03/19/2018:
Hello everyone! Another build thread here...
I'm going to be 2JZ GTE vvt-i swapping my 2014 BRZ (20k miles on it currently in stock form). Power goals are somewhere between 500 and 800. It's a broad range because initially I want to stay on the lower end of the spectrum. But once i'm comfortable with everything i'll be turning it up and letting her eat.
Currently I am just gathering parts. My friend Eathen will be lending a hand with things that require a second set of hands, otherwise I plan to do almost everything by myself. We are doing all the work in Eathen's garage because he has much more room than I do.
I will try to document as much as I can but I'm usually more oriented on just getting stuff done rather than stopping to smell the roses.
If you have any questions about your 2JZ swap in an 86 platform please feel free to message me.
Some honorable mentions for this project are:
Pure Automotive Performance - These guys hooked me up with my MoTec 130, plug and play harness, trans and engine mounts, radiator, exhaust manifold, CD009 trans, Maverick trans adapter kit, Spec twin disc, etc etc. I got most of my stuff here and for great prices too. They took most of my money lol
A Star Fabrication - This is a local company that sold me most of my head components including cams, valves, and valve springs. They will be assembling the head as well.
Got various pieces of my parts on eBay, RockAuto and also Amazon.
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10/24/2018:
I wrote some BS here about how this whole thing is fitting into my budget, that was 8 months ago... now i'm about double what I intended on spending so that's cool. This swap is EXPENSIVE! Way more than I thought it would be and I thought I was fairly experienced with swaps...
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11/xx/2018:
Taking a long break during winter on this and bringing the car home to hibernate. Eathen needs the space in his garage to work on some cars and make some money. I'm sure he will do plenty while my car is gone so I don't mind one bit to tow the car out and tow it back in at a later date. There is no reason for me to spend so much energy and extra money heating a garage when I can just finish this when it warms back up. I'm in no hurry.
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03/27/2019:
The car is back at my buddy Eathen's house and I will start wrenching on her soon! Stay tuned...
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05/21/2019:
Plodding right along here, installing some finishing touches. Sometime next month, the car should be ready to fire up for the first time. It's exciting!
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08/16/19
Super close to firing up. Not nearly as quick as I originally intended due to little things here and there taking entirely too long. I have to add fluids and run the wiring harness and it should be ready to fire up for the first time. Maybe another week or 2 since I have other stuff going on as well and my wedding's coming up in October.
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09/02/19
Car turns over but does not start. Working on uploading a revision to the M130 ecu. Fuel pressure is good and no leaks present. Should start really soon. Turns out some of the pins on the harness were not correct for my sensors and the car wouldn't start. Will fix this and update you guys.
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10/30/19
The car is being tuned currently. At 15psi on 93 octane is totally destroys the high performance 265's on it in 2nd and 3rd gear. We will do some more fine tuning but the next big thing is to get a better tire on the car. Once I go with e85 in the Spring and really start adding more boost it's going to be a shit show. I'm thinking NT555R in the rear but I will update the thread once I make a purchase.
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04/21/2020
I purchased Nitto NT555R's for the rear and I got new wheels as well as NT05's for the front. They are 17's instead of the 18's I had on there. Going to look killer with the new Subaru 4/2 pot calipers.
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07/13/2020
Tuning on e85 has been a blast so far. I'm running into a few small issues but currently i'm at about 22psi and on nt555r's i'm getting a lot better traction but still blowing the tires off in first and second (even with lower boost in these gears). Might put it on a dyno this fall but not too concerned with the actual number. I'm easily over 600whp at the moment but not done tuning yet. Hoping to send boost up as much as this little turbo can go and be over 700whp.
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10/5/2020
My tuner and I are pretty much done with tuning on both 93 and e85. The car is 100% flex fuel now and we have 2 separate maps for it. One map has roughly 19 psi and it's pretty much what I currently run. The other map is about 24 psi and is not really usable. By that I mean, there's no traction once boost kicks in. Working on setting up the Motec traction control and we should be in business to turn it up!
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11/26/2020
Picked up the car from a 1 step paint correction and 5 year ceramic coating. I figured it was time and I want to preserve how nice this car is.
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3/7/2021
The car has Mickey's ET Street SS in the rear now. NT555r's weren't cutting it, these Mickey's grip a lot better but have a much lower life span. Oh well, the price you pay to play
Car is currently setup at 737 whp and 558 wtq on e85 and 24psi. Exhaust housing is too restrictive to go any higher and we are limiting the torque a bit with safer timing to keep everything happy.
Thanks for following!
If you're just starting to read this thread, here's a sneak peak of the finished product: