truckman1966

So I have a pretty nice 20R I built with about 9K on a fresh rebuild i did in my truck right now. Runs great, gets decent economy, sounds good, very tuneable. But it lacks the same thing that every other person on here complains about. POWER. I just wish i could have another solid 30-50 hp and any amount of additional low end tq would be welcomed. I have pondered the ever-so-common 4.3 swap, early EFI head, T3/T4, and MegaSquirt II on my balanced 20R bottom end, SBC, 5VZ, 3RZ, you get the idea. In pondering these swaps, i stumbled across the famed 1KZ. That quickly got shot down by the exorbitant price and of course shipping costs because there just aren't any in Washington State. So i started thinking about diesel swaps. What a good idea! The TDI is way too complicated (OBD2) and pre TDI VW's looked like a good option. Power output just seemed too little. Then the Cummins 4BTA came to mind. Too freakin huge. I was screwing around on Youtube and found a 4 Runner with a MB Diesel in it. Genius! After that, it was decided. I was going to do that swap.

So I have done an extensive amount of searching on this swap, and i love the idea of a near bulletproof engine driving the near bulletproof toyota drivetrain. I decided to hunt down a 300SD and after 6-8 months of very very tight budget hunting; I have found my donor car. I snagged a 1983 MB 300SD for this particular idea. I was set on finding a donor car for a few reasons; the first and main one was funding restrictions would of course permit me to only find a non-running (or very poor running) donor car. Obviously the second was obviously to have all the pieces needed to do this swap like vacuum controls and such. I'll cut to the good part. This car, through a neighbor of a customer from work, fell into my lap for the best price possible. FREE!!! I was told it needed a starter and come to find out, all it really needed was a battery and a set of glow plugs. I have been driving it for the past week and I hate to say, I have really gotten attached to this car. I promised myself that I would only drive this car to work the bugs out, and once the engine was proven and reliable it would come out and all the possible leaks/rattles/ticks would get resolved on the engine stand, pending installation into my 81 shortbox.

In doing my research, i have seen this engine installed in a multitude of engine bays, with all kinds of advice on all different aspects. But when i search for any info on this engine into a toyota pickup or 4 runner, I only seem to come across 4x4labs.com (I think) adapter, mounts, etc. into an 89 4 Runner. What I am getting at is, I don't believe anyone has done this swap into a first gen and I will be documenting everything as i go. Meanwhile, I have lost total interest in my 20R and haven't driven my truck since last weekend when me and some buddies went out to play in the mud.

I'll post some pics of the car and truck soon and any other sort of info that I find relevant. I hope to start this project soon, pending subsequent lack of a daily driver and snow forecasts.

Thanks in advance for any of your guys' input and oversight.

greenbuggy

I'm in a similar boat as you, I've got myself a '94 Toy 4x4 and an engine from an 85 300D turbo that was my DD for a long time.

4x4labs gets a ridiculous amount of money for a pretty simple swap, and as last I heard they were only adapting the MB motor to a GM trans which does nothing for those of us that want to keep a toy manual trans. I was told there was a toy adapter but looked on their website a few weeks ago and couldn't find it.

dieselswapguys.com has an adapter, I spoke with the guy there he seems reasonable and the price wasn't bad but he never sent me pics of the installed motor and hasn't responded to any recent emails. His website hasn't been updated since 11/09 so I'm not sure whats going on with him.

Crazy 85 on this forum claims to work for a shop that perfected the swap, wants $900ish dollars for the adapter plate and bearing and you'll have to get someone to drill your toy flywheel for you. The website he gave (IIRC defiant 4wd) has some sort of generic website placekeeper and no actual info on the swap or products they sell.

I just got myself a bridgeport and am about to machine the fackin thing myself because nobody seems to stay in business making the damn things.

sokoji

iTrader: (1)

You guys should check out my build up page. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...01/index3.html I put the turbo OM617 into my 1st gen pickup. Its a very tight fit because I'm pretty sure the first gen engine bay is shorter than later models and I didn't want a body lift.

truckman1966

I'd be interested in how yours turns out with the bridgeport. buddy of mine had one and i only got to play with it a few times. i would also be curious what you would charge to make me one . i was planning on making my own out of some plate steel and the machine shop i deal with at work would prolly do the pilot bearing adapter and flywheel re-drill for me on the cheap.

truckman1966

Ok, doing some more research after seeing sokoji's swap and reading about the swap into rover discoverys getting freaked out about height. So i just went outside and measured both my 20R and the OM617 in their factory homes. The 20R from crank centerline to top of oil fill cap measures around 18" and is below the tops of the fenders by at least an inch. The OM617 measures around 19" from crank centerline to top of timing chain bump on the valve cover. So my next question is for sokoji. What did you do for mounts since you had to cut your hood to make it clear? Did you use factory mount brackets from/on the MB and somehow mate them to the Toyota frame pedestals? If that's the discrepancy, I guess I will just have to fab up some brackets for the OM617 to sit it lower.

greenbuggy

Not sure what I'd charge yet...want to make sure I get the bugs sorted out with mine first then I'll think about selling to other people. I'll let you know if I do end up making a couple tho.

If you want an adapter for the pilot bearing "Kracken" on the superturbodiesel forums posted specs on the one he made. I think it could also be used as a guide to drill your flywheel if it was cut right. I emailed him asking about getting one made as I don't have a lathe to do so with.

http://superturbodiesel.com/std/om61...er-t-1961.html

sokoji

iTrader: (1)

Yeah right now the om617 is just sitting right on top of some plates that I drilled and bolted through the stock engine mounts. Don't get me wrong I could definitely lower the engine down more, I just wanted to keep it up as high as possible till I installed Hysteer. Since the oil pan is in the front it could cause issues with the steering and I figured I could lower it later when I knew exactly how much room I had down there. For example right now the bottom of the oil pan is flush with the bottom of my frame.

truckman1966

what's really funny is i actually know Kracken through work. good ol bellingham crew

smrflng

Interested in the adapter plate. And the entire build for that matter. Hope all turns out well.

Russ

truckman1966

sorry i haven't posted in a while. been crazy busy at work and gotta do head gaskets in my turbo soob before i disable my truck as it's my dd right now. hoping for the next few weeks to get that out of the way and then the benz and the truck both get ripped apart. anybody wanna buy my balanced 20R and all kinds of pre-84 20r/22r/22re stuff?

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f107...-stuff-225963/

greenbuggy

Hey if I had a couple adapters like Kracken has made for me would you be interested in one? I figure I'll get a bit of a discount if I buy a few rather than just one.

onlyn8v

Hey sokoji, Have you been able to drive the swap? Any ideas on mileage?

truckman1966

greenbuggy, yes i would be interested. any idea on cost? i'm on quite the budget and if i can spend a little bit more for a lot less headache, it will pay off imho. obviously it can't be too much though, as i was planning on just the cost of materials

greenbuggy

I'm still fielding bids but right now for a steel adapter made to Kracken's specs on the superturbodiesel forum I think I can do $125 shipped and have a couple by the end of January. They will double as a guide to drill the toy flywheel for the MB crank bolt pattern.

I think this is well worth the cost as with the trans and engine aligned all you need to complete the adapter plate is a set of center punches and a drill press.

truckman1966

That is a good price, but i want to make sure the input shaft is aligned right in the pilot bearing. you gonna do the bearing adapter too? and i didn't like the way kracken had his done. the billet plug style seems much easier and just as accurate.

greenbuggy

If you scroll a few pics down on the thread Kracken started on superturbodiesel he pressed a bearing into the end of that adapter, so it aligns the pilot shaft, flywheel and crank all at once.

sokoji

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I have put about 140 miles on the swap so far and its taken about half a tank. But I have been racing it around a bit.

truckman1966

So i couldn't sleep tonight, just laying in bed thinking of all the things i need to make this swap work. i have decided to use a 88-98 GM full size radiator but mounted in the bed on the passengers side with dual fans hooked up to a temp switch and relay like my 20R is now. and on the other side of the bed, i'm getting hooked up by the interstate guy with either a couple group 31HD's or some 8D batteries. should be around 1900-2000CCA. so i have to fab up my battery bracket, radiator mount, motor mounts, wiring, fans, coolant pipes from front of engine to front of bed, adapter plate, hopefully greenbuggy's pilot bearing adapter, fuel lines, and of course my 3" exhaust.

Goose1125

Hey guys, sorry to interject here, but I just bought an 81 Toyota P/U from a buddy of mine. It has a 5sp manual trany and from what I've read here, I guess it would have to be either the L50 or L52. It's also got a custom 4.5" lift with dual bilstein shocks all the way around. I'm really interested in doing a diesel motor swap on this truck as the 20R is really tired and losing compression. I don't know if the trany thats in it would hold up to the extra low end torque, but it seems like an R150F would. What exaclty would I need to do to be able to pull this off? Obviously the motor mounts need to changed as well as fuel system. But I'd really like to be able to leave the transmission cross member alone. Will an R150F bolt up to what's already there in place of the L50? It seems that Kracken has already figured out an adapter kit for this. What trany was used? What else would I need to do to make this work?

truckman1966

theres a search button on the top toolbar between "new posts" and "helpful links" try that