The Ferrea valve springs and retainers were sent to Cryo Science to be cryogenically treated to add even more life to each component. By slowly freezing each part to 300 degrees below zero, the molecules are brought together making the metal super dense. When the part is slowly warmed back up the molecules evenly disperse, providing consistent strength throughout the part.
Using its proprietary EDS (enhance durability and strength) Heat Wave treatment, cryo-tempered components reportedly see a 30 - 50 percent decrease in wear and a 100 percent increase in fatigue resistance. Considering it's only about $60 to do all the springs, the process is well worth it.
With all the parts back in hand, SFR went to work assembling the head. Since the valve ports had a very fine layer of thermal coating, each valve had to be lightly spun inside each port (called lapping) to remove the coating from the seats. Once the head was assembled it was time to mate it to the short block. For a good seal we used a metal, quad-layered 1.6 mm head gasket from HKS, which will be more than enough to handle the cylinder pressures we'll be throwing at it.
Since the factory head studs stretch and fatigue over time we are using ARP fasteners to attach the head to the block. Being over twice as strong as the factory units, ARP studs help prevent the head gasket from blowing out and spraying coolant all over the pavement in case the head lifts during a high-boost run.
Because the 2JZ-GTE engine has solid lifters and our head has gone through some major changes, we needed to double check the valve shims to be sure we are maintaining factory-spec clearances. Using the factory manual as guide it is fairly easy to cross-reference the current shim thickness with each current clearance to get the corresponding new shim size. It turned out that all of our intake shims needed replacing. But the exhaust shims were all within spec.
At this point we contacted Champion Toyota of Houston, Texas. Parts Manager, Thomas Sowell was extremely helpful in getting us our engine parts when we needed them. He sent the proper shims so we could install the factory cams right away. (Don't worry, we've already got a set of wilder cams we'll be testing shortly.)
Once the head was fully assembled, Speed Force Racing technicians got underway putting the rest of the engine together. Since our goal is to build a sound engine, some additional parts and pieces were ordered from Champion Toyota. All of which are a good idea to replace when rebuilding a high-mileage Supra motor.
New oil and water pumps replaced the high-mileage units. Additionally, the majority of the coolant and the hard-to-get-to-later-on heater hoses were replaced. New TRD motor mounts, also from Champion, help keep the engine secure and vibration free.
Before everything could be bolted together we needed new gaskets, engine seals and o-rings. Fortunately for us, Champion Toyota sells a full engine gasket and seal kit for the 2JZ-GTE. Having all the gaskets and seals delivered in one large box was truly a load off our minds.
Now that we've got what we believe to be a motor that should withstand a beastly amount of power, we're ready to move onto what we've been anxiously anticipating since Day 1 of the project.
By the next installment we'll hopefully have the engine running, broken in, tuned and hopefully baseline-tested on a chassis dyno. We'll also go into detail about our custom fuel system as well as the star of the Sound Performance turbo system.
Following that we'll discuss our cooling system, feature new aerodynamics and test a set of cams against our low- and high-boost baselines. Stay tuned, the fun has just begun!
Author's Note: Special thanks to Champion Toyota's Thomas Sowell and Cryo Science's Travis Young for their patience in dealing with all of our urgent, last-minute requests.