87tyota77

I have an 87 22R Pickup with 100k miles on it. I originally bought it to have a truck since my other car is a sports car, however I caught the bug and have been doing a bunch of work on it to make it look and run the way I want. I would like to be able to improve its highway performance since I am not really using it for off-road applications.

I currently have upgraded to an LCE header with the Pro Flow exhaust, and I am about to replace my weber 32/36 with a weber 38 for a bit more power, I don't really care if I lose gas mileage. It seems as if you could easily spend $2k in engine mods without even noticing much of a difference on the highway, although I am thinking about upgrading the cylinder head and camshaft.

Since its so expensive to mod the 22r and doing an engine swap is currently out of the question because of time, what are some ways to lighten and declutter the truck? I am going to desmog the engine and would like to make the engine look as clean as possible, less wires and tubes would be optimal. I would like it to look almost showroom with as few pieces in the engine bay as possible. What are some mods I could do to decrease all the engine components? For example, could I replace all the stock ignition components with a single mod? Does anyone mount the batteries in different areas to help take weight off the front (I currently have a dual optima battery setup)? What suspension systems can lighten up a truck from the stock suspension while providing a nice ride? Anyone have any suggestions in regards to cleaning up the engine bay and upgrading certain areas so that you can remove clutter or heavy components?

Thanks in advance

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

You could do a total chaos long travel kit. Make it 2wd get rid of the front axle's & diff, and drive shaft. Easy 100-150 pounds gone. Maybe more. Put a locker in the rear. Your good to go.

You could also look at a cam. They can do a "noticeable" improvement when exhaust and intake are present. You can pull the egr to clean up the engine, but it will net you little to no gain. But will look better. Or replace all your vacuums lines with new different color lines if you need egr for emissions.
Lots of stuff but its sill going to be a gerbil in a cage. Just might make it a pissed off gerbil in the cage.

Engine swap to a 3.4 is the way to go for power. You could easily spend $500-1000 trying to get your 22r to develop power. Intake, exhaust, cam, head ($350-900) alone. So I know money is always an issue but just keep some perspective. I love my 22re so I just am planing on regearing to 4:56's.

87tyota77

Thanks for the tips, I want to keep it 4wd, if I didn't have that truck this winter I would of been screw considering my other car is a BMW M3 which needs new tires and is easily the worst car I have ever tried to drive in snow/ice. I bought the truck last summer basically to accommodate for the winters and also its nice to have a truck whenever your doing home improvement projects and stuff. I have always liked the 80's era toyotas, ever since I was 16 (which was like over 16 years ago) I loved the look of them so I always have an eye out for a cheaper one with low miles. I never intended on sinking so much money into it, but they are so much easier to work on than my BMW that it gets a bit addicting to try and improve it, plus if you screw something up its still only a truck and those engines are bulletproof.

Something else that might work is looking at how aerodynamic the truck is, once you start adding stinger bars and roof lamps you can notice it catching the wind and slowing you down. Right now I have a Carr roof rack with 5 Hella 800's which isn't helping matters, plus I have two Hella 1000's on the stinger bar. I also might mount the batteries in the bed of the truck up close to the cab to help spread the weight out. Plus after de-smogging it, if I get both batteries out of the engine bay it will look pretty clean. Anyways, enough rambling, thanks for the help!

Punchy

What gears and tire size you running?

87tyota77

I haven't modified the gears at all they are stock, however I did go to a larger tire but nothing insane since its intended to be a daily driver type vehicle that can be fun in the snow and ice. I forgot the exact size I am currently running, however I didn't have to do a lift kit for them.

The major upgrades I have done is LCE Headers with Pro Flow exhaust, going from a 32/36 Weber to a 38 Weber, dual optima batteries using the T-Maxx solenoid, new high output alternator from LCE, Rancho 9000 series shocks, Rancho steering stabilizer, Zuk Mod w/Black Magic Springs, front stinger bar and rear bumper guard, 2 Hella 1000's and 7 Hella 500's off-road lighting, Carr light bar for rooftop, Bushwacker fender flares… Thats it so far but have more to go. I am going to get some pictures up but the weather is always crappy so I haven't had a chance to get pics when its clean.

With all the money that goes into buying a new camshaft, cylinder heads, etc., it might be better and more cost efficient just to go with a 3rz swap, the only reason I haven't considered it is because I do all the work alone and I don't have much experience in full out engine swaps. Plus I am looking at a new primary vehicle so I don't know how much more I want to dump into an 87 truck. It would be easier to buy bolt on parts like a whole new upper for the 22r but I would spend more on that than a 3rz. Plus I have a brand new Weber 38 with intake waiting to be installed, and I don't know if the new LCE header I just bought would work on a 3rz so I would of wasted a lot of cash.

I appreciate all the feedback, I know people tend to post the same issues, but sometimes its hard to find the exact info for your situation.

donomite49

look up toy only swaps and off road solutions for info on engine swaps kits/ harness.

you can turbo or supercharge the 3rz.

http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=19275

v_man

you could always go on a diet ...

I know I got about 10 to lose.

Charles Walton

I also have an 87 pickup and I am looking for some info on how to desmog it,can any of you help me there?

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

22re's make most of their power in the head. If you want to do as much as you can with out going insane do intake cam and exhaust. If your going for more buy a ported new head from engnbldr and have him put a good cam in it for you. Should be pretty much plug and play. I mean yea it's a head gasket and that sucks in its own rite, but that's a good chuck of "feel able" power. Also you can swap intake and battery and have your air intake piece board out to maximize air flow. Ok now it's just getting to a check book race.
If you are looking at a 3 late swap also look at a 3.4 better/newer motor so after market will be superior and around longer.

HighLux

You are a cam away from 20hp. You will feel it in the seat of the pants for sure. The header is begging for a cam. Leave the carb alone and look into a cold air kit of some sort.

Cams are the key in a 22r 22re. Sure as hell woke mine up. I got the engnbldr 268. And the rv head too.

The head was icing on the cake. Get that too if its in the budget.

zader

Try finding a lighter cam pully and flywheel. Will get better acceleration but will loose some top end without the cam and head mods

thefishguy77

iTrader: (1)

Just remember building a 22re for performance is like injecting steroids in to a gerbil. It's still a gerbil but looks like more than it is.