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In early June several life changes lead to me selling my gas guzzling 1997 GMC k1500. The only trucks I was looking at was 90s toyotas, I after weeks of searching I finally found it. A 1990 toyota pickup with a 5 speed manual, single cab, and 192k on the 22re. I hit the guy up and asked him to hold the truck for me until I could look at it, he agreed and 3 days later I payed the pull 5k he was asking for the truck. Sadly 2 days after getting him home the rear main seal started to leak bad. I went ahead and asked the seller and about it and he was very sorry but had no idea about the leak because he had not driven the truck much in the last 3 years. So started one of the bigger projects Ive taken on in my short 18 years of life. After hours of reasearch I decided to replace the rear main seal, tranny seal, clutch, flywheel, ujoints, half moon seals, and as many gaskets as I could reach while everything was apart. I also ordered a set of wheels and tires to replace the huge 33x12.5x15s that came when I bought it. Here is my parts list and work done as of now. Asian Clutch kit, OEM flywheel, OEM seals, valve cover upgrade bolts, valve cover gasket all from 22re performance, highly recomend them for the service and quality. Next up were moog ujoints and all the fuilds went was royal purple for all tranny and diff fluid. Finaly I finished it off with Pro comp 32 series bandido 16x9 wheels wrapped in falken wildpeak at3w 265/75/16s. While I was getting the tires mounted I had them check my alignment and it was woahfully out, I had some time to kill so I told them to just go ahead and fix it. Shortly after they come in and told me my camber adjust bolts were frozen and needed replacment. As of now I have bought new control arms, camber adjust bolts, and rancho 9000 shocks to get it taken care of while I have the front end pulled apart. For now im sticking with stick hight but will be getting a budbuilt tranny support skid plate to help with the clearence there. Plans for the future are full skid plate set, tube bumpers front and rear, and new paint next summer. Please share and sudgestions and recomendations and this is my first build. I do know I want to 3.4 swap at some point. Thanks for taking the time to read and Ill continue to post as I work on the truck. Thanks Again!
Ethan Thompson Day that I got clifford! Oh yeah, Snapped lugs lead to snapped drum... got it fixed in the end though! First time wheeling, Cant wait to go again with the rancho shocks on theold ones are very tired. Right before the first start since all the work, engine was looking fresh! Looking good after new shoes! had to go watch a movie to finish the day off haha.
Clifford looks good! The 3.4 is great, but don't discount that 22re, especially with all the work you have already put into the truck.
In my opinion, enjoy it for a few years the way it is. That truck will surprise you what it can go up in it's current form.
Anyways, love the color! (major bias)
The truck looks good! The 22re will last a long time and give you great gas mileage with proper maintenance. Why do you want to do the 3.4 swap? Do you realize that that you will have to change transmissions as well because the 3.4 will not bolt up to your current one? Look into a 2rz/3rz swap if you are serious about it. Better yet just drive to truck and enjoy it.
The 3.4 swap is just something I want to do later down the road for some more power, 22re has been amazing so far. I was able to replace all my shocks and lower control arms today. The shocks were completly shot and had no return in them, no wonder it was running rough. Ill def look into the 2rz and 3rz motors.
Well... Engine Blocked today, not really sure what is going to happen with the truck. Spent almost 9k between buying the truck and repairs, only got 1k left to my name after some other emergancys, Would appercait any thoughts on what to do. Thanks Ethan
Ok heres the quick update. I found a doner motor for $200 and started to tear down the ond engine. Once I got past the head I found that it was a head gasket as well and the cylider head being cracked in 4 different places so i didnt buy the donor. Someone before me also used dodge springs in the cylider head.... So I now am waiting on some parts from LCE and 22re performance to put it back together. Going with LCE street cylinder head with the pro torquer cam. 22re performace is rebuilding my injectors. Currently cleaning up the engine block but haveing a hard time getting the water jackets clean Any sudgestions? should be put back together in the next 2 weeks.
Update on Cliffords 1uz & Sas swap! The last month has been very crazy but I was finally able to make some really good needed progress on the swap after losing some motivation. The first thing I was able to do was get the r150 rebuilt after finding 2 of the 3 shift forks broken. I replaced them both and fully disabled and cleaned the transmission finding that all the parts were reusable. I was also able to rebuild my front diff and get my axle prepped for building this coming week. I found that JB weld works well for smoothing out the axle knuckle balls. The other thing I was able to do was get my High steer ordered and on its way. So what can you expect for your swap. Firstly, the spitronics ECU and wiring harness is amazing and well worth the price tag. Yes, you could do it all yourself but the ecu is so much easier ti work with and makes this swap much easier.
Second, Northwesterntoys now makes a 2wd motor mount that can be used in the 4wd with more modification. This is the rought I have gone with and I will provide additional information once I begin the process of installing the engine and transmission. Goals for the next 2 weeks Is the have the front axle installed and ready to go. That means the truck will be movable again for the first time in 8 months. Huge step here and it is really getting me motivated again. Unfortunately, I am leaving to go to mexico on the 3rd of June and will not be able to do anything else to the truck until almost july. I do have a show I am going to on the 8th of July so it has to be running and driving by then! CRUNCH TIME BABY!
Oct 30, 2021 | 07:10 PM
