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So about 2 years ago after spending a hunting season chasing my Brother-in-Law's 1987 Pickup through National Forest two-tracks in an oversized '99 Ram 4x4 I came to the conclusion that I needed a yota for myself which is why I jumped at a "friend of a friend's" offer to sell me his 1980 longbed for $500. I knew the head gasket was blown and the rest of the truck was questionable so I figured why not just pick up a whole "new" long block. Mind you I have never done an engine swap or taken on an auto project this big before, the extent of my automotive knowledge was replacing a clutch and a transfer case on my Dodge a few years back. So I did what any reasonable person would do and went to a Yota specific junk yard a few hours south in Denver and grabbed a 20R longblock for $500 as well as a 5-speed '83 tranny to replace the 4-speed I inherited with the truck.
After a few LCE videos online I decided I didnt want to deal with the mess of vacuum and emissions lines (since I live in Wyoming where there are no emission laws) associated with the stock Aisin carb so I ripped all of that mess out and opted to run a Weber 32/36 on the recommendation of an LCE video. I pulled the stock distributor and igniter and swapped all that for a D.U.I. Street HEI distributor. Slapped on a new clutch from centerforce, some new pacesetter headers, a new timing chain kit and cover, and plugged all the intake manifold holes left by the removal of the emissions system. I got the truck running and continued to trouble shoot smaller issues as they popped up (new mech fuel pump, new Bosch starter, new alternator) as well as finally took on some of the cosmetic issues -- cut out rusted floor boards and riveted in new metal, swapped out a rusted out quarter panel, and installed all new carpet on the inside.
As my Dodge's rear axle had locked up and the truck wasn't worth saving I made the 80 my new work truck and the little truck did surprisingly well around town hauling loads of lumber and electrical supplies to and from work and made for a pretty great truck to take up rock climbing. On one such trip driving up a mountain pass on the interstate (doing a solid 60 up hill in 5th gear) I suddenly lost power and a few seconds later heard a bang and saw smoke. I had tossed a rod in a pretty gnarly way and blew a baseball sized hole in the cast iron block.
Towed the truck back to my work and immediately started planning a new build. Pulled the engine and stripped all the goodies off it (if anyone can think of a fun thing to do with a blown up block im all ears). Picked up a remanufactured 22R but made the mistake of having the head drilled and tapped for a late model 22RE (I believe 93-95) manifold even though I want to run a Carb again. Which brings me to my main question -- will my bolt holes that I have on the current head line up with a 22R intake manifold? I was thinking about running an Offenhauser so I can ditch all the adapter plates required to run a Weber on the stock manifold and so I would have the option in the future of throwing on the Holley Sniper EFI conversion kit. I do have a intake manifold and throttle body for a 93-95 22RE and have considered running a stock EFI system but the electrical in my truck is an absolute mess (a previous owner cut the entire wiring harness, and I have had to jury rig it back together) and getting all of the parts necessary in good shape and affordably seems like a nightmare.
Sounds like a good opportunity to do a 20R/22R hybrid, though I've been out of these older trucks long enough to have forgotten if 22RE blocks are also compatible with 20R heads. But a 20R head with a 22R block is a somewhat common, popular mod. Something to look into.
Holy distributer! Yeah that thing's impressive.
Cool truck. You having the cold, snowy Feb/March that Montana is? It's a good thing, but man, I'm over it.
Personally, I like stock OEM parts. The Weber was a great call, but clutch, starter etc OEM is best. No big deal, but just be aware that with Toyota, most parts don't need to be upgraded. They're already about as good as it gets. I'm still driving on the original, OEM clutch with my 98 Tacoma. 20 years old, 250,000 miles. It's just starting to struggle. And I tow a 17' camper trailer, too.
Welcome
Quite the story, sorry about the 20R, maybe you can use it as a end table or coffee table.
As far as the intake manifold goes, what head are you going to use, the 22R head or the 20R head. If you had the weber on the 20R head and used the intake manifold you could use that setup on the 22R engine, some say the 20R head has better flow then the 22R. If you already bought the intake for the 20R weber set up. When I bought the weber 32/36 from LCE also I bought the intake manifold to match so there's no adapter plates, it just bolts right on. If the 20R head is good, valves and all I would go with the 20R head, and weber 32/36 on the 22R block. And if you plan on doing any work on the 22R block I would suggest upgrading to the double timing chain like the 20R had.
Good luck
keep us posted.
Hump
So (from what I have read here and on other forums) the post '84 22R block I have is not compatible with the 20R head due to a difference in deck height. I would love to be wrong here so if anyone has done this hybrid 20/22R with a post 84 block please let me know because that would save worlds of a headache.
83 -- I feel that its been a cold and snowy winter for sure -- luckily this was never a winter truck any way due to the lack there of defrosters (thanks to the previous owners who cut every wire in sight)
You are correct on the deck height issue. Sorry.
I believe I saw a guy on Pirate that made it work with a later block, but took custom pistons and a bunch of other weirdness that made it seem like too much of a hassle and money pit to be worth while.
I would just source an early 22R or 20R block.
I may have gotten super distracted when I stumbled upon a 96 Cummins 12 valve for an obscenely low price and got caught up in building that up but alas I refocused on the holiness that is the yota am about done on my 22R...finally. Had a real fun time learning all the tiny differences between the 20r and 22r such as differently tapped motor mount bracket holes, different alternator bracket mounts, different oil pump drive splines ect. But had a few happy surprises as well (the aftermarket Pace Setter Headers I bought are compatable with both the 20r and 22r). I also learned an important lesson -- If you buy a metric poop ton of new parts all at once -- organize them and put them all in the same place, for the last two months I have been just discovering new parts in various places (for instance a new slave cylinder and pre-
bent hydraulic line in the insulated tools drawer of my tool chest) and having the "oh yeah I forgot about that, probably should install it" moment.
I have the engine entirely built, just need to weld up a mount for my alternator bracket that I can bolt to my block, drill out my one of my motor mount brackets to fit the proper sized bolt for my block, and slap in a new pilot bearing and im set to throw the clutch on and put bolt the tranny up before stabbing all the goods back into the truck. After that its just a few hydraulic lines (funny story I forgot to unbolt the slave cylinder when pulling the engine/tranny this most recent time and destroyed the line via a 10000 pound forklift, ironically enough it too was a yota) and some good old electrical and its off to the races. If there are any 22r whispers in the N. Colorado/SE Wyoming area that like working for beer Im sure I will need plenty of help getting the "Stumble Bee" dialed in over the next few months.
Damn! Looking clean!
I live down in Windsor and would be happy to help out any way that I can. I can't claim to be an expert by any means but I keep mine running!
So I finally poked the engine tranny combo back in today to mixed success. The engine slid right onto the motor mounts no issues, however I am having a hell of a time getting the Transmission to spline with the Transfer case. The case seems to be tilted at a 15-20 degree angle facing up and i cannot for the life of me get the transmission to mate with it. I tried ratchet straps, jacking the engine up the force the transmission end down, 6 ton floor jacks, pallet jacks, forklifts...you name it I tried it today. Is it worth just pulling the engine/tranny and dropping the rear driveshaft pulling the transfer case and assembling them outside the vehicle and re-installing as one unit? Also has anyone ever mated a late 22R ('91 I think) with an early series transmission (82-83 5 speed 4x4 L52 I believe?) The way the engine was sitting on the motor mounts it almost looks like I am going to be a couple inches short. Id like to not have to take a plasma cutter to wallow out the motor mount holes to accept shorter block but at this point it is what it is. Thanks!
After playing the worlds heaviest accordion and doing some redneck yoga poses I finally slid those suckers together after a 3.5 hour battle. My original suspicion that the motor mount holes wouldnt perfectly line up was realized and it looks like ill be torching those out today. Just gotta slap the radiator back in, refill fluids, hook electrical back up and put the starter in and I should be all set for carb tuning and timing.
03-04-2019, 02:05 PM
Yeah that thing's impressive. 
