Inliners International Forums General Discussion Vortec 4200 VORTEC 4.2 SWAP INTO A SUPRA

Before I get stampeded with the anti import stuff, let me just say that my 'baby' is a very rare, 1989 Pontiac Firebird SSA with a built Corvette L98 and a pro-built 700R4. A club member approached me with a strange question while we were trying to decide what engine to swap into my car- "What about that Trailblazer in-line six?"
I thought is was a ridiculous idea. The more we talked, however, the more I was convinced. Apparently his engine was built by the same people who built that nasty Nova wagon. He said he was there when they took a 650hp N/A car out and revved it to 12,000rpm. We talked for a couple hours about the in's and out's and decided it is a must do. If the R-154 tranny bolts right up, what else bolts right up?!!! I have an '87 N/A and the 7MGE is a 3.0 inline six with 24 valves and dual over-head cams. Looking in the engine bay, the exhaust exits on the passenger side and the intake comes up from the drivers side and across the valve/timing cover. It is very similiar in a lot of ways. I am the only guy I know that is going to do this (most would pull a V8 out of the domestic engine bin)and I need help. I don't want to take anything out that I can use.

Not quite sure what you want to do here...

Pull the L98 and install a Vortec 4200?

or

Pull the L98 and install something else ?


If you want to install the Vortec 4200 then you most likely can get help here, if its not made by Detroit then I suspect not many folks here have experience with it.

Fair enough. I am looking to put the 4200 in the Supra. All I really want is as much info as I can get for this engine like physical dimensions and what type of air and fuel sensors it uses, firing order, etc.
I am not looking to make anybody mad.


Fuel injection is better.
There IS a replacement for displacement.
No hopped up muscle car could ever beat a Civic.
I'm joking.

There are several people working on these motors, but at this point using one is not easy as the electronics for the motor in the Envoy etc is fully integrated into the entire vehicle electrical system.

I BELIEVE the motor in the Chevy II wagon was built by Glen Self racing. Hot Rod and a couple of magazines had articles on the car.

No clue as to whether it would be quicker with a built 4.2 over a built late Supra motor, but it would definitely be an interesting piece. There was a long thread on modifying a 4.2 as a transplant here, so spending some time with the search function may yield the answers you are looking for.

Go to the high performance section, then find the thread titled "vortec 4200", can't miss it.


BTW, telling a group of inliners you have a v-8 foreign or domestic is no better.

Kidding, good luck

Hi, Driftwood. Your idea of putting a Vortec 4200 in a Supra sounds very interesting, but the Supra DOHC engine is a pretty good unit in itself. Have you considered hooking up a turbocharger system to your Supra engine? That might be less expensive and time consuming and would still give you a pretty healthy power output from your Supra.

I've thought about putting a turbo on my current six and it probably would be less time consuming. However, this engine has a major Achilles heal in that it will blow head gaskets and correcting the problem is always going to a temporary and expensive fix. That coupled with the fact that under boost a blown head gasket will hurt other things in the bottom end plus potentially blow the turbo because of loss of oil pressure added to the fact that it is an iron block makes me think that I may be better off with something else. All N/A Supras make good power and will run forever. I basically want to replicate that Chevy II wagon's engine as I hear it runs on pump gas and only had the pistons and rods changed out.The kind of power I'm looking for could be had with this engine that I have, but at the cost of constant breaking. By the way, thank you all for putting up with me and pointing me in the right direction.

I've got a TB 4.2 in my 68 Firebird; It's going to get a GT42R turbo. The Wagon you speak of made 1350hp with 21psi, lots of head work, and a GT47 turbo. It also has the bottom-end sleeved with custom pistons.

The TB engine is a bit bigger, but it's waaaaaay ahead of a 7M, much less a 2JZTE. I'll post pics of the stock internals if you like- you'll see it's pretty tough to beat.

Here's mine:

I appreciate all the help I can get. When I looked at the engine that was pretty much what I thought- an all-aluminum 2JZ. And if it really bolts right up to a R-154 tranny, I will be in business.
As far as the work done on the wagon's motor, that is pretty basic considering it would take $20,000+ to get the same power out of a 2JZ. All I plan on doing is putting in 8.5:1 forged pistons and 1mm shorter H-beam rods. I am not afraid of sleeving the block either. It all sounds like music to my ears when compared to the prices for modifying Supra engines.

And by the way, I could not see a picture if you posted one.

Drop me an email at hartjeffATcomcastDOTnet, and I'll send ya some pics.

You might be in luck w/the R-154; if it's like the MA5 Aisin tranny (that looks ALOT like a R-150/151), then you could run a Colorado/Canyon bellhousing. I'm waiting for mine to show up anyday in order to get measurements.

As far as the mods, he's done quite a bit, but he's also rumored to spin 11K rpm with it. I'll crap my pants if I pass 9K.