So I blew the head gasket on my 82 pickup which has a stock 22R. I also had to replace the rear freeze plug.. Decided to pull the whole thing out and kill 2 birds with one stone.

I happen to have an all stock 76 Celica GT liftback with a stock 20R just setting in the yard that I have other plans for(2jz-gte swap when finances allow it).

So I decided to go ahead and do the hybrid build. I pulled the stock valves out of the 22r head today and they are in good shape so I'll be using those in the 20r head.I am short on cash at the moment so I cant afford to do much. I am having trouble finding much info on cam choice for the hybrid build. I have both the 20r cam and the 22r cam both in good shape. Are they the same? If not which would be the better choice to run til I have money to buy a performance cam?

The truck is a 2WD and its dropped. So needless to say Im not wanting something that will do good on the trails lol. I would like a road warrior. I had originally planned to do a drift truck build. Would like the power band to be around 1500-5000 or so, maybe a bit higher but not much. I wouldnt mind suggestions for a performance cam if you guys can suggest any under $100 or close to it. Not going to take this thing back apart to have any machine work done so I need suggestions that will work with the stock valve train.

The truck has flat top pistons.. I think they are the ones that come in the later model 22RE.. They dont have the little ring that pops up. The guy I bought it from had rebuilt it. Are these going to be lower compression or higher?

Also I'm not real knowledgeable in head work.. I read that the stock 22R valves are better to use than the 20r valves. So I went and got a spring compressor and pulled the valves out of the 22r head. Will these work fine with the stock 20r valve seats? Or am I supposed to have the 22r valve seats installed? Also should I use the springs from the 20r head or the 22r head? I planned on using the rockers from the 22r as they are the aluminum ones..


Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

20r and 22r cams are identical, same thing for springs. As for the 22r valves, they are shorter, so it affects valvetrain geometry, even though many people have used them in the past. Engnbldr sells stainless steel 20r oversize valves for 58$. Thet also have some low budget cam choices, but nothing under 100$ unless you go used. Even their 270 h.o. cam is considered quite small.

If you do go ahead with the 22r valves, it will have no affect if you don't have the seats that match the diameter of the valve head. And if you install larger seats, I suggest you blend the bowls to the seats to take advantage. Also consider that 20r head ports were designed to move 2.2 litres of air on a stock cam, if you upgrade the cam, valves and displacement, there will not be enough port volume to match the engine demands for higher rpms (4500+) and will choke the higher powerband (i.e hp). So portwork is needed to take advantage of the 20r head.

Not sure about the pistons, that doesn't seem right, are you sure you don't have an 85+ block? I forgot but I don't think you can have the right comp ratios without the ''crowned' pistons.

In my opinion, I would refresh the 22r with a good valve job, a 270 cam, weber 38, portmatch and gasket match, put the 20r celica distributor on it (with better timing curve), and if you are feeling adventurous, get a head and block cc'ing kit (not expensive), a book on how to calculate compression ratio (not very hard), a company that can shorten the timing chain or provide a half link, and shave the block and head as much as you can to have the highest comp ratio without piston to valve clearance.

There are many ways to go about it, that is just one, just think of it as a complete recipe, like making a good dish, where everything has to work together, not just throwing ingredients together.

I have a 22r block, 20r head, stock cam, oversized 20r valves, light portwork, weber 38 and 4-2-1 header, and I like it a lot. It really needs a cam though!

P.S. thousands have gone down the R-series route, and just remember, do it for the fun, and don't expect much bang for your buck, I can still get beat by a stock automatic civic.