22REFORME

Back story.
I did some surveying work out in Wyoming about a year ago and when i arrived on the jobsite it was pretty obvious to me that i was going to need a vehicle with 4x4. I searched around on craigslist and found an old 4runner for sale in nearby CO. i think i looked the truck over for about 10 seconds before knowing that i was going to buy it. being from the east coast, i think i was in shock when i looked under the truck and it looked almost new! so maybe there are better deals to be had out west but i picked the truck up for 700 cash.

heres a pic from out on one of the trails i was working on(about 10 miles from the closest road and 60 miles to the closest gas station.)




for the first two weeks it was like a dream come true, i couldnt believe how well the truck ran for having 290k on it. Then, about 2500 miles into ownership the number 3 cylinder in the 22re gave up. i limped home about 65 miles that day on the other 3.
do to the small amount of money i had invested in the truck, and my recent 2 week love affair with it i decided the only course of action was to replace the engine.
After searching around for a semi local source( i was working out of Laramie wy) for an engine i found Ace's auto engine supply in colorado springs co.
I was out of my element, my shop was back east and i was nervous about buying a rebuilt engine. Ace's engine consisted of a rebuilt bottom end and a newly manufactured head, it also included a 12 month 12k mile warranty. after shelling out 2,000 bucks i had my new engine.
Once the new engine was installed and carefully broken in, i began to drive it around in preparation of a trip out to california.
The engine lacked power, the old 22re with nearly 300k on it had had more power.
major disappointment.

Fast forward through multiple mis diagnosis from shops in WY and OR, and getting at best 15mpg crossing the country back to NY i finally took the truck in to a trusted mechanic of mine.
Compression checked out but the leak down in the #2 cylinder failed. advised that either there was a bad valve seal or a worn or poorly seated ring in the #2.

While i was pretty discouraged by this, it was nice to finally know that i wasnt crazy, the motor did lack power and there was a good reason for it. Also, the motor was still well under its 12 month 12k warranty.

I called Ace's in CO and let them know my findings. They told me to ship them the motor and they would take a look at it.

I custom built a small engine pallet and strapped the engine down, and then shrink wrapped the entire thing. I brought the engine to a "local" truck depot(an hour away) and 375 beans later she was off.

about a week later Aces received the engine to there shop. and a week or so after that i called for an update.
I was told that the motor was fine, that someone had replaced the PCV and a piece of the old PCV had wedged the pcv system open and this was the cause of the leak down test results.

They said they wanted to pull the motor apart to make sure there wasn't any other damage, check back in a week or so.

This time, they let me know that they had inspected the head and reconditioned it. they also replaced the chromoly rings with cast iron rings just to be safe. he said that the cast rings would seat easier. they then told me that all of this work they had done was on them, free. but i needed to pick up the shipping back to NY!!!!
wtf. this is basically where the situation is now with my rebuilt 22re.

but lets get on to the fun part shall we?
MY friend just sold me his 1983 mercedes 300sd, what a car! when you close the door on one of these old mercs, you know it. This is a great car,but alas the interior is moldy and i have heard storys of passionate encounters with plus size female companions in this vehicle so i have opted to steal the cars pride and joy.

It seems that this swap is growing in popularity recently, and why not, on paper this swap sounds fantastic. I will document my experiences here for people interested in the swap as others have for me.


step one the removal.



if anyone well versed on this swap could lend me a hand, i have the entire car at my disposal. what parts should i concern my self with removing besides the engine itself? there is a variety of little boxes for electric and vacuum on the drivers side front of the engine bay, anything i want? also, i plan to take the cluster and hopefully retro fit the toyota cluster with the mercedes gauges.

all info and feedback appreciated!!!

thanks

22REFORME

oh yeah, and how do i change my yota tech user name? haha

riddarunner

Not sure how to change your user name, I would contact a mod first and they
will most likely be able to help.

Its cool to see another 80's 4runner getting an om617. Im intrested to see what rad you use and how you mount it. Good Luck

B-yodaful

I just bought an 1980 mb With a om617 in it. I wont be able to do my swap until spring time I just started to collect parts. Cant wait to see what you do with this good luck.

RBX

Sorry i can't give any advice, still researching, and leaning toward a VW TDI, but OM617 are plentiful, just don't have a large tuner base.

22REFORME

I gotta get rid of this car... anyone help me out as far as parts I should take now so I don't cry later?

RBX

Motor mounts, wire harness, sorry not much of a help.

pyrojoe22

get the black box off the fender, its the glow plug box. Get the oil cooler, radiator and all fluid lines, like oil lines, power steering lines possible, as they are very expensive. Keep every part of the motor mounts that you can. Other than that, that's all I pulled (or wish i would have) with mine. The stock motor mounts are supposed to be really nice.

22REFORME

isnt the oil cooler for the transmission? also, are you saying i can use the powersteering lines from the merc in the 4runner? they plug into the rack? i am going to make my own engine mounts..

PowerstrokeJoe

If it is like mine the engine oil cooler bolts up next to the rad and they come out together. It has the two lines that come form the oil cooler housing. You MUST use the oil cooler. The trans cooler is actually inside the rad and the two lines from it bolt up to the bottom of the rad. I'll grab pics of mine in the morning. As for the power steering. I can't remember which one one off the top of mu head but you can re use one of the toyota lines (low pressure I think) and then have the high pressure made up with the merc end on one side and the yota end on the other.Save the Merc lines as you can use the ends as reference. Grab the glow plug harness and box like pyrojoe said. One thing too you might take the exhaust off of the car. I am pretty sure I can build my exhaust setup from the one off the car. Just a thought. You might consider saving a few small parts from the car such as the light lenses and stuff like that that you can sell on ebay. Best of luck to you and I look forward to seeing this progress.

riddarunner

I agree with everything said so far and have to add a few things. You are going to reuse the toyota high and low pressure lines the high pressure line is the same thread as the merc on the power steering pump. The low pressure line is just a barb fitting. The merc pump is higher psi than the toyota one. As for the oil cooler you want to keep that for sure but [B]DO NOT DISCONNECT THE LINES FROM THE COOLER THEY WILL STRIP OUT.[B] I had to buy a whole parts car just to get the oil cooler. The large nut on the oil cooler line will strip off the threads off the oil cooler. On the parts car I cut the rubber lines and spliced them back togeather with a barbed end. Make sure a hose clamp or anything else cant rotate to cut the oil cooler line how ever you run them. So far I have had the oil lines burst and ended up loosing a gallon and a half on the hwy once was a hose clamp that rotated and rubbed the line the other was a cheap hose used to fix the first line that the oil ate away so make sure that you use a hose that can handle oil. I ended up with good oil hose and i sleved both lines with hydrolic chafe liner? made out of canvas.

22REFORME

hey thanks for the info

i actually already have the motor out and the oil cooler lines did not pose a problem. i am not sure at this point if i will use the stock cooler or not, i am working on clearing my shop so i can begin work on the adapter plate and the engine mounts. i am curious to see different engine mounts people have fabricated(or bought) anyone got pix?

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

do a quick search to make sure the name you want is not taken..Pick one that you will keep this time and let me know(send me a PM). It can take a few days to get it changed..

22REFORME

really i was half kidding.. just because my 22re days are over... its not important

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

if you want a new one it can be done either way look forward to seeing how this thing goes...everyone says you can find cheap 300D's with a bad trans...I never have any luck

22REFORME

i dont know about with bad transmissions but in the north east, where rust is king, they can be had fairly cheap. my donor car is actually a west coast car and i am having trouble signing her life away to the scrap yard...

dmarsh4x4

These are my mounts for 1988 4 runner
passenger side

driver side


They are just tacked up for now.
Your build is looking good

RBX

Nice, I'd like to Know if those mounts transfer vibrations from the greaser. I hear the om617 is very smooth for a diesel.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

LOL Dmarsh - I was looking at those welds and thinking "OMG...."

And then I saw your comment on them being just tacked for now

Following this - good luck!

pyrojoe22

I believe they say that (I may be wrong) because the over-engineered German motor mounts had shock absorbers integrated into them, which helped make them the luxury car they were back in the day. I bet they're still smooth, but I would also very much like to know how they perform. It'd be nice if you can use the stock Toy mounts (assuming that's what you are using). That's one of the very few items I haven't made yet for the swap, waiting to see where the engine sits in relation to the hood. Can you share with us what body lift you have, and if you left the tranny in its stock location?

Thank you