nickpohlaandp

Hello All. This is my first post so I figured I'd put out a little info about myself, and the reason I joined the forum. I have a '14 Ram QQRB 5.7 2WD for my daily driver. It's full bolt ons, intake, LT headers, TB, tune, etc. and it's fun to drive. Unfortunately, there's no point in trying to make a 6000 lb. truck fast enough to have real fun with. That's why I have my Toyota. I purchased my '95 Toyota pickup about a year ago with just over 200k on the ticker, no rust, straight as an arrow, and the 22RE still running like a champ. It was bought as a first vehicle for my stepson, and God willing that he didn't wreck it, I had every intention of turning it into a burner for the 1320. Well, that time has come. I'm in the market for a new vehicle for him as he has proved himself safe behind the wheel. That means it's time for me to have some fun.

I've done a few searches online for V8 swaps into these little beauties and I've found one site that keeps popping up for engine mount kits and other parts that will be needed, I believe it's northwestoffroad.com. It looks to me like they cater to mostly 4x4 guys, but that's not a deterrent, I understand there will be a lot of fab work with this project, and I'm up to the task.

My plans are to wedge in a later model 5.7 Chevy (Vortech heads most likely), do a forged rotating assembly, stout roller cam, single plane intake, Holley HP carb, and 200-250 shot of nitrous. Backing that will either be a Powerglide or a TH350 (I haven't decided yet). I figure with the light weight of the truck, that ought to be more than enough power to achieve my goal. I'm also pretty dang sure I'm not the first guy in the world to undertake a project like this, which is why I'm here, to get some info, tips, and advice along the way. For those of you who might suggest a LS based engine, I'm kind of steering away from that to keep build costs down and I confident I'll be able to easily meet my power goals with a traditional 350.

The engine and trans I plan on being a fairly straightforward installation, possibly having to fab up a trans mount, but that's no big deal. I most certainly want to ditch the leaf springs and go to some type of control arm/coil spring suspension in the rear, and I'm toying with the idea of redesigning the front suspension to take some weight and complication out of it. I'm curious to know what others have done in regard to the front and rear suspension to get them ready for an endeavor such as mine, because let's face it, why reinvent the wheel?

Some other things that I'm on the fence on is headers (are there any outfits out there that make a good set for a swap like this) and the rear end. I'm only guessing and going off of previous experience, but I doubt the stock rear end would handle the type of abuse I plan on putting it through (or would it?) If I could get away with replacing the axles for some heavier duty units that would be great, but nothing is that easy. Any thoughts on a good rear end to swap in? I was thinking a later model (around '99 or so) Mustang 8.8 with either 3.73's or 4.11's.

Well, I suppose that's a good enough introduction. Hopefully I'll get some good information and dialog started out of this. I'm really looking forward to it. Thanks in advance for all of your replies.

P.S. If anyone has done something similar to this and has pictures, I'd love to see them for inspiration.

nickpohlaandp

This is a pretty disappointing forum. Not a single reply, hey there, cool project idea... nothing. I was hoping for a better turnout.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to Yotatech. Sounds like you have a cool build planned out! Don't get deterred, you might find that you'll get a little better response in the "Domestic Engine Swap" forum section, I know there are alot of threads with small block chevies and 4.3 V6's over there, you might be able to find some useful info over there. I'd also do a google search on some Chevy S10 V8 swaps as well, only because not alot of people do 2wd toyota V8 builds and some of the info might cross over.

As far as Northwest Offroad goes, I would do alot of research on their parts before ordering anything. Most of their stuff is expensive, but from what I've heard doesn't always fit correctly. I know a guy on here that bought their small block ford V8 swap headers and couldn't get them to clear the frame correctly. I used some of their parts on my 86' 4 runner build, but got them used in a donor truck that I had bought. After finding their price for their Ford engine swap mounts were $250 I would have never paid that much new, if I hadnt gotten mine used in the donor truck, I would have built my own using a similar $18ea poly bushing/DOM sleeve. Anyway I'm not try to bad mouth NWOR, their engine mounts were of good quality and have continued to hold up well, Im just saying it will probably pay off in the long run to do research first before buying anythjng, you may be able to fab it yourself and save yourself some hassle and possibly some money, lol.

Look forward to your build...Ed.

P.S here's a link to the Domestic swap section
:https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f163/

nickpohlaandp

Thanks for the heads up on the other section. That's helpful to know where I should be posting at least. Also good info on NWOR. I was a little leery of their prices, they seem pretty steep. After doing some research over the past few days it looks like I'll probably be putting in a LS based engine. Seems there's more power to be had much easier, and in the long run, for less money. There's that, and then the fact that I won't have to contend with distributor clearance. That'll be just one more thing I can check off the list. There's another thread on here where a guy put a 5.3 in his truck, but he's 4WD, and he did a body lift to facilitate the install. I won't be doing any body lift, so if I have to cut frame rails and relocate things, so be it. Should be fun.

oldtech

Well I have my own opinion on Northwest off road. I bought all the swap parts from them (less the radiator) to put my 302HO in my 88 4Runner. All the parts including the headers fit perfectly except the oil pan slight interference with the steering stabilizer (that was an easy fix). My problem was getting info from them. As in what needed to be done of it the swap.
First off my rig is a mall crawler. I don't take it off-road, more to shows. I do drive it back and forth to work 2-3 days a week.
As far as Northwest they don't tell you you must put a body lift and a suspension lift on to fit the engine in. They say on there website "highly recommend". They don't tell you if you use a Ford small block you need the short water pump to fit it with any chance off fitting a radiator in the truck. So here is a list of everything I did to make it fit. And I'm still running the w56 manual trans from the 22re.

From Northwest off-road
Motor mounts
Bell housing
Centerforce clutch
Oil pan/pickup tube
Long tube headers
Clutch slave cylinder
Flywheel
Then you need the following
Engine separator plate (Ford truck w/302)
Starter (Ford truck w/164 tooth flywheel)
302 engine (I wanted to stay fuel injected)
Ford racing engine harness (easy to wire and your not dealing w/a 30year old junk harness)
Front of a 5.0L out of a Ford Explorer ( timing chain cover water pump complete deep. drive belt system with all accessories including crank pulley). This makes engine 2" shorter
Radiator (I had one custom made from Ron Davis racing. It's aluminum and they built in the electric fan
3" body lift
4-5" suspension lift
35" tires
Leave the stock 4.10 gears in it, keeps the RPMs at 2000 at 65 mph
Ford oil filter relocate 90deg. From Ford racing
New fuel lines
Chip to make electric fan run
Local hydraulic shop to put Ford power steering hose end on Toyota hose end
Battery tray to put battery on drivers side
Gauges won't work with V8 and Ford engine found it easiest to put in speed hut gauges with GPS speedo
I'm sure I've forgot a couple of things but if your going to do it you should do it right

oldtech

Here's some pictures (truck still had 32" on it in picture)