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This past July, a deal fell into my lap: a clean 89 4Runner for $500.
After some research, I decided on a 3.4L swap, and luckily there was another great deal waiting for me nearby. I picked up the motor with s/c already on it, as well as the ORS exhaust conversion, boost gauge, entire harness, and aux fuel pump for $1500. Thanks again Jason.
Currently, the engine & entire driveline have been pulled and old motor mounts removed. Tonight, we started dropping the motor in.
Sorry for the poor quality on these. Forgot the camera.
I'll be watching this like a hawk as I'm on the verge of my first motor swap. Would this be much different for a 87 4Runner SR5? And does the stock 5-Speed bolt right upto the 5VZ-FE? Or will you be using a newer tranny/transfer case?
87 4Runner will be nearly identical to this swap, provided you have the 22re currently in there. 4Runners with the 3.0 are much more simple than mine will be, as motor mounts do not need to be moved, etc.
My 89 is completely stock. No lift, on SAS, etc.
As for the body lift w/o the s/c... I'm really not sure, but from what I remember reading the answer is still yes.
My 87 does indeed have the 22RE and 5-Speed. I'm not a welder - so moving the motor monts would be something I'd have to "farm out". How far off are they? Any kits available?
What about the drivetrain? Will the 87 5-Speed bolt up directly or with an adapter - or are you going with a newer Taco tranny? And what about the crossmember and driveshafts?
Thanks SO MUCH for any info! This is the furthest I've gotten yet
The mounts aren't very far off, but they are different mounts. The 3.0 mounts (the ones I'll be using) are slightly taller. ORS did used to sell some mounts, but i don't know if you can still find 'em (ORS is out of business). We just cut the mounts out at the scrapyard.
You've probably read by now, but no 4 cylinder tranny will work. The 22re-t used a r151f tranny-- a 6cyl tranny -- and had a special bellhousing to bolt it to the 4cyl block. I know of no bellhousing that goes the other way, 4cyl tranny to 6cyl block I'm going for a R150 tranny. These are the 3.0 trannys.
I'll keep you updated on drivelines. My think is that well use the entire driveline from a 1st Gen 3.0. It seems that the only thing well need to do is move the x-member, and then the new driveshafts will the right length.
Good Luck. It's a fun ride when its done. I just finished my '88 4Runner with the same setup (2nd gen supercharger). I started with 3.0 which makes it much easier. The motor will definelty not fit without a body lift /cut hood w scoop even with the stock intake. The supercharger is actually lower than the stock plenum.
For me I would have needed a 1.5" to have no hood modifications at all, a 1" with just cutting the understructure of the hood, and none with the hood cut. I chose to go hood cut because I despise body lifts and it gave me an excuse to put on a pretty cool hood scoop.
Here's my swap thread. There are some pictures in there as well in my photo albums that will probably help for inspiration since our trucks are the same color.
That is quite some inspiration. You're 4Runner is my end goal. The scoop is sexy. Any chance of riggin somethin like that for ram air?
This is a long way away, but... let's talk about your interior. What seats do you have? Where'd you get the covers?
Thanks, it's been a work in progress for the past 17 years or so.
I also thought of trying to make it ram air as well, but there is no room beneath it at all. The supercharger fits right into it and the snout pulley actually rubs the underside of it a little bit. I was considering doing an offset scoop on the passenger side of the hood with a body lift instead of the hood and doing an active ram air into a sectioned off compartment where the battery used to be. I abandoned this idea once I got the motor positioned in favor of a relatively clean engine compartment. I might revisit it later, but for now it seems to get going without it.
The interior is Wet Okole neoprene seat covers with the shifter boot, door and interior panels, and center console cushion recovered with matching neoprene.
I did a pretty extensive write-up on the seat covers here.
So with a hood scoop/mod you don't need ANY body lift at all? Sounding more and more tempting (V8 w/ Body Lift or V6 w/ Hood Scoop).
Moving the crossmember sounds fun - but it is what it is . I'm assuming finding a Taco/4Runner/T100 with the 5VE-FE w/ECU/Harness and a 5-Speed & Transer case as a complete "pull" package would be my best bet?
I'm still looking for any recomendations on a good shop in Houston that has done Toyota engine swaps before if anyone has any helpful suggestions
So with a hood scoop/mod you don't need ANY body lift at all? Sounding more and more tempting (V8 w/ Body Lift or V6 w/ Hood Scoop).
From my experience, no body lift is necessary to accommodate with the hood scoop that I used. This is subjective because every scoop will be different and fit differently. I wanted to go with something that Toyota should/would have put on it from the factory, so I had to have it available during the swap to see exactly what I had to do to accommodate it. It also had to fit within the custom paint already present on the hood. The hardest days of the swap were the day I disabled it to start pulling the motor (It was still purring on the 3.0) and by far the worst of taking the cutting wheel to the hood.
Moving the crossmember sounds fun - but it is what it is . I'm assuming finding a Taco/4Runner/T100 with the 5VE-FE w/ECU/Harness and a 5-Speed & Transer case as a complete "pull" package would be my best bet?
The T-100 as a donor definetly has it's advantages and disadvatages. I personally say the +'s outweight the -'s.
I'm still looking for any recomendations on a good shop in Houston that has done Toyota engine swaps before if anyone has any helpful suggestions
This one I'm no good for. But I can say, if you are confident, know basic mechanics, and are not on a strict timetable...doing it yourself is achievable.
The transmission is in, and I do not believe anyone could ask for more smooth of an evening.
Here is what we did... so any of you considering this swap this may help:
At the junkyard, we took two good batteries and a good blade and cut the section of frame with the motor mount brackets off. This way, when we got back to the shop we were able to see exactly where the brackets would have been welded had the 4Runner originally had the 3.0
For a tranny, we snagged the whole setup off of an '89 pickup (3.0 of course). As a nice surprise, the cross-member bolted right up! I can't say if that would've happened for trannys and x-members off of new vehicles, but this worked perfectly.
There is one little problem, however-- the shifter is a couple of inches forward from where it was, and the motor is as far back as possible. That may prove to be an interesting challenge.
The motor is now in place with the tranny aligned. We will be welding in the motor brackets tomorrow.
The motor is in, everything seems to be bolting up nicely. I'm just about to start into the wiring... hoping the Thanksgiving holiday allows for time to finish.
Anyone have any input on a good--yet affordable-- EGT setup? I want to stick it in a pillar pod... I think it's made for 52mm gauges.
post up some pics! id love to see what it looks like in there. i did my motor mounts WAY different. i dont need a hole or scoop of any kind! i cut my 22re ones off did a little trimming here and there and they worked PERFECT.
More than 5 years later! I parked the 4Runner in 2012, and it's been sitting in storage ever since. I finally have the funds to resurrect the project, but unfortunately I'm going to have to pay for most of the work to be done. In the mean time, I thought I'd upload some very old pictures from the swap I did back in the day (with low funds!) in case they help anyone.
post up some pics! id love to see what it looks like in there. i did my motor mounts WAY different. i dont need a hole or scoop of any kind! i cut my 22re ones off did a little trimming here and there and they worked PERFECT.
It's been years... but finally getting back to this. Do you have pics?! Would love to see
10-07-2010, 11:12 PM
. I'm assuming finding a Taco/4Runner/T100 with the 5VE-FE w/ECU/Harness and a 5-Speed & Transer case as a complete "pull" package would be my best bet?
