Putting JDM engine in!!! :D
 

Hey guys so I just got my JDM 7MGE shipped to me and I'm ready to put it in now.... and yes I know why did I not get the turbo :( just money issues is all, I've been dying for my beast to be turbo'd but it'll have to wait.

Ok so I noticed some differences from the old to the new engine already. Like the motor mounts are different on the two :s umm but on the new engine i received one of the mounts was broken so i need to use from the old engine...

anyways my problem lays in how everything below the intake differs on the two engines, the mounts are in dif places on the block and i have a fuel line going from fuel rail to two dif spots on both engines... so just wondering if anyone has info to share with me when it comes to putting in a JDM engine, how to resolve my fuel line problem as it is going right to a place on the new engine where the engine mount from the old engine has to go... also would like to know what other things like this can i expect to run into putting the new engine in? any help is appreciated guys, thanks in advance.

Best bet would be to swap everything over that bolts onto the engine, as there will be several differences....

The fact that you have different mounts tells me that your engine came from either a 89 or later Supra or a 89 or later Cressida, both of them having a slightly lower redline due to changes in balancing the rotating assembly. You may want to look into getting the proper ECU, although your 86 ECU should be able to work fine. Just be mindful of the lower redline, and take care of routing all of the vacuum lines properly before you install the engine, as this will be extremely difficult if you wait till it's in.

That's all that I can think of at the moment, just swap everything external over.

The mounts being in a different place point to a Cressy engine. Does the intke still branch off in a "Y" after the throttle body or is it one straight piece of pipe up to the intake plenum? If it doesn't branch it's from a Cressida and the oil pan and pump are not compatible. You'll also want to swap over the ENTIRE intake and vacuum system or you'll lose the benefits of the ACIS. You'll also need to swap over your engine harness in order to keep the ACIS which I recommend.

Be sure to tear the engine apart for a VERY thorough inspection... bearings, replace the headgasket, leak down test to test rings... JDM's are time bombs far more often that people like to admit. They're so cheap to buy and ship over here and still manage to resell cheap because they're largely treated as disposable cars over there.

I am in the middle of doing this myself on a 1990 cressida. I purchased an engine from enginesus.com They replace the head gasket and surface the head as well. Since I know about the BHG, I checked their torque settings on the head bolts. they were at 72, the correct setting. I got a set of ARP head studs, and replaced each one, one by one. First torqued to 72, then to 85-90, as ARP reccomends. Since all the seals are now 20 years old, I went to E-bay, and bought an Eristic engine seal set for about 50 bucks from a vendor in California. The head gasket might not be of the highest quality, but it was not crap either. Since my head gasket was replaced by enginesus, I did not use the head gasket. The other gaskets and seals in the set appeared to be of good quality. I replaced the front and rear main seal. I purchased a timing belt set from another vendor and installed that, along with a new water pump. I checked the main and rod bearings with Plastigage, all were within tolerance, so I left them in. Considering that rod bearings are only 50 bucks or so, I could/should have replaced them. I adjusted the clearances in the cam shims. I used some or the shims from the old engine. The engine mounts were not on the engine, but I noticed that some of the fuel injection lines were in a different spot than on the cressida, so I just moved the stuff from the old engine to the new one. The oil pan and oil pump were different, so i used my old ones. I bought the FIPG from Toyota, and installed the oil pan.

Replacing head bolts one at a time (while the others are torqued) is a very bad idea. The 7M's head is not that robust and you create a big upset in the uniformity of tension across the head. I know why you did it that way... to prevent the composite head gasket from tearing, but you really may have been better off just replacing it.

Other than that, you've done it all pretty much by the book. Excellent!

Regarding the ARP bolt substiution. I have seen other websites that metion this. I also called ARP directly. They told me that it can be done, and is being done, but they cannot guarantee it will work. Since this was a brand new headgasket installation and the engine has not run since it was installed, I decided to take the risk. I will report the outcome once the engine has been installed and has been used for a while.

Your point is well taken

Thanks for the replies fellas and yes CRE the intake is the same as on the old engine to a T or a Y for this matter :P I have already replaced the components that I found necessary to replace so far, but i'm trying to make this as plug and play as possible. Putting engine in tomorrow, finally got somebody to help me with the drop in. Not doing a rebuild at this time, but will see how it plugs in and go from there. Are injectors on the foreign models the same as on the American models? and will that have an affect in conjunction with the mass air flow sensor i have, or will the cpu compensate... i dunno.. well i'll keep ya posted

The US market injectors are yellow, the JDM are green. I have seen the JDM ones offered on e-bay. they have a higher flow rate. I suppose the yellow ones are intended to pass emissions standards here. It might be possible that the ECU on the JDM engines differ as well, and work together with the green JDM ones there.

Wrong. There is no difference between the USDM and JDM injectors nor is there any difference with those from other markets.

Yellow topped injectors are N/A from pre89 model MKIII Supras and Cressidas. Green topped are from Supras sold in '89 and thereafter. The pre89 injectors (yellow are low impedance and require the use of a resistor pack which is found on the drivers side wheel well. 89+ injectors are high impedance. The upside to having pre89 injectors is that the GTE (all years) used low impedance injectors, so, if you're going to add a turbo to your N/A and plan on keeping the N/A electronics you may drop in GTE electronics... no can do if you're 89+.

Sheesh.....



EDIT: also of note is that if your vehicle has one color and the other vehicle has the other the wire harnesses are generally NOT compatible... you'll need to swap your old harness over.

Oop......I stand corrected. :bow:

Thanks CRE....