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Mike, way back when I worked in John Deere's engine works they had hardened caps for the valve tips, you could research that option. But then you may have problems shimming your valve train properly. Just a thought....

Sharing this link as an example:

A 2jz has what’s called a spring bucket that sits on top of the spring and retainer.
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The variable shim is shown sitting on top. Both pieces are hardened.
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The underside has a male protrusion that makes contact with the valve tip. And this whole mess moves as a unit with the spring......at 7500 rpm.
But still infinitely lighter than a lifter, pushrod, rocker arm and THEN...adding a retainer, spring, and valve.

They make a much lighter option called a shimless bucket, and they are built in varying thickness to eliminate the shim altogether. Instead of varying thickness on top, they just increase/decrease the length of the contact area with the valve tip. ( the above pic is the underside of a shimless bucket), The obvious benefit being less valvetrain weight..
I’m not buying those things. They are for full tilt 2j builds that’ll see north of 8k rpm, and usually go right along with titanium retainers and light weight valves. Cost about 500.00

Uh :nono: said the finger.

:chinAt least not this year.

The monster head had BBC/SBC SS valves, modified to fit that head. It had BBC beehive valve springs, and custom offset BBC 1.75 Stainless roller rockers.. I had a lot of money poured into that head. And I’ll have even more into the 2j head if/when I decide to go that route. ( 24 ( 2j valves)- 12 ( monster valves) = twice as much monster money.)
Because of what that machine shop did to the existing valves, they are too far beyond fcked up to even consider using in the future. ( hence the difference between valve clearances that vary as much as .010 between some of them). Because of that, Ill not invest money in any valvetrain mods until I decide what is in store for this thing.

First things first, it’s gotta be faster than ” Won’t fall out of a tree” fast.

Tightening up the completely loose collar at the TB coupling might make a difference with regard to that...I’ll make a mental note to check that come time to put it all back together.:shrug:
 
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Ah, that sucks. I read that post bout extending somn to .330 etc.. Didnt know that was cause.

You said it was going sideways on gear change? But still fall out of tree slow?
It will spin tires at the gear change, just enough to get it a small bit squirrelly. With the previous car as a reference ( which was significantly faster than a stock current model 5.0 Mustang) The new combo would just gets its ass handed to it by both cars.
 
The engine is done ( again).

The Cams are clearanced. All but one valve is within spec, and the only one that isn’t is only .001 over. I’m not gonna obsess over that.
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You c an see the clearance I started with, and where it ended based on the written numbers on the valve cover rail. After spending 150.00 bucks on shims, turns out I’m dyslexic.
( The shims I ordered were too thick..I needed to increase the clearance, not reduce it.)
The good thing in this is that I only needed two of the 12 shims to get the cams where they needed to be...Hopefully they’ll let me take the things back for a refund.
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The pan has had 5 qts of oil in it all day..Filling it showed no signs of leakage, I’m hoping it’s finally fixed. Since this pic the AC compressor, and drive belt is back on,...Now it’s a matter or waiting on the converter to get here.

My poor engine compartment is taking a beating though...
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This was heat related damage from the old Monster’s exhaust manifold..( Actually caused the substrate to bubble ) I’ll hit it with 220 on the DA, and rattle can it before I put the engine back.
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The firewall is just a Jug fck..That cheesebag braided hose is the one that leaked that I couldn’t get to to tighten once the engine was in..This time around it’s so tight, it’ll probably never come loose.

Time will tell there.

Im gonna make a vid that revolves around the Pros, and Cons to putting one of these engines in a car as a swap after I get it running again. Had I known then what I know now, I’d have never considered it. The only thing that’ll make a believer out of me to justify this swap to ANYBODY will be how it runs...If it runs.
 

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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.
 
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Ok,...I’m optimistic.
Stock engine save for a single turbo. Looks like a Colorado plate,..that means high altitude..which is potentially robbing the horsepower from this guy compared to the numbers he’d see from a sea level pull.
 
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A Buick Straight 8. He doesn't want a bellybutton and straight sixes aren't being kind to him.

Both sixes in my past are proving to have teething pains initially. I'll blame all of that on the fact that I'm either making them do what they werent intended to do, or I'm making them fit where they werent intended to fit. The oil in this engine ( save for it being fuel fouled) was devoid of any metal debris)
Minus the "annoying vibration", The engine ran fine.
It just didnt run strong.
The collar on the small section of charge tube that went into the throttle body was so loose, the clamp spun. Boost was getting by there. There still was a small leak at the v band fitting at the turbo..Boost was allowed to get by there too. The vibration/ bent flexplate was robbing power, and the converter is probably too tight.
I'm fixing all of that this time.
On top of which, I'm supposedly adding 50 hp with the cam upgrade.

Maybe itll fall out of a much taller tree this time...A higher distance to fall= more speed before it hits the ground.
 
Just called PTC....

This will be the stalling point....waiting on them.
They’ve had the converter since Tuesday, they haven’t even opened the box. He would only say that he’ll look at it next week sometime....Should I just go ahead and guess that I’ll get it back sometime mid month?
 
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