Engine Choice: Weighing Options

There are alot of popular engine swaps these days and I wanted to share why I chose this swap over some of the other options.

Swaps considered:
2JZ: Taller, more expensive
1JZ: Chosen
LS (LQ, etc): decided against it due to cost of everything downstream needing (my assessment) to be upgraded to support the low end torque.
K24: Will probably do this for a future build, wasn't as popular at the time and was worried about the costs of such a novel swap adding up
TDI: Not enough factory power for my desires, but the gas mileage would have been great
3RZ: Couldn't find one locally, Ebay options were nearly the price of 1JZ, not enough factory power

I wanted to swap something that had a ton of aftermarket support, that would allow me to use factory parts (not a ton of adapter plates and custom parts), and would be great at stock power levels. While some of these options are fantastic, the necessary custom parts needed to get them to work with a 5-speed transmission quickly broke the budget. I have always liked the sound of the 2/1JZ engines and their strength is legendary. I knew that I would be able to build it up over time to meet whatever power goals I could dream up.

At the time of purchase, a 1JZ was approximately $1000 cheaper than a 2JZ, and since this project was being done on a budget, I needed to save money where I could. The savings more than offset the cost of the clutch/flywheel, bellhousing, transmission and transfer case for this swap.

In the end I chose a 1JZGTE VVTI (JZS171) from Ebay from an importer that is no longer around. This engine has less information readily available than some of the previous generations, and if you are planning to keep the factory ECU I recommend going with a NON ETCSI engine, as this is often a source of difficulty during the swap (as it was for me)

From my research I knew that the engine would fit, I could raid the parts bin of Toyota's over the past 35 years and cobble together something that works. The entire drive-train is factory Toyota.

Full list of drive-train components used to follow.

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