BOE Racing Engines, A unique 2ZZ-GE power unit that will outlast and make more power than any other.
The 2ZZ-GE engine in the Lotus is a fine power unit for a street car in stock form. However, it has been nicknamed “Glass Engine” by some who have put it to track use, with and without forced induction. Part of the problem originates in the heart of the engine: the cylinders. Toyota's MMC cylinder plating process is simply not suited for high performance use. The MMC liner plating dissipates heat well, but is fairly soft, easily damaged and impossible to repair. It is also incompatible with commonly available performance pistons such as Wiseco, JE, or CP. This lack of piston availability led many high-performance users to run with the stock hypereutectic aluminum pistons. These stock pistons have a high concentration of silicon, which makes them brittle and prone to cracking under the stress of high-performance use and/or forced induction... hence, the "Glass Engine" reputation.
Upgraded Short Block: $2,650
Nikasil
Pistons/Bearings
Complete Assembled “Short Block”
Race Bred Nikasil Cylinders: A BOE Exclusive
ACL Bearings Engine Bearings with Calico CT-1 Dry Film Anti-Friction Coating
Wiseco Forged Pistons in 9 or 11.25:1 compression with Calico CT-2 Ceramic Piston Deck and Calico CT-3 Dry Film Skirt Coating
Thorough Cleaning of all oil passages
Blue Printed “short block” assembly. We always include the build sheet with the motor.
This service includes thorough inspection, measurement, documentation, and cleaning of every component in the short block
Tireless attention to detail
A common fix is to bore out about one half of the cylinder structure and install iron Darton sleeves, which are compatible with performance pistons. This presents 3 significant problems.
Iron sleeves do NOT dissipate heat nearly as well as aluminum, so detonation (pinging) can be difficult to control. Furthermore, greater cylinder temps result in greater piston, oil, water, and exhaust temps. None of this is a good thing!
Iron sleeves are known to slip in the engine even when installed by knowledge machinist. This slipping leads to blown head gaskets meaning more expense and more down time.
The boring procedure weakens the block assembly and has lead to cylinder walking. This walking will eventually result in blown head gaskets or engine failure. The fix for cylinder walking is “decking” the block, which adds yet again more expense and impacts optimum coolant passage.
Nikasil is a great answer to the 2ZZ-GE cylinder problem! Nikasil is truly a race bred cylinder plating solution. Nikasil is used in the Corvette Racing C6-R, most Formula 1 engines, the winning car (Porsche Prototype) in this years ALMS 24 hours of Daytona, and is the OEM plating used in Twin Turbo Porsche 911s to just name a few. Nikasil is:
Is Compatible with nearly all performance pistons
Is porous, which allows oil to remain suspended in the cylinder for better ring lubrication
Retains Great heat dissipation similar to stock MMC
Is harder and more robust than BOTH iron Darton sleeves and the original MMC
Has a lower coefficient of friction than BOTH iron and MMC - meaning more horsepower and more time between rebuilds
Cannot shift in the block like sleeves can
Does not weaken the block like iron sleeves do
It can be repaired, unlike MMC- So gone are the days of buying new blocks from Toyota!
Pistons
The stock pistons are made from a hypereutectic blend aluminum and silicon. The blend was created to minimize the expansion of the piston so in order for tighter piston to bore clearances to be maintained in steel cylinders. This technology has been retained even though most engines are now aluminum due to manufacturability, cost, and emissions. Unfortunately the silicon makes the piston very brittle so failures of the part are not only common but usually very destructive.
We choose a much more robust and considerably lighter weight forged piston from Wiseco and then spec the piston to cylinder wall clearance to an optimum point for reliability and minimal blow-by. We then take that piston and send it off to Calico Coatings. They’re the industry leader in race coatings. We treat the piston top to heat reflecting Ceramic CT-2 coating. This is coating is not only good for generating MORE HORSEPOWER but it also helps to keep combustion heat away from the rest of the engine. We also have the piston skirt coated with anti-friction dry film form Calico, CT-3. This will ensure we get peak performance for the longest time possible and have less parasitic power loss.
Bearings
We use high quality ACL Performance bearings rather than the inferior OEM Toyota engine bearings. In addition to better bearings we also have them coated. Let's face it. Even on a perfectly built engine, incidental metal-to-metal contact is inevitable within bearing journals. That's why we have our bearings coated with Calico's CT-1 lubrication film. ALL the bearings, rods, mains, and thrusts, are sent to Calico for their CT-1 coatings. Rumors of NASCAR engines throwing a dry-sump oil pump belt and making it back to the pits with no oil pressure and with no engine damage are the result from these awesome CT-1 coatings. In a properly maintained and setup engine, these may the last engine bearings you ever buy!
