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LEXUS 1UZ-FE Engine Swap My blood sweat and tears. It will be worth it!!

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  #1  
Unread 08-04-2006, 04:57 AM
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I can fill a few pages EASILY about what I have been going through trying to get my parts for this build, but I won't. I'm going to attempt to just convey the general idea.

Don't pay anyone for an engine and it's associated parts until you recieve the WHOLE package. The seller of the engine and parts I bought originally agreed to send everything as long as I paid half up front and then the rest of the money once everything had arrived in satisfactory condition. Well he started begging me for the rest of the money up front, whining that he needed money to keep his business going and pay his employees. Well I'm a nice guy and I told him that he originally stated half first then 2nd half once it was all done but I would pay him in good faith. This was a mistake and I am still waiting for more parts 3 months later!!

The engine arrived missing a couple of parts that were on it before it was sent to me. I have a picture I made him take of it before it was shipped and yep... a couple of parts were taken off of it and sold before it made it down to me. What a great feeling. He SAYS he's sending me a check for $60 to make up for it.

In the meanwhile there is a WHOLE CAR for sale in town that I know I could have bought for the same price as I paid this guy up north for everything and the shipping.

My advise for ANYONE doing an engine swap with a 1UZ... BUY THE WHOLE DAMN CAR. They are out there sitting in people driveways with tons of dust on them. They cost more than most cars to drive on the road and no one wants to buy an old Lexus with a couple broken interior parts that has a V8 engine, gas consuming engine in it!!! Trust me on this one. They are out there for the taking for $1,000 - $1,500. The engines last forever and all the components are very high quality and will last a long time. Buy a wasted Lexus LS400 and just take everything you need out of it and change the timing belt and all the hoses/gaskets and you won't have any problems with the engine.
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Unread 10-17-2006, 10:00 PM
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Here is another interesting topic: SPECIAL TOOLS
Yeah I have tons of tools but you can never have them all. In the morning I will be picking up a valve keeper removal tool. This little guy basically works like an impact driver. You place it on top of the valve spring retainer and give it a swift pop with a hammer. Then the keepers pop out and stick to the magnet inside of it. This is delicate work as you don't want to lose ANY of those little puppies.

Here is the added bonus. There are 32 valved on these heads so get ready for some boring work. 4 valves per cylinder makes for a lot of valve work. <_< Nothing we can't handle.

I'll being doing a nice little writeup on this. I have seen a couple of people write instructions for this with some mediocre pictures. I plan on taking some nice pictures explaning the 1UZ engine specifically. It's not rocket science. I should have a set of valve seal pliers but I don't want to wait for another special tool to come in that I will ony use once. I have some pliers with some curved ends on them that should work just fine. If those don't work I'm going to melt down some long nose pliers and make my own.
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Unread 12-28-2006, 12:00 AM
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Yep the valve write up is good and complete: http://www.fourwheelforum.com/showthread.php?t=58

Check it out if you haven't already. DIY for sure. So here is my block now that the heads are in being ported.



I'm really quick at taking this engine apart to this point and putting it back together. Just label things as you disassemble it all. Shoot the least you can do is wrap handfuls of bolts up in plastic wrap and write what they are for on it. I have things in little baggies that are labeled and the thing will just fly back together when I get all the parts back. Labeling things is VERY important when you disassemble for a week or three. When you come back to random nuts and bolts it's impossible to put things back together correctly after so long.
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Unread 05-09-2007, 09:42 PM
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The big update for May 2007

Big News! I just got a call from my engine builder. He said I could come pick up my heads this weekend!! WOOHOOO!!!!!

All ported out, polished and custom valve work complete! Time to get this pig together!!!
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Unread 02-25-2009, 10:15 PM
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Well time flies x10. I can't BELIEVE it's been so long since I posted last in this thread. I basically got sidetracked by all sorts of things including a upper end rebuild on a MGB convertible that I REALLY did a perfect job on for my brother in law (now ex bro in law). MGB Roadster threads that are a good start but I haven't updated them with the rebuild yet: http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27

Buying my dream motorcycle (Aprilia Mille) really got in the way and I had to put a blanket over my Lexus engines because I felt so guilty seeing them in the garage. How bad is that? Then I went on vacation for a couple weeks. But timing is everything and now I'm right in the middle of all the work. Actually I would say I'm about 6/10's of the way there.

If you haven't seen it already - head right over to my other thread in which I am posting all the details! http://www.fourwheelforum.com/showthread.php?t=248

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