I'm a younger Toyota enthusiast, I currently don't even have a yota, but l'm workin on it. I currently drive my grandma's old Cadillac Deville, and the Northstar V8 in it is an awesome engine. My goal in life is to have an older Toyota Pickup with some baja suspension, and a V8. Has anyone ever considered this motor in a yota? It's an awesome small block V8 with VVT. What might be a better choice, a small block chevy V8, the 4.3 Vortec V6, or the Northstar?

....l know it's a long way down the road for me, but l just love learning about this stuff, and l love working on cars.

 

The 4.3 would probably be the best for simplicity, and the fact that you would have some technical support from people who have done that exact same swap before. I really like the idea of the Northstar V8, but fitment issues would concern me, and the fact that it's uncharted territory since no one has done one(as far as I know). Unless you are a veteran of more complex engine swaps, I wouldn't do it just yet.

If you haven't done an engine swap at all, I wouldn't. So many times people post up here wanting to rip their tired old 3.0V6 out(or 22RE) and put in another motor, but I'd say 90% of those people just stick with stock, and spend the money on other things, like gears, lockers, tires, lifts, armor, etc.

 

The Northstar is a front wheel drive engine. Gonna be a LOT Of custom work required to run it in a rear wheel drive setup.

 

their is no such thing as a front wheel drive motor, just front wheel drive trans axles. you can have an adapter made for the northstar to bolt onto the stock toyota tranny. maybe not the most economical choice though.

 

It can be done with a Northstar, it's the same bolt pattern as a 60deg GM V6, which is also the same as an Isuzu V6, and several others. There is a bunch of swap info out there, BUT a Northstar is HUGE, I just pulled one last weekend for a friend. Did I mention HUGE. Get a 4.3 V6 if you want GM power.

 

another vote for a gm 4.3 here

 

They have many variants of the Northstar. Some frontwheel drive mounted, some rear wheel drive mounted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northstar_engine_series

Although when it comes down to it, the Northstar is a poor candidate for a Toyota swap. It's a neat idea though, especially if you really like to do fab work.