Supercharging the 1FZ-FE... the harder way?

[Toyo Boyo]

For the intercooler - the beading is there to stop hoses blowing off under boost. As the coupler is stubby and in line with the throttle body it is unlikely that it will blow off. You can redo the beading, there’s a neat video on YouTube using a modified vise grips.

Easiest thing to do with the PCV hose is send it into a catch can. As Rick says, it will pressurise your crank if you don’t move it or coat your MAF if you route it pre-MAF.

 

[landtank]

As far as the intercooler not lining up. I saw a picture of the new intake used in 1fz engines and the throttle body looked forward of center to me. One of these might do the trick

HPS 3" Silicone Offset Straight Coupler Hose, High Temp 4-ply Reinforced

HPS High Temp 4-ply Reinforced 3" ID , 3" Long Silicone Offset Coupler Hose Black 76mm exceed SAEJ20 standards, ideal for marine and industrial use, custom turbo or intercooler piping fabrication, DIY intake or radiator cooling system.

hpsperformanceproducts.com

 

[Toyo Boyo]

If you’re leaving the MAF connected to the air filter, you could run that PCV hose between the MAF and the supercharger.

Can you post up a sketch of the proposed layout?

 

[yet]

OK. So a long two days of work. Long story short, I just drove it around the block and it didn't blow up (or throw a fan blade in the radiator!) so hooray! Still not sure I have the bypass valve plumbed to the best port. I took it's vacuum from the old EGR connection (which was capped) that seems to be right at or after the throttle body. Figuring out which one took a lot of blowing through the vacuum hose while sticking my hand in the throttle to find hole positions at 10pm last night.

No leaks in the new radiator or hoses, and only one leak in the oil plumbing for the supercharger where one of the supplied crush washers didn't work. Luckily I had extra that were nearly the same size. No leaks now.

Lots to write up but wanted to fire this post off. Excited it's no longer a brick.

In answer to previous questions, idle pcv hose rerouted to intake before supercharger. Post throttle body hose with valve left in place for now (as per Toyota). May cap it very soon or tee it into the other hose with a catch can.

Intercooler is not plumbed at all yet.

Cheers.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Happy to see you got it running.

Sounds like you've gotten past the first step of rolling a turd in glitter, but still got some polishing to do

 

[yet]

Alrighty peoples,

This post is probably going to end up word heavy and pic light. Bear with me....

To pick up where I left off a few posts ago, I ended up cutting two inches off the intercooler housing in order to tuck it in properly. I did my research and it looks like many people are using t-clamps with no beads with much higher boost levels than I will ever see. I also realized that the tube where the bypass valve fits has no bead, so must not be terribly important. Unfortunately once I fit the housing in, I realized that it interfered with the heater line itself now, so I ended up hacking it up for no reason. Used some of the multitude of unused brackets from the kit to space it towards the passenger side a few inches.. It's in a slightly better position now and much much more solidly mounted.... Very happy with the mount but I didn't need to mutilate it.

The intake from the air filter to the supercharger ended up being a hose clamp nightmare but I really wanted to test it out and was running out of time this month. I may end up cleaning it up in the future, but if it works well long term I may not mess with it. I like a pretty install as much as the next person but honestly my priorities are reliability and serviceability. Ended up using a 3.25 to 3 inch reducer (blue in pic), a 90 hard elbow and a 60 degree hard elbow. Didn't match up perfectly but close enough for government work. AFRs look good and *spoiler* it now runs smoother than without the SC so I must have done something right and apparently have no air leaks.

The vacuum line for bypass valve and boost gauge off of the old egr port did not work well. As I was testing it the other night I couldn't really tell the hole was exactly at the throttle body or after... also I could tell the hole was tiny which could possibly affect bypass valve operation... Took it for a drive and sure enough I was reading 0 boost/vacuum at idle (hole must've been covered by the throttle butterfly) and it went to -14 or so quickly with slight throttle. Moved the vacuum line to tee off from the fuel pressure regulator line, works much better now and numbers make sense.

Then I took it for a real drive. Highway speeds mixed with a bit around town. All the while stopping often to check for any leaks, fan rubbing etc. It was supremely disappointing. Now, I'll admit that I'm still a bit gunshy after killing a perfectly good radiator (and for other reasons which I'll soon mention), so I didn't floor it, but I did get at least 3/4 of the way into the throttle and up to about 3000-3500rpm. The results? 0-1 psi of boost at 2000rpm with a maximum of 2-3 psi at which point the belt started slipping and making embarrassingly loud jalopy squeals. S#%!

The kit came with a Gates 6PK1353 belt. With the tensioner maxed out it was definitely too loose. In a normal situation I would be worried that I had done something wrong and it was fitment that caused the problem... No longer, I give up on this kit. Interestingly enough, if you zoom in on the website pics you can see the install they show has a 6PK1370.... Anyway, with some enthusiastic help from an auto parts store employee, I found a 6PK1342 which fits my vehicle barely with the tensioner all the way off. Should allow for some stretch, awesome. Back up and running after 10 minutes work.. No more squeal.

Another test drive and same boost results. Lackluster. Could I be leaking boost back through the PCV valve? Possible, so I capped the remaining hose temporarily to see if there was a difference. I may just leave it off now as it'll be one less thing to fail and I should always get at least slight vacuum pre-supercharger. Also I can move my bypass/boost gauge off of that port which will remove the ugly tees from the fuel pressure regulator line.

Another test drive and all was going well, but boost was still surprisingly low considering this kit came with a piggyback computer and an intercooler. Centrifugal chargers are a linear build so I don't expect a terrible amount down low but I had assumed at max rpm the boost would be somewhere around 8psi at least, otherwise why bother with the extra goodies?

Then, things got real. Not to bore anyone with the details but due to events beyond my control I needed to drive the Cruiser about 100 miles down the interstate with a few hours notice. Hopefully it wouldn't die.... I had about an hour and a half to get ready so I popped the hood, reinstalled my second battery and started a really good visual inspection of everything I had done and checked every fluid. To my distress I found that one of the bolts had worked loose in the supercharger mount. Worse yet, I couldn't get it back in (circled in red before removal)...

I sweated over it for about twenty minutes trying to get it to thread but couldn't. I will have to remove the bracket and reset the entire thing to get it in. Didn't have the time... I realized I was putting all my weight on it trying to seat the bolt and it wasn't budging... so maybe it would make it?? I had to try, so I set off on my journey, missing one supercharger bracket bolt, missing three transmission crossmember bolts (of eight), and crossing my fingers.

I'm happy to report that everything went well. Nothing broke or blew up.

The transmission mount made a big difference. Feels more solid now, of course, I'm not wrecklessly careening over bumps due to missing a few bolts, so, baby steps.


EGTs are nearly indistinguishable from pre-supercharger. They may be slightly higher but I'll have to drive more to tell. Last time I reset the computer they were slightly higher for the first few hundred miles.

AFRs are similar but go full rich (12.3 - 12.5) a bit sooner, which is nice and keeps the EGTs cooler than without the SC under heavy load (climbing in the mountains).

Boost is still lackluster. I floored it once and at somewhere between 4000-4500 I saw 5 psi for a split second. My best guess is at redline this thing might make 5.5-5.75 psi. Definitely no need for the piggyback computer (thankfully).

To Do List:
1) Move bypass and boost to old PCV connection
2) Drill out and replace the three transmission crossmember bolts I had to cut off and didn't have time to replace
3) Catch can on pcv hose.
4) Plumb intercooler with the new tank I got off of Amazon and consider a smaller pulley after doing some math.
5) If intercooler and smaller pulley work out, possibly move trans cooler to between frame rails and daisy chain another heat exchanger for the intercooler.... maybe.

Things I've Sacrificed:
1) Cruise control cable mount on MAF. Permanently cut off. (not needed at all anyways unless I go back to NA). Turns out this bracket is what attaches the MAF to the air filter. Go figure.
2) One accelerator cable mounting stanchion. Can replace if needed.
3) Horn. No room, will have to revisit this later.

Unused Parts from kit:
Too much to list off the top of my head. A myriad of brackets, the supplied belt, the piggyback computer, the intercooler's heat exchanger, the intercooler water tank. I'll take a Pic of it all when I'm done. It'll be a few weeks before I'm able though.

Cheers!

 

[yet]

Ok, Three month update. The supercharger works. I'm not exactly impressed and I definitely could've used the money more wisely on many other things, however, it does provide enough boost to make it livable in the mountains. I get 2 to 3 psi at 2000 rpm depending on how much foot I use, which is enough to stop it from feeling underpowered.

I've replaced all bolts that were too short in the kit, retapped a few holes and used loctite on all ill fitting or worrisome bolts (of which there are many).

The intercooler I rigged up is ugly and seems quite small, but surprisingly makes a huge difference in the temp of the intercooler core. It was hot enough to cook an egg on before I rigged up the heat exchanger and water pump. Now that it's up and running even on a heat soaked engine and some aggressive runs it's still cool to the touch and by far the coolest thing in the engine compartment. That being said, the mounting is horrible at best and I would be embarrassed to put pics up (it is all zip ties and gravity induced stability). It's definitely not going anywhere, but it's not something to be proud of.

At first I was getting a max of 4 psi, it would tickle 5 psi at about 3500rpm and then actually drop back down to 4 psi at higher rpm. I finally tracked it down to an EGR plug that had popped off (bypassed EGR). I am shocked this vacuum/boost leak didn't throw a code and it wasn't readily obvious on the boost/vacuum gauge. After plugging this properly I can now get 5 psi, but that's it. I still think there may be an issue with the supplied bypass valve but haven't had the time or inclination to really investigate.

This is after over 42 hours of long distance road trips and daily driving the past few months.

Cheers.

 

[DannyG]

Is it possible to increase PSI? Like with a smaller pully? What does the manufacture say?

btw, nice setup..

Thanks,
dg

 

[ccslider]

Seems like a big waste. Cruiser parts is a rip, I bet it doesn't have carb certification. Ls swap is the way

 

[yet]

Is it possible to increase PSI? Like with a smaller pully? What does the manufacture say?

btw, nice setup..

Thanks,
dg

I ran the numbers and looked at the boost curve of the compressor. It really seems like it's a boost leak rather than anything else. I can only reduce the pulley another 5mm before reaching the max rpm on the sc. Now granted, my math practice on superchargers is non-existent, but I should be doing better without resorting to changing the pulley. Hence my thoughts on bypass valve issues.

 

[yet]

Seems like a big waste. Cruiser parts is a rip, I bet it doesn't have carb certification. Ls swap is the way

Agreed, it was a big waste of time, but kind of fun. And I learned a bit. LS swap is definitely the most bang for the buck, however, I currently don't have the time or shop for that.

 

[White Stripe]

L

Alrighty peoples,

This post is probably going to end up word heavy and pic light. Bear with me....

To pick up where I left off a few posts ago, I ended up cutting two inches off the intercooler housing in order to tuck it in properly. I did my research and it looks like many people are using t-clamps with no beads with much higher boost levels than I will ever see. I also realized that the tube where the bypass valve fits has no bead, so must not be terribly important. Unfortunately once I fit the housing in, I realized that it interfered with the heater line itself now, so I ended up hacking it up for no reason. Used some of the multitude of unused brackets from the kit to space it towards the passenger side a few inches.. It's in a slightly better position now and much much more solidly mounted.... Very happy with the mount but I didn't need to mutilate it.
View attachment 2819090
View attachment 2819091

The intake from the air filter to the supercharger ended up being a hose clamp nightmare but I really wanted to test it out and was running out of time this month. I may end up cleaning it up in the future, but if it works well long term I may not mess with it. I like a pretty install as much as the next person but honestly my priorities are reliability and serviceability. Ended up using a 3.25 to 3 inch reducer (blue in pic), a 90 hard elbow and a 60 degree hard elbow. Didn't match up perfectly but close enough for government work. AFRs look good and *spoiler* it now runs smoother than without the SC so I must have done something right and apparently have no air leaks.

The vacuum line for bypass valve and boost gauge off of the old egr port did not work well. As I was testing it the other night I couldn't really tell the hole was exactly at the throttle body or after... also I could tell the hole was tiny which could possibly affect bypass valve operation... Took it for a drive and sure enough I was reading 0 boost/vacuum at idle (hole must've been covered by the throttle butterfly) and it went to -14 or so quickly with slight throttle. Moved the vacuum line to tee off from the fuel pressure regulator line, works much better now and numbers make sense.

Then I took it for a real drive. Highway speeds mixed with a bit around town. All the while stopping often to check for any leaks, fan rubbing etc. It was supremely disappointing. Now, I'll admit that I'm still a bit gunshy after killing a perfectly good radiator (and for other reasons which I'll soon mention), so I didn't floor it, but I did get at least 3/4 of the way into the throttle and up to about 3000-3500rpm. The results? 0-1 psi of boost at 2000rpm with a maximum of 2-3 psi at which point the belt started slipping and making embarrassingly loud jalopy squeals. S#%!

The kit came with a Gates 6PK1353 belt. With the tensioner maxed out it was definitely too loose. In a normal situation I would be worried that I had done something wrong and it was fitment that caused the problem... No longer, I give up on this kit. Interestingly enough, if you zoom in on the website pics you can see the install they show has a 6PK1370.... Anyway, with some enthusiastic help from an auto parts store employee, I found a 6PK1342 which fits my vehicle barely with the tensioner all the way off. Should allow for some stretch, awesome. Back up and running after 10 minutes work.. No more squeal.

Another test drive and same boost results. Lackluster. Could I be leaking boost back through the PCV valve? Possible, so I capped the remaining hose temporarily to see if there was a difference. I may just leave it off now as it'll be one less thing to fail and I should always get at least slight vacuum pre-supercharger. Also I can move my bypass/boost gauge off of that port which will remove the ugly tees from the fuel pressure regulator line.

Another test drive and all was going well, but boost was still surprisingly low considering this kit came with a piggyback computer and an intercooler. Centrifugal chargers are a linear build so I don't expect a terrible amount down low but I had assumed at max rpm the boost would be somewhere around 8psi at least, otherwise why bother with the extra goodies?

Then, things got real. Not to bore anyone with the details but due to events beyond my control I needed to drive the Cruiser about 100 miles down the interstate with a few hours notice. Hopefully it wouldn't die.... I had about an hour and a half to get ready so I popped the hood, reinstalled my second battery and started a really good visual inspection of everything I had done and checked every fluid. To my distress I found that one of the bolts had worked loose in the supercharger mount. Worse yet, I couldn't get it back in (circled in red before removal)...

View attachment 2819108

I sweated over it for about twenty minutes trying to get it to thread but couldn't. I will have to remove the bracket and reset the entire thing to get it in. Didn't have the time... I realized I was putting all my weight on it trying to seat the bolt and it wasn't budging... so maybe it would make it?? I had to try, so I set off on my journey, missing one supercharger bracket bolt, missing three transmission crossmember bolts (of eight), and crossing my fingers.

I'm happy to report that everything went well. Nothing broke or blew up.

The transmission mount made a big difference. Feels more solid now, of course, I'm not wrecklessly careening over bumps due to missing a few bolts, so, baby steps.


EGTs are nearly indistinguishable from pre-supercharger. They may be slightly higher but I'll have to drive more to tell. Last time I reset the computer they were slightly higher for the first few hundred miles.

AFRs are similar but go full rich (12.3 - 12.5) a bit sooner, which is nice and keeps the EGTs cooler than without the SC under heavy load (climbing in the mountains).

Boost is still lackluster. I floored it once and at somewhere between 4000-4500 I saw 5 psi for a split second. My best guess is at redline this thing might make 5.5-5.75 psi. Definitely no need for the piggyback computer (thankfully).

To Do List:
1) Move bypass and boost to old PCV connection
2) Drill out and replace the three transmission crossmember bolts I had to cut off and didn't have time to replace
3) Catch can on pcv hose.
4) Plumb intercooler with the new tank I got off of Amazon and consider a smaller pulley after doing some math.
5) If intercooler and smaller pulley work out, possibly move trans cooler to between frame rails and daisy chain another heat exchanger for the intercooler.... maybe.

Things I've Sacrificed:
1) Cruise control cable mount on MAF. Permanently cut off. (not needed at all anyways unless I go back to NA). Turns out this bracket is what attaches the MAF to the air filter. Go figure.
2) One accelerator cable mounting stanchion. Can replace if needed.
3) Horn. No room, will have to revisit this later.

Unused Parts from kit:
Too much to list off the top of my head. A myriad of brackets, the supplied belt, the piggyback computer, the intercooler's heat exchanger, the intercooler water tank. I'll take a Pic of it all when I'm done. It'll be a few weeks before I'm able though.

Cheers!

Is there a hose missing on the side of the intercooler on the Val e cover side? That would cause a boost leak.

 

[KYLXFJ]

Thats quite the undertaking for what was marketed as a complete kit! Do you have plans long term to do a swap or other forced induction? You have much more patience and determination with that kit than I ever could muster. Very neat.

 

[yet]

Thats quite the undertaking for what was marketed as a complete kit! Do you have plans long term to do a swap or other forced induction? You have much more patience and determination with that kit than I ever could muster. Very neat.

I simply don't know when to quit. It's not always a good trait.

Honestly I'm trying to decide what my long term goals are at this point. I've put a ton of elbow grease into this vehicle, had a blast doing it, and unfortunately caught the 80 bug in the process. I had no idea I was going to enjoy this thing as much as I am. While being mostly rust free (bones are solid, just a few cosmetic spots in the body panels), this one isn't as clean as I had initially expected. It's in great shape but this is definitely in the dependable toy category. So I am thinking about buying another as a pristine copy to keep nice and turning this one into a fun build (which I've already laid a good baseline for) that I don't care beating up a bit. In the short term I'll just run this hard until something breaks and probably hold off on any powertrain decisions until then.

 

[yet]

L

Is there a hose missing on the side of the intercooler on the Val e cover side? That would cause a boost leak.

No hoses missing. I really think the bypass valve is the next troubleshooting step. You've inspired me to share my rats nest. Here's the pics...

Yes, the header tank for the intercooler (silver) is sitting on and zip tied to the intake.

Water pump is zip tied to base of air filter.

Marks to keep an eye on suspect bolts for bracket that's already rusting because the finish was horrible.

But hey, it works! Lmao

 

[Vulkyn]

Amazing resilience mate, cheers for plowing on ! Love the thread and your tenacity to get it done

On the bright side you put me off supercharging ! XD please update when you can would love to know how it held up.

 

[logicbyondreaso]

I have a TRD/Magnuson supercharger on the shelf if interested.

 

[asuddendeath]

I am surprised that more people have not responded to this thread. This is quite the build! Lots of good info.
I was looking at a few SC kits from Austrail years ago before I put a turbo on my rig.

Do you have any updates on this?
Able to build better boost?
What is your AFR when you have it floor?
How much can you hear the SC? Any videos?
I would also like to see how you relocated your windshield wiper bottle.

 

[TomH]

I am surprised that more people have not responded to this thread. This is quite the build! Lots of good info.
I was looking at a few SC kits from Austrail years ago before I put a turbo on my rig.

Do you have any updates on this?
Able to build better boost?
What is your AFR when you have it floor?
How much can you hear the SC? Any videos?
I would also like to see how you relocated your windshield wiper bottle.

OP sold the truck on BaT.

Supercharged 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ80

Bid for the chance to own a Supercharged 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser FZJ80 at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #74,995.

bringatrailer.com

 

[yet]

I am surprised that more people have not responded to this thread. This is quite the build! Lots of good info.
I was looking at a few SC kits from Austrail years ago before I put a turbo on my rig.

Do you have any updates on this?
Able to build better boost?
What is your AFR when you have it floor?
How much can you hear the SC? Any videos?
I would also like to see how you relocated your windshield wiper bottle.

As @TomH said, I sold it. I relocated to Europe and had no place to keep it.

To answer your questions though:

Updates/Boost: It ran strong for the 6 months or so I had it completed and didn't feel as anemic as stock so I never really tinkered with the boost more than mentioned here.

AFR was interesting. I'm not sure how Toyota mapped it, but what I saw was typical AFR of 14.2-14.7 ish until I floored it. Seems after a certain mass of air is sucked through the intake Toyota programmed the injectors to just go full rich (maybe as a failsafe?). So after about 2000 rpm with wide open throttle it would go to about 12.3-12.5 and stay there until you lifted your foot. In other words stock injectors are more than enough for that level of boost.

Couldn't hear the SC at all. Kind of disappointing actually.

I may have some videos from the auction, I'll have to dig them up when I get home in a few days.

Wiper bottle relocation was the Slee kit.

It was an interesting build to say the least.

Cheers