Yet another N00b

Hello everyone, I'm a 55 year old, over the hill car nut, still trying to realise a few boyhood dreams before time runs out.... I've built and owned high powered Supras for the last 10-15 years, but have recently been thinking it might be a good time to move to a more specialised platform as it's becoming more & more difficult to dodge the smog nazis. So, the idea of building a 1966 vintage racecar, exempt from all the OBDII nonsense, and still street legal, is very appealing.

I had the very good fortune to recently meet Simon H., a member of this forum, and an RF owner/builder, who graciously donated a morning & afternoon to showing off his nearly completed '40, and we went for several very exhilirating blasts in his '40 and my latest Supra.

As I'm a big fan of DOHC Toyota motors, my current thinking is to build a '40 with the 4.0l, all aluminum Lexus V8, which makes about 260 BHP @ 5600 in stock trim, but is good for around 300-325 with some mild tweaking and head work. It should also be good for around 400-425 with some mild boost from an Eaton M112 supercharger, which is probably the way I would run it from the get-go, since I already own two of these motors, and the buildup of one with a supercharger is nearly finished.

I've really enjoyed reading the tech posts here, and intend to continue lurking and reading until I'm able to pull the trigger on my project. I would appreciate any and all comments about my planned build, and any recommendations for the "best" transaxle fit, chassis, etc.

TIA,

John

Hi John,
you must have a very small hill!! I am 56 and don't reckon I'm half way up yet!!
Welcome to the forum.

Hello John,

The purists around here (i'm one of them ;-) would say its got to be a ford V8 with a ZF transaxle.

Right thats the lecture over...lol... with regard to building for a Lexus engine... What I would do is start talking to Kit manufactureres, Fran Hall of Race Car Replicas makes a good kit (no affiliation to him) and he is in the USA. I would assume the engine mounting would need to be sorted out and also you will need a bellhousing to adapt to your chosen transaxle. It also depends on how much money you want to throw at the project. ERA make very good replicas but are on the upper end of the kit market and only fit ford and ZF trans units, as are superperformance. I dont think I have heard of anybody fitting a Lexus V8 to a gt40 but this is the place to find out.

One thing to consider is that the engine bay is not spacious..... you will need to check if the engine with bellhousing and trans will fit into the back of the car especially with a supercharger. You can get 260 BHP easy from a ford V8 and I have seen a 650BHP turbo gt40 on here somewhere. As for the best type of transaxle.... the options are
ZF-2 - Strengthened version of the original trans used in the car, getting rarer and more expensive now
Audi 016 transaxle - Dont know anything about this trans
Porsche G50 - or the porsche...
Renault UN1 - Originally used in turbo rally cars and can be moded for higher output, easier to get hold of in the UK than the USA.

Hope this helps in some way.

Doc Watson

John
There are two GT40s that I knowof in Oz with lexus engins, a DRB and RF both fit ok and if you are not the historical type ( and nothing wrong with that) they are a good thing.

Darrell
DRB#46
LS1 G50

John
There are two GT40s that I know of in Oz with lexus engins, a DRB and RF both fit ok and if you are not the historical type ( and nothing wrong with that) they are a good thing.

Darrell
DRB#46
LS1 G50

Cheers Murray, unfortunately I've tended to abuse myself with fast cars, strong drink, etc, so I may be further along, but I see no reason to curtail the old habits now; the shock alone would probably kill me ;-)

Doc, thanks for the pointers; I understand there are Lexus powered '40's in Australia, and I'm trying to find more details of them.

At one time I was looking into having a Lotus 62S replica built in the UK, and the Renault UN1 transaxle seemed to be the box of choice for that builder. I know very little about it, or the G50 Porsche units, but both are apparently favored by kit builders.

Here is a photo of the type 62S Lotus as built by Banks Engineering of Southport; really a lovely car with lines not dissimilar from the GT40, but unmistakably Lotus.

John

Darrell, do you have any contact details for the owners of these cars, as I'd be very keen to talk with them? I think my email details are in my profile, but I'm not yet familiar with InfoPop forums, so I may have made a hash of it.

Here's an ITB'd Lexus motor that's putting out around 330 WHP in a Kiwi rally car

TIA,

John

They're tough as nuts, another source:- www.lextreme.com and www.bncproducts.com/ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flehan.gif

Flatchat, thanks for the link to your adaptors, I've been trying to contact you by email about them.

That lextreme site has some great technical information about the 1UZ motor, doesn't it?

John
(also a moderator on the lextreme site)

"Click !" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I'm with you now John, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif did get Email,your project sounds interesting -- the little Elves will be checking it out /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smoke.gif

I will see if the owners are ok with details etc. It may take a few days, one is only an hour from my home the other is in QLD maybe flatchat can chase him up.

Darrell
DRB #46
LS1 G50

There is also a DRB in WA with a supercharged lexus motor.
It's got one of those ex-Bullet motors. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif

john
i recently ordered a gt40 from Fran @ RCR and asked him to put in a DOHC 4.6 for me. he made the adapter and mounted it. look at his forum (yellow gt40 with a "big lump"). so if you're looking for a car builder who can install a Lexus, if anyone can, he can. he's in Michigan.
wes

Wes, thanks for that; if a 4.6 mod motor will fit, the Lexus ought to easily. Here's a dimensional photo of the 1UZ. I'd be curious to know how it compares to the 4.6 Ford? Note that the timing belt only drives the intake cams on each head; the exhaust cams are driven from the intake cams via a scissors gear. Also note the cam towers are very short on this motor, which helps to keep the motor itself fairly compact. It's certainly not as compact as a cam in block motor, but it's not far off.

And another from the side

I have a few pics of a RF with a lexus engine here is one.

And another I have driven this car it goes well and is so tractable your granny could drive it.

Darrell

DRB #46
G50 LS1

Very nice work with those ITB's and the exhaust system. Someone's certainly handy with a MIG/TIG box and a Bridgeport. What sort of EMS is the owner using? Do you have any performance figures on the engine and/or the car?

John

The builder of the car has a engine reconditioning shop on the NSW central coast and is a toolmaker by trade he made the exhaust and throttle bodies himself. The ECU is a Microtec out of Sydney.

Cheers
Darrell

DRB #46
LS1 G50

Impressive!