe for as long as possible.

So as I begin to adjust my expectations for the season, I am starting to get excited for the new 2019 setup. I will begin prepping the car immediately. First up is to prepare the garage for it’s duties this winter. A half day of organizing, sweeping, and vacuuming will provide the proper work space to tear down and recreate my vehicle. The engine will come out and be disassembled in the coming weeks. I’ve already started speaking with friends in Japan to source a 1JZ VVTI. A few other goodies are planned for the car as well. 6 months await, to ready the Supra for battle in 2019.