Progress thread: 3VZ-F(T)E V6 Swap into my 94 GT, The V6 RUNS! Options

[stephen_lee]

tore tranny apart and ordered repair parts. cost me just under $300 to repair my trans and replace the syncronizers (i get a good discount )

and my LSD came in!

[Ted95]

tore tranny apart and ordered repair parts. cost me just under $300 to repair my trans and replace the syncronizers (i get a good discount )

and my LSD came in!

sweeeeeeeettt!

[stephen_lee]

pulled tranny apart, cleaned her up. polished and cleared the case... this thing has a pressurized lube system... pump and all.

[Johnnyny]

pulled tranny apart, cleaned her up. polished and cleared the case... this thing has a pressurized lube system... pump and all.

nice!

[stephen_lee]

any recommendations on where to buy custom pistons and rods?

[RockyMountainCel...]

To the OP, I know a guy who has SEVERAL of those Lexus models sitting on his property doing nothing because he is too lazy to fix them properly and sell them..........1st if you need any parts PM me and I'm sure I could inquire about a few. 2nd, is this a worth while swap? I will 100% consider this if I have access to all the right parts and a few ppl to help me. Especially since I've got access to 4+ Lexus cars that I do believe have the right engine for this swap.

[stephen_lee]

v6 is a GREAT swap. ask the 2.5 of us on this site ( K-ESD, snapshotgt, myself) the vz block is good for turbo. if you want to stay NA i's go with the 3mz/1mz. IMO stock v6 against a stock gen 2 3s will be a damn close race, with v6 probably taking the lead on all but straightshot races (v6 has more power at the full rpm range, and no boost lag)

but parts? no. maybe an extra v6 block lol

[RockyMountainCel...]

v6 is a GREAT swap. ask the 2.5 of us on this site ( K-ESD, snapshotgt, myself) the vz block is good for turbo. if you want to stay NA i's go with the 3mz/1mz. IMO stock v6 against a stock gen 2 3s will be a damn close race, with v6 probably taking the lead on all but straightshot races (v6 has more power at the full rpm range, and no boost lag)

but parts? no. maybe an extra v6 block lol

lol i might be able to arrange that extra v6 block he has like 4 or 5 of them just sittin there.

[cjh4l22]

v6 is a GREAT swap. ask the 2.5 of us on this site ( K-ESD, snapshotgt, myself) the vz block is good for turbo. if you want to stay NA i's go with the 3mz/1mz. IMO stock v6 against a stock gen 2 3s will be a damn close race, with v6 probably taking the lead on all but straightshot races (v6 has more power at the full rpm range, and no boost lag)

but parts? no. maybe an extra v6 block lol

lol i might be able to arrange that extra v6 block he has like 4 or 5 of them just sittin there.

hey man I might be interested in one of those blocks...

[stephen_lee]

Saving $$$$ for JE custom forged pistons (cost 900-1200)

[stephen_lee]

copy & paste...

"The 3vz-fe itself is *highly* resistant to detonation. Many times more than a 3vz-e, 1mz-fe, or 5vz-fe is. The most resistant to detonation of any of the v6's. I have personally run 22* of maximum advance over 6000rpm with my SMT-6 with no pinging. On Chevron 87.
Another ported & polished 3vz-fe went to a drag strip to test ignition timing. A base timing of 20* (stock is 10* universal to all v6's/normal Toyota engines) produced no pinging, but poor performance. On 87 octane.

The 3vz-fe has the strongest stock rods used on any v6. They are massive.
Huge... Iron... Block... We don't need sleeves, we don't need block work to lay down 600whp. It's too similar in construction to a 3000GT's v6 not to say maybe even 900bhp+.
Other than the cast pistons, the 3vz-fe is stronger part for part than any other v6. It has yet to be seen if the biggest stock 3vz-fe can take down the biggest stock 5vz-fe. Why?

Because Neither Sean, nor I have set out to do it yet.

Like oil? 3vz-fe's don't. Yes, even 3psi at a cold idle is in spec... If you're not on the gas, they don't have a ton of oil pressure. This is great for turbo life.
FYI Camry 3vz-fe's have no oil pressure sensor installed while ES 300/Windom's do.
As long as the red light of death is off - you don't have an oil problem, no matter HOW bright the yellow low oil level light is! (That's an inside joke. I killed my OLS when I installed my turbo oil return somehow.)

3vz-fe redlines a 6850rpm, and the fuel cut is at 7100rpm.
Toyota RPM gauges read very, very slow I have logged my engine at 7400rpm on my SMT6... A 5vz-fe would come apart at that rpm without cams, valve springs & other work. Not us. (We have very diminishing power on stock cams after 6000rpm, however it's best to shift at 6500-6900rpm to stay in powerband)

We don't waste money on cams... Our engine has the biggest powerband (except maybe a 5vz-fe) under 3000rpm. We have OVER 100whp at 2000rpm. Yes... That's right... Only a 3vz-fe has the power to spin tires on the Camry platform!

We get HUGE gains from head porting!!!
Seam McElligott got 30-35bhp.
I did my MYSELF and got 25-30.
A Camry owner had his done and got 25, possibly 30.
What do cams do on a 3vz-fe? Turn it into a 1mz-fe! <BLAH!> A cammed 3vz-fe made 220bhp on an MR2 with zero powerband.
We make 220bhp off P&P light N/A tuning, & a y-pipe... And still have the massive low rpm powerband.

The fully built N/A 3vz-e's made 320bhp.
A fully built N/A 3vz-fe should then make 370bhp. Hey... If two extra valves are good for 50bhps tock, they should be worth it built too!

The downside is that the 3vz-fe has stock cast pistons. Not a problem when you run the correct amount of fuel, however 1mz-fe's ahve cast pistons WITH a coating. They are minutely stronger (I say minutely because no 3vz-fe has hurt it's bottom end, stock 1mz-fe's have melted rings & pistons by running slightly lean at lower power levels than have been achieved by 3vz-fe's)

Despite what anyone says, the 5vz-fe has one important edge. Displacement... 11.7% displacement advantage will ALWAYS equal an 11.7% power advantage when comparing the same basic setup.
If you have money, this doesn't matter. A source once had a machinist calculate how far you could possibly stroke a 3vz-fe. 3.7L. The supposed kit that was coming from that was going to cost $4000+, and stroke to 3.5-3.6L.

I've worked on them all. Had a hand in one turbo 3vz-e, then turboed another from scratch. Turboed mine a few different odd ways so far. Rebuilt my 3vz-fe more times than you will ever want to know. Worked with 1mz-fe's & worked on 5vz-fe's.

3vz-fe JDM's have no EGR. US's can be throw away & blocked off. 1mz-fe1's? Nopers!
3vz-fe's have EVAP, but don't care if you throw it away. 1mz-fe's? Nope!
3vz-fe loose their 5-10bhp from carbon over a few years. 1mz-fe1's have HORRIBLY over used EGR systems. What a 3vz-fe builds up over a few years, a 1mz-fe1 builds up in 9 months. Guess what, that new 1mz-fe you bought? if the entire intake track hasn't been cleaned in the last 9-12 months, you can subtract 10bhp.

3vz-fe's are non-interference. 1mz-fe1's are also, 1mz-fe2's are not.
My 2 favorite demonstration pictures of all time.
Don't think that's important? I destroyed my first OEM timing belt doing a top speed run when I got to 143mph, but still made it home."

[cjh4l22]

read this toooo. completely agree. awesomeness!!

they forgot to mention how cheap those damn things are. longblock for less than 1k...

This post has been edited by cjh4l22: Sep 15, 2010 - 11:50 PM

[stephen_lee]

I'm really interested in doing a 3mzfe swap, or 3vzfe if I plan to go turbo. I have a few questions for you. What's the fabrication needed for this to fit in the celica bay ( I have a gt, mounts, etc)? Also with the 3vzfe, is there actually room for a turbo setup? And then what about aftermarket support, (engine internals. Pistons, crankshaft, valve train)? Let me know; this is a project I'm really excited about, and I hope to become what I think may either be 6gc's 4th or 5th v6 swapper!

you got the motor choices corect as far as n/a or turbo. you have a gt, and a manual. now you have pretty much 2 tranny choices. your stock s54, or any E series tranny. the E series will be stronger, but will require ST205 front, rear, and driver side mounds, in addition to ST205 shift cables. if you stick to the S54(basically the cheap/easy way out, if your on a budget id go this way, get the swap grimlins worked out, then swap for an E series) its a bolt up affair. with both tranny choices you will have to fab a passenger side mount (easy, or buy one fron fourveesix at mr2oc i believe). there is room for a turbo with a 3vz, but the swap and mounting of everything over the tranny/exhuast piping will need to be VERY carefully planned out. aftermarket support is pretty limited for all the V6s, only real part i can think of is a lightweight flywheel from fidanza. 3vz heads were designed by yamaha and are good (valvetrain wise) to 7500 rpm. pistons, rods and such will need to be custom. my set of custom pistons from wiseco cost 900 (150 each). i should be 6GCs 3rd V6. I'd love to see more!

[DEATH]

Man I hate this waiting for $$$/Parts portion of the swap process. I can't wait to get this thing running nice and stock smooth in the Celica - then on to the Turbo and all the real fun
BTW - If you install any other cluch into this thing than an ACT I will b!tchslap you

This post has been edited by DEATH: Sep 30, 2010 - 11:05 AM

[stephen_lee]

i may buy axles soon. tranny parts are all ordered and in..

[richee3]

Hurry up and swap!

[stephen_lee]

man.. i want it now! but funds are slow... but oh? i got a 400/mo raise and 300/mo is going into my car account! slightly faster progress.

[Ted95]

man.. i want it now! but funds are slow... but oh? i got a 400/mo raise and 300/mo is going into my car account! slightly faster progress.

same goes for my swap bro. im on hold due to lack of money lol, savin up some more paychecks so i can order my Tweak clutch, hurry up and get ur funds so we can see this bro!!! 3VZ-FTE is gunna be sickkk!

[EKAn]

Hurry up and swap!

x2 i want to see this thing rip it up

[EKAn]

I saw this pic on line and it reminded me of this thread even though this is a 1MZ

Good luck man

This post has been edited by EKAn: Jan 26, 2011 - 12:52 AM