My lexus v8 FB build
 

After 9 years in the rotary game and 8 years owning my 85 FB and tired of the problems of turbo rotary engines....im doing the dirty deed and puting a v8 in the car...but not just any ol cookie cutter ford/chevy everyone else has one engine, my weapon of choice is a 4.0L DOHC all aluminum 1uzfe lexus engine....turbocharged....

the build is not yet complete, I am trying to get it done, running and tuned by around january because i want the car well tested so i can go to DGRR2013, i went in 2011 with my turbo 12a and had a blast, this time with MUCH improved low end torque...it should REALLY be interesting..

now for some pictures...this is the car at DGRR2011, my little turbo engines last hoorah!

this is my facebook album where i log progress, im using the turbo2 transmission adapted to the 1uz, using the T2 flywheel, clutch and pressure plate, starter is from a V6 camry, adpated to fit.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...5200620&type=3

basic info
electromotive tec3 engine management
ford 8.8 rear
re-speed steering
mildly modified gen2 camber plates to work on FB...ok not mildly...but im a machinist so it was free....hehehe
as for turbo(s) still on the fence with using twins or a big single...im leaving that to fate after the engine goes back in the car for finishing/plumbing then ill decide what fits best...not much room...yall know that..

now as far as i know...I am the only one in the USA to do this particular conversion...the only other 2 gen1s i found a trace of were in new zealand...neither were turbocharged.
if anyone else out there was as determined as I am to make it fit and finished one i would love to see pics and info on it.

and BTW its under the STOCK hood, no ugly cowl, its requiring me to shorten the oil pan/pickup...but thats a small price to pay for sleeper status. and it looks better...you wont be able to tell from the outside its a converted 7, and it will be pretty quiet as well....

fun facts, the 12a complete with turbo and oil cooler, weighed 375lbs, the 1uzfe with all accessories i will be using, minus a turbo, weighed 405lbs. i figure by the time its all done, with the changes i have made to the steering, rear end, cooling system and plumbing the car will MAYBE gain 80lbs, if that. and balance "should" remain the same, I will deliver the facts of that when its done and i can weigh it. though i never got a chance to weigh it before hand, i can give and end result and compare to existing rotary cars of similar specs as mine was.

stay tuned...engine build and plumbing coming soon.

the goal of this project is to build something no one else has, and I think i pretty much nailed that...the technical goals are to have at or slightly over 500whp, with the accompanying 400+wtq, have a cruising MPG of nearly 30mpg and a top speed north of 200mph, <--though I am not really willing to risk my car or my life to try it...car is sketchy above 150 with no aero mods....been there done that...

I had to shorten the T2 trans shifter location by 4 inches to push the engine back, resulting in an interesting mod to the shifter housing and new aluminum Xmember and body mounts.

the RE-speed Xmember had to be shimmed down 3/8, and lightly modded for the motor mount set up, offset bushings lower the rack as far as possible, I also added a 1" rectangle tube to the bottom of it to aid in a strike point to guard engine from road impact, also with provisions for armor plate sump guard, sump has to be shortened 1 inch, but i will make up for the loss of oil volume with the dual external filters and large oil cooler, engine holds 6 quarts originally with small filter and no cooler.

had to relocate the brake proportioning valve to the strut tower to clear the valve cover, pretty easy job.

all this work resulted in being able to close a stock unmodded hood over this tall ass engine and without cutting any sheetmetal on my precious little car.

the choice to use the T2 trans is simple...cost, i already had a forged steel flywheel and nice ACT clutch/pressure plate capable of the HP intended so since i did all the adapters myself for free, all it cost me was about 25 bucks for some special hardware, and then bout 100 bucks for a brand new camry starter since the T2 starter lacks the testicular fortitude to roll over a 4 cam v8, as for the strength of the t2...we shall see, they are pretty tough, my 12a made a good 400+ and i beat it like a stepchild, trans still works and sounds perfect.

Very neat, you're a talented machinist. Can't wait to see it in person.

Nice! Keep it up. I can't wait to see some videos.

I can dig it :)

now to pose a question for the more knowledgeable people out there regarding transmission speedometer gears in the T2.

right now my final ratio is 3.90 in my 8.8, i chose to stay with stock ratio for speedo purposes when i had it built, but now due to the engine combo, i want to change it to a 3.08 to achieve the top end and cruising MPG desired, but i would love to be able to maintain my correct(ish) speedo reading, so I am wondering if anyone has discovered an over the counter solution to ratio correction or do i have to just figure out how to make said parts?

Interesting project.

interesting is what my ultimate goal is...i love my 7 and want a special engine for it, LSx engines are nice but boring no matter how fast...everyone has one these days...wankels are finicky, delicate, expensive and hard to find parts for...so its time to move on to more reliable means of propulsion, tired of my car sitting in the garage instead of on the road.

most of my time on this project has thus far been spent on chassis mods, the RE-speed steering was ALOT more of a job than it should have been, there were some fitment issues i had to correct, and some parts that didnt work at all..but its all together now and im looking forward to driving the CAR more than the engine combo, i added bigger sways front and rear, hope the rear doesnt become too fishy...otherwise ill put the stock bar back on it, me no want to put car in tree...no no no...7 years without a scratch...and keeping it that way..

mulling over the gen2 brake upgrade, but its not priority right now, the GSLSE brakes work well under 150mph :D
i kinda want a kamei front spoiler for it...i like the plain outside look, but a front air-dam would help lots...and give me a bit more hiding room for intercooler and such

here is the shortened oil pan, the finished/painted trigger wheel and balancer, and the relocated brake proportioning valve to clear the valve cover.

You are a machinest well good for you because you can make a speedo gear for the speedo unit,the small gear using nylon.I have done it so you can .The change in OD will change the distance the gears center needs to be from the trans output shaft .Figure the diameter and the differance of the stock diameter and then you will know if you will need to cut the mounting hole from the side of the trans and weld it back in the correct place.You could make a mount and make the hole adjustable changes later .Being a mechinest opens the world to you ,think it out and be proud of what you do .Good skill to you.

ya i just didnt want to have to go through all that work, have enough on the plate as it is, i was actually thinking about making a small gearbox and using RC car gears to change the output ratio to what is needed for any given gear, as it sits i might not even have the gear change done by DGRR, so i might be on the 3.90 final still, which will kill my highway mpg but o well

smoothed off all the sharp edges of the stock pistons, a FYI for anyone considering this engine, the stock internals of the early 1uzfe engines 89-94, are good for near around 600 crank hp and safe to 7k rpm, its recommended to NOT exceed 7500 rpm due to rod CAP failure, and cam tappet shim issues, since its a shim over bucket design. the early engines have MUCH thicker rods for use in turbo application. the 95+ rods are pencils and will break.

settled upon a twin turbo set up, as soon as i finish assembling the engine and start fabbing plumbing I will post pics of the engine bay, im very anxious to hear what this engine will sound like through the twins and into the big single pipe...there will be no hiding its piston engine-ness from rotorheads....but unless they hear it, there are external clues.

i do still want another rotary...just not a turbo...too problematic...would like a nice NA rx3 or something, really like rx3 SP....cant afford one...

got the rotating assembly put together and my turbos came in the mail, now i have to assemble the heads...thats gonna take a while...because someone(me) thought it would be awesome to have a 32 valve engine...

engine almost done, few cooling system and accessory belt problems to solve, the lower intake is done, modded it and the rails to accept the 42lb green tops i had for it, and modded rails to accept AN fittings -6 o-ring to -8 male.

once this is all together the fun begins with the plumbing of the car...its going to get really cramped in there very soon.....

here is what the engine bay consists of now, i had to shim the Re-speed Xmember down 3/8, i also added a 1x2in tube to the bottom of the X and shortened the pan 1inch as stated before,

I added a 1 1/8 front swaybar, not exactly happy with its fitment...i hope to go to a tubular one at some point to shed a few pounds and they work nice.

here is some pics of the transmission adaptation, the only major modification to an existing part is that i had to change the bolt location on the flywheel, but i did so in a nice meaty place, I do not fear it, and even so I also have a scatter shield for it. (not shown)

here is the transmission on the engine, i had to adapt a camry 1mzfe starter to fit the mazda bellhousing, i cant find a pic of it right now...its not super complicated though, its a gear reduced starter, the T2 started lacks the nuts for a v8.
Attachment 12415

here is the shifter relocation mod i had to do to move the engine back 4 inches and retain stock interior, only permanent mod to the trans itself was i had to cut off one ear of the original shifter housing boss on the tailhousing.
Attachment 12416

offset bushings i made for the rack to lower it as much as possible
Attachment 12417

front view with mock engine in final location
Attachment 12418

more to come...

timing belt installed, working on the new belt tensioning system, and making it all pretty, incidently strips of velcro mimic a serpentine belt pretty good for figuring out what you are going to do and how long the belt is going to be.

i have to dissect the stock spring tensioner...looks like that might be a dangerously amusing good time, then will mod/fab/machine accordingly and then i can put the darn thing in the car!!! then plumbing...yay....

Coming along nicely, looking forward to see this finished.

engine should be going in the car this week, nothing to show yet, will take pics as events unfold, plumbing starts soon....and dont we all just love doing that...

engine is in the car, here are some pics of the various clearances, and just...well pics..still a long way to go, but every step counts.

progress update, headers are fabbed and turbos hung in place to begin plumbing down pipes and intake piping, intake is bolted down now, just have to finish the throttle body and install it.

ill probably end up using a free standing IAC unit with a GM motor and billet housing so i can put it where i need to and run lines to it

still have to detail the underside of my hood before installing on car, then i can monitor clearances as i finish it out.

I saw this car at DGRR with the 12a turbo, bring it next year with the V8 power!

planning on it brother...been a long road and its not over yet, I am but a 1 man army on it, but that is the plan.

if everything is ship shape by mid feb and i can do some in-state runs for shakedown im driving it up to the gap, will be a hoot in the hills with the added grunt

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just some progress pics

still waiting on parts to continue, as well as do the welding on the compressor housing mod and charge plumbing...stay tuned....

Very nice build! I hope to see a video of it stating here soon.

thank you, hope so too!!

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...63227188_n.jpg
this is all the intercooler i can realistically fit without cutting up my chassis, plus wont need anything bigger really, its going to be on pump gas boost levels and i have water injection also

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...46098563_n.jpg
had to make an oil re-routing block to eliminate the stock filter housing since it does not fit in the car, plus i want to run external filters and a cooler, this routes the lines forward away from the steering, i will be mounting all that mess soon enough once the intercooler is hung in place

I like where this is going :)

well its not going anywhere yet :D but soon enough, will post updates soon.

Nice Build man.

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I actually really like this build. It's different, and its quality work.

thank you, thats the idea. it might not be a wankel, but will still be the only one like it anywhere it goes.

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Mother of god