92 toyota v8 swap write up.
 

im putting all this up for those of you who are considering to do a v8 swap.
first of all i bought the truck as a project when i was 14 and had plans of it being a daily driver when i was 16. im now 19 and 3 motors, 2 transmissions, and 2 transfercases later i think i have it pretty well figured out by now.
Buying the truck as a pre-started project was a terrible idea to start with but it was the best looking toy i had ever seen and i knew it could be a nasty mud machine if i finished it. The 3.0 v6 had thrown a rod and the guy decided to do the v8 swap because he had many other trucks. Needless to say i had thrown myself on the fast track to being a crazed motor head.
The first motor was a efi lt1 out of a 93 camaro along with the 700r4 trans. the guy had a painless wiring harness and the computer so running all of that wasnt going to be a problem. he had bought the adapter to bolt up to the t case and the radiator from northeast. had drive shafts made to fit. He had cut as much of the toyota harness away(big mistake had gauges all over the truck because of this). i made up a custom gauge cluster for the truck if anyone wants pictures of that also. I finally got the truck running and to the point where it would start and had some final things left to tie up. the motor didn't have a fan pulley on a water pump so with the limited space to put in puller fans i ran pushers which didn't keep the motor cool for crap. i had it all together and running but was running a little hot for my liking but i didnt have much choice but to run it. so that motor went up and i went for 305 my buddy had. swapped it in and this time we put in a crazy low temp thermostat in to keep it cool and had electric for offroad and stuff and belt driven fans. ran great. in traffic or in the mud or whatever. it hit 200 once and that was mudding and in the deepest hole around. the motor was unstoppable pretty much. Then the trans went out. i knew it was coming because it was a 700r4. This is where the story takes a nasty turn. We had just gotten a new mechanic on the farm and he hated those transmissions with a passion and wanted to completely change everything. He knows his stuff and is the best around at what he does so we ended up buying a 72 blazer for 300 bucks and it ran. had the 350/th350/np205. the motor got ripped down and my dad told me to do the thing right. so we did and i got to build my first motor. this motor was dynod at 487 hp and 490 tq. the truck went back together and again the electric fans couldn't keep it cool. lucky we caught it very early and i had a friend who builds motors for a living help me out and got a new crank in it and got it back together. this is where it currently stands. i gotta say im not happy with the set up due to the high compression of the motor and the amount of rpms i have to turn with the 3 speed in order just to do 55 mph(almost 2400). i have the stock ifs and rear with no mods. im here to answer any questions and i currently go to nc state but im from maryland. if anyone needs help in the area im more than happy to help someone out. so i know some people on here will have questions. ask away. if you need lots of help pm me
here are a few pictures of the motor build and a few of the truck since i got it until now
http://photobucket.com/92toyotaswap
-Matt

Welcome! And yes, you do have some great experience under your belt!

yeah you pick it up fast when your doing things like this

I'm in the process of swapping a 350 in my 91 4Runner and I wanted to see if you had any pics of your radiator setup. What radiator and fan are you using?

i dont have any pictures and the first i could get some is first week of october. its nothing special its just a 15 inch flexlite fan with the be-cool radiator fit for the small block swap.
here the link to it
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ADD-716681/

Cool project My first project was a 1970 Chevelle when I was 15. I felt like I was learning amazing stuff each time a made a milestone. Now I felt like I was learning in the stone age looking back. All my tech support came from a hand full of local gear-head's in 1978. Now you can get answers (really just too many opinions in some cases) to any question with this little known tool called a Google search LOL. I am now on my 100th +- project now its like yours Mine is a 1995 hi-lux. Have you wiped out any differential's yet? Ps I would go back to the 700r4 with lock-up working and 4.10's with 33 tires make a good combination if you are using it as a daily driver vehicle. I used the fan off a 1994 Mercedes 190E made an almost like it was made for the truck fit with huge air flow, and a universal cheep aluminum Chinese radiator off flea-bay for about $120.00 (but I do have some tig capabilities tho). I have some pic's but I don't hijack threads. :hillbill:I just looked and the radiators have went up a little $139.95 this link will be good for a couple of months anyway http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Pr...c3077e&vxp=mtr

i havent had any differential problems and i have run the crap out of it in 4x4 and its still good and everything. i wanna go back to the 700r4 with 35s just becasue i could cruze soo easy.

I went wheeling a few weeks ago and wiped the front out. Now it sounds like a siren when in 4WD. I was planning in doing a SAS anyway cause of the research I have done it seems like when a V8 conversion is done the front diff or CV axles are usually the first to go.

yeah i believe that. that toy is on the back burner at the moment due to getting another toy. i picked up a 85 toy with a professionally shortened frame, 22r with header and cam, 4 speed, new 38 inch boggers and i believe 4.88 gears. just a total bad ass toy

What did you guys do about mounting the radiators? Universal kits?

Be-cool and advanced adapters both make radiators and i saw a crazy cheap aluminum radiators on low range off road but not sure if it would handle the v8

I tig welded some .090 aluminum angle on each side of the radiator and used The radiator drop brackets that came on the 3" body lift. If you don't have a body lift make four 4" X 1" straps and bolt one end to the factory radiator mounting holes and drill the fabed radiator mount and the straps for mounting bolts. Here is a pic but not real good.
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I am not sure if it's cool or good forum educate but I can post some more pics or PM them to you if some one can chime in and let me know? I am old But a noob to the forum's

Post them up here! It is always nice to see other pics! I need to change the way mine is mounted. My brackets recently came loose and my radiator fell into my water pump pulley creating a waterfall of coolant on the trail!

I don't have any pics of the mounting other that previously posted. I will take some more detailed mounting pics and post next week. Here are a few other pics.
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Used a mercedes 190 E cooling fan looked like it was made for it.

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had to cut minimal metal out of the lower radiator support


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used a 1992 corvette short water pump shaved about 1/2" off the water pump fan pilot and used hex button head bolts for the pully and had about 3/4" clearance would have had over 1" clearance except I wanted air conditioning

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seeing this makes me want to build another toy later down the road. start fresh with something not someone elses already hacked up piece of junk. my friend has a t100 with v6 that threw a rod with a 5 speed that is incredibly clean that i would love to throw a nice 383 in

I kept mine to a stock 230 HP for reliability and fuel economy I was tempted to do a 350-400 HP engine but I would like to get some trouble free daily driving as I know when I play I do play hard sometimes LOL after all 230 HP and 225 Ft lbs torque is over twice what came out of it. I might do some vortec heads and an economizer cam in the future tho. I am currently working on the suspension right now

yeah i went for the 400 plus motor and its a blast to drive but dont watch the gas gauge while doing it. a ton of fun but next time i now know how to build a much nicer final product and i was able to trade it for a 2000 chevy 1500 with 100k on it so that not a bad trade plus its power everything and on 35s with a 6inch lift

Nice. That looks good. I'm not sure but my gas gauge doesnt work anymore. Have any of you guys had that problem? I think its because I just hacked up the wiring harness except for the wires that I needed for the motor to run.

i did a completely custom gauge cluster but mine worked find while i had it in