The long awaited transformation, 1 car 1 decade 1 dream Options

[coldbluesteel]

Hello everybody. like it says... this is the story of my Celica's transformation. This will be an on going thread so if it needs to be moved go ahead, thanks. I'll post pics when I get a chance. Great things are on the horizon.


The goal... to have the meanest street driven Celica in the world.

Details will be added soon.

[milnersXcoupe]

I know what you want -

I'm going thru the same longing
for the rumbling V8 - but that 'high' takes a longer stroke than
the 4.0 1 UZ Fe 3.24 or the 4.7 2UZ which 'wakes up' normally aspirated
above 2850rpm.

1 UZ is good for a Turbo Screamer - ****ing 7K+ on a Turbo - is
not a Torque motor until 'BUILT' and 'BLOWN' hard and still comes
alive later in the rpm range.

Consider the 1 UZ engine a 'core' only - everything gets replaced with
High Performance parts and intake - heads are ported.

Turbo controllers - is IMHO the most costly part of Turboing added to
stainless steel Custom Turbo Headers - and a 1 UZ is worthless without
Turbo / Supercharging - period.


WEIGHT of the engine is a huge factor in a small 6G car
for SPEED and HANDLING : -

I've driven 'Nose Heavy' cars - they leave the road easily
'snow-plowing' thru curves while lifting the rear end losing
traction........WEIGHT is crucial to consider for a 'driver'.




Which is why - I'm considering :

1 GR-FE

The 1GR-FE is the 4.0L version 60 degree V-6 .


Bore is 94 mm and stroke is 95 mm. !!!!! THE ENGINE WEIGHS 384 Lbs. !!!!!


Output is 236 hp (183 kW) at 5200 rpm with 266 lb-ft (382 Nm) of torque at 4000 rpm on 87 octane, and 239 hp at 5200 rpm with 278 lb-ft at 3700 rpm on 91 octane

TRD has planned a 335HP supercharged version coming out soon - full factory warranty.


THE ENGINE WEIGHS 384 Lbs. - and beats 4.6 COBRA cars regularly, still installed in pick up trucks!!



Check it on YOU TUBE.com videos for yourself.


For increased cooling efficiency, the 1GR employs water passages between the bores of the engine. There are such 2 passages for each bank for a total of 4. This reduces cylinder hot-spotting and keeps combustion chamber temperatures more uniform.

The Cobra has HUGE hot spot problems - engine failures due to poorly designed coolant flow.


The Cobra 'Cammer' runs a 3.8 inch stroke - the 1GR is 3.7 and uses the 5.7 Toyota Bore and
comes with FORGED Rods from the Factory.






How much does your current engine weigh ?

The Transaxle ?


Take the 'Weight' difference of a V8 with Trans using
Bar Bells and strap it onto the hood of a 6G - take it
for a spin.....



For a drop in motor - the 4.7 has a 94mm bore x 3.33" stroke -
WEIGHT of the engine is over 600lbs.



A 1 UZ WEIGHT is 485lbs. - sneeze and say roughly 500Lbs. and is
not a Performance engine until either Supercharged or Turbo'd - period.


A 1 GR WEIGHT is 384lbs. putting out virtually the same amount of
of power as an early 2 UZ FE 4.7 V-8 - stock.

Add Methanol / Water injection and you can BOOST this engine
over 500HP easily.

You'd need Methanol / Water for ANY Boost engine running over 8LBs.
of Intercooled Boost - regardless.

So why haul around an extra 100 / 200 lbs. of front end weight for
the brief moments of 500HP ?



UZ V-8 'Burble' Addiction:



ALL UZ engines require new FORGED connecting rods and FORGED pistons
before BOOSTING or spinning over 7,200rpm.

Yeah , those Aussies will spin you a yarn on the Forums of stock 1 UZ FE engines turning
crazy rpm on boost - they don't mention the engine grenading - because,
these engines are CHEAP and Plentiful in Aussie Land - go pull another for
$250.00 and go racing again -

Reading their posts is fun - they talk a WHOLE lot of smack - so be aware of this.


The 1 UZ intakes choke the engines and take a pile of $$ to port.


Only the very first year[s] 1 UZ had 'thicker' CAST CONNECTING RODS - which
didn't break until ...'Later'? CAST RODS are OUT in any performance application.


The breathing of those engines were not addressed
until the 3 UZ FE - using a design similar to the 2 UZ fe intake.


Many are just waking
up to the 2 UZ upper end on a 1 UZ short block.... then
to just installing a 2 UZ motor complete due to increased
bore / stroke - then weight
considerations - then.....


Parts costs soar - stud kits - valve springs - seals - gaskets - bearings 'n coatings -
Labor etc. to handle Boost...... gaskets are like astronomical.


Porting the Intakes - Plenums - port matching the heads - all required for that
cheap 1 UZ Fe to begin to wake up - then - comes the Forged stuff...... on
85mm Pistons ? Sleeves ? .....forget it.



The 3 UZ has 91.5MM pistons - the MAX for that block and a MAJOR better intake system.

If you want a V8 for $3K and just have to do the normal Hot Rod >
Change out the Rods and Pistons - add cams / springs / keepers - you'll have a
much better base to begin from with a 3 UZ FE.

Build it now - Boost it later........ using 6 to9 lbs. Intercooled - elsewise, $$$$$$$$$$$



Either a 3 UZ or a 4.6 or 5.7 > or a 1 GR is your TOYOTA options.











http://tinyurl.com/2sdl4u


Here you go - Part 1. of my "Sweet Dreams" series:


Drag Barrier Celica
Turbonetics Boosts Past 200 mph and into a sea of controversy

By Evan Griffey

Since day one, Turbonetics has been behind the boost of the quickest and fastest strip warriors in import drag racing. In 2000, the company decided to go beyond supplying parts to fielding a full-tilt racing effort. The tumblers aligned as Spearco Intercoolers was acquired and, just as Turbonetics was expanding, Sport Compact drag racing was undergoing a big growth spurt. When the project got off the ground, the Toyota Celica was the latest, hottest import and Turbonetics elected to use the sporty coupe to drop the bomb on SC drag racing. The project, code named Drag Barrier Celica, aimed high, indeed. Its mission was to become the first import to break 200 mph in the quarter mile and collect the $25,000 bounty put up by Summit Racing. Turbonetics teamed with the Scranton Brothers, who bolted a Turbonetics turbo to their NMCA SS Class Mustang, and went undefeated in 2001. Driver, Matt, and crew chief, Jay, are responsible for the upkeep and logistics of getting the Celica to the races.

With a 200-mph top speed goal and six second aspirations, the road to success started with a chassis stout enough to handle the rigors of four-digit power. Marc Garland Racecars of Port Richey, Florida, melded NHRA-spec chrome-moly into a superstructure that was up to the task.

The next logical step was to build an engine capable of producing four-digit power.

The party started with a TRD custom-prepped 4.7 331 ci Toyota Tundra iForce V8 block.

The block featured a reinforcing girdle and was converted from two-bolt mains to four-bolt mains in a most ingenious manner, ensuring rigidity.


*Note > the 2 bolt mains will handle 1,200HP - failures with 4 bolt conversions can be found on the
Lextreme.com site - so don't do it.


Robert Fulco of Fulco Race Engines was given the tall order of putting the engine together in a short amount of time. This buildup was much more than an "assemble and go" proposition. Time constraints and limited parts availability challenged Robert's considerable machining talents.

The core of the problem was compression ratio. The Tundra heads were trashed in favor of more performance-oriented Lexus GS400 heads that benefited from TRD's involvement in CART.


*Note> this has to do with a curve just before the valve in the intake port - stock late Tundra intakes
and heads breathe way better than any 1 UZ engine.


This resulted in a static compression ratio of 10.06:1. Usually, a set of custom pistons and/or a thicker head gasket would solve the compression problem, but only a gasket was available. The gasket bought Robert 9cc of the 18ccs he would need to attain the target ratio of 8.0:1. The remaining 9cc would be hard earned indeed. The engine was designed to be bored and stroked from 4.7 liters of displacement to 5.3 liters. While Ross Racing Pistons could have made another set of custom slugs, time was against this method. The next logical option was to dish the existing Ross pistons.

"The Toyota V8 was dimensionally challenged," says Robert. "The tolerance between the bottom of the piston and the top of the rod was 40 thousandths."

With logic not working, it was time to innovate. Robert elected to shorten the Carrillo rods by moving the wrist pin bore, which would drop the piston in the cylinder and create less compression. Robert accomplished this by machining the pin bore larger and adding a concentric bushing to effectively lower the bore centerline. The bushing material was Rockwell tested to ensure it was up to the task at hand.

The piston was then modified and the existing dish was expanded outward.

The V8's high-revving Ferrea-infested valvetrain is commanded by custom-ground TRD billet cams. Robert had a hard time accepting some of the numbers TRD threw at him regarding spring rates and pressure on the cam lobes.

"It was so foreign to me. I had a hard time understanding motorcycle technology on the top of a V8. I had to go with what I knew, so I made some hardened tool steel valve seats and used a few other pushrod tricks."

The project's pressure players are a set of twin Turbonetics Y2K turbos with .70 A/R compressor housings and .96 A/R turbine housings. Boost is directed to a Spearco air-to-liquid intercooler that has been cleverly positioned at the front of the engine and fitted with twin Godzilla blow-off valves.

After the chill, charge air makes its way into a TRD custom high-volume plenum intake manifold that was augmented to accept the fuel rail and other fuel system items by Wayne Young of Young's Performance.

Once the charge air is in the combustion chamber, fuel is introduced by a hard-hitting fuel system. A Weldon 2035 fuel pump keeps the Toyota V8's veins flowing while eight 160 lb/hr injectors deliver the VP C16 race gas to its final destination. Spark is generated by an MSD Digital 7 ignition system. All fuel and ignition timing events are controlled by a FAST stand-alone engine management system wired and tuned by Young's Performance. On an engine dyno, the hybrid V8 was off the chain, generating a wicked 1,260 hp at its 20 psi low-boost setting. At the engine's highest competition boost of 35 psi, Turbonetics has calculated engine flywheel power with datalogging info to be a mind-altering 1600-plus (and we mean Plus) hp.

As Mister T might say, "I pity the fool who has to put all that power to the ground."

The V8 puts an ungodly twist to the car's three-speed, air-shifted Lenco gearbox. The tranny uses an 8-inch custom TCI converter with a Bruno's converter drive to keep the power flowing. The rest of the drivetrain consists of a Strange rearend with 40-spline Strange axles and a Precision Shaft Technologies driveshaft. The Toyota's brake calipers, rotors and its third member were constructed by Aerospace Components. The Celica runs Penske race shocks all around with the rear units sporting remote reservoirs. The contact patch is provided by meaty Mickey Thompson 34x17 slicks mounted on Bogart Force 5 aluminum.

The Celica has been on the scene for some time, attending shows like the 2001 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and the 2002 PRI Show in Indianapolis. The car definitely had the looks and attention to detail of a purebred speed demon, but it was time to make the impression a reality on the track.

In Gainesville, Fla., at the NHRA 2002 season opener, the Turbonetics Celica unleashed a 199-plus mph blast on its first competitive pass. Debuts do not get more impressive than that. The Drag Barrier Celica ran a 7.26 at 197.06 in the finals to take the win. Amid protests and a trail of fire on the Internet, the NHRA formed a new class, Pro V8, in the three weeks between Gainesville and the second race at Englishtown. While this separation was foreseeable (as was the backlash of domestic Mustang racers be so successful so quickly in the import scene), many were surprised it was initiated after the first event with only two V8s being campaigned. While the rules were aimed at isolating the Celica, Craig Paisley and his nitrous-fed Tundra were big losers too.

Undaunted, the Turbonetics Celica and pilot Matt Scranton rolled off the trailer at E-Town and picked up right where they left off in Florida. The Celica's first qualifying pass was a 7.13 at 198.09 mph. The second qualifying lap was a quicker and faster 7.10 at 198.99. Summit Racing should have had the check ready, because it was clearly evident the Celica was on top of its game. In eliminations, the Celica cranked out a 7.11 at 198.61 and then motored into the record books with a 7.15 at 202.55 mph. Check please. While it's easy to look at the 202-mph trap speed and be impressed, it is also worthwhile to check out the e.t.s the car was laying down--.13, .10, .11 and .15. Wow.

At the NHRA Maple Grove event in June, the Drag Barrier Celica took aim at its second goal--6-second e.t.s. With a class that has been comprised of the Celica and Craig Paisley's TRD Tundra, it's hard to get runs in. There are more qualifying opportunities than actual races. This means the Scrantons and Turbonetics must be on their game and squeeze every last ounce out of each pass. Things got off to a shaky start when the Celica ran an 8.41 at 120 in the first and only qualifying pass on Saturday. The crew worked feverishly to trace the problem to the ignition box and was fortunate enough to borrow one from the GM Racing guys. Rain cut short the first day of qualifying and an additional qualifying round was conducted on Sunday. The Celica responded with a 7.27 at 197.51.

In the finals race, which was the first round, the Celica put down a 7.036 at 200.68 mph and backed it with a 7.057-second, 201.37-mph effort on an exhibition run. This moved the mph record to more than 200 and signaled without a doubt that entrance into the 6-second club was imminent.

Would the Pro Stock guys on the domestic side of the NHRA would go for a grudge race? Turbonetics is wondering the same thing. In fact, it's operating with the assumption that the Pro V8 class will be disbanded after the 2002 season. Or, more precisely, that its car will be banned. Heck, in their minds the exile the car is going through now equates to banishment with the only other V8-powered imports in existence in America being Paisley's Tundra and the Blast SC400; the latter which hasn't seen action since the season opener. Turbonetics isn't waiting for the ax to fall. The team is having a well-known fabricator build a chassis car that will be V6-turbo powered. TRD is working on a V6 engine program, but the body of the car has yet to be decided. So, be sure to look for the Scrantons and Turbonetics to land in the Pro Class in 2003.

The Source
Aerospace Components
(727) 347-9915

Bogart Racing Wheels
Dept. THP, 10704 Prospect Ave. #B
Santee, CA 92071
(619) 596-7605

Bruno's Automotive Products
(630) 766-0204

Ferrea Racing Components
Dept. THP, 2600 N.W. Court, Ste. 238
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309
(954) 733-2505 or (888) 733-2505

Fulco Race Engines
(813) 949-3980

Marc Garland Race Cars
(727) 842-1950

Mickey Thompson Tires
Dept. THP, 4670 Allen Rd.
Stow, OH 44224
(216) 928-9092

MSD, Autotronic Controls
Dept. THP, 1490 Henry Brennan Dr.
El Paso, TX 79936
(915) 857-5200

Penske Racing Shocks
Dept. THP, 150 Franklin St.
Reading, PA 19603
(610) 375-6190

Precision elevators
(800) 279-3538

Precision Shaft Technologies
(888) 575-7888

Ross Racing Pistons
Dept. THP, 625 S. Douglas
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 536-0100 or (800) 392-7677

Spearco Intercoolers
Dept. THP, 2255 Agate Ct.
Simi Valley, CA 93065
(805) 581-0333

Strange Engineering
Dept. THP, 1611 Church St.
Evanston, IL 60201
(708) 869-7010

TCI Automotive
Dept. THP, 151 Industrial Dr.
Ashland MS 38603
(662) 224-8972

Toyota Racing Development (TRD)
Dept. THP, 1382 Valencia Ave.
Tustin, CA 92780
(800) 688-5913

Turbonetics
Dept. THP, 2255 Agate Ct.
Simi Valley, CA 93065
(805) 581-0333

Weldon Pumps
Dept. THP, 640 Golden Oak Pkwy.
Oakwood Village, OH 44146
(440) 232-2282

Young's performance
(256) 351-9949