Build Thread 1978 Mercury Cyclone. The pig is in the pen.

This is what I’ll say about the engine when I make the video.

There are 6 things people should know when even considering one of them.
1. The “ heyday” for this engine has come and gone. While there is still a decent aftermarket for it, the engine, is over 20 years old. it all revolves around building it one way, or the other. If you plan to race it, everything that you’ll need to build a 1000-2000 hp or more engine is out there.
On the other hand....If your intentions are more in line with a street car like mine, and plan to buy a JDM engine, then add a few bolt ons and drop it in and go, You'll need to re-think that. While there are still plenty of products out there to build one, things get bogged down the minute it comes time to put a freakin oil pan on it, or put a transmission behind one. The plethora of JDM sourced engines all claim to only have 40-50k on them, but that still doesn’t change the fact that they are old. While mine looked good internally, the seals had all dried up and were leaking. The cam seals, front and rear main, and VVTi gear seals all had evidence of leakage. The rubber ring in the Harmonic balancer was dried and cracked, and has a reputation for failure at high RPM, and then there’s the process of trying to remove the bolt that holds one on, once torqued at the factory to 270 ft/lbs, and having been on that engine for 2 decades. And they’ll all come with a front sump pan,......that’ll need to be replaced.
2. The only rear sump pan ANYBODY makes is the factory Supra pan,...and it’s far from “ available”. The average price for the stock Supra pan is 600-800 dollars provided you can find one. And even if you do, a Supra pan isn’t a rear sump pan like what most would expect. Most domestic project cars use a rear sump pan, excepting an early Ford. As potentially popular as these engines are supposed to be, One would expect that somebody, somewhere is building a pan to fit. But that is Not the case.
3. The only Domestic transmission readily adaptable to fit this engine comes courtesy from the boys at GM. A glide, TH 400/ 4l60/8Oe all can be bolted up to this engine, but only after spending $800-1000.00 to buy the adapter to allow that.
4. The 2jz came three ways: A N/A GE version with high compression, A turbocharged GTE version, and a twin turbocharged GTE VVTi. It’s the VVTi engine that is currently available from several JDM importers on both coasts. While most everything between the engines are swappable, the VVTi engine is the least supported. i.e. Trying to find decent info on the variable cam timing duty cycle is like a needle in a haystack. And purchasing camshaft(s) for this engine comes at a premium,...fully 200-300 more for the VVTi version of the cam instead of the non-VVTi version. Again, This engine was in the 1998 Supra, and the 2001-2005 Lexus IS300 domestically with a loyal following, and a ferocious import reputation. Despite that, there is very little support for the VVTi engine. While not really hard to work on, it’s expensive. An oil pump on this engine is 300.00; Cams are 700.00; the intake 500.00; the exhaust header 500.00. Certain practices ( setting the valve clearance) are time consuming, literally taking days to finish. And like most of the things for the engine, also expensive:
Each of the 24 valves the engine has has its own quarter sized shim in varying thicknesses that has to be checked with the cam in place and torqued down. If there is a need to increase/ decrease that clearance, a different shim has to be ordered,( at approximately 8-10 dollars a piece) the cam removed, the shim that needs replacing removed, then the new one put in its place. Then the cam has be put back in place, torqued down, and the clearance rechecked. If it’s wrong......Lather, rinse, repeat.
5. You have to be cognizant of what ECU you plan to use to control the engine. While there are several manufacturers out there building an ECU that supports this engine, MS kit ecus are not one of them. This will be the one instance where saving money on a kit built ECU does not outweigh the need for an actual live human that can be spoken to with questions on a tech line. Haltech, and AEM build ecus that have 2jzvvti base tunes in them, with a tech dept there to answer questions. Obviously with a good tuner, even the MS can be tuned to work properly, but that requires an even greater “ trial and error “tune methodology ( read,.. more money) as most of it has to be learned on the fly.
Regardless of what aftermarket ecu is used, The factory sensors are inherently electrically “noisy“, further complicating the tune process, and getting the stupid thing to run properly.
6. Self education using the internet all lead to dead threads, in dead forums. Most of the time I spent trying to find out answers to questions I had came from search queries that landed on topics that were 5-10, even 15 years old. Eventually, You’ll still be able to find the answer to what you’re asking,..but the date stamp on what you find is ancient history.

The hope is that once you jump through all of those hoops, Youll be rewarded with the kind of power, sound, and reliability that these engines are known for. The bottom end of the engine is built to handle a tremendous amount of power With examples all over the internet touting daily driven reliability up to 600 whp on stock internals, and the sky’s the limit once the rods and pistons are replaced with forged pieces.

Whatever is missing on my combo..( boost leaks, being the obvious) I cannot believe that there is something else standing in the way, like an intake manifold with a “ too large” plenum. It would still eventually come into the power band, The same holds true for the exhaust,...if it was hobbled with boost lag, it should still come on like ape sht as soon as the turbo spools.

Ill be very careful to get everything sealed up properly this time...I’m clearly vested in this thing,...I have to make it work.