Rhyscar's Toyota Levin - 2zzge Touring car - finished*

[mjrstar]

^^ have also seen failburger accusump and dry sump systems that resulted in grenaded engines. 

The less unique / bespoke parts the better for trouble free motorsport In my opinion - I guess they have there place in professional race teams / purpose built cars but less so on converted road cars.

 

My honda is stock oil system, with just a moroso baffled sump, and external breather tank via stock breather points. Unknown km bone stock engine, but bound to be approaching 200,000km, up the Rev limit to 9,000 rpm & send it with no oil pressure monitoring other than factory light in dash. I guess if the vtec stops one day then it might have not enough oil pressure?

 

[Truenotch]

The TRS dry sump and tank setup is really simple, so I reckon it'd be about as easy as they come... But the layout would be super tight in a FWD car.

[440bbm]

that looks like its a bit horny haha

[kpr]

21 hours ago, Rhyscar said:

@kpr did that one have a cooler or remote oil filter? I'm wondering if I've got a pressure drop through the housing as I haven't smoothed out the flow patht... So could be causing it to drop a little sooner than expected. 

Another thought I had was that I don't know anything about the pressure relief on the 2zz.. is it same as oldschool pressure reliefs where you can run a shim/washer to increase it's max a little? Oil pump and pressure relief are easily accessible so might be worth mucking with? 

 

 

 

 Pretty sure they have an oil cooler on it.  this one had some kind of aftermarket sump also.      Their other car runs a stock engine,   but doesn't look like i saved any logs off that one.  
Increasing the relief pressure  doesn't seem like it would make it hold pressure longer.

 

[Rookie]

On 27/02/2025 at 23:34, Roman said:

Dry sump can introduce as many problems as it fixes. 

Blame user or installer error if you like, but i think ive seen as many trackdays come to an early end from oil leaks, oil flying out, oil spills, belts flying off, etc from dry sump issues as much as anything else. 

Also max irony points when someone loses oil pressure because of a sandwich plate coming loose that was only there for sake of monitoring oil pressure.

I really can't agree with you there. There is a reason why every form of professional motorsport relies on it, and it is because it is better in every performance metric. I can however agree that if it is put together with substandard parts, by someone who is unqualified to do the job, then there is a high likelihood of it being a failure. 

Loss of oil pressure for any reason is a day ender, and can be easily mitigated with an ecu safety cut, which we should all have installed as a par for the course, dry sump or not.

@Rhyscar, if it was me mate, I would dig into what is actually causing the pressure drop off before ordering parts, whether it is the oil cooler, or cavitation due to the higher rpm, it would be nice to know before spending any money. Start with bypassing the oil cooler and see what happens.

[Rhyscar]

@Rookie after more research and talking to people, oil pressures varies in these engines massively. Some have seen as low as 43psi even using pump upgrade, cooler and ECU (5w30 instead of the 10w50 I'm using). But no run bearings. Others have seen pressures consistently in the low 60's also. 

So, I don't think it's as simple as at XXpsi it will blow up.. however its not going to hurt to do the following;

• OEM oil filter (+5psi)
• Flow filter relocation housings (+few more psi)
• Upgrade oil pump to stop it falling apart. Talking to Boundary pumps, the tip speed at 9000rpm is guaranteed to shatter an OEM pump. Even their billet pump requires extra heat treatment to withstand anything above factory redline (8200rpm)
• 10w60 oil (what they ran in TRS)
• Everyone I've talked to has mentioned running a harmonic balancer for long-term reliability. I won't do this right away, but something I need to do before it gets too much abuse. 

 

I managed to talk with David Gouk who built all the TRS motors about the dry sump system. Interestingly, they used the OEM gear pump for pressure, with the belt driven pump only doing scavenging. He mentioned it worked fine, but still had pressure drop-off up top as the gear speed gets too high. It was a compromised solution for reasons outside his control, so probably not the way to go. Apparently the Dailey Dry sump system is the way to go - but is big $$$$. 

So to summarise the oiling issue, I'm going back to the plan of upgrading the pump/backing plate and trying to get everything as good as possible. A little bit of pressure drop-off up top seems OK/normal so all I can do is mitigate the risk as much as possible and live with it. 

 

In other progress, nothing too exciting but still slowly moving forward as we wait for baby #2 to arrive. CV's are currently apart for a rebuild, and I'm working on new Turbosmart fuel pressure reg install. C5 Corvette reg would read 48psi when primed, then 70psi when engine running. I double checked plumbing, sensor calibration etc etc. May have just been a faulty unit, but without indication and ability to adjust, is just another thing that can go wrong and end your day - so in the bin it goes. Once I get this running I'll get the injectors checked out in case there is any sworf that ends up in the Fuel lines.

Going to need to book some shed time for my month off on paternity leave because there's so much to do and have a deadline looming!

[Rhyscar]

[Roman]

Interesting that they use a scavenge only setup! 
I remember when TRS first started, in 2004-2005ish and some of the cars started blowing up the oil pumps. (It was a brand new / unknown issue at the time) 
Because I had my motor in at the same workshop that built / rebuilt them all.
I suddenly got pushed way to the back of the queue as they had a stack of motors to diagnose and fix.
I never understood how that could have been blowing up the factory pump, if they had a dry sump - but that all makes sense now.

 

[Rookie]

Its pretty funny as I was going to mention it as a cheaper alternative, as I remembered that Billzilla from performance forums back in the day made a big write up about doing it that way with his beams powered Fraser, makes sense if the factory pressure pump is up to the job I suppose.  Also makes sense looking at Markku's photo why the pump is driven by a multivee belt, as its only scavenge any slippage isn't as devastating.

Anyway, crack on good chap!

[Rhyscar]

Airbox update #37… 

 

full size print arrived from Lithuania. Quality is very average, but should be good enough to make a mold and get a carbon part from. Found a few more small adjustments needed but these should be easy to sort in the mold. Annoyingly, I didn’t check bonnet clearance thoroughly enough on my previous prototype and the extra 5mm means it makes contact. 
 

Next challenge is to design and 3d print a stainless retaining ring for the inside with blind nutserts so I don’t need to individually locate 12x nuts inside the airbox when installing. This will also act as a washer to spread the load across the carbon. Also means less chance of tiny nuts vibrating loose and going through the intake! 
 

Very excited about the next step!! Been a long time coming  

 

 

[Rhyscar]

Wow so much progress lately, including delivery of a new son! 
 

First up replaced the c5 corvette filter reg with a turbosmart return regulator. Added a gauge for a visual double check of what the ecu says. 

 

Took airbox to Mike Shaw fibreglass and discussed the plan. Agreed to put a but of work into flattening it out and remedying the errors in the 3d printing. Unsure if this is due to using petg, the company or the design - could be a combination of all 3. But unfortunately this has caused a huge amount of extra effort and will probably double the cost of the airbox too. 
 

Filled with foam, cut 10mm off the top where it was hitting the bonnet. Made a removable core so I could slip it over the trumpets once I’d filled with foam.

I had a go at bogging it myself to varying levels of success. It got it maybe 30% of the way there. Mike Shaw will finish the rest of it. 

 

so oil pump from boundary in USA showed up. Pretty cool piece of gear. Came as a complete assembly with front cover, billet back plate and relief valve etc. pretty much the best solution for oil pressure I could find other than a mega expensive dry sump. 

 

 Cut holes in bonnet for vents and working on sanding smooth and painting these stain black.

Been working on ducting for power steering and oil coolers. Keen to get this finished off soon so I can get off to powdercoaters  

Some aluminium 3d printed parts showed up today. First is a retaining ring for the inside of the airbox. This is so I avoid needing to tighten 20x m4 nuts in a tight space where I’m likely to drop one and it end up inside the engine!! 

 

Pretty cool level of detail and strength in this part. Section is 8mm tall and 8mm wide for reference. 
 

Another cool piece of 3d printing is the strut brace tops. I made a few design changes to these to make them lower profile and a little stronger. I’ve actually made it too low profile and now it’s touching the rocker cover, so will need to figure out what mods I’ll do to solve this.  Thinking I’ll take a section from the carbon tube at this stage. Can prob get a few mm from spacing the bosses before they hit the bonnet too.

Love the design, looking forward to finishing this part off. 

got injectors cleaned and flow tested as we had a slightly lean plug on #1 cyl on dyno. Injectors checked out algood thankfully. Thinking it could be due to non-return rail and slightly different flow characteristics at the end of the rail.

 

 

Drained gearbox oil and turns out there wasn’t much there maybe 2L or so. So i discovered I’ve had an oil leak and more than I expected must have disappeared. Unfortunately it is leaking from the Input shaft seal which is annoying as it’s complete gearbox disassembly to replace… So that will be a massive job I’ll put off for another day (maybe when I finally pull the trigger on a final drive kit from Thailand!)

Also got some new Cv boots from Toyota to fit with hi temp grease.

Slowly getting through the list to do before next dyno session. It’s doing a pretty good job of emptying my bank account as well, so looking forward to the finish line. 

Onwards and upwards, getting closer to being finished!

[Rhyscar]

Bit of a mock up of the strut brace. Pretty chuffed with how it turned out 

 

 

[mjrstar]

SO MUCH FLASH!
how much meat have you got in the cam cover to create the strut brace clearance you need? it looks like its just on the drivers side, or is the coil cover also in the battle for real-estate? 

[Roman]

Love love love how this is all going! 

That strut brace looks amazing. 

Cant wait to see final result for the airbox.

[Rhyscar]

9 hours ago, mjrstar said:

SO MUCH FLASH!
how much meat have you got in the cam cover to create the strut brace clearance you need? it looks like its just on the drivers side, or is the coil cover also in the battle for real-estate? 

Thanks! I need about 10mm on the drivers side. This is because the engine isn’t level, on account of me fabricating the drivers side mount a bit wonky. Never thought it would matter and now the headers and everything is so tight fitting changing it isn’t really viable. 
 

But good news is I figured out where my issue came from - the passenger side strut tower is 10mm closer to the bonnet than the driver side! So when I prototyped it, it was literally touching the bonnet so I took 4mm off and copied to the other side. 
Unsure when/how this damage may have happened @Truenotch any idea?? 😜🙃

So great idea, but I'm not sure I could create 10mm in clearance from the rocker cover. 
 

After thinking about possible solutions a bit more, printing another part for the driver side with 10mm extra boss is probably the easiest way forward. Part cost is around $60-70nzd so not that bad, and easier than the hours I’d spend modifying bits to make it work. 
 

Unless you look for it, it won’t be visually noticeable and won’t look hacked up. Not ideal, but a workable solution that doesn’t involve reinventing the wheel!

[Rhyscar]

Got the bonnet vents painted in satin black. The original PA12 Nylon finish was pretty cool, but looked slightly faded, and I thought it would only get worse with time/UV exposure. Wanted to keep on-theme with the rest of the trim so I spent HOURS sanding out the grain, priming and finishing these. Not 100% perfect, but pretty close. Now to glue them in using Sikaflex marine urethane.. 

 

The optics of the vents are really weird from different angles. Believe it or not, the inner edge of the vents are parallel. Still haven't got a good gauge if I've got the aethestics right, won't be able to tell until it's out in the wild. Perhaps a reason for version 2 at some stage?

 

Oil cooler mounting and duct work complete. This is a hugely complex alloy fabricated piece to mount the cooler to the wheel tube. All sorts of funny angles going on. But happy it's done (still needs to come out to go to powdercoaters though!). 

 

Engine bay looking pretty good. Finishing touches are coming together slowly. Still not quite sure how I'll vent the radiator as there just isn't as much space above the gearbox as I'd hoped - but that's a future Rhys problem!

 

Only thing it's missing is the airbox - which is in progress. Buck is close to being complete. Will end up making a lightweight mold for this part, mainly so it doesn't grow in size by 1.5-2mm each direction (because then it won't fit!). It's bloody expensive, has a lot of opportunity to go wrong and getting it fitting well will be a challenge, but the end result will be worthwhile! Fingers crossed on this one. 

Can see the layers that make this up - 3D printed shell, expanding foam and lots of filler. 

 

No interesting pics, but with some help from my friend Dan, I rebuilt the SW20 MR2 CV's with some hi-temp grease and new OEM boots and clips. Should withstand a bit of abuse before their inevitable failure. Have also double-checked cooler/filter routing, flowed the housings and reassembled, ready for a good road test.

 

Things left to finish:

• Fit driveshafts, fill gbox with lube. 
• Glue in bonnet vents. 
• Test new oil pressure mods & check oil temp where lift works. 
• Door cards cut, bead roll & fit. 
• Fabricate Radiator duct. Powdercoat all duct work & doorcards. 
• Airbox complete & fitted. 
• Install Oil pump. 
• Power steering cooler plumbing. 
• Finish running the extinguisher through cabin & to engine bay. Run internal and external pull cable to cowl. Perhaps even get it's first scrutineering check so I know what's needed before I can enter an event. 
• Upgrade steering boss kit & spacer to something less unsightly - pet peeve of mine. 
• Strut brace mods and gluing together. 
• More rollcage padding. 
• Tyres - thinking of going with Nangkang CR-S. Anyone have experience with them? 
• Fix bloody leak in tank breather fitting (this is pretty much a tank out job - ARGH!).
• Windscreen banner.
• Paint rocker cover - if I get everything else done.. 

Wow that's actually a longer list than I expected, but it is getting shorter at least. Still pushing hard, the end is in sight!

Edited May 11 by Rhyscar
Crossing things off the list yo

[Truenotch]

Wicked, it's getting so close now. 

Do you have a plan for keeping the engine bay cool? I didn't and my under bonnet temps got high enough to melt the exhaust side cam sensor... Even after adding heat wrap to the extractors. I'll be adding a couple of extra ducts to cool the exhaust and maybe the alternator next time around. 

[Rhyscar]

Yeah man, ticking things off the list. Although the problem is with a project like this is 100% of the remaining jobs SUCK. lol. 

Hmm not really at this stage, but I am a bit concerned about it... my rough plan of attack was to include a larger central bonnet vent to duct radiator air out and pull a bit of a draft over the headers. But I haven't put pen to paper on that idea yet mainly cause I'm hesitant to ruin the factory-ish aethestic of it. I'm also not sure at which point I'll seal up the underfloor with a splitter (prob needs to be done at same time). At this stage I'm blissfully ignoring it until I go racing and get some proper temps in it. 

 

Hopefully picking up airbox tomorrow. Will be interesting to see how many headaches that provides!!

[Rhyscar]

God daym. 

 

 

Now to see if it fits!! Actually pretty nervous about it... 

[Rhyscar]

Quick mock up. Touring car vibes are high. So stoked.