Donor Vehicle or Piece Together?
Apr 1, 2012 | 01:27 PM
#1
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Donor Vehicle or Piece Together?
So today I bought a 3.4 for a whopping $200.
The only issues are the head gaskets are no good (a complete OEM set was included however) and its just the engine. I mean no wiring harness, ECU, power steering pump, etc.
My original plan was to find an entire donor vehicle equipped with the 5V and go from there.
Now I'm in a bit of predicament.. Should I replace the headgaskets, clean it up a bit and flip it for a quick buck? Or hold onto it and piece together the associated parts I will need to swap it into my 1990 4Runner?
If I could find one reasonably unmolested 3.4 at the wrecker I could probably get most of everything I need.. the hardest parts will be the ECU and harness.
I'm willing to take a year or so to gather everything, I have no intention of doing this swap soon as I just finished a major restoration project on my GT4.
If I could get everything else for around $800 or less it would still be a relatively cheap swap at about $1000. But at the same time I could probably find a rolled/written off 96+ 4Runner for a about the same price.
What do you guys think?
The only issues are the head gaskets are no good (a complete OEM set was included however) and its just the engine. I mean no wiring harness, ECU, power steering pump, etc.
My original plan was to find an entire donor vehicle equipped with the 5V and go from there.
Now I'm in a bit of predicament.. Should I replace the headgaskets, clean it up a bit and flip it for a quick buck? Or hold onto it and piece together the associated parts I will need to swap it into my 1990 4Runner?
If I could find one reasonably unmolested 3.4 at the wrecker I could probably get most of everything I need.. the hardest parts will be the ECU and harness.
I'm willing to take a year or so to gather everything, I have no intention of doing this swap soon as I just finished a major restoration project on my GT4.
If I could get everything else for around $800 or less it would still be a relatively cheap swap at about $1000. But at the same time I could probably find a rolled/written off 96+ 4Runner for a about the same price.
What do you guys think?
Apr 2, 2012 | 10:48 PM
#2
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From: Monterey california
Hey dude man, I am doing the same thing. I bought an engine for $150 that did not have all the parts, but it did have an uncut wire harness with it. Lucky for me there is a junk yard 15-20 miles away that I visted every week or so for the last month and got all the rest of the pumps and little extras. I also bought the hard to find parts like the 4x4 mt ecu, and reworked heads off ebay. So far I have spent nearly 800 on this project, but I am also doing a complete rebuild of the engine so my budget is just over 2000 with 800-1000 spent on rebuild kit and machine shop work. So if you are just replacing head gaskets and buying all the little extras on the engine your cost should be around 1000, but there will always be surprises in any build. Take your time and don't rush it. Good luck to you and hope it goes well, I am having a blast on my 3.4 swap.
Apr 3, 2012 | 05:41 AM
#4
THIS. If you are in no hurry, wait for a complete rig. You'll be using pieces you didn't realize you were going to need. Plus you can part out or scrap the rest to recover some of your investment. My donor was $600, I didn't part anything out, and scrapped the body for $300.
Apr 3, 2012 | 05:47 AM
#5
Complete donor vehicle.
Frankensteining it only causes unneeded problems.
Plenty of good deals on good engines. Don't waste money on a motor you have to rebuild.
I've got $0 in mine after selling off parts.
Actually made money off it
:wabbit2:
Frankensteining it only causes unneeded problems.
Plenty of good deals on good engines. Don't waste money on a motor you have to rebuild.
I've got $0 in mine after selling off parts.
Actually made money off it
:wabbit2:
Apr 3, 2012 | 06:04 AM
#6
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yep the best route is definantly a full donor rig. I got a wrecked 98 t100 for $1500 with a great motor in it. now that I'm done with all the parts in the truck I've been selling off additional parts from it allready made 200$ in the first week!
Also If you can try to find a T100 from everything I've read and have experienced it makes it even easier to swap.
Also If you can try to find a T100 from everything I've read and have experienced it makes it even easier to swap.
Apr 3, 2012 | 02:31 PM
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I'm thinking I'll keep looking for an entire vehicle.
Finding most of the parts probably wouldn't be too hard, but as said the headache of mixing sensors, the harness, ecu, etc. is too much.
I guess the upside is I can also look for vehicles with a dead 3.4.
Finding most of the parts probably wouldn't be too hard, but as said the headache of mixing sensors, the harness, ecu, etc. is too much.
I guess the upside is I can also look for vehicles with a dead 3.4.
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Apr 29, 2012 | 07:28 AM
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Its funny because this truck has been sitting in a back alley for over a year a few blocks away from my house..
I think I'm going to restart my pickup conversion and use the back half of the cab/sliding window too.
I think I'm going to restart my pickup conversion and use the back half of the cab/sliding window too.
May 3, 2012 | 03:46 PM
#12
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Just want to confirm something..
Since my 4Runner and the Tacoma are both 4x4, standard and V6 the wiring should be relatively straight forward correct?
I've been reading the write up on andrewzook.com and it sounds simple enough.
Is this basically all I'm up against?
Since my 4Runner and the Tacoma are both 4x4, standard and V6 the wiring should be relatively straight forward correct?
I've been reading the write up on andrewzook.com and it sounds simple enough.
In a nutshell, I removed the 2 plugs from end of 3.0 harness that plug into main dash harness of the 4runner and rewired them on to the end of the 3.4 harness.
Rewire by removing pins from 3.4 plugs and inserting them into 3.0 plugs. You will also need one of the 3.0 plugs that goes into computer. Because it is possible to remove the pins from the plugs, I only had to splice 6 wires in the entire conversion!
You can download detailed wiring diagram PDF files from Toyota by getting a $10/day unlimited membership to techinfo.toyota.com .
You will need to relocate the battery to the driver's side of the vehicle. You will also need to extend the connection to the main fuse/relay box that went to the positive terminal of the battery.
Because of differences in the wiring of the starter, you will need to run a wire from the starter relay (located in the relay/fuse box under the hood) to the starter solenoid. I cut the end off of the 3.0 wiring harness and also stole a pin with pigtail to plug directly into a plug the relay box. If you have completed the swap and it won't turn over, this is probably what you forgot to do!
Soon after I started driving the truck, I noticed that the battery was not charging. The alternator did not seem to be doing anything which I thought was strange. It turned out that I had plugged in the engine wiring harness to the voltage regulator which was not connected to anything. I removed this plug and used the plug on the driver's side fender that was a part of the original 3.0 harness. This fixed things.
I used the 3.4 wiring boot that covers the hole in the firewall. It required that I modify the metal plate to fit it to the shape of the firewall. I will attach pictures shortly.
Rewire by removing pins from 3.4 plugs and inserting them into 3.0 plugs. You will also need one of the 3.0 plugs that goes into computer. Because it is possible to remove the pins from the plugs, I only had to splice 6 wires in the entire conversion!
You can download detailed wiring diagram PDF files from Toyota by getting a $10/day unlimited membership to techinfo.toyota.com .
You will need to relocate the battery to the driver's side of the vehicle. You will also need to extend the connection to the main fuse/relay box that went to the positive terminal of the battery.
Because of differences in the wiring of the starter, you will need to run a wire from the starter relay (located in the relay/fuse box under the hood) to the starter solenoid. I cut the end off of the 3.0 wiring harness and also stole a pin with pigtail to plug directly into a plug the relay box. If you have completed the swap and it won't turn over, this is probably what you forgot to do!
Soon after I started driving the truck, I noticed that the battery was not charging. The alternator did not seem to be doing anything which I thought was strange. It turned out that I had plugged in the engine wiring harness to the voltage regulator which was not connected to anything. I removed this plug and used the plug on the driver's side fender that was a part of the original 3.0 harness. This fixed things.
I used the 3.4 wiring boot that covers the hole in the firewall. It required that I modify the metal plate to fit it to the shape of the firewall. I will attach pictures shortly.
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