Ether

Well, after a lot of good times in the 4Runner, and almost 180k on the clock, my 89 4Runner 22RE finally blew its top. Shes puking oil and antifreeze from almost everywhere imaginable, and blowing a lot of compression through the oil fill.

My 89 (Check out my build thread for more info)



I found a local guy who was extremely interested in my soft top. I traded him the soft top for an 85 Toy Pickup, with a 22R, manual tranny & tcase, and solid front axle. I will be putting the 22R with the manual tranny and tcase into my 89. I can also use many other parts off it, so i made out pretty good on that. It will make the 5 speed swap ten times easier as well, being able to get all the parts out of the 85.

I am going to do a complete rebuild of the 22R using ENGNBLDR Parts, cam, and a Weber 32/36 Carb. No plans for a header, ill just use the 22R downpipe into 2.25" exhaust.

The 85 Parts Truck:



Hopefully all goes smooth, and i will document the swap as best i can. I understand its naturally frowned upon to swap from a 22RE to a 22R, but ive been reading, figuring, and researching for the last 3 months, and ive got everything planned out. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but all i ask is dont bash me for dropping the EFI. Find another thread for that.

On that note, lets get this swap started

Ether

We got a ton of work accomplished over this past weekend.

We started on Saturday morning, and after dragging the 85 up to the garage, and ripping off half the bed in the process, we got it up on the lift and started tearing it apart.

We managed to get everything pulled in about 5 to six hours. I dont have too many pics of us tearing it apart, but im sure you can figure it out. We started with the driveshafts, then divorced the tcase from the tranny, lowered it down, divorced the tranny and bellhousing from the block, and lowered it down. Then we pulled the downpipe apart from the rusted up exhaust system, and pulled off the downpipe.

The truck looked like it has sat in the ocean for a year. Almost everything from the cab back was rusted up pretty bad. Yet to our surprise, we only had to torch off one bolt, and it was where the downipe connects to the exhaust manifold. EVERY other bolt came out without a hitch.

Torching off the downpipe bolt:



After we had everything behind the motor dropped out, we lowered the truck back down off the lift, and started unhooking the vaccuum lines, throttle cable, heater hoses, etc. We got the cherry picker hooked up to the hoist hook on the motor, and yanked it out.

My dad giving me a hand:





Seems like a pretty successful day to me. We let the tranny and tcase drain over night, then went back Sunday morning to mount the engine on to an engine stand, and trailered it home. I'm glad the motor is finally out, and i can start tearing into it


VICTORY!

Ether

After a decent 6 hours in the workshop, and the help of a couple buddies, we got the motor torn down to the block and the rotating assembly.

I picked up a "Garage in a box" on sale from Harbor Freight, and my dad and I built a small workshop type deal inside of it. A Nice 8'x2' Workbench, and an 8'x8' heavy platform to roll the engine stand around on. Its solid, and works great. Heres a pic of the workshop and the motor before we started:



Valve cover off:



Close up of timing chain and fuel pump arm:



Fuel Pump comes off next:



My buddy Elias pulling the carb:



Intake manifold off:



Off With its head!



And im assuming this is why the motor didnt want to crank over. Just goes to show, no matter how much someone assures you that a motor is in good condition, its best to tear into it for yourself

Check out the crap in #2 Cylinder:

Shown below, cylinder #1 on far right, #2 in center, #3 left



Cylinder #2 right, # 3 center, #4 left.



Oil pan Joins the parts pile:



Rusted up crankshaft



And this is where we ended for now. I have to get the crank, rods, pistons, and bearings out yet, and pull the timing rails off the front. Then its off to the machine shop. Im pretty sure im going to get it bored .30 over, unless anyone has anything to say advising against it.

Time to start getting some parts on order!