1985 4RNR TRD'ed

[Pyro4God]

I've wanted a 4rnr since I was 16. Three years ago, my wife bought me a 1985 base model with 93,000 original miles for my birthday! Since than I have kept it mostly stock, except for some bushwacker flares , a rear trailgear bumper, and removing the top and replacing it with a Wildernest. Alas, after awhile the novelty of a 100 horsepower 4 banger, a manual 5-speed and no AC wore off. I dreamed of doing an engine swap, but that was way out of my realm of possibilities given the fact that I go to night classes 4 nights a week and have a full time job. I talked it over with my wife and she agreed that I should get rid of my 4rnr and buy a 2016. So I put it up for sale and although tons of people where interested, no one came up with the cash. I don't know if it was out of boredom or fustration, but I started rethinking the whole swap thing. After hours of surfing, I found a guy near me that specialized in Ls1 and 3.4 swaps. I spoke to Paul the swap guy about the idea of getting everything that I wanted in a newer 4rnr out of my '85. He assured me that he could give me everything I wanted and needed to motivate me to keep my 4rnr. The swap would not be cheap, but it would cost me about 30,000 dollars less than buying a new one so I pulled the trigger on it. My plan is to add a 3.4 V6, an automatic transmission with overdrive, cruise control, rims, tires, a softopper, remote start, and AC. I also would like to improve the interior and upgrade the stereo.

 

[Pyro4God]

The heart donor.

I got started on this project four weeks ago and thought I should get any of you who are interested, caught up on the progress. Here are some pics of the donor vehicle, a '98 4runner as my nephew and I make the long trek to Ft. Collins from Denver.

 

[Pyro4God]

Prepping for surgery.

The patients were prepped and the operation began with the removal of the 3.4 out of the '98. Followed by the 22re.

 

[JasonRedwood]

Good move. Subscribed

 

[austintaco]

Can't wait to see the finished results.

 

[tanglefoot]

Although it's sad to see the '85 lose its "heart", I'm glad you're keeping it. It's much more interesting than a new one, no matter how it's done.

 

[coryc85]

Pyro - love to see what you do with this. Are you doing the swap or is "Paul"?

 

[SIZZLE]

Glad you're keeping it a Toyota swap. You'll have a killer rig when you're done.

 

[Pyro4God]

I have frankenstien'd several builds in the past, wanted to keep this one as purely Toyota as possible. Paul over at Automotive Wire Works in Fort Collins is doing the swap. Mine is the first he's done to have the engine and the trans swapped.

 

[benzz]

Excited to see how this goes! I'm from Fort Collins, and also have a 22re. Might have to save my nickels and dimes and give Paul a call.

 

[HighPlains]

Nice! Im excited to watch this one develope.

 

[Pyro4God]

Did that come from the factory like that?

So one of my goals is to keep it looking as Factory as possible under the hood. This also includes not doing any body lift or serious interior modifications. So after several fittings measurements putting the hood on and off, Paul finally got it to a point where it cleared the hood comfortably and lined up with the original transfer case crossmember. It was a lot of extra work to make sure everything lined up but it will pay off, if we do not have to alter either the front or the rear drive shafts. Unfortunately we're still waiting on an inchworm adapter to mount the gear-driven transfer case to the automatic transmission to be absolutely sure. Borescoped the motor and decided that it was in good enough shape simply refresh and throw in. Did new gaskets, hoses, timing belt, water pump, everything we had easy access to on the outside.

 

[scheefdog]

Curious why you have decided to swap to an automatic? Seems crazy when the 88-95 R150 transmissions bolt right up and are easy to find. No way would I want to go backwards from a 5speed manual to a 4speed auto, but I know everyone has their preference.

 

[Pyro4God]

This is my daily driver and I hit rush hour traffic to and from work everyday. I am just over shifting and and having my leg cramping from applying the clutch. Also prefer automatic transmission for long distance driving, and it makes it easier to hook up the cruise control.:wings:

 

[Pyro4God]

I can see the finish line!

Motors and tranny are in and the transfer case lines up perfectly with the original crossmember! Wanted a tach so I picked up a used gauge cluster with an ect gauge. Zane hooked everything up and threw in a little surprise for me. When I bought the '98 I didn't realize that it had ect, so when Paul sent me a pic of my center console I was shocked to see a little ect switch in the center of it where a little change collector once resided. I was even more surprised to learn thathe had made it functional and hooked it up to the gauge in the dash! But alas, all this excitement was eclipsed by the failure of an original part on the '85. The original 31 year old springs, simply could not support the weight of the new engine and trans. So it could not be test driven until they're replaced. This is a major set back for me, because even though I have the money to buy new springs,(money I had set aside for new tires) I don't have the money to pay Paul to install them or the time and tools to do it myself. Oh well, I'll just pray about it and see what happens. Meanwhile, here are some more pics. BTW, in case any of you where wondering why Paul didn't foresee this being an issue, he actually told me at the beginning that this problem could arise, but when he fitted everything in he still had plenty of clearance. It wasn't until after adding all the accessories and fluids that the old springs began to sag heavily. Dropping the clearance between the oil pan and the front axel from 3 1/2" to about a half an inch.