We don't just feature completed cars, sometimes the coolest stuff can be found in the under construction section. Meet the ITB 2JZ-GE-packing Crown
The effort to maintain a car’s character, integrity, and vintage can see you dive into depths otherwise unknown to most who have spun a spanner. Matt Field’s example, a New Zealand new 1971 Toyota Crown MS65 comes with a story about chasing only the very best, and succeeding at it. The body has been repainted in a late-model Toyota dark metallic green colour code, although it looks as if it could have been an option back in ’71, while the interior was converted to a factory black, with coupe tacho, dash, and steering wheel.
The ride height has been adjusted via a set of compressed springs, and it sits over a set of 14x8-inch Center Line wheels — the plan is to replace these with a set of SSR F5s that is currently being refurbished and widened. But it’s what lurks underneath the bonnet that really tickles us something proper: a 2JZ-GE non-VVTi that has been rebuilt using ACL Race Series bearings and genuine Toyota parts, Kennelly 272-degree cams, and a custom intake manifold that houses six beautiful silvertop 4A-GE individual throttle bodies (ITBs) and 100mm SQ Engineering trumpets. He has also made his own 1.5-inch spaghetti three-into-one extractors.
To ensure that the package doesn’t look out of place, Matt went to considerable lengths to convert a 1JZ rocker cover to fit on the 2JZ head, and styled it to look as if it was fitted straight off the factory floor. To back the motor, there’s a W57 five-speed, and the brakes have been upgraded with MS112 Crown rear discs, and vented rotors up front.
As it sits today, there are still a few things to tick off the completion list. Matt tells us he is yet to fit Technico adjustable cam gears and to wire the engine bay up with a Link G4+ Storm. The extractors will be ceramic coated, while a handful of exterior pieces need to be fitted, including a front headlight and grille conversion to the Japanese equivalent. Everything is the product of Matt’s own efforts, bar the paintwork, and we’ll follow this car up once it’s out of the garage.
This build originally featured in NZ Performance Car issue No. 250 (so may be slightly out of date) — to get your hands on a print copy for this and other rad content, click the cover below
