Dry Lakes Racers Australia

Just thought of one of those lift bags that you shove under the car and then shove the inlet hose onto the exhaust pipe. That may work methinks!

Thanks Dave,

If I can't find anything lower I will have to use stackable ramps to get the car up at the front but I like Doc's bung idea.

I did find a 70mm min height jack on Ebay USA.

Doc,

The rear end won't be an issue, it's the front.

The bung idea has merit, thanks for that one, I got fixated on a jack and didn't look for altenatives other than the drive up stackable ramps. They use them for levelling caravans and campers. I'm am keen on a jack to save the extra work.

It'll definitely have a chute mount, the chute is on it's way now.

Paul,

I did briefly contemplate a slide off front bar as it would make loading and unloading the car much easier too.
The down side is that it makes for a ton of extra work, all the underbody plastics, plastic inner guards etc use the bar and lip for support. With everything unscrewed and the bar off, you're left with a floppy plastic mess. I actually have some concerns with it's integrity at big speeds but will initially put my faith in Toyota engineering.

Cheers,
Rob

C Hanlon wrote:Rob all the variable cam timing stuff wev'e done at work has been worthwhile.
The alloytec commodore we did we fully built with bigger valves and comp etc, made our own billets for cams and used Motec control.

Advantage 1 was idle control and quality with big cams. Then with Motec you could optimise the power/torque curb all the way through the range.
Lambos have a very similar setup to the Alloytec ie constantly variable intake and exhaust right through the range. Even look the same.
Warning, you do need to fully understand the combination before you start screwing with valve timing as big cams and valves can collide if you get the timing wrong.
Are the Toyotas constantly variable or a simple 2 position?
If its the simple system you can do your worst . Regardless of engine speed things can't hit
Chris

Thanks for the info Chris,

It sure sounds like VVTi is the way to go.

To the best of my knowledge, VVT was the 2 stage system and VVTi is variable. Info online is a little thin and I am currently awaiting an e-manual that will hopefully shed some light on it.

I hear you RE messing with valve timing, trust me, I follow the measure twice, cut once principle. I believe too that VVTi requires less lift at the cam than non-VVTi.

I'm starting to think that if I take the car next year it will be with a mostly standard (though de-limited) driveline.

Cheers,
Rob

Thanks Spook,

I hadn't given an airbag a thought. Not so much the large exhaust one you mentioned but a suspension type bag as a jack. The car still has it's suspension compressor so something like that would be a piece of cake.

I guess an on board jacking system would work too dependant upon costs.

Thanks guys, lots of food for thought there.

Cheers,
Rob

Hey Rob

Have you checked out www.lextreme.com dedicated site for the 1uz

RGV Pete

I once had a dream about a 1UZ Streamliner and it turned into an RGV 250 Suzuki I am still a happy man

Yes thanks Pete,

I have since found out that some of the info put forward there is dodgey...specs, tolerances etc. which makes it hard to believe any of it without double checking.

There are a stack of Toyota/Lexus forums online.

My first loves are traditional type streamliners and bellytank lakesters and the future holds one or the other. The Soarer was a good place to start and the record was relatively soft at 165mph (and change).
Max Ellery upped the ante this year to 179.928mph in his Commodore, a good jump by anyone's standards and making the hill a little harder to climb.

I did originally consider a bike and could probably already be riding one for what I have spent thus far.

Thanks for the input, much appreciate it.

Cheers,
Rob

Hey Rob

I am not suprised, been a few years since I was looking at that stuff. The inaccurate info is always a problem, just got to wade through the rubbish and find out what is useful. I've always been a fan of getting the most out of what you got.

I basically had to go with what I could afford and the small bike option was the best way to actually run at the Lake. I had a ball in March. A Streamliner (car) is still a possible a future project.

A mate did a 1UZ XJ6 Jag Conversion. Used Lexus Auto and Jag Diff Driveline. Made up the exhausts, new springs in the front, everything else stock. What a long distance Cruiser it was. Sorting out the Electronics was the biggest challange.

I really like what your doing, your combo from my very limited experience seems to have all the right ingredients. A heavy car with a slippery shape with a well engineered and very strong engine that can maintain high RPM for long periods. (Believe me my mates Jag tested that theory a few times)

Great stuff!!!

RGV Pete

G'day Pete,

Many moons ago we put a few small block Chevs in XJS Jags, hooked up to the std box and used GT Falcon radiators. They drove well, went well and the owners were in front on the cost of a rebuild of the std engine. These were well before the 1UZ was born, probably around '81.

Did your mate use the stock ECU? The stock rpm limit is around 6475rpm but they will hold together much higher than that. '91-94 engines have far stronger rods than the later (and VVTi versions).

I was surprised how heavy the standard car was, two men cannot fit a door without a trolley jack and swapping to a non-electric column saves 10kg. All that copper and gold adds up. I figure my all up weight will be around 2000kg.

Cheers,
Rob

Yeah Rob he did use the stock ecu. The only dramas had something to do with one of the many sensors, I do not know which one it was. Went to Toyota bought the part over the counter and away he went.

RGV Pete

G'day Pete,

The stock ECU can be finnicky, I know the rod used the original dash to circumvent some of the issues. I'd go aftermarket stand alone ecu before I'd have used the dash. He lost a gearbox sensor and I remember that gave him conniptions until he found and changed it.

Cheers,
Rob

Rob

That was the sensor.

RGV Pete

Very quiet down here at the moment but I thought I'd add a few lines to the build. I've been doing a lot of reading regarding aftermarket ECUs and VVTi.

Motec M800, Adaptronic SM4 and at least one Haltech will all run it, not sure on the Electromotive TEC3, waiting for confirmation there.

It's going to be hard to spring for the Motec unless I can find a second hand unit but it's certainly the creme of the crop. A new one will more than double my current investment and I can't really justify that sort of $$ at this point.

With luck, Saturdas will again become my own after July and I can get stuck right in.

Cheers,
Rob

Rob is the std vvti ecu and a piggyback an option ?

G'day Greg,

It may be if I had one (VVTi ECU) though I am unaware of a piggyback capable of operating/fooling the factory VVTi.

I do have a piggyback that will allow me to remap run fuel/ignition, reset the rpm limit and remove the speed limit. It won't do VVTi though.

When I run the VVTi heads I will also be running a custom inlet and completely different fuel system so the factory ECU will become redundant.

I could initially lock the VVTi drive on he front of the cams and run the engine without that function but as with everything else in the build I'm trying to save overall $$ spent by doing it once up front.

Cheers,
Rob

It's been too quiet for too long on the build but recent progress has been made, albeit in the US.

I dropped by Deist last Wednesday and spent up on safety gear. They didn't have belts or wrist restraints on the shelf but whipped them up on Thursday am for me in half an hour so we dropped by on our way back up north and grabbed those.

We picked up the heads and inlet manifold from north of Modesto yesterday and I've arranged freight for those as it' was a whole lot cheaper than excess baggage.

Cheers,
Rob