Are there any fairly simple motor swaps for a 91 pickup with the 3vze? This motor has been the biggest headache i've ever had to deal with in all my years working on vehicles.

I spent a month doing the head gaskets/timing belt/water pump on it and finally had it running good. Put about 300 miles on it and now it suddenly developed a sickening knock. Pretty much narrowed it down to a problem in the bottom end. I can't find a freakin shortbock for this thing for less than 1200, and considering how big of a pain in the ass it is to work on it, i'm not feeling too inclined to replace it.

Has anyone had success swapping a 22re or even a 231 buick or 4.3 chevrolet into one of these trucks? I would like to keep the 5 speed and transfer case if possible. I dunno, this hunk of steamy dog do-do known as the 3VZE has really struck a nerve with me. Help!

 

i think the 3.4L will swap in nicely.

 

as will the lexus 4.0L v8, or 22re or 2.7L I4 yota motors or the I6 supra ones as well.

 

Cool, I'll have to look into some of these.. Keep em coming. If you guys know of a website outlining some of these feel free to post 'em up!

 

It's also "relatively" easy to swap in a Chevy small block V-8, or 4.3 V-6.

Personally I'd go with Toyota, either the 1UZ (4.0 V-8) or 5VZ (3.4 V-6). By far the best documented and supported swap for your truck is the 3.4l V-6.

 

Hmm, 3.4 looks pretty good, but it looks like one of those costs ~2000 at minimum. If I can find one for less I'll consider it, but this truck has 262k miles on it so I'll never get the money I've put in, back out..

 

I imagine it's nice to have 250 horsepower under the hood of a 4Runner (1UZ, V8).

[hijack]I'll be pulling my motor from the lexus this weekend [/hijack]

 

No matter what motor you pick I can't see getting your money back out via resale. Maybe if you drive it long enough it'll feel like you got your money back out. Most buyers will be wary of any rig with a different engine than stock, too many backyard hack jobs that never run right after a swap. As far as cost of aquiring an engine goes, 22re would be the cheapest I bet. There's a million of them out there, I see people snagging free ones from time to time. A little less HP, but a rep for being bulletproof.

 

But adapting the 22RE to his existing transmission can prove to be difficult and/or expensive. Those elusive turbo transmission bellhousings are getting hard to come by and many owners won't part with just the bellhousing so you have to drop $$$ on the complete trans. Not that swapping in a R151F turbo trans and its high-strength t-case would be a bad option. Of course, complete W56 transmissions and t-cases are plentiful and quite cheap as well.

 

Yeh, I see what you guys are saying. I mostly feel bad because this is actually a truck my brother just bought. He bought it knowing it would need head gaskets, which I unfortunately volunteered to do for him. I really love the truck, but this freakin motor is getting the best of me. I see there is a rebuild kit on ebay for ~250-300. I started pulling the motor tonight and I may just have the crank turned and re-ring it.. Juuust don't know.

 

Is the truck fully covered with insurance?.......

 

haha

I know where you're goin with that one..

Hasn't anyone else been in this dilemma??

 

i'm starting to rebuild one right now.got the front of it off this weekend.gonna ring it with new pistons & have the heads done with new valves.gotcha beat on mileage-303000.i think i'm going to get the master rebuild kit from engnbldr.com,seen positive things about em here.will have heads redone locally.see quite a few folks swapping 3.4s,but from what i see its not worth it to me.hell for the cost you could likely find a decent 96-97 4runner with original 3.4 cut your losses on the other & still have a better rig

 

I hear ya, I believe thats the route im going to take. Probably just have the crank turned locally, hone the cylinders enough to break up the glaze, re-ring and bearing and hope for the best. It ran damn good while it was running.

 

i'm still on the fence for a reman engine or to rebuild.i wrk at a dealer so at least i get a good deal on parts-10% over cost-some though are still just a little high when compared to the master kit at engnbldr.parts look to be about $900 including timing belt tensioner & idler.all new belts,plugs & wires.orient engine reman is about $1900.an xtra $1000 would look good in a set of 32s & ome shocks & springs-i have a comapny account with ARB also.but it might be nice to have a 3yr unlimited mileage warranty on someone.i'm about to worry myself to death weighing the pros & cons.