R32 GTR with the heart of a Supra

[1JZGTR]

I've always loved the skyline and its influence on automotive history. With all the choices available on the automotive market today it is difficult to decide what to spend hard earned money on. Do you want ultra modern sports car or something from history. In the skyline I found my perfect compromise. It has the prestige and heritage of classic muscle combined with impressive engineering and tech. These cars can be made to perform in whatever situation you so choose they aren't just a straight line racer.

A couple years ago I was shopping for a Skyline and never really found one that I truly desired. Instead I opted to go the other cheap fast route and bought a CBR600RR instead. It was good for a bit but it's hard to go for a Sunday drive when the person you want to ride with doesn't have an interest in it whatsoever. However everything changed after my last posting.

With a licence that was no longer valid in my new province (QC doesn't recognize learners permit) my bike sat in a shed. Then this past may I found an ad with the skyline I wanted. So gone with the bike and truck and in with the skyline for nothing but driving bliss....Until I spun a crank bearing after owning the car for 6 weeks.

So with the car in the shop already and no idea what to do with it I opted to do a 1JZ swap. It no longer has the AWD system but aside from that the 1JZ looks right at home. I wish I could say I did the work myself but I figured I at least have some idea of a swap that has crossed at least a few peoples minds. I still don't have the car back but will post pics soon.

[1JZGTR]

Original engine



The car



White smoke of a dying engine



Cell phone pic of 1JZ roughed in



Battery vs turbo intake (battery relocated to the trunk)



Early transplant stage

[Bruizer]

Wow! that's awesome. You want a reliable, stock engine'd and powerful skyline, you put a 2jz in and chuck the RodBearing26. This is what I should of done instead of trying to rebuild the rb a 3rd time.

[gtrjon]

wow never seen that hood before. Not personally a fan but its different. question tho if youre going to go through all that work for a jz swap why cheap out on a 1j and just not do it right the first time with the 2j? cool project!

[1JZGTR]

There were a few reasons for choosing the 1JZ over the 2JZ for me.

Cost
I had just bought the car so I didn't really anticipate having to do major maintenance within the first two months of ownership. A 1JZ can be had for qutie a bit less than a 2JZ while still being a strong running engine. There is also very little information on how to do this swap so labour cost is also a major issue.

Transmission
Most 2JZ come with a w58 transmission that doesn't have the reputation for reliability that the engine has. The other option to a getrag transmission (which alone cost $4500) is the r154 commonly found on the 1JZ. It is a beefy transmission in stock for and can take quite a lot of abuse. The engine found for me already had an r154 transmission, new stage 4 clutch and new bellhousing. A bell housing alone is $500 and is required to make the r154 bolt up to a 2JZ. Also with the getrag it is quite a big box so it would have potentially required substantial modification to the tranny tunnel. As it stands right now my interior is intact.

Ease of tuning
Even though the engines are quite similar the ecu operate somewhat different. A 2JZ engine is more difficult to tune and can be a pain to trouble shoot especially when swapped into a non supra.

Type of engine
With the obvious difference in displacement aside a 2JZ makes its power in a slightly different way when compared to a 1JZ. The head of a 1JZ flows slightly less air but at a faster velocity which is an important factor with turbo boosted engines. A 1JZ head also handles high rpm very well (8000rpm with no valve float). It also uses a different stoke so the engine is a true screamer in stock form which I prefer.

With all that being said it doesn't mean that I wouldn't love to have a 2JZ it is just not gonna happen right away. On the plus side when I feel like I want more displacement it only costs a couple thou and I'll have 3l and a bottom end that I can take a mountain of boost. Compare that to an rb26 stroker kit that yeilds 2.8l and costs 8k plus and is a substantial job.

[Spec-D]

I fully support your build sir..

[LuckyGTR]

les rb28 cest mort c moteur la

asteur pour moin cher tu peut avoir UN RB30 RIPS COMplet bloc avec adapteur AWD pour moin cher qun ******* rb28 pis en plus avec RIPS ta la tete claire , pas besoin de rebuild 2-3 fois , c la coche!!

criss une tete NEUVE stock , de gtr sur le rb30 , un bo single turbo metton si tu veut faire 500 whp avec 500 torke


pis la tu est en biseness en tabarnak pis en plus ta pas TUER le 4x4 du GTR

ca jtrouve ca cave en criss ,

pour le reste ok cest cool ta un 1jz dans un skyline , , jlaurais faite dans un GTST bin avant canceller le 4x4 du GTR

si tu comprend ske jveut dire

je hate pas , im just saying

[1JZGTR]

Well for starters I didn't buy the car with intentions of swapping the engine out lol The car was fully built with N1 block, 2860's, R33 head with titanium valve train, N1 crank, forged pistons/rods, N1 oil pump, N1 water pump, stage 2 cams, HKS Cam pulleys, Kevlar timing belt, and D jetro. The AWD is ok but not having it isn't a deal breaker for me, I'd rather sacrifice awd and gain reliability. A RIPS awd short block is $4000(in NZ no less) , that still doesn't include replacing parts that were affected by the spun crank bearing. A 1jz with single turbo can make 500rwhp.

I do get what your saying and it isn't exactly an ideal solution but neither is a motor blowing. I'm not a mechanic and from everything I've read (and know now) rb26s are labour intensive, not to mention expensive.

Slick set up though ported rb30

[Dragon Humper]

Meh...you could have been up and running again for $3000 with a budget forged 26 but i salute your "dare to be different".



Jon.

[1JZGTR]

And I could blow it again seeing as how the inherent flaw with the rb26 is the engine wasn't designed to spend time past 7k rpm, especially with an aftermarket oil pump. Spinning a crank bearing is a fairly common problem and there is a thread dedicated to this over on gtr.co.uk. To prevent the issue some people have gone as far as adding another returnn line from the head to the crank. So yes I could have been up and running for less but for how long is the main question. Id rather try and be different than accept the fact that the rb26 has some major flaws with its design. I don't have a wallet deep enough to support the trial and error method to making an rb work. With a supra its bolt, tune and go for far less than it would take with an rb.

The worst part for me is now over. All my accessories work (speedo, tach, fuel, wipers) and when the time comes I can just throw a 3l engine in there that can take more abuse and boost than some of the best built rb's.

[rvander1992]

Plus how much did the swap cost you?
Theres people searching for n1 block for 1500-2grand
you can sell your internals
you can sell the whole engine bay essentially to make back cash. Its not as though the swap was all cash out of pocket, you can sell the remains from before to make back money.

[1JZGTR]

The thing is though when you spin a crank bearing anything oil related is pretty well a write off. My cams were railed, head is being inspected, the bores of #1 and #3 were damaged pretty bad. That and coupled with the fact the engine was built wrong from day 1. The engine builder had put undersized pistons in the bore. I've tried to recoup some losses on the motor but it takes a buyer for a seller. I'm also not gonna sell destroyed parts to people. A swap costs what it costs and it costs more to be first lol. It definitely wasn't the most economical route but for 4k I have a strong engine with a rock solid transmission, one that doesn't eat its synchros.

[Joe Stefano]

I think your really over exaggerating on the weakness aspect of an RB26 lol...In the end i believe it all comes down to what quality parts you put in them, how well you take care of your engine and WHO did your work! remember....as good of a reputation that a supra engine has, NOTHING says it wont blow. Not wishing it to you tho cuz i like the unique aspect of what your doing!

[NoLimit0596]

I think your really over exaggerating on the weakness aspect of an RB26 lol...In the end i believe it all comes down to what quality parts you put in them, how well you take care of your engine and WHO did your work! remember....as good of a reputation that a supra engine has, NOTHING says it wont blow. Not wishing it to you tho cuz i like the unique aspect of what your doing!

+ 100

[1JZGTR]

I know I am exaggerating a bit about the RB26 and its issues. The engine builder is the biggest piece of the puzzle and it was supposedly built by a reputable shop in Montreal. In the performance game nothing is quaranteed especially when pushed past stock levels. In the end it really just came down to why not try. There really is limited information on how to do the swap and what modifications are required. If it does blow all I hope is that it doesn't happen this year.