Supercharging my V8 - Will be pic heavy

[J-Meiser]

Hi everyone,

I apologise for the lack of updates, work kept me extremely busy in the run up to Christmas and since I finished for Christmas, I've just been unwinding, as I needed to! I did manage to make some progress before work became busy, so I'll detail that below:

• Removed the upper coil pack, mounted above the coolant inlet pipe
• Disconnected the HT leads from the distributors
• Drained the cooling system and removed the radiator and coolant pipes - this allowed me to stand in the space between the front of the engine and the air-con rad, making accessing the engine an awful lot easier!
• Top half of the inlet manifold, including the throttle body

Removing the top half of the inlet manifold was a bit fiddly as, for those are not aware, my engine is a pre '94 1UZ-FE and these engines come with a ninth, 1000cc injector that assists with starting the engine. '94+ 1UZ engines don't have the extra injector. 

Getting to that injector and disconnecting the wiring/fuel feed pipe, while supporting the inlet manifold while not breaking anything was interesting, as the injector is located at the bottom of the top half of the inlet manifold. I knew that I had managed to do it in 2018, but I couldn't remember how exactly . Hopefully, the pic below provides some form of reference.

As my new lower inlet manifold has no provision for mounting the extra injector, I will be blocking it off and going without it. The engine will still start without it, but I'm not sure of the exact effect losing it will have until I start it up once the work is done, so I'll see what happens.

Once the manifold was removed, I called it there but this is where I will be picking up from, when I get back to it (hopefully, sometime this week).

[Tyson]

Very nice, looking forward to following this

[jim_supra]

Cannot wait to hear this running, i would love a V8 Supra.

[Delboy52]

I never knew the 1st 1uz’s had an extra injector. There’s a guy in New Zealand (Kelvin) who knows these #UZ engines inside out. He goes over interchangeable parts, explains bits and how they work. Discovered I have air assisted injectors on mine Regular informative videos on YouTube, CartuneNZ if you fancy. He did the immobiliser bypass for mine.  
 

1 hour ago, jim_supra said:

Cannot wait to hear this running, i would love a V8 Supra.

Also looking forward to seeing this running. It’s funny how at car shows when stood nearby to mine, how divided people are when they see a V8 in a Supra. Some love it and are interested to know more, others have faces that screw up like they just tried marmite for the first time

[jim_supra]

4 hours ago, Delboy52 said:

Also looking forward to seeing this running. It’s funny how at car shows when stood nearby to mine, how divided people are when they see a V8 in a Supra. Some love it and are interested to know more, others have faces that screw up like they just tried marmite for the first time

There will always people who think the Supra should only have a 2JZ in it, then the people who think having an auto and not a manual is somehow sacrilege!

[Noz]

5 hours ago, Delboy52 said:

Also looking forward to seeing this running. It’s funny how at car shows when stood nearby to mine, how divided people are when they see a V8 in a Supra. Some love it and are interested to know more, others have faces that screw up like they just tried marmite for the first time

Social media tuners usually. These guys usually own cars that screws up most peoples faces when they see what they drive.

[J-Meiser]

On 12/29/2020 at 12:46 AM, Tyson said:

Very nice, looking forward to following this

 

On 12/29/2020 at 9:37 AM, jim_supra said:

Cannot wait to hear this running, i would love a V8 Supra.

Thanks! Looking forwards to getting it up and running. 

[J-Meiser]

On 12/29/2020 at 10:52 AM, Delboy52 said:

I never knew the 1st 1uz’s had an extra injector. There’s a guy in New Zealand (Kelvin) who knows these #UZ engines inside out. He goes over interchangeable parts, explains bits and how they work. Discovered I have air assisted injectors on mine Regular informative videos on YouTube, CartuneNZ if you fancy. He did the immobiliser bypass for mine.

Shane and I were talking about the extra injector a few years ago, but I had no idea where it was until I took off the inlet manifold in '18 .

Yes, I've spoken to Kelvin a few times on the Lextreme forum and it was by using his YouTube videos that I found out what size bolt, its thread and pitch that I need to block off the extra injector at the rail . He's a very knowledgeable guy!

Edited January 9, 2021 by J-Meiser (see edit history)

[J-Meiser]

On 12/29/2020 at 10:52 AM, Delboy52 said:

Also looking forward to seeing this running. It’s funny how at car shows when stood nearby to mine, how divided people are when they see a V8 in a Supra. Some love it and are interested to know more, others have faces that screw up like they just tried marmite for the first time

I fully agree! The confused look that comes across some people's faces can be a real "Kodak moment".

Not that I should have, but I have read some of the comments for some YouTube videos that feature my Supra leaving a show/meet and the majority of them were less than complimentary. Thankfully I don't pay attention to "keyboard warriors" and I do have to laugh at some of them! 

[J-Meiser]

I managed to get out and get some more work done earlier this week:

• Disconnected the fuel feed and return lines
• Disconnected the wiring for the coolant temperature sensors and diagnostics port, moved it out of the way
• Disconnected the fuel injector wiring and moved them out of the way
• Removed the lower inlet manifold and injectors, leaving the fuel injectors in situ, fitted to the manifold

Removing the lower inlet manifold was a bit of a milestone for me, as I knew that's as far down as I have to go and that from here I was going to be building up again, this time with a completely new setup. There's a fair bit of debris in the V, so I will vacuum that out before fitting the supercharger manifold in position properly.

However, my joy was short lived as I noticed a leak from the front water bridge from where I fitted my modified bridge back in '18. With my low supercharger inlet manifold, the front bridge needed modifying to ensure that the supercharger would sit correctly. Back in '18 when I carried out the test fit, I swapped the stock for the modified front water bridge then, just to make sure that there were no leaks from where it was welded. Thankfully, the bridge itself worked fine.

I removed the bridge and could see that it was the gaskets that had failed. The ones that I used at the time weren't genuine Toyota obviously weren't up to the task. I bought some genuine gaskets in '19, in case the third party ones failed. Looks like I will be fitting the genuine gaskets.

Having the front water bridge off did allow me to experiment and try to find out why I couldn't get the supercharger inlet manifold to fit properly during my initial test. I managed to work out that it is due to the wiring loom at the back of the engine and the plastic casing that it is in.

I would rather not lose the casing but I have a feeling that I am going to have to. I will see if I can work around it the next time that I get to look at it.

[J-Meiser]

Hello everyone!

I am sorry for the lack of updates recently, both work and family have kept me quite busy and the snow/general cold weather made my garage far too cold to work in, even with the heater on.

I since my last update, I took good look at the wiring casing at the back, tried several things but I could not get the inlet manifold to fit with in there with the casing as it is, so I took away a good portion of it and manifold sat better, but still not properly.

I turned my attention to the wiring that ran from the loom at the back to the front, down the middle of the ‘V’, between the upper and lower inlet manifolds. I had to take it out of the plastic casing as it was not going work/fit with the new manifold and I needed to separate out the wiring for the IACV; the IACV will be moving to the back of the engine.

Once the wiring had been separated out, I wrapped them up once more, moving the diagnostics port (and its wiring) out to the side, as the wiring is too thick to fit in the space between the manifold and the rear water bridge. I cleared out the ‘V’ and turned my attention back to the manifold.

Turns out the manifold required a little modification; I had to grind a little bit of material off the corners that go over the mounting studs on the heads. With a little bit of material removed, the manifold now sat correctly!

Once I was happy that the manifold was sitting correctly, I cleaned up the mating faces for the inlet manifold and the front water bridge. I then refitted the front water bridge so that I could check that job off the list.

The next job I wanted to tackle was getting the supercharger to sit flush on the manifold. I decided to go with the Ford M112. I carried out a test fit and unfortunately, it would not sit flush on the manifold because it still had the mounting rim for the stock air-to-water intercooler, so it had to go.

 

After researching the best bay to take apart one of these, I made a start in the garage, draining out the oil first. The oil had one of the oddest smells I have ever come across! It was incredibly pungent. Once that was out, I removed the bolts holding the snout to the body and used my dead blow hammer to gently knock it forwards and off the body.

After that, I removed as many of the bolts and attachments as I could, turned it over and using a hammer and the wide-end of a chisel, I was able to tap out the rotor and gear assembly.

I then taped up the needle bearings at the rear, as I had a feeling that this was going to be a messy job and I did not want any bits of aluminium getting in there. I also taped up the mating faces to try and serve as both protection and a warning, should I have gotten too close with the angle grinder.

 
This morning I decided to tackle the job of removing the mounting. A few hours later, this was the end result:

Things did not quite go perfectly. I injured my finger with the angle grinder, while I was focussing on not catching the mating face, which resulted in me catching the mating face. Twice. I smoothed them out a bit, but as I will be using a gasket maker to seal the supercharger to the manifold, I am hopeful that the mishaps have not caused serious damage.

I couldn’t resist test fitting the supercharger case to the manifold and comparing it to the stock inlet manifold so that I could check the height difference. Here are some pics from that:

It looks like the supercharger setup will be very similar in height to the stock setup, if not a bit lower. I still need to fit head gaskets and sealant, so I doubt that thge height will change that much, but so far, it's looking good!

I also could not pass up the opportunity to test fit the manifold and supercharger case on the engine, so I did that too:

Again, so far so good! I am planning to reassemble the supercharger soon, so I'll have a slightly better idea about how everything will line up, but I'm feeling quite positive at the moment, especially after all of the work gone into the "hidden" jobs that slowed me down a fair bit!

Now that the weather is a bit warmer, I’m hoping to be able to get out more often and make some good progress, so hopefully, there won’t be such a big gap between this and the next update!
 

[Delboy52]

Great work mate! The supercharger is going to sit in there very nicely without having to mess with the bonnet. Hopefully the snout and pulley doesn't let the side down. Coming along nicely 

[J-Meiser]

Thanks Mike! I'm hoping that it will; once I've reassembled the supercharger, I'll carry out another test fit and close the bonnet properly to try and get an idea about clearances. If all goes well there, I can crack on with one less thing to worry about .

[Hammer]

Great progress. A V8 looks so good in the Supra bay. Good work and good updates, thanks and well done. Hope all goes well and looking forward to you getting this up and running.

[Noz]

Lovely custom work. Credit to you there mate.

[J-Meiser]

Hammer and Noz, thank you both very much! I just wish that I could actually fabricate things, I'd be almost fully self-sufficient .

I'm itching to get it all done and get back out on the roads but I've hit a couple of snags now . I'll put up a post shortly detailing what they are.

[J-Meiser]

Hello again everyone,

Since my last update I have not had a huge amount of time to get stuff done, but I have been able to do a few bits.

I test fitted the supercharger to throttle body adapter once more to see where it required adjustment. Just one of the studs was catching on the IACV mount so I trimmed the end of it; fitted perfectly fine after that .

I decided to clean up the mating faces of the throttle body adapter using my rotary tool, as I wanted to test fit them all in the engine bay. I was a little concerned about the height of the throttle body in relation to the valve cover, so I wanted to see how things stacked up. I was happy with the result of the cleaning, so I will remember this for future reference.

After everything was cleaned, I put them all together, placed them in the bay and immediately noticed a couple of problems:

1.     The supercharger no longer sat flush on the manifold.
2.    The PCV fitting was sitting on the valve cover

I could remove the PCV fitting and try to seal it up, but I was planning to use it to use it for the bypass for the IACV. Also, I am not convinced that removing the fitting would resolve the problem or just move the problem to another location.

Before I made my mind up on what to do next, I figured that I would reassemble the supercharger fully and get a complete picture of where things stood.

I had a supercharger rebuild kit ready as I was going to replace the coupler in the snout regardless. I was not sure what sort of life the supercharger had led in the past, so I figured I’d play it safe. To be honest, I could have gotten away with not changing the coupler as there was no play or slack at all, but at least I know now that it has been changed and it should last a long while. I also have other rebuild parts to hand, should anything else decide to retire.

Once it was reassembled, I was surprised at just how heavy it had become! I placed it on the manifold and noticed yet another issue. One of the bolts at the bottom was catching on the front water bridge .

I forgot to remove my hex bit for the oil plug before I took the pictures, so I do apologise for that . I could try running the supercharger without that lower bolt; the snout is sealed to the body with a sealing paste, but I am not sure that I want to do it. Also, other people who have run this supercharger on a 1UZ-FE have not needed to, so I am reluctant to.

Finally, I decided to check the clearance with things as they were, so I closed the bonnet to he "first stage", but did not seal it; primarily because I would need to be a contortionist to get into the car to open it again, with all the bits that I have lying about. To be fair, even with it closed to the “first stage”, I could see that it was awfully close already, if not touching .

Depending on how things play out, either a bonnet modification or replacement could be on the cards, but I will sort that when the time comes. It is something that I wanted to avoid from the outset, but I am not sure that this goal is going to remain feasible .

So, to recap, the main issues that I am now faced with are:

1.    The PCV fitting was sitting on the valve cover
2.    One of the bolts at the bottom was catching on the front water bridge

Due to these issues, the supercharger is not sitting flush on the manifold.

Now, I have been looking into solutions and I can source another throttle body adapter, but it does not come with a fitting for the IACV (as far as I can tell). I can source another inlet manifold, but it would make the supercharger sit higher. To be honest, it probably needs to sit a bit higher due to that bolt catching on the front water bridge; so, I am currently evaluating what to do there.

I am considering going with the alternative throttle body adapter and seeing if the IACV fitting from my current throttle body adapter could be welded on to the new one. They are both made from aluminium, so hopefully it should work. The major problem is, I cannot weld. If anyone can weld aluminium (or knows someone who can) and is willing/able to help, I would be incredibly grateful indeed. Likewise, if anyone has any suggestions to help me solve these issue, I would be happy to hear them!

I will continue my research and to make enquiries; hopefully, solutions will come through soon.

[Noz]

Top work. I think these incremental sessions on the car will be what gets it over the line for sure mate.

Keep up the good work. Worth it in the end mate.

[mattdavies]

Enjoying this thread even if you are frustrated with the build. 

Could you replace the bolt thats hitting the water bridge with a slim head one or maybe put a small counter sink in the superchrger casing and use a counter sunk torques bolt ? 

[jim_supra]

As above, a countersunk bolt may be the way to go for an easy fix.

As for the PVC Valve on the throttle body, if you cannot find someone able to weld aluminium so as to re-work your current adaptor, could you not have an extension piece made out of steel to sit between the adaptor and the throttle body and give you the clearance you need? 

[Delboy52]

I've used Mike to do some welding on my aluminium radiator a few times before. He's in Aylesbury if that's not too far out.

http://mandjwelding.co.uk/

[mattdavies]

1 hour ago, Delboy52 said:

I've used Mike to do some welding on my aluminium radiator a few times before. He's in Aylesbury if that's not too far out.

http://mandjwelding.co.uk/

This is useful for me and my supra mates, I live in Taplow and they live in Princes Risborough and Aylesbury 

[J-Meiser]

14 hours ago, Noz said:

Top work. I think these incremental sessions on the car will be what gets it over the line for sure mate.

Keep up the good work. Worth it in the end mate.

Thank you! I'm sure that it will be worth it in the end; it's just getting to the end that's the "fun" bit .

[J-Meiser]

13 hours ago, mattdavies said:

Enjoying this thread even if you are frustrated with the build. 

Could you replace the bolt thats hitting the water bridge with a slim head one or maybe put a small counter sink in the superchrger casing and use a counter sunk torques bolt ? 

I don't know why I didn't think of a countersunk bolt earlier ; thank you very much for the suggestion! I will look into that .

I think with the past week being a bit tough in general, to have a few issues crop up at once did frustrate me a fair bit. However, I am very grateful for all of the suggestions and help put forward! I am taking the time to try and work through the problems instead of rushing out to buy an alternative, so fingers crossed, I may yet be able to use what I have... We'll see how things pan out.

12 hours ago, jim_supra said:

As above, a countersunk bolt may be the way to go for an easy fix.

As for the PVC Valve on the throttle body, if you cannot find someone able to weld aluminium so as to re-work your current adaptor, could you not have an extension piece made out of steel to sit between the adaptor and the throttle body and give you the clearance you need? 

In effect, what you're suggesting is a throttle body "spacer" ? That's not a bad idea at all - thank you! Again, I'd need someone to make it for me and I'm not confident such a place exists in Peterborough, but I will enquire and see what responses I get .

[J-Meiser]

10 hours ago, Delboy52 said:

I've used Mike to do some welding on my aluminium radiator a few times before. He's in Aylesbury if that's not too far out.

http://mandjwelding.co.uk/

Thank you very much Mike; I will drop them an e-mail with some pictures and see what they say. As I don't have the alternative throttle body adapter as yet (I have held off buying it for now), I will also put forward Jim_Supra's suggestion about the extension/spacer and see whether they could produce it. They can only say no .