Adam F

Time has finally come to swap from the 3.0L 3vze to a 5.7L 350 Chevy small block V8. I've been talking about it for years, but I am finally able to make it happen.

I decided to keep my stock R150 5 speed transmission. Several reasons why. I like 5 speeds. Stock crawl ratio is twice as low compared to that of the TH350/NP203, and no driveline modifications will be nessisary. And I know my trans shifts good and is reliable.

The engine came from a 1976 Chevy K5 Blazer. It was a "crate" motor dropped in a few years back by a friend of the family. I beleive its stock internals, but I don't know for sure. Its got 4 bolt mains, edelbrock performer intake and carb, GM HEI ignition, and ebay block hugger headers. The motor ran great when I pulled it from the Blazer, so I diddnt rebuild it. I replaced every gasket besides the headgaskets, replaced the timing chain, and basic tune up parts like plugs, wires, cap, rotor, pcv, fuel filter, etc. I then gave it a paint job. Here are some pics.

As she sat in the Blazer.



On the engine stand, stripped and degreased




4 bolt mains




Valvetrain looks good



After paint




After getting the motor prepped, I started on removing the engine from the 4Runner. I am working on it in my single car garage, so space is very limited. I decided the best thing to do would be to cut the core support out so I could lift the engine out on the hoist in the garage. With the garage door open, there is not much room overhead. Plus the core support is damaged from a run in with a tree, so it needs to be straightened anyway. So I cut all the spot welds with a spot weld cutter, and removed the core support. I yanked the engine out separate from the trans.




The engine ran great before I pulled it, just had a injector leak. I was able to part it out and make some money, which helped to buy parts for the swap. I also made some money on parting out the old Blazer.


After the engine was out, I stripped out anything no longer needed for the 350. I then painted the engine bay flat black, since the rest of the truck will be painted flat black soon. Also while the engine was out, I decided to fix the shoddy SAS job performed a few years back. The spring hanger sat crooked, and the frame tubes for the shackles were not fully welded, leaving gaps in the frame. I Cleaned the frame up, patched holes, moved the hanger forward, leveled it, and welded it back on.




Then came installing the clutch and bellhousing parts from Advanced Adapters. The kit uses a stock Land Cruiser slave cylinder. It uses the same clutch line fitting as stock. The kit comes with a special rod to use in the cylinder and a special clutch fork. You also have to remove the stock crank bushing and install a custom unit provided it the kit. I drove the old bushing out using the punch tool that was included in spark plug repair kit I had used on the 3.0. It was a perfect fit. I filled the bushing cavity with grease and pounded it out. I used a 10.5" 153 tooth flywheel. Its made by Zoom, part number 50-656. The pressure plate is a high pressure unit from Centerforce. The clutch disk is a custom hybrid unit specially made by Centerforce. It uses a stock Aisin center section, with a 10.5" friction disk. The stock friction disk is much smaller. Everything bolted up nicely. There were a few machining defects, but they appear to be strictly cosmetic.

Kit components




Pilot bushing installed




Tool used to install bushing




Clutch components installed




Defects in bellhousing







Bellhousing installed





The bellhousing does not include a rubber boot for the shift fork. I reused the stock one, but it still leaves a gap. I'll worry about that later.




Engine and trans bolted up




Then, with a series of chains and ratchet straps, I installed the engine and trans together to get an idea of where she will sit with the transmission in the stock mount.




It quickly became obvious that the engine was way too far forward with the trans in the stock location. So its going to have to get moved back a few inches. AA does sell a motor mount kit that includes a trans mount relocater, but I'm going to come up with something on my own. I'm either going to copy their design, or cut and weld the stock crossmember. That is where I left off. I need to do some measurements and decide if I want to make an adapter or cut and weld the crossmember. I'm leaning towards cutting and welding. I'm thinking I could cut the center section of the crossmember, move it back a few inches, and weld it back in along with some extra material to bridge the gap, then reinforce it with some gussets. I don't have the money to buy a new crossmember. Maybe later on down the road. I shouldnt have to do anything to the drive shafts. My rear drive shaft is already pulled half way out of the slip with my lift, so moving the trans back a few inches will actually be good since it should put the slip back somewhere around where it was stock. The front drive shaft is a square tube, and had plenty of extension left, so I shouldnt have to touch that either.

I'll update this thread when I get more work done. Its coming along slowly since free time is hard to come by with a 7 month old baby and my wife working late hours.

john rumbo

looks good keep up the good work

sh0kk86

are you using a kit? downey, aa, or home made?

Adam F

Bellhousing is made by Advance Adapters. Uses a stock Land Cruiser FJ80 slave cylinder. Clutch disk is custom made for Advance Adapters by centerforce, clutch plate is centerforce. Everything else is custom.

Adam F

Got the motor mounts burned on today. Welds dont look pretty, but they are strong.






Next I will build the t-case crossmember. Here's what I'm starting with. My stock rubber t-case mount is worn out. Instead of paying $100 for a new stock mount, I'm going to use parts of the old mount along with some bushings and tube I had laying around to make some new ones. I got the idea from Jayk's project on 4x4wire . PICTURE That is of the 4cy mount. The 6cy mount looks a little different, but I think I can make it work.

I mounted the motor and trans up as high as I could since I have a 3" body lift. The new crossmember should give me a good amount of extra ground clearance compared to stock..

Adam F

Made some good progress on the transfer case crossmember and mount. Thanks to JayK for the idea!

The flat piece of steel used for the crossmember was some scrap steel I got from work. I have 2 other pieces just like it. Its almost long enough to go from frame rail to frame rail. I will cut up some of it at an angle and mount it to the rear 2 stock crossmember mounting bolts.

fillsrunner4

You got a 60 in the rear of that thing?

Looks good

mrdoug

Man that is a clean swap job... I'm in awe and only slightly jealous. I need to get a wife and twin 7 month olds to have enough of an excuse for the lack of progress on my truck.

I really like your motor mounts. Where'd you get the bushings for those?

I have a 350 in my 85 that was put in by somebody else, it's way to far forward too (used the stock trany location, placed the motor accordingly, causing me headaches). I've been thinking bout pulling it and re-positioning it but haven't figured out the motor mounts yet. I like what you did and might steal the design.

Adam F

I redid the transfer case crossmsmber. Took me a while to get it done, but it will give me MUCH more clearance than the version before it. I only have this blury pic to show of it, I'll try to take more later.




I got all of the wiring ran and sensors installed. Water temp sensor needed a thread adapter, but the oil pressure sender had the same threads, just needed a 90 degree adapter to fit around the intake manifold.






Next I'm running the fuel lines and filter. Just have to bend up some metal lines and hook stuff up.

Adam F

Thanks!


Mounts are from here

http://www.diy4x.com/engine.htm

Just without the frame mounted portion.

Hardest part was redesigning the tcase xmember.

ozziesironmanoffroad

looks great bro

Adam F

I dropped the distributor and wired up the spark plugs. Fits nicely. Still need to get some hose, clamps, and a fitting for the water pump for the heater hose. It's getting close to firing up, I cant hardly wait!

yotasavg

looks real good!!!

Adam F

After dealing with some wiring issues, I finally figured things out and got the engine to run! I turned it over until the gauge read some oil pressure, and I then fired it up!

Here's a video on google


http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...76461694&hl=en

Tonight I'm going to work on re-wiring a few things, mainly the 12+ to the ignition, and the switched ignition + running to the distributor, which had full battery voltage when I tested the wire without being plugged into the distributor, but as soon as I plugged it in, it dropped to 6v, and only 4v when cranking. The distributor requires no less than 7 volts. I'm planning on running a relay to the distributor, using the original wire as a trigger.

Then I'll start on the cooling system.

Yoda

Sounds good!

Do you have the 3 hole alternator support bracket? One hole is at the bottom alt (where your ground wire is) and the other 2 are at the waterpump.
The bolt will fatigue and break off without it.

Adam F

You know what, I have that bracket but I couldnt remember where it went! Now I do! Thanks!

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

hows the swap commin along??

Adam F

Got the cooling system in and working. I originally planned on running the stock radiator in the stock location, with the taurus fan mounted in front of the radiator. Somehow it wont fit, so I went with an aluminum radiator from a 1987 Chevy Camaro. It is MUCH wider than stock, but thinner and shorter. This allowed me to mount it on top of the front crossmember and still be able to close the hood. But it also meant extensivly hacking the core support. I kind of hurried on the job here, and I really don't like the way it came out. Maybe when I swap to TBI I will also re-do the radiator mounting. But for now it will work fine. The grill will not fit now, so I'm going to have to hack it up to fit it.

Taurus fan cools VERY well on high. Temp gauge stays a little below the middle, just as it did with the stock V6. But as soon as I shut the fan off, it starts creeping up. At idle with the fan off, the its charging at 14.09v. With the fan on high, it drops to 13.5v. This is a 60 amp alternator. I have a 105amp alternator ready to put it.

I still have some little wiring issues. The starter solenoid I was going to use for the fan isnt working for some reason, and the 12v switched wire that fed the ignition relay isnt giving me any voltage anymore. So I'll have to rewire the relay and find a new solenoid for the fan. No big deal.


I hooked up the front driveshaft to pull it out of the garage. Theres only a few inches of slip left in the front shaft, so I'll have to rebuild it. And the rear shaft will have to be shortened.

I had to cut about 6 inches of sheet metal in the cab to accomodate the transfer case shifter's new location. Fits well though, actually better a little further back than the stock location.

Then it needs an exhaust. I still have to figure it out. Money is the issue at hand. I'm trying to figure out a way to run pipes out and over the frame rails and dump behind the doors. Going to run 2 cherry bomb glass packs. I'm hoping I can run the pipe up and over the frame in between the body, since I have a 3" body lift. And then mount the glasspack on the frame rail. Should be cheap and effective. And when I build some rock sliders they will be protected.

fillsrunner4

reminds me of mine
Although I have the bigger MarkVIII fan and im putting it in the trunk


I had mounted mine up front too with stock radiator and used the fan as a pusher. They do work alot better as a puller but youll be plenty fine either way


Looking good

Adam F

Got some more work done to the front end. I had to hack the grille and the bumper for it to clear the fan. Looks crappy, but better than nothing.




My rear drive shaft is at the shop as we speak getting shortened. Hopefully next weekend I can take it for a spin!