That thing looks amazing!

 

Thanks Gizler, I appreciate the compliments! I've been slacking on finishing this project, just want to get it done aleady!

Today I got some more done on the console. I started out adding the hinge to the main storage part of the console. I spent 2 minutes welding it in place, then realized I welded the hinge on wrong, and spent 20 minutes grinding it off. Luckily I had another hinge.

I got the main storage portion tacked welded to the base. Got the lid mounted, and the lock cylinder mounted. All i have left is to modify the cylinder lock latch (just need to make it an "L" shape instead of straight) then i need to cut a notch in the lid for the latch to hook into. Then I have a million spot welds to finish up, lol. I have new respect for anyone that does sheet metal/body work for a living, I find myself getting so impatient with the spot welds, and grinding them down, and going back and filling the holes and imperfections. I was originally going to just paint the console, but I'm thinking of upholstering the whole thing now, just so my metal work doesn't have to look perfect. I'll post up some pics of my progress a little later.

 

Here's a few pics of what I got done yesterday







I didn't get a pic of the lock cylinder installed. I still need to come up with a cupholder design, that's what is going in the flat empty spot between the shifter and the console. I was hoping to have room for 2 cupholders, but think I'll only be able to fit one between the seats.

 

Your consloe is looking great. I got a laugh where you had to go back and undo your hinges. Glad to see I am not the only one that does that as well. Seems like I do my fair share of things like that.

 

Man that is really nice!! It looks great! Are you going to put a pad on the top of it? What kind of coating are you going to go with?? Some bedliner would look pretty cool on it.

 

Ed, you read my mind, i was just about to suggest adding a cupholder to the front... that thing looks great, i've always wanted a lock box in my truck so i can take my top and doors off in the summer... great ideas! Looks great man

 

Hi Terry, yeah I couldn't believe I did that, I had mocked it in place first, then when it came time to weld it, I must have turned the hinge around. It would have still worked, but the hinge pin would have been hanging out of the back, it was kinda unsightly.

Thanks Gizler. Yeah I have some some thin 1" foam padding that I can use on the arm rest. Then I think I'll try to get some scrap vinyl from a local upholstery shop to cover it with. I was thinking of cover the whole console with vinyl, but thats a good idea, using bed liner on it, that could be a option, I was planning on using some DYI bed liner on the frame of my offroad trailer project. If I had any left over I could use it in the console. Thanks for the idea!

Thanks man! I measured last night, and might have enough room for two cup holders side by side. I'll have to get some cardboard and play around with some designs. Yeah the lockable storage will be nice when the top is off! I bolted it into place last night before going to work, its really sturdy even with the bolts finger tight, it hardly even budges. It's pretty comfortable, I can shift that trans without moving my arm from the armrest.


On another note, I'm probably going to sell my 83' Toyota pickup. I bought it off my dad with the intentions of using it for a DD but its had it's share of issues. Basically it's turned into another project, and I've been DD my 4runner for the most part. The 83' needs the front axel rebuilt, and the engine is getting tired. So I'm going to sell it so I can finish up some projects on my 4runner and finish my offroad trailer build. First on the list is to get an aluminum radiator, and a larger 16" electric fan to replace my two 10" fans. Then I'm going to redo the rear suspension, I'm planning to go with AllPro's 6" lift kit. There's some other things I'd like to do, but those are the major ones, I'll miss having a pickup, but at least finishing up the trailer, I'll still be able to haul stuff, which us the reason I started building it in the first place, lol.

 

I got a little more done on my console. Made a card board template for the cup holder, got it all cut out of 14 gauge and welded up. Need to do a little more welding, and clean up the welds, add padding and fabric for the arm rest and paint the inside and should finally be done!

 

I am already envious of our cup holder. Console turned out great. I can tell you have some time and effort into it and it looks rock solid as well. Great job!!!

 

1) how much did your conversion kit cost to swap in the 302 engine? Some guy is selling a ford 302 on Instagram for $500 with 10,000ish miles on it. also has edlebrock intake and 600cfm carb ,mild cam , 30 over on cylinders less than 10,000 mi on it I have the alternator ,fan,starter and flywheel that goes with it thanks. http://instagram.com/p/mzBbpDxbTE/
I know nothing about carb or ford so i dont know if that is a good deal or not lol maybe you can elaborate?

2) Also what did this entire swap cost you? I know you did alot of things yourself. but just to give me an estimate. And
3) what do you think it would have costed if you didnt fab anything up yourself?
4) Did you do a body lift to clear the engine?

Sorry im not digging through your thread. I am about to leave to school right now and couldnt look it up lol

Havent had much time to jump on YT for a few weeks to give ya'll an update but ive been having some massive overheating issues lately. And i figured that if it ends up being another HG issue i just might resort to either letting the truck sit in the driveway till im done for school for for another 1.5years(which i really dont want). Or use the $1400 i have in my savings and sell my Corolla to get this engine inside the 4runner.

All in all, It's just a thought. Probably cant afford an engine swap. but that would be one sick engine swap. I checked NorthwestOffRoad but i cant seem to get a price on the adaptors or kit. so i cant get a set idea of what cost will be yet. If it ends up being too expensive i might have to keep the crappy 3VZE and fix that for a 2nd time instead

 

I haven't had time to read through your entire thread, but when you said you had to update your center console build I just had to check it out...

And it looks great! Excellent job on fabbing that up man. Very clean and looks to be lots of storage. If I didn't have the 60/40 bench I would follow suit.

Keep it up!

 

Oh damn just seen the update lol Dude that is awesome. Great job on the middle console. Does it fit XXL size cups in there too? I wish my rig had a cup holder. All ive got is the crappy store brand one that you mount onto the glove compartment lol still works but sucks on bumpy roads because it spills everywhere. haha

 

Love he lockable box, and cup holder, keep on truckin!

 

Thanks Terry, yeah I'm liking the cupholder, I wanted to make two of them side by side, but there just wasn't enough room. But since it's just usually me driving by myself it should work out fine.


Thanks chukarhunt, yeah I probably have twice the storage space, plus a usable arm rest,(the factory console is just too short to use). Yeah I don't blame you on reading through the whole build thread, that would be a lot of reading all at once, lol!

Thanks man!

Thanks Richard. I still have some work to do on it, going to pad and upholster the armrest, I might upholster the whole console, not sure yet, I still have some welding and grinding to do on it. Oh, it will fit a XXL size cup, I just have to pull out the rubber insert to fit the bigger cup size.


I'll be answering your 302 engine swap questions here shortly Richard, I just have a few errands to do first.

 

ΔΔΔ
Sorry again about the overheating issues, that's got to be frustrating. Yeah I don't like that NWOR doesn't have their prices listed, you have to call for price quotes, and to order from them, they need to update their web page! Yeah the engine swap gets expensive, but not as bad as some, and going with a Carb eliminates a lot of hassel with wiring, and no more ecu codes to deal with, lol, plus a lot more HP! I tried looking at Advanced Adapters, I thought they had a bell housing adapter too, but couldn't find one.
An overall rough estimate, including the price of the engine you listed, you would probably be in close to $2000 into the swap,and that's if you do the work yourself.I know you have a lot of things to consider before coming to a decision, let me know if you have any more questions, or if there's anything else I can help you with!

 

nice looking rig

 

Thanks Ed. Thanks alot for the info. I actually read up on the CA laws today and really the dmv doesn't want people downgrading to an older engine because it could make passing much more difficult. I might have to sit out the 302 swap and wait for decent 3.4 5vzfe. Maybe even upgrade to supercharger. Lol I dunno. Still an awesome thought.

I believe my truck might have had air bubbles in the engine. Because I massaged and massaged the radiator hoses and added more antifreeze. And it doesn't overheat on the street anymore. However it did begin to over heat on the freeway. So I'm thinking there might be more air in the system. I'm gonna keep giving this truck couple more massages on those radiator hoses and see if I manage to get all the air out of my system. Hopefully that fixes it. If not then I'll move to the thermostat and radiator cap. Then move on from there with process of elimination.

 

Have you tried raising the front end as high as possible with the radiator cap off and letting it idle? Seems like I heard that California wants you to stick in a newer motor. The small block Fords are great little motors and easy to work on. I had a 3.0 and a 289 and the Ford motor would beat the 3.0 on gas mileage in my opinion. California and their wonderful laws.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate the compliment!
Hey Richard, if you really want a 302 you could always find an early to mid-90's mustang (86' and newer they went to fuel injection, also from 96' to 2010 they had the 4.6 liter V8). You could probably pick up a good running donor car that way you would have the wiring harness and computer, then part out the rest to re-coupe some of your $$$ and help pay for your swap. Since your 4 runner is an 89' if you got a 90'-95' 5.0 you would be upgrading to a " newer" engine and get you around the smog laws. I believe these years put out between 215-225 HP depending on the year, but there is a lot of aftermarket support for upgrading theses engines. I just thought I'd throw that out there as an option, then again for not much more money you could probably do the same thing and swap to a 3.4, lol.

Hope you figure out the overheating issue, it seems odd to me that it runs cooler doing city driving then on the freeway...I wonder if maybe it is your thermostat. You could try removing it and put it in a pan of boiling hot water to see if it is opening, cheap way to test it before buying a new one. Good luck, hope you figure it out!

 

I would also do as terry suggested and try to raise the front end high up and run with the cap off. Also what kind of fan are you running? The fan clutch could be bad?