andersej

About a month ago and 250K+ miles my 93 A/T 4x4 4runner finally kicked the can... Yep head gasket went out. I knew the day would come, just didn't want to see it happen.

So I decided that the 3.0 just wont do it for me anymore. I started reading a ton on these forums about the 3.4 swap I've heard so much about and decided that I can try to tackle that task.

I'm 25yrs old and to be honest have never embarked on such a mechanical endevour before. Sure I've turned wrenches some but nothing compared to a full engine pull and replace..... So enough with the Long chat, Heres what I plan on doing.

Step 1: Pull engine and tranny
Step 2: 2" Body Lift
Step 3: Locate Donor Vehicle
Step 4: Pull motor and Tranny from donor
Step 5: Rebuild new motor
Step 6: Assemble the creation... hopefully

So I've been told I'm in for a big project and I had allready decided thats ok being i have another drivable vehicle and I can hold off on having to build this too fast. I want to do the job right and do it right the first time (please god help me).

As well as the engine swap I so damn tired of Automatic Trannys that Im going for a 5speed conversion as well. I bought the vehicle originally for "family use" so my wife asked for a automatic. After teaching her how to drive a stick I've now convinced her that our 4runner needs one.
I realize this conversion will not be the easiest I'm just that hard headed about it.

So moving forward, This is what ive accomplished so far

Step 1: Pull Engine and Tranny

Honestly for my first time I did'nt think I did to bad I only held up my garage for 3 days accomplishing this. It may only take some people a few hours but being pretty new to this took me a longer. I started with the radiator,hoses,airbox,more hoses,vacuum lines, sensors, more hoses( HOW MANY DAMN TINY HOSES ARE THERE) haha. I then moved on to cooling fan,belts,p/s Pump,a/c compressor,starter, heater hoses, then wiring. I then moved under the truck where I took off the Exaust. then removed a few heat shields and moved on to the tranny. Found o2 sensors and tranny sensors. Once I was confident that I had all the wiring taken off I Pulled the harness from the firewall. now with all that out of the way Back under the truck I go... I then started for the tranny bolts (which I've read were extremly hard to get to) the bottum bolts were easy (of coarse) and the top ones were kind of a pain but not really that bad. I Used a couple of long extensions and a swivvle and a cheater bar popped them right off. Took me probably 30 mins for all of em.

I was finally ready for the engine pull, I hooked up undid the motor mounts and started yanking. A little pull here and tranny up, engine up, engine down, tranny down (you get the picture) PLOP! there it goes! Definantly was happy to see it come out. Ohh and for those of you that dont know you typically have to pull off your tires and drop that bad boy down to the ground for the motor to clear. I got away with dropping one tire off the drivers side pulled the motor out and put it back on.

Well engine was out and so I moved to the tranny I started at the back and moved forward. Dissconect rear drive line and then the front. Unclamped the sway bar and let it hang. Then undid the shift linkages. then I put a jack under the cross member left it attached to the tranny and just unbolted the whole bar. and with 2 jacks i slowly dropped the tranny down and out.

So far Ive got step 1 down and I will be tackling the Lift very shortly stay tuned! And here is a few pics.

Truck


Untouched


Radiator/airbox ect out.


Hooked up


Pulled out!


Mmmmm Chocolate oil anyone?


Tranny out!

andersej

So i'm really interested in this set-up Would it be a good choice? And would this make it a relatively easy swap? :

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f107...rawler-246515/

andersej

Has anyone tried online auctions as a source for a donor vehicle?

gnob

james this is aric.

that supercharger parts deal is a pretty good price.

typically a donor rig can be had for between 600-1500 give or take.

keep an eye on the bulletin boards, like marlin and pirate too. lots of good stuff goes by on there.

andersej

ok thanks! I am really interested in that supercharger package I just have to wait till my taxes come in.

Thanks for the reply on that.

lil_no

I did the Copart auction for my donor. I got everything I need for the swap and all other good parts are up for sale. To get a complete vehicle was cheaper for me than what they want for motor and computer alone.

Good luck with your swap.

dntsdad

Just keep on hitting Craigslist and you'll find something. I looked for 5 months until I found a winner. $1800 is what I paid for mine and i ended up MAKING money on my swap.

There's a guy on the marlin crawler boards that has a sc 3.4 rollover and he's asking 3500. I offered 1800, even though I don't need it, and he shot me down. 2700 would be a good price for the whole thing IMO.

Use something like Searchtempest to help search your area within a few hundred miles

andersej

Yea, I search craigslist locally and surrounding areas religiously for any wrecked donor vehicle to no prevail. But I still have a few weeks till taxes kick in so I still have plenty of time. I have found some decent motor deals on pirate4x4 and I have seen that 4runner on marlin and I am interested in it.

How did you make money on ur swap If I may ask?

Did you get a good deal on a donor vehicle and sell off the spare parts after you were done with it?

andersej

Should have my body lift here in a couple days!

dntsdad

Exactly. Paid $1800 for the Runner and sold all the parts that I didn't want for about $2400. With that extra I was able to buy a new radiator, fluids, etc. I even started the rest of the transformation of the powertrain by getting started on the duals cases, 4.7 Marlin gears, etc.

I found a Tacoma a while back in which the guy only $500 for the whole truck. Truck started and ran fine. I tried to get cute and wait him out to $400 because I really didn't need it and had no good option to store it, but that was a huge mistake. I should have just bought it. I am just saying that there are deals out there and most people (99% of them) don't realize how much a wrecked Tacoma or Runner is worth for the motor to some. The problem is people on Pirate, here or Marlin do. Craigslist is the place to score

andersej

Smart move! It's too bad you didnt take that tacoma deal. hehe.

I'm definantly starting to realize that I need to take my time on the donor vehicle choosing. If I play my cards right I could get WAY more done with less money. Thanks for your tips I appriciate it.

andersej

Oh tech question What exactly should I keep from my 3.crap so i can get to parting the motor out for some $$$. Had a couple buddies that actually want the dumb thing.

andersej

As if Waiting for my taxes was hard enough to get my motor. There has been a delay in my lift kit now! I'm running out of things to do. BLAH!

dntsdad

Motor mounts, oil pan components, alternator, fan and clutch, oil dipstick tube guide, etc.

Motor compartment can never get too clean and those EWD's can never be studied too much

andersej

yea engine compartment is clean got everything under there looking pretty. As for the EWD's I have a friend thats local that has done the swap before so I'll be picking his brain for those . Thanks for the reply on what to keep that should give me something to do next.

dntsdad

Could be had for $2200 i would think??

http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=84361.30

andersej

wow thats not a bad deal at all! Only thing that sucks is thats a 9 hour drive for me. Wonder how much it would cost to pick up a U Haul down there.

dntsdad

http://ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184045

andersej

I finally got my taxes back and I'm taking a road trip to grab a donor vehicle. Got to love the IRS when they take their time with your money UGH! I have a couple pics of the vehicle I'll post on here. Hopefully she sounds good when i go to start her.

andersej

Well I got the Donor pulled the engine and tranny at the same time Went through the motor replaced most the gaskets, Timing belt, water pump etc etc. Been a little bit lazy on the pictures....
I'll have to see what I have for pictures since my camera got broke a couple weeks ago.

As for the tranny I decided to go with the 3.4 tranny Auto since my option was allready there. But I got everything buttoned up on the motor and dropped it in and put the tranny in as well. Now I'm moving on to the tedious stuff like wiring, rest of the exaust, Radiator blah blah. Like I said I'll try to post some pics soon on where I'm at.