Hi there guys. I have an 88 4x4 5 speed pickup. Has a 3.0l in it and it sucks.. starting to look into ideas for engine swaps. I REALLY like chevy 350 small blocks cause they are awesome and I've rebuilt about a zillion of them (gear head both professionally and as a hobby) but not sure what trans to use cause my stock w56 won't hold up to any where near the 300hp I wanna be close too.. also looked at SC3.4l swaps. Again what trans? Not a huge diesel fan so please don't recommend 4bt swaps.. but I'd like to hear from yall what you recommend engine and trans wise and how it will be able to adapt to my stock t-case. Thanks a bunch

 

Plenty of people make adapter to do whatever you want. Check out http://www.advanceadapters.com/

What trans do YOU want to run? Auto or stick? Find your ideal parts, then figure out how to make them work.

Is there a reason you want to keep your stock t case? If you think the tranny wont hold up, what makes you think the t case will? (not that it wont, but just going by your logic)

 

Other people who have done the swap and used chevy trans' have used the stock t case and say it will hold. For now anyways. I plan a gear driven dual case set up eventually.

But the trans thing, I want manual. I can't stand wheelin an auto after wheelin a 5spd. And I want to make about 300hp. Looking for a trans that I can make fit close to the stock shift boot but will hold the power while I beat on it. Chevy, yota, whatever. Just looking for some recommendations.

 

Lets just back up a bit. If you do infact have a w56, then you have the only v6 toyota in the world that left the factory with a 4cyl tranny.

You should have a r150F coupled to a 23 spline chain driven t case.

The r150f is very durable, basically the same thing as the Jeep ax-15, and will take the hp of the sbc much better than a w56.

Putting a 21 spline gear drive t case behind anything will take a different adapter than putting your 23 spline chain drive. You can also upgrade the gear drive to a 23 spline for strength, but it will still use a different adapter.

I dont know chevy stuff too well, so I cant recommend a trans there.

 

Chevy guy chiming in.
1st figure out what engine you want.
Next is the trans, you already said manual so that narrows it down AFTER you decide what engine you want.

 

Well then... all the reserve I had pointed twords the w56. But if I have an R150f then that sure makes me a whole lot happier... i have the motor. It's an ac Delco aftermarket block crate 350. Currently rebuilding It. So basically what yall are saying is the stock trans I have will most definitely take the power of the 350? I'd like to stick with my trans/t case for now anyways.

 

Yes, but depending how much you build it up. A 5.7 can vary in power levels.

 

I say run it! Then worry about adapting the dual gear drive cases later.

That AA link I posted has a bell housing for the sbc to hook up to the r series trans. http://www.advanceadapters.com/produ...l-housing-kit/

 

I see where you want to go but the '88 4runner is simply a really small platform to make it work in. I would use a mid-size chassis because the double xfer case, transmission & SBC start getting long out front. I feel your pain with no raw power, but the beauty is in the small package. Myself I would go with a 4.3 chevy or 3.4 toyota engine swap. And stop there.

I have two '88 4runners with 22re's and they are overkill for what I do in snow wheeling, dirt and fire roads. I also have a Hemi car in the driveway.

I would sit down with some good people and hash out your plans over some good beverages and verbally think this out. Do you watch powerblocktv.com per chance?

 

Then I'm going for it! Thanks for the help! I'll definitely check the AA site for all my stuff!

Yeah I've talked it out a bunch. In my personal opinion the power gain and listening to a 350 scream will out weigh the negatives Of front weight. I can deal with that later..

 

if you want power go big, toyota 2jzgte twin turbo inline six. this is my truck and its too fast.

 

if you use the trans with the motor like i did, you can get a marlin, inchworm, or other brand adapter to bolt up your gear drive case. or rob a t100 of its tcase adapter and tcase and bolt it up, just make sure the adapter is for a t100 if using the 30-40le that comes with the jdm 2jz packages. the trans will hold all the engine has in its stock form easily as the 2jz a340e is built better internally with more robust parts than your typical a340 4wd trans

 

i did a 350 swap in an 84 4runner so same engine bay and it required a pusher fan. the engine couldnt go back farther without hitting the distributor but it did all fit behind the grill. a 350 swap is fun too but milage kind of sucks. i only got to drive mine 383/th350/np205, for 2 days before i blew the trans. its fun burning 36's all day. if you want to do it on the cheap get a 350 donor vehicle and swap the drivetrain over. i put a k5 drivtrain in my 85 and had the driveshafts reworked to accomadate it and spent about 800 bucks with 600 being the donor

 

2JZ-GTE or 1UZ-FE for the win. All day, every day.
You got the rig because it's a Toyota, right?
SBC's are cheap, I get it but, meh.
Just my opinion, good luck with the project!

 

Dude that is outstanding!

That is one tight fit, They must be small turbochargers to sandwich in likethat.

 

I put an LS1 with 400 hp in front of a Toyota 5 speed and transfer case and have beat the hell out of it and they stand up just fine. Got the adaptor from advanced adaptors with clutch, bellhousing, throw out bearing, pressure plate, and pilot bearing. It fit perfect and I have hammered on this unit and the trans and transfer case have held up fine. Toyota tough!!

 

hey if an inline six fits a 350 will.

a toyota v8 would be cool in a purist form but lets be real 350's are cheap and can be found in any town or yard in this country. like an a**hole there everywhere. parts availabilty and aftermarket support is really vast.

if it were me get an alumium block and coil packs, that should let you tuck it in where it needs to be. you might even get a puller fan back there if you can tuck it back far enough, but if you have a distributor especially an hei firewall clearance gets tight.

on my 2jz swap, the 3.0 toyota should have used, I had to push my firewall back behind the #2 turbo with a big hammer to push the engine back far enough to get a couple puller fans squeezed in and the grill to still fit on. as well as cut out the core support and build my own around the radiator to bring it forward behind the trimmed grill but it all fit with the hood closed. of course hood pins were needed because i had to delete the latch.