Dr. Jeff Bangkok

LATE NIGHT THRASH

One week before start-up and we were up for a late night thrash to get all the final details completed - including grinding flat some incredibly warped header flanges! The other big surprize was discovering that those temp senders (oil, water, and trans) we had so carefully bagged for protection would not fit the  standard 1UZ bungs (they are AutoMeter).  So, it's off to the machine shop for new ones. The  oil pan will have to come off for the oil temp bung.

The plan is to start up the new V-8 on Thursday and tow it to my own track-side shop, then strip test, tune, and trouble shoot on Friday night, before a 'practice race' on Saturday night.   If all goes to plan, I will race in an 'invitation-only' fast class bracket race as a part of the Goodyear Racing Nitro Night at Bangkok Drag Avenue on Saturday night the 28th of November.  There will be a huge crowd that night as these are the first nitro cars in Thailand ever, and the event has been heavily promoted. Thanks to Goodyear's Richard Fleming for the bringing in The Big Boys!

Many small parts to reinstall, and small problems discovered and rectified. This is the Final Assembly Phase, so everything is clean, neat, tidy, and properly torqued down . . . it's not coming off again!

Talk about burning the midnight oil . . . . .

All the lines and fittings are on site . . . . . . and installed.

A blue race oil filter is worth .07 and 3 miles per hour in the quarter. NOT!

Serviceability is a major concern of mine in race car preparation.  You have to be able to get to the parts that need service without having to take anything off the engine.  The piping between supercharger and scoop was a major engineering hassle: we had to be sure we would be able to change the spark plugs and route the plug wires without having to remove the scoop. We did.

This is how I left my baby last night . . . along with a list of 19 small jobs . . . . .

Some new progress: when you take off all the belt-driven accessories from the front of the engine so you don't have to use the serpentine belt, you are left with only the alternator and how to tighten it's belt.  How . . . with a nice adjustable alternator bracket.

I am back from my conference in The States (1/2 the way around the planet each way!).  While I was gone the shop guys mocked up a supercharger mount out of aluminum and cardboard.  It looks pretty good. And strong . . .  which it will need to be in this racing application. I wish they had put more adjustability in this mock-up . . . in case it doesn't align with the crank pulley. Oh well.

Billet Throttle Body . . . . larger than stock . . . . .

An aluminum plate was welded to the manifold and then the billet throttle body is then bolted on . . .

The final configuration of the blower mounting bracket.

The intercooler piping to the throttle body, as well the air intake piping from the scoop (in the same location as before) to the supercharger -- both completed. The throttle linkage was also connected and checked.

Just enough hood clearance!

At last, all the parts have arrived and the final assembly can begin.  The fuel injectors (Pink Subaru 565cc), ATI balancer/pulley with spacer collar, fuel fittings, and puke tank.  Nice

The crankshaft collar was made to space the 2JZ ATI balancer out the correct distance so that the integrated pulley aligns with the alternator pulley.  The common key-way and key will allow indexing in the standard orientation so that I can use the timing marks on the balancer. The photo is of the original collar. . . . made of the wrong material, cast pot metal, which couldn't be welded! I had another, high quality, steel unit made.

The ATI balancer also solved the lower supercharger opulley 'problem'.  It has three large threaded bolt holes and high quality cap screws to mount the pulley on the front.

The pink injectors are from the Subaru STi and are rated by the factory at 500cc, but independent testing shows 565cc at 45psi. I got these off of the Australian e-Bay at a fair price.

Summit Racing -6 fuel fittings were ordered and received.

The 1UZ has an oil vapor breather hole on each valve cover, so I will plumb these to a vented Summit Racing 'puke can' to keep the vapors and oil spray away from the hot headers.

I am still waiting for AEM to release their new 'reworked and updated' CDI unit. It is ordered, but on back order.

I am also waiting for a 3.5-bar AEM MAP sensor and loom. I had origionally ordered a 2-bar MAP sensor, but didn't realize it was only good to 1-bar of boost (1-bar minus the 1-bar of atmosphere!).

All-in-all things are going well.

The crankshaft collar spacer, ATI 2JZ Balancer, and supercharger pulley matched.

The collar has a key-way that matches the ATI balancer and they both index to the 1UZ in the same orientation as the standard lower pulley, so I can use the ATI timing marks (yes, after determining TDC).

The collar and ATI Balancer

Drop in 565 Subaru injector.

Pink injector.

Various Summit Racing fuel fitings needed to finish the job.

Another couple of good week-ends of work completed. A lot of work done.  I have an appointment at the header shop for October 19th . . . . . . time marches on!

Blower piping completed.

An angle finder on the crankshaft and blower pulley helped in the alignment.

Here the alignment of the belts, as a result of the crankshaft collar. There is a Gates dealer in Pattaya, Thailand that stocks these belts.  I will need a shorter one!

Again, the relationship between the ATI 2JZ balencer, the blower pulley, and the crankshaft spacer.  Although there is a continuous key-way & key between the collar and balancer, the collar will be spot welded to the balancer in three places 120 degrees apart.  I have new belts to replace these.

The idler (tensioner) pulley will be bolted onto the blower bracket in an elongated hole (note red marking), supported by a double plate and triangulation at the back.

To be sure we got the blower mounted square to the plane of the crankshaft, we made an adjustable blower bracket (red arrow).  Once the correct alignment is found, the bracket will be welded around the edges,  the bolts taken out, and triangulated gussets welded on the back.

The 565cc injectors were added to the manifold and the fuel rails were bolted on - a perfect fit!

I couldn't do this project without the good efforts and skill of my Thai shop workers.This is what it all looks like today (10/17/09) with the idler pulley trial fitted and the new blower belt.  Nice.  Let's hope it makes some boost!

OK, Ok . . . . . a little BLING does not make a race car go faster . . . . but nice, no?

The headers are done.  They are not exactly 'equal length', but they are stepped from 1 5/8" up to 1 3/4" and then on to Edelbrock merge collectors.  The headers are a tight fit around the steering, but all is good. The car is now at the electrician's shop getting the ECU wired up.

The slip-on collectors are temporarily wired together until I can get some long stainless bolts.

Steering side headers: the front two tubes go over the steering column, and the rear two go under. VERY TIGHT, but I am not too worried, what with solid motor mounts.  I will put a shield between the tubes and the steering box.

I brought my own imported header wrap.  It's a small race car with a big engine and I do not want to cook anything in there.

Most of the wiring leads for power, sensors, injectors and ignition have been run to the location of the AEM ECU and PCS trans controller - notice the Toyota ignitor on the floor.  The AEM CDI will go in this location . . . as soon as the "new and improved" model is available.

We found nice 'like new' plugs for the ECU (my AEM takes Supra plugs).

It is always an adventure getting good quality work done in Thailand.  To get to George, The Wiring Guy,  I had to tow through narrow back-streets in Bangkok, just wide enough for the trailer to fit. Needless to say, it was easier to leave the race truck on the trailer under his car park for the wiring work.

I spent the evening at my trackside race shop.  My friend John dropped by with the 200 liter (55 gallon) barrel of GT Unleaded Racing Gas that I bought from him. He has this race gas blended in Singapore and then imports it.  It has an assumed (combined) octane rating around 115, but is especially good in turbocharged and supercharged applications because of its anti-knock properties. Plus, because it is unleaded, it does not deteriorate O2 sensors in the exhaust collectors. This gas should be great in my 9.25:1 supercharged configuration to keep knock away. We passed a few hours bench racing and catching up on each other's projects: he has two 1UZ powered "street" cars (a Volvo and a BMW) here in Bangkok . . . . . with a combined horsepower somewhere around 2000 . . .  one with a Lenco 5-speed . . . . . . street?

Liquid GOLD! 200 liters of GT Unleaded Race Gas from Singapore. I am ready to start up the 1UZ now!

Yep, unleaded race gas.

Good progress reported on the 1UZ: pistons cleaned (they were great to begin with), block cleaned in and out, camshafts go in today,  and an investigation into an ingenious NOS nozzle location ensued.  Mounting fur NOS nozzles at the "V" between the intake runners in the upper manifold (see first photo below - nozzle location marked in red -- and where the nozzel comes out inside the manifold in the second photo at arrow), spraying down in a fan pattern, might just feed two cylinders at a time . . . . as a "poor man's" direct port system.  Now, if the AEM ECU can pulse the NOS solenoids . . . I can ramp in the NOS by percent related to rpm . . . and not blow up the motor . . . . .hhhmmmmmmmm.  I would not use the NOS all that often . . . just to qualify for special events and perhaps joining a (undersubscribed) Open or Back-Half class once in awhile.

NOS nozzles located here (red), spraying down in a fan pattern, would supply two cylinders at a time.

The NOS Nozzles will enter the plenum here and spray a fan pattern in front of the intake runners.

Nice and clean!

I ordered some parts from Summitracing in The States for the 1UZ build: Hemi-style Accel Pro 25 spark plug wire set (very low 25 ohm per foot drop), 4 of the MSD GM DIS coils (I will use the AEM ECU in a 'wasted spark' configuration), and a pair of Edelbrock merge collectors . . . . for a few more ponies. All but the plug wires have arrived.

The hemi-style plug wires are back ordred . . . and I do not need them yet.

My 4 MSD GM coils have arrived.

Very interesting articles on header size selection can be found here and here.  At only 243 cu. in. (4.0 letre) and employing 7000rpm shift points, I will be using a "step header" design with 1 5/8" initial header tubing stepped to 1 3/4" (at 1/2 the length of the primary tubes) and then on to these Edelbrock merge collectors (above) with the short 3" collector.  The first primary tube length will be somewhat short for more lower end torque and horsepower (before the Vortec supercharger makes power) and the step will extend the horsepower range further up the rpm band.

Progress report:  The high capacity, internally baffled oil pan for my 1UZ has been fabricated, although not polished and clear-coated yet.  I also picked up my AEM ECU unit, without plugs.  No problem; this unit uses standard Toyota 2JZ/1UZ connector plugs. Here are some photos.

Extra capacity oil pan.-- vernally baffled and braced.

The AEM ECU uses 2JZ/1UZ plugs.

I also have the supercharged 1UZ "start-up" program/map for the AEM ECU.

I sold my 1.5JZ and so now I can go full steam ahead on the 1UZ project.  I will trailer my car to the shop this Sunday to have the motor removed next week so that I can do the first trial fit of the 1UZ V-8 into the tiny Familia drag truck chassis.  The other news is that the cams are in and the buckets have been shimmed (.008" and .010").  What a job.  The heads have been bolted back on utilizing the standard bolts and a 2mm composite/steel head gasket.  Some new pics

I arrived at the race shop this morning at about 10:00am and unloaded the Familia. They will remove the turbo 1.5JZ and electronics for the customer who bought it. We had a conversation about the plan for the work. Next week-end we will make a "trial fit" of my 1UZ V-8 in the Familia chassis to see what kinds of modifications may be needed. Then it is on to determining where the supercharger should be mounted, before plumbing and wiring the new combination. The oil pan is being polished, and the cylinder heads are back on and the cams installed and pre-lubed. Here are the photos from today.

The Familia's new home for the next two months (above).

A very pretty, and sophisticated, hunk of aluminum. It is hard to believe that such high technology and metalurgy can be purchased for so little . . . perhaps at less than the cost of the aluminum . . . in Thailand! The camshafts cost twice what the engine cost!

The shop does a number of "restorations" for customers in Thailand. In addition to my race 1UZ, there were two other V-8 engines being built in the engine assembly room: a 350 Chevy small block, and a Mopar 360 small block.

The fabricated oil pan came out very nicely. We drew up the plans for the deep sump baffles and oil pick-up bracing, along with determing the location of the drain.

Kelford Cams installed . . .

. . . and pre-lubricated with Crane Cam Lube. This engine is really the proverbial "like new" motor. It was in such good shape, there weren't even any ridges at the tops of the cylinder bores. This might actually be that urban shop legend engine that came from a new car that was wrecked when new.

Yep, real Kelford 207 T-1 camshafts. These are intended for a turbocharged race engine, but the Vortec supercharger is essentially a turbocharger driven not by exhaust gasses, but by a belt. Thanks Zuffen from the Lextreme site for pointing out that sometimes the cam companies (including Kelford) do not include the oil plugs in the end of the intake cams which, if left off, would allow the oil to drain out upon start-up and make BIG BAD BOOM with fun engine. My cams had them (looks like a ball bearing inside the cam), but yours may not.

My very good 1.5JZ (called a "3JZ" in Thailand: 1JZ head + 2JZ short block = 3JZ) has now been pulled from the Familia and is awaiting delivery to the new owner.  It will go into a street/strip/drift Nissan Cifero, a very common engine swap in Bangkok.

Plenty of room in there for this 3JZ . . . .

But will the 1UZ V-8 fit in the same space . . . .  stay tuned!

When I brought my race truck into the shop I was asked, "So, what do you want done?"  I replied, "Oh, how about just adding two cylinders and swapping the turbo for a supercharger."  He said, "I can do that."

Well . . . after much hand-wringing and midnight consternation, I realized that those standard 1UZ valve springs just weren't going to do the job. At only "42-46 pounds" of seat pressure, they are a tad too light for my high lift Kelford cams at my intended 7000 rpm shift points and at the quarter mile finish line. Kelford recommends "80+ pounds" seat pressure for the 201-T1 grind. So, what to do? The racer in me said to forget the standard used 2JZ springs -- mainly because I have no way to test them, and because they are rated at "62 pounds" of seat pressure -- so I bit the bullet and purchased a set of new (32) Brian Crower #BC1300 2JZ valve springs with this specification: "Spring Pressure: Seat: 1.325" @ 80 lbs / Open: 0.980" @ 158 lbs / Coil Bind: 0.810." I will use the standard 2JZ or 1JZ spring retainers (used) - no need for titanium at only 7000 rpm. Imagine finding a set of 32 Brian Crower valve springs for a 1UZ  in Bangkok!  Thanks Khun Mac of MacTec . . . he has everything!  It looks like my shop guy Art will be replacing the springs, and re-shimming those 32 valves one more time!

The Brian Crower #1300 valve spring for the 2JZ  . . . . .

. . . . a rare set of 32 race 2JZ valve springs for the 1UZ!

How could I pass these up? A very pretty, and beautifully machined, set of fuel rails for the 1UZ.

I spent yesterday down on the floor in the shop fitting the 1UZ V-8 into the Familia race truck chassis. A lot of time and care was taken to phase the drive line: after leveling the racer in all planes, a line was drawn on the floor that exactly passed through the centerline of the rear axle pinion yoke and the transmission output shaft before the engine was moved about so that the front of the crankshaft was also on this same line. The engine fit in the chassis very nicely and, although it is tight, there is enough clearance for headers to clear the steering. Whew! The solid, boxed motor mounts were built in place of heavy gauge steel. All bollt holes have blind nuts welded in place for ease of service.

The forward most spark plug is behind the front spindle and the rearmost two cylinders are under the cowl . . . just like an old-style gasser!

Whew!  Close call.  The rear three exhaust header tubes will pass under the steering column and the front tube will pass over the steering box.  It is not as close as it looks from this angle.  We trial fitted some mandrel tubing bends into the ports with adequate room.  All this will be cleaned, sanded and repainted before final assembly.

I reversed the intake plenum top so that I can mount the Vortec supercharger high on the driver's side so that the intake will align with the scoop (and hood opening) in the same location.  The motor is leveled and securely blocked and shimmed so that the solid motor mounts can be fabricated in place.  With the header clearance being so close, I have opted for solid mounts.  The trans mount will remain flexible to account for any chassis flex (if any).

The engine set-back and height of the engine in the chassis.  This is a drag racing ONLY car, so a higher engine location is desirable. Overhead cam engines have much higher valve covers than cam-in-block engines which also contributes to this very high looking engine placement. A Chevy small block wouldn't look so high.

The headers on this side will be a snap!

Finished motor mounts.

Finished right (steering) side motor mount bolted in place.Plenty of room for the headers.      

August 29 & 30:  At the shop all week-end working on the race car. Work completed: (1) oil pan baffling completed and welded in with dip stick calibated; (2) new deep oil pick-up completed, clearanced, and bolted up; (3) aluminum firewall polished; (4) engine bay cleaned, sanded, and paint-detailed; and (5) supecharger pulley system conceptualized. What was not compleed was installing the race valve springs . . . . so we couldn't mount the engine.  A set of 2JZ spring retainers was sent to the shop from Bangkok . . . but they were for the VVTI, and, therefore, too small for the Brian Crower 2JZ springs.  Another set (32 of the rare retainers for the turbo 2JZ) was found and sent, but did not arrive by Sunday evening.  Oh well.

Oil pan baffling.

Braced, gusseted, lengthened, and deepened oil pick-up (all new).

The dip stick was clibrated and a reinforcing bung was welded on the oil pan for strength. Now all it needs is a fitting for the supercarger oil drain back. The notch in the pan is for steering linkage clearance at full right lock.

Polishing the aluminum firewall.

Engine bay cleaned, sanded, and detail-painted.

High temp (1200+) coating used on steering components ner the headers.  The Wilwood master cylinder and steering box (as well as the headers) will be wrapped in heat shield in this area.

More News: I solved my supercharger crankshaft pulley problem - I do not have to have one machined to fit the 1UZ crankshaft snout.  My friend Khun Mac (MacTec) showed me a machined collar he had made that spaces the 2JZ ATI Super Damper the correct distance from the shoulder on the 1UZ crankshaft -- and is held in by the standard bolt.  The ATI Super Damper has bolt holes for a supercharger pulley already (notice the three threaded holes in the photo at left).  Problem solved - actually, two birds with one stone (good high rpm damping to boot!). In addition, the Super Damper is itself a 6-rib pulley already aligned with the alternator.  Three birds with one stone.  However, the ATI unit is larger (greater radius) than the standard 1UZ pulley, so I will have to make an even larger alternator pulley to slow it down. Two-and-one-half birds. 

I also spent the week investigating the possibility of running E85 as a race fuel in my 1UZ, but quality control problems here in Thailand negated that as an alternative race fuel, for the time being.  I purchased a 200 litre barrel of "GT Race Gas" instead.  GT race gas is a high performance unleaded fuel blended in Singapore for high performance use. It has both high RON and MON numbers, somewhere around 120/110, so has excellent pre-ignition and well as knock resistance. We shall see. Thanks Mad Dog John (MDJ) for your time, interest, and knowledge in convincing me not to use the E85.

After talking with a Thai road racer who runs a 1UZ, and others over the last few months, I decided that I do need a CDI unit to bump up the spark.  I have ordered an AEM 4-channel "Twin Fire" unit (photo right) to go with the AEM ECU 'lost spark' configuration I will be using.  High rpm power is negatively affected without the CDI.

 I have also ordered Earl's fittings for the fuel system to go with the new fuel rails. The Accel Race 25 Hemi plug wires are here as well.  I have found 8 new Subaru pink (565cc) injectors, at a fair price, and am having them sent from Austeralia (photo below).  These units are a true "drop in" replacement for the standard 1UZ.  I'm getting there.

When I get the damper and pulley back to the shop we can figure out where and how to mount the Vortec supercharger . . . and where and how to mount the belt tensioner. But . . . I will be travelling a bit over the next month (Baltimore, USA) . . . so this will slow the progress somewhat.

My guys in the shop have mounted the engine, trans (with 4200 torque converter), and drive shaft for the last time, so we can move on to the plumbing and wiring.  The engine was buttoned up with the new Brian Crower valve spring - utilizing Turbo 2JZ spring retainers.  The valve covers were painted "Hemi Orange" --  just because.

I have also decided to go with an AEM 2 bar MAP sensor.  It is compatible with the AEM ECU, is made of stainless steel (a plus in the harsh environment of Bangkok), and is said to be accurate (photo below).

Well, here it is: My 1UZ is buttoned up and mouned in the chassis (this is not the 'dummy' motor).  Small details like the remote oil filter location, high pressure oil feed to the supercharger, and the supercharger mounting bracketry are yet to be done . . . . but . .  . I am on my way.

I will be in the shop this week-end beginning to sort the supercharger mounting and belt tensioing method.  I believe I will make something like the Vortec unit (right) . . . . with the 'outside' wheel, which I already have. I am getting excited aboyut the possibilities. 

The oil filter location presented a problem.  There was not enough room to mount any of the 1UZ oil filter cocnfigurations . . . so we had to make a new one out of the old one . . . we cut off the top and welded on some -10 male fittings.  it came out nice.

A good week-end was spent at the race shop getting things done.

Trial fitting of radiator and intercooler.