Project SC400TT
In this project, I am doing something that has rarely been done before in a Lexus SC400. Even though there have been a few TT SC400 cars designed as one-offs out there, none have proven to be too successful (the exception recently being Chris Mantes in Chicago and his great project, and not including the Anderson Audio SC430 project), and the cost to do so has, in most cases, been prohibitive. My goal has been to design, develop and implement a reliable Twin Turbo for my SC400 that can can take advantage of the much under-powered but over-engineered 1UZ-FE Toyota V8. I chose to do this with my Lexus because I have always loved this car. I have owned this one for many years, so it is a 93. Before starting, I looked at and test drove a black 2000 model SC400, and found so little difference, I could not justify paying money to buy that one, when mine was paid for. Plus, I have maintained mine well over the years, and it drives, looks and feels like a new car. I also do not have to deal with OBDII and VVTI in my model. I have dubbed this project SC400TT. I am postijng this project up on SupraForums because the SC and the Supra are close cousins, and share so much of the same or similar design and engineering, and I know that more and more Supra owners are looking at something different to do such as a V8 swap. It is my hope that this thread will assist others that want to Twin Turbo their Lexus or Toyota V8's. This page will be updated as my project progresses, and I will document my progress of Project SC400TT. This project is currently in final fabrication stage completion, and should be completed and dyno tested by the end of September, 2006.
I will post pics of my car, and the recent mods I have made in preparation for the Turbo, as well as the pics of the process and completed project.
I do want to note that I went through a lot of learning experiences with this project...One of the most important being that choosing a good and reliable fabricator is a most critical part of this whole process, unless you can do it yourself. I am not a welder, nor a fabricator, and made 2 critical mistakes by selecting the wrong fabricators to do the job. I lost a bit of money, and also over 1 year of time. I did gain valuable knowledge, and info though, and a much more thorough understanding of how all this works, as I knew absolutely nothing about turbos when I started this project. I asked a lot of questions, and bought and studied Corky Bell's Maximum Boost as a Starter Guide.
I have read many posts on this forum, but have not posted up too much. I do not post unless I feel I really have something to contribute. I do know that Frank from XtremeBoost has posted up here on many topics, and I believe he is a vendor here. I selected him to do my work, after the first two disasters, and I can tell you...I am thoroughly satisfied with his work. He has had my car for a little over 2 months and has been working many other projects at the same time, and yet he has managed to practically complete my project, and assist me in my design modifications to make this thing work...I am keeping the Air Conditioning, and that throws a significantly increased challenge into the equation of a TT SC400 daily driver. We are about two weeks away from completion of Stage 1, and 2 months from Stage II.
I will need to figure out how to post up pics on SupraForums, as I do not know how to do that yet. But pics will come.
Please also keep in mind that I am not making a kit, nor am I involved in making a saleable kit. I am simply making my Lexus what I want it to be...
Thanks,
Ryan
In this project, I am doing something that has rarely been done before in a Lexus SC400. Even though there have been a few TT SC400 cars designed as one-offs out there, none have proven to be too successful (the exception recently being Chris Mantes in Chicago and his great project, and not including the Anderson Audio SC430 project), and the cost to do so has, in most cases, been prohibitive. My goal has been to design, develop and implement a reliable Twin Turbo for my SC400 that can can take advantage of the much under-powered but over-engineered 1UZ-FE Toyota V8. I chose to do this with my Lexus because I have always loved this car. I have owned this one for many years, so it is a 93. Before starting, I looked at and test drove a black 2000 model SC400, and found so little difference, I could not justify paying money to buy that one, when mine was paid for. Plus, I have maintained mine well over the years, and it drives, looks and feels like a new car. I also do not have to deal with OBDII and VVTI in my model. I have dubbed this project SC400TT. I am postijng this project up on SupraForums because the SC and the Supra are close cousins, and share so much of the same or similar design and engineering, and I know that more and more Supra owners are looking at something different to do such as a V8 swap. It is my hope that this thread will assist others that want to Twin Turbo their Lexus or Toyota V8's. This page will be updated as my project progresses, and I will document my progress of Project SC400TT. This project is currently in final fabrication stage completion, and should be completed and dyno tested by the end of September, 2006.
I will post pics of my car, and the recent mods I have made in preparation for the Turbo, as well as the pics of the process and completed project.
I do want to note that I went through a lot of learning experiences with this project...One of the most important being that choosing a good and reliable fabricator is a most critical part of this whole process, unless you can do it yourself. I am not a welder, nor a fabricator, and made 2 critical mistakes by selecting the wrong fabricators to do the job. I lost a bit of money, and also over 1 year of time. I did gain valuable knowledge, and info though, and a much more thorough understanding of how all this works, as I knew absolutely nothing about turbos when I started this project. I asked a lot of questions, and bought and studied Corky Bell's Maximum Boost as a Starter Guide.
I have read many posts on this forum, but have not posted up too much. I do not post unless I feel I really have something to contribute. I do know that Frank from XtremeBoost has posted up here on many topics, and I believe he is a vendor here. I selected him to do my work, after the first two disasters, and I can tell you...I am thoroughly satisfied with his work. He has had my car for a little over 2 months and has been working many other projects at the same time, and yet he has managed to practically complete my project, and assist me in my design modifications to make this thing work...I am keeping the Air Conditioning, and that throws a significantly increased challenge into the equation of a TT SC400 daily driver. We are about two weeks away from completion of Stage 1, and 2 months from Stage II.
I will need to figure out how to post up pics on SupraForums, as I do not know how to do that yet. But pics will come.
Please also keep in mind that I am not making a kit, nor am I involved in making a saleable kit. I am simply making my Lexus what I want it to be...
Thanks,
Ryan
