Bolt on Mods?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Threads
19
Messages
75
Location
Wa
Hello everyone. Just a thought. What would be the best bolt on power ( Hp/ Torque) Mods for a 94 LC? I was thinking of intake like K&N or TRD & Borla catback exhaust. Is there anything else? Just the simple upgrades. Will a MAF intake from a 96-97 LC work on a 94? :D

THAHKS :idea:
 
Supercharger is the best bolt on for power. It matter of fact it is the only thing I would recomend for hp/torque gainage. TRD Supercharger. This is the place where I found the Supercharger to be the cheapest.

I had a 3" Cat-Back Exhaust. Got rid of it and went back to stock. No difference in power. It was loud and pointless. As for an intake filter, you will notice very little.
 
There is no consenses here on any quick bolt on stuff giveing more power. I did a full free flow exhaust. No real noticeable difference except the droning noise at hwy speeds. Went back to stock. Mucho better. Intake, same thing, not much if any diff. Only bolt on hp is Super/C ot Turbo/C.
Cheers,
Sean
 
Cruiser Newb said:
[Supercharger is the best bolt on for power. It matter of fact it is the only thing I would recomend for hp/torque gainage. TRD Supercharger. This is the place where I found the Supercharger to be the cheapest.
QUOTE]

Can't get from the catalog page to see the superchargers. Flashy site. Lame navagation. Probably my fault. I suck at the internet.
 
IIRC the borla TRD combo isn't exactly "cheap"

I think it will cost almost 1k or more once you have it installed and what not. That and the K&N intake package sucks. Without buying those two, you are over half way to supercharger. :D
 
Crusin,

Since C-Dan is on vacation I will give you some sound advice. Buy youself one of those tornado thingies. You'll gain 100HP and your MPG will double. They only cost like $50 or so. :D

Seriously, the only cost effective changes to the 1FZ-FE engine is forced induction as Sean pointed out. Short of that, you can do the following:
1. New OEM plugs and plug wires.
2. Clean the stock intake
3. New OEM dizzy cap and rotor
4. Synthetics in all fluids (some report better MPG.)
5. Carefully increase the timing advance. +3 BTDC is stock. Try +6 BTDC. Use caution to avoid detonation.

The other route is one that Robbie has taken and that is to increase the engine size by boring the cylinders to 4.7L and increasing the compression by having the head shaved. This is not for the timid but it is routine 'hot-rodding' technology.

One more thing. Avoid the K&N or other oil filled air filters. The 95-97 (edited) models use an air metering technology that is susceptible to failure (big $$$) if they get oil on the sensor (can't recall the details right now.) Besides, you can't beat the OEM air filter for the thing it's designed for: air filtration. Any gains from more air flow bring with it the problem of more crud getting into the engine.

-B-
 
Last edited:
<The 93-94 models use an air metering technology that is susceptible to failure (big $$$) if they get oil on the sensor (can't recall the details right now.) >

Thanks -B- I just got my TRD airfilter cleaner/oiler kit. Now I am afraid to clean and oil it :(
 
I thought the later models, 95 - 97, had the mass air meter that could be damaged??? The 93/4 has the flapper valve which should put up with some abuse... is there something else in it that is susceptible to damage?
 
Brian is correct and I was wrong. Post above was corrected. It is the 95 and later Cruisers that use the heated-wire sensor that could be damaged by over-oiled air filters.

More information is in this thread.

-B-
 
is there even an aftermarket intake for a '94 fj80?
 
>> is there even an aftermarket intake for a '94 fj80? <<

Probably not. Everyone assumed he meant air filter.


He also asked....
>> Will a MAF intake from a 96-97 LC work on a 94? <<

I am not sure that I understand your question but taking it literally, it sounds like you want to change the air metering system to that on the later models. I don't know for certain but it seems like you would have a lot of things to change to the OBD-II version like the ECU and O2 sensors. Probably a lot more.

-B-
 
Want more power? Then your choices are: blower, turbo, engine swap.

Also condsider re-gearing to 4.56 or 4.88.

Personally, with 4.56 and the blower, I have never been in a situation where I needed more grunt than the old beater was willing to serve up. That is both wheeling with 36" swampers or pulling a heavy trailer.

So, all in all, not sure why you feel addional power would be necessary, but if you look around at some of the trucks on this site, you'll notice they cover most basis of what a cruiser would be used for. Not many on here with the 1FZ-FE gripe about not enough power.
 
Crusin said:
Hello everyone. Just a thought. What would be the best bolt on power ( Hp/ Torque) Mods for a 94 LC? I was thinking of intake like K&N or TRD & Borla catback exhaust. Is there anything else? Just the simple upgrades. Will a MAF intake from a 96-97 LC work on a 94? :D

THAHKS :idea:

Try this at your oun risk, but Crowler Cams will make a regrind for <$200.

The problem is nothing is free...you might get more mid/high hp but lose botton end to make up for it.
 
My questionable take on 1FZ bolt on performance -

No gains to be had in the filter area. The airbox is large, and the filter is sized multiple times larger than it needs to be, most vehicles would die for a filter this size. Example - My old 92 F250 w/ 5.8l EFI had the same filter size as some of my VW's. Slight gains may be had at the inlet to the airbox? Also the piece between the box and airflow meter is a smidge funky, probably no gains there... but I may try.

Exhaust is too small, though most don't see gains from replacing it. The down pipes that run between the manifold and converter are the real bottle kneck, especially on the 95 - 97 with the dual in-line converters.

Cams are probably VERY conservative for excellent smog results. The 1FZ begins to sound winded by the time it revs to the bottom of the mid range. The cams and the overlap between intake and exhaust needs to be messed with.

Not bolt on...

Compression is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to low for NA, perfect for the blower though. Again for emmisions and this thing will probably run on some very questionable fuel. A 9.0 - 1 ratio with a pentroof type 4 valve head should easily have a 10+ ratio. Throw in the monster bore size, bigger bores tend to have less knock, and the oil cooling for the pistons... This is BIG modern 4.5L engine, it should be throwing way more than 212HP.
 
The MAF sensor from the 95-97 will not just plug and play. The maping is way different, plus you would have to run the heated wire circuit. To up grade the wiring harness and computer you would have to pull the timing cover to put in a crank sensor then drill out the plug for the sensor and tap the two hole to hold such(if your pan has that sensor hole). You could try lightening up your truck by cutting off the back half< looses about 1000 lbs. The truck handles a little funny, but goes alot faster.
I do agree that this is a under stressed engine and could produce alot more, but power cost money. Nothing is cheap on a cruiser to build or maintain. later robbie
 
Wouldn't it just be easier to find a totaled 4.7 vvti engine and cram it under the hood?

I know those are falling out of trees everywhere. :rolleyes:
 
THANKs all for the inputs. Defenitelly learned a lot. I guess supercharged it or stock. Probably stay stock and just upgrade the suspension and bigger tires. I'ts our family car anyway and might not even see offroad (maybe camping is the closest offroad). :cheers:

I'll just stick the engine upgrades on my E30 M3. :idea:


THANKS AGAIN!
Cool site with cool LC gurus. :cool: :cheers:
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom