Question To The Pros' With Turbo'd Sc300's

[neurot75]

Im planning on purchasing an SC-300 some time soon. Here's my dillema, ive been a devout volvo man for some time, i got a new one because i wrecked my other one, but im getting relaly sick of them: too many little things going wrong and parts and repairs are expensive and theyre getting old, last true volvos ended at about 92'. So i want a new car and i NEED RWD and a stick. so my choises are either a BMW or this. i think i'll go with this because EVERYONE has a bimm and i really like the sc-300's. I have prior experience with turbos from the volvos and if i do get an sc-300 i want to go turbo.

Here are my questions. how do you turbo these engines if the compression ratio is 10.1:1, which is way too high for a turbo, usually one needs under 9's preferably mid 8's to do this.

To all who have turbo'd their cars what did you do about this? can they really be turbo charged keeping the stock compression ratios? If not id have to rebuild the whole engine with lower compression pistons and the such which would be quite expensive and pointless. also what turbos are usually, or preferred on these engines? also if i buy an auto which are more common how hard is it to swap to a supra 5-speed? how about the 6-speed in the turbo supras?

basically what am i looking at if i go ahead with this project?

i need all the info i can get, and i thank all those who can chime in and help me out.

*edit*

also i almost forgot. what year(s) are more desiarable? what should i look for when shopping for one? what are the draw backs and things to concider?

what years came with the 5-speed? how much should i look at spending on one?

[jzz30]

5 speed from92-97. 6 speed needs a lengthened drive shaft (different lengths depending on the rear end stock or supra) any year is good but i hear earlier ones are lighter. and turbo kits for this car come with thicker head gaskets to lower comp.

[soarer479]

well to answer your question about boost these engines were made to handle a turbo but id suggest just going with a swap as for the 6speed manuel you are looking at a little bit of work finding every thing you need espcially interrior parts but my suggestion would be to call local shops that will do this swap and talk it over with them and dont take it to any where that hasnt done the swap before its a fairly difficult one

now for you question on the years alot of ppl like the 97 and up sc300 i think the front end and tail lights look alot better and if your deffinatly planning on the swap u can find an sc with alot of miles for cheap

[alexR]

My suggestion is to turbo the stock motor and stick with the auto for a while. The 2jzGTE swap is very, very expensive....commonly over $10k...which is why I would MUCH rather have a 400+ RWHP @ relatively low PSI, reducing engine wear. Something to consider for the year is that the pre-97 sc300 motors are stronger and handle boost better than the later VVT-i 2JZ's.

....just my 2 cents:)

[on_chrome]

10.1.1 is fine for low boost for turbo, for more boost you need lower compression like 8.5.1 from a thicker headgasket. I have a auto and i love it more than the stick, but that's my pref. I had to get a built tranny and torque converter to handle the power i have. the early non-vvti 97's and before were probably the better ones. look to spend b/w $6,000-$15,000. if you want an excellent turbo kit and prices, check out www.boostlogic.com, they would have everything you need to have a reliable turbo.

[neurot75]

My suggestion is to turbo the stock motor and stick with the auto for a while. The 2jzGTE swap is very, very expensive....commonly over $10k...which is why I would MUCH rather have a 400+ RWHP @ relatively low PSI, reducing engine wear. Something to consider for the year is that the pre-97 sc300 motors are stronger and handle boost better than the later VVT-i 2JZ's.

....just my 2 cents:)

hold on im not quite following you, i thought there was only one type of 6 that comes with the sc-300's? and i wasnt talking about an engine swap, although id like to know about those, 2jzGTE?.

oh yea also what year did they start making the VVT-i 2JZ's?

[jzz30]

i think 98 started the toyota vvt-i thing maybe 99. the gte came with the turbo supras they are twin tubo and have 320hp with power potential to the quad digits.

[AWJ]

You need to consider flow. Boost is only part of the equation. 10:1 works. I know this. It comes down to how much you want to spend. Daily driver? Track star? Show winner? Dyno queen? This goes to the other cat posting as well about the 400.

Search. We've done this hundred's of times.

[Lex Luthor]

The '98-00 VVT-i models had a weaker bottom end, but there are benefits to consider re: the variable valve timing. I think in this case it's best to follow AWJ's advice and do a search. For parts, www.sound-performance.com. As for compression, the factory 10:1 (10.5:1 on the vvt-i cars) is fine for low boost, if you want to run anywhere near a bar or more you can go with one Supra TT head gasket, stack two, or go with an aftermarket 2mm or 3mm HG. Don't like the S60R neurot?

[JPI]

Here are some pics of the na-t set up vvt-i

TT rod is on the left and GE VVt-i rod is on the right

TT piston is on the left, as you can see it has a deeper valve cut and deeper dish. GE vvt-i piston is on the right, not much going on there.

JPI

[jzz30]

wow! jpi did you or your people make that headder?...nice ;) i eventually want do do that. where do you get flanges?

[AWJ]

Damn that GE piston is effin nasty lookin'. I thought for a second is was burned. Big difference on those rods - thanks bro. Looks sweet.

[neurot75]

wow thanks for the replies guys. well basically id want it to be a daily driver with some kick, u know what i mean. im not planniing to go buck wild and have a 400+ hp monster. i just want a nice fast cruiser. oh i just though of something, has anyone ever done N/A upgrades? i mean since turbo kits are so expensive and then u'd have to do some modifications to the engine to be able to hold the boost, i just thought that maybe some na work could do the trick. i dunno im just throwing out ideas. pretty much the deal is that im not looking to spend too much and id' like a decently quick car. and and it HAS to be a stick, so no autos.

oh yea and i adore the S60 R's, only that theyre almost as much as an M3.