Project "Snapping Turtle": 1KZ-TE into a 2nd Gen 4Runner

[4Rescue]

I SOLVED THE OIL-PAN MYSTERY!!!!!!!!! Oh what a happy day it's been... Dave at Japan4x4 put it in the post Monday and it showed up at the shop YESTERDAY so frankly that's just unreal. he knew I was badly in need of the part and he knew I'd gotten the wrong part and wasn't trying to return one for the other and he got it to me... FAST. I gotta admit I was kinda nervous that we'd just gotten "another wrong part"... It was sitting in the office and I went at it like the most over-wrapped X-mas present I'd ever seen and once I got it out I knew we were looking good, clearance in the right place, the sump well in the right place for the strainer head to reach down into it... Then I put it on the Engine... VIOLA!!!! I now have a 4WD KZN130 oil-pan.


Looking good... that's where I need the "dimple"


A sweeter sight I've not seen as of late...


Strainer going right where it's supposed to...


I've also been a bit perplexed as to what age/vintage of 1KZ-TE I have and one thing that made me kinda curious is that MY oil-filler neck on the VC is on the left (looking at the front of the truck into the bay) side and has a pronounced, longer neck. Well I've found this is more common with the KZN185 era 1KZ-TE's so it's likely a newer engine then I had originally thought. now I'm having nightmares that it may be one of those dreaded "imobilizer" equipped (it's in the engine ECU and completely non-defeatable) 185 series Engines, BUT being that it definitely did NOT come out of a 4wd truck, I think I may be in the clear and not all "later" 1KZ-TE's had this issue but it's not unheard of. In reality, once the engines fitted, IF I should need to pull this and source another (I've found a few for a good price as they're not 4wd Half-cuts so folks seem to shy away from them) It'll simply be a matter of getting the new engine here and plugging it in like a regular engine replacement, not a swap again.

Any-who, the big deal is that I got a pan, I'm about 99.99999999999999999% sure I'm gonna SAS it and now, we can REALLY get moving on this deal as we can officially re-furb the engine and button it up instead of twiddiling our thumbs wondering how we're gonna make an oil-pan and what we're looking at for fitment/clearance...

Chow for now... :sombrero:

Dave

P.S: Oh and once again I always see the coolest things when I'm at LCNW... This 55 is simply gorgeous and the owner has spared no expense in making it a VERY nice truck.

I can't wait to see him out on the road in it cause me, I feel better knowing that there are more LC's on the road, esp. old ones like these that you almost never see.

 

[Clay]

I'm glad you got your oil pan, that's very exciting!

Back in 1999 I did a solid axle swap on a first gen 4runner using 1" lift front leaf springs for a jeep YJ made by rubicon express and this was the lowest I think a SAS can be without major frame surgery. It was spring hangers with no drop bracket and I believe 1" lift shackles for the front of a solid axle truck. It lifted the front of that truck a little over 3" from stock height. Another option might be a custom pack of RUF leaves.

Or you could do some kind of link and coil over thing too, but that'd cost a whole lot more.

 

[4Rescue]

I'm glad you got your oil pan, that's very exciting!

Back in 1999 I did a solid axle swap on a first gen 4runner using 1" lift front leaf springs for a jeep YJ made by rubicon express and this was the lowest I think a SAS can be without major frame surgery. It was spring hangers with no drop bracket and I believe 1" lift shackles for the front of a solid axle truck. It lifted the front of that truck a little over 3" from stock height. Another option might be a custom pack of RUF leaves.

Or you could do some kind of link and coil over thing too, but that'd cost a whole lot more.

Yeah I was flat out NERVOUS when I got down to check the pan out... but I'm STILL riding the high from getting the right part FINALLY!!!!

I thought about the C/O and link suspension idea, but A) yeah, the cost, and the complexity overall. Yes I'm spending money to do this build, but overall, a coiled/linked SFA are low on my "wants -vs- needs requirements matrix" and, B) I know leaf-suspensions (I'll have to look into those RUF springs) and how to deal with anything they can do in the bush, and it's just a simple time proven recipe. D) If I did that to the front I'd inevitably start thinking "oh man now I want to re-do the rear sus to match and I might as well do those 80-series Axles up..." so then of course we come to D) Even mroe cost etc...

I think I've formulated a pretty solid plan... After talking with both Steve(???) John(??? dammit I can't remember, another nice guy up there though) up at ARB in Seattle, Matt at LCNW and Lars over on ToyotaDiesel (a member who's been a HUGE help to me through this oil-pan debacle) I think we're gonna go with OME HD 1st gen 4Runner REAR length springs up front with an aim to keep it the same height (or maybe another " taller overall) as the leaf-spring converted rear which uses the OME CS009R springs. Lars has an 85 with the 1KZ-T swapped in and says that the OME HD springs settled in nicely with the weight of the little lump up there and have been a big improvement over stock trucks ride and it looks like it sits at a nice 'slightly more then" stock height. I'll be a little taller w/o the factory SFA frame and it's "hump" for the axle clearance, but that again will match the rear suspension lift. I've also lived with OME suspensions on so many trucks at this point that I feel confident that I know exactly what I'm getting into ride-wise.

The goal of this truck is to take everything I learned from years of using my current and previous rigs for Working, Hauling DH bikes, Towing, hauling tons of Rafting gear, Camping/sleeping in the back of it, Backpacking access/ski/snowboarding mobile, "over-landing" (oh to have my 70-series back from Australia...), general 4Wheeling and use that knowledge/mind-set to build a truck to replace said current 1st Gen 4Runner, and most importantly improve on it. Take all the little "I sure wish I'd have's" and the "Wouldn't it be nice if's" I've said over the years and do them/solve them the way I want to the first time while the trucks a blank slate. As it turns out, that "solution" is going to be a SFA, Diesel powered Custom-Armored 2nd Gen on either 33's or 35's... Might be a bit of overkill to some, but I don't think it's gonna be that "big" really, the tires are more for mileage and power curve/engine RPMs for the diesel and it'll be completely re-furbed like a "new" truck except like no new truck I can currently BUY.

Things I need to find/acquire/decide about still:
~ Decide on tire size: If ONLY I could find a BFG AT Comparable 35x10.50... Any opinions on a possible tire that fits my "35" tall and les then 12.50" wide" criteria please fire away. At this point I'm likely going to re-shoe my 1st Gen in some 33x9.50 BFG AT's (if I can find them) and then run them on the truck and see how it does mileage/RPM wise with the 33's.
~ Decide on a specific Fuel Water Separator (I've just got to narrow it down between 3 choices and pick one...)
~ Get a good Pyrometer/EGT Gauge (the one I ended up buying was pretty crappy so I returned it and I'm trying to hunt down another I've been pointed at)
~ Get my Dual battery set-up/system in order
~ Decide what Batteries I'm going to run (probably one high cranking "starter" battery and another deep-cycle to be the "house/back-up battery"
~ Find some good Waterproof/heavy canvas Seat-Covers with good pockets (not too many, and in the right place)
~ LED Exterior Lights... Rigid Ind. or another brand??? Any opinions??? I'm likely going to do a wide "bar" across the front bumper or MAY even do a full curved bar at the top of the windshield (Although being in the NW I worry about their being prone to limb-strikes, risers or not)
~ Find a good Full length flat roof-rack (like a Front Runner I believe???). I've found that while I LOVE my basket rack, I rarely need the actual "basket" shape of it as much as I need the solid floor/slats and it would help with the aero-dynamics/mileage. Although MAYBE I could do a very low profile basket, but I'd really like a flat, "one layer" rack.

Cheers

Dave

Edit: Oh and Clay (or anyone) maybe if you read this: Any reason i can't take the ARB I may be getting in this front axle and put it in the rear axle for now??? my thoughts are I'd plumb it and have it ready for a front ARB down the line (and the axle would already be tapped for it too) after the bank-account has recovered from the final build cost and run the ARB in back so I gain OBA -vs- the Toyota E-Locker I'd planned (and simplify to ONE locker system -vs- two) on using and just get an open or maybe even a cheap LSD equipped 4:10 front carrier... Any reason I can't do that??? Is there a difference between the front and rear 8" Lockers because of the reverse of rotation maybe???

 

[Clay]

It's the same. You would be better having the locker in the rear. Later, if you buy something like a Detroit you could move the ARB to the front and put that in the rear axle.

 

[4Rescue]

It's the same. You would be better having the locker in the rear. Later, if you buy something like a Detroit you could move the ARB to the front and put that in the rear axle.

Cheers Clay, that's what I thought... I actually decided to pass on the axle as it had some "issues" that hadn't been disclosed and the guy selling it was someone I decided I didn't want to deal with BUT I just found a honey of an Axle with 4:10's, an open diff, brand-new Manual Hubs and in AMAZING shape so I'm going that route and just going to run the originally planned E-Locker/cable actuator in the rear axle-for now for now...

In other news, I FINALLY, with the help of several different forums and hours of reading till my eyes burned, have proved out to my satisfaction that I have a KZN130 Computer/Harness and a KZN185 Engine that has a direct-crossover Inj. Pump (read: compatible with my harness) so I'm good to go... Re-Furbnig the engine is under way and I'll be proceeding ahead now and not messing about with sourcing another engine etc.

Steps as follows:
* Continue re-furbing the engine, including re-painting a few parts for corrosion protection and yeah.. for looks too
* Hack out IFS
* Transfer V6 Brakes over to the SFA
* Order OME CS010 Springs (doing a "rears up front" deal"
* Get axle under the truck
* Stab the engine in the bay and start going for broke wiring it all up
* Start on the custom Bar-Work...

I'm thinking now that I'm gonna go with a Front Runner FLAT roof-rack too. I'd have all the same function as my current 'cheap" Yak basket but less wind resistance and I think it's going to be more functional for my needs/wants to have a flat rack that I can put Lumber and possibly an RTT eventually if I want to. I already own enough NRS Cam-lok straps to sink a ship so I'm covered in the "tie it all down" department and as I say I think the flat rack will just be a better fit for the truck and it's design philosophy. I'm also glad to be no longer supporting said rack with the gutters (2nd Gen's have the roof tracks so it'll support more weight.

I also came up with a good idea (pilfered from here I'm sure) of putting some maybe 2" square "grating" (like a "pet divider" type deal) cut to shape inside the truck over both sides of the farthest back windows (running length-wise F-> R) both for security and so I can hang/mount smaller/lighter things I don't want rolling around in the cargo area. Things like out head-lamps or toiletries bag when were sleeping in the truck, a small Fire extinguisher, and some fist-mounts etc. I think I've seen some stuff like this done in a fair few Rovers and I kinda sus'd it out the other day and all I have to do is make some simple little brackets to screw into the rear interior panels (maybe go through and mount it to the inner body metal if necessary)

Cheers

Dave

 

[4Rescue]

Well... It's ON now!!! Or rather I hope it will be MOVING on a rapid pace from here...

Went out and got myself an 81 SFA today from a nice guy in Yamhill (never a bad time to take a drive out of the city into the beautiful Oregon countryside).




Sadly on the way home JUST as I was getting to about a mile from home I saw some steam coming out from my front end of the 1St Gen... SO, I think it's time for a new Rad. Cap, a full coolant/block flush (may have it acid washed out while I'm at it) and a new water-pump for good measure. HOPEFULLY, I'll be driving my new truck sometime here in the next few months aye but still... I love my 1st Gen and I don't want to just thrash her because I've got a replacement in the works (it's like she knows there's a "new baby" coming) and she may become my Brother-In Laws "Yak Mobile" since he's been bugging me to get the Diesel done so he can buy the 1st Gen.

Ordered my CAT Fuel/Water Sep. (Thanks DieselToyz) and it should be here Monday at the latest. ARB was back-ordered w/no idea of when they'd get new stock in (kinda odd for ARB since they've usually bent over backwards for me in the past when they've been back-ordered but whatever, at least they didn;t promise me something they couldn't deliver in a reasonable time so no harm no foul), BUT thanks to TRDparts4U.com I was able to find a set of OME CS009FA/B springs for the build up as well.

SO, I'll have most of the front end parts ready to go here in the next week or so (need to order the crossover steering kit/links though) and I'm gonna spend the weekend cleaning up the axle and tearing it apart. Now I just need to find a set of good IFS Aisin Hubs (I'll have a good set of SFA Aisins up for grabs here eventually). The Axle is in good shape with no concerning wear/pitting to the swivel-balls and the Birfs are less then 2 months old.

Cheers

Dave

 

[the kid]

are you looking for an ARB for the front? i have a spare ARB sitting around in my garage. its an older one with the 3 piece case, it has been completely rebuilt by ARB. they advised me however not to put it into the rear of a daily driver. they said a front axle would be ideal especially if it had manual hubs so it could be isolated or the rear of a wheeler could do. -it blew up on my and i i drove on it for a while as it was chewing itself up... -long story, but what arb was concerned about is that the inside of the case got kinda chewed up, so they dont want the constant load of a rear end on it. they said it would "probably be ok" but yeah they didnt want to tell me its fine and then have something happen. -honestly i think its more of a legal stand point they are taking and just covering their own butt. ARB took it and completely went through it and completely rebuilt it. i have it sitting on a shelf still in the box in my garage. i was gonna put this in the front of my 85 pickup, but im not sure if im gonna do that or not, if im in there im gonna regear, and thats more money than i want to spend right now... ive thought about just doing the FZJ80 high pinon locker for that but again more money than i want to spend. i just bought two new ARBs for my 97 runner so im not gonna be doing anything anytime soon with it thats for sure. let me know if you are interested in it... i could have a ARB compressor if needed as well. let me know

 

[4Rescue]

are you looking for an ARB for the front?...

I might just take you up on that... Let me get some stuff done (and see how broke it makes me... gotta love "projects) and get back to you but THANK YOU very much for the offer and I just might take it off your hands. If you end up using it on your P/U don't sweat it, but again thanks for the offer mate.

Todays progress: Fired up the Kubota BX and lifted the axle out of the trailer:

Did I mention how much I love this little machine... It's like a Toyota: Pound for pound it's the toughest thing around.


Got to work with the wire-brushes, pain scrapers and most of all... WD40 to get her all cleaned up. It wasn't a "cream puff" by any means, but it's pretty dam clean under there and considering I got the whole axle hub-hub (and decent looking/operating set of Aisins at that) for under $400 I'm VERY happy with it.


This is after a few hours of elbow grease and I can only imagine that tomorrow afternoon when I break out the rear de-greaser




Tomorrow afternoon I'm gonna strip off all the tire-rods/steering/stabilizers and what not and break it down as it's going to get a full over-haul/rebuild. I'm also trying to decide what route to take with the brakes. Going to thicker vented rotors and the bigger calipers on the stock brackets sounds nice and easy, but I have the 95 IFS brakes so maybe I'd be ahead to go the distance and put the IFS stuff on to just run the V6 brakes. I'll decide here eventually. Cat Fuel/Water Sep. showed up today, neat little piece of kit and looks like it'll keep the diesel happy in the case of "less then ideal fuel" with it's 5-micron filter. Hopefully the OME springs show up early this coming week and I'll the axle torn apart/cleaned and down to the shop here early this week!!!! YAY, PROGRESS!!!

Cheers

Dave

 

[the kid]

are you gonna gusset it? how about some diff armor? id highly suggest you gusset that axle like the 85 axles. the earlier ones had no extra bracing and were susceptible to bending. also i have heard that fzj80 tie rods and such are compatible or at least have been adapted to be used with the mini truck axles. i recently just bought all new tie rod ends and center links from toyota -the center link or connecting rod for the tie rods is prone to bending with moderate off roading and especially with larger tires, i have bent 3 or 4 of them, and i have only run 33s and no lockers ect. anyhow all im saying is id also brace that center link as well, maybe try to sleeve it or weld a piece of angle iron along it. as far as brakes go, i am running fj60 rotors and calipers(i think) on the front of my 85, and i love them. i have tried to over heat them and get brake fade... havent been able to do so yet, and ive done some pretty crazy things to attempt this -ive only gotten them hot enough to smell brakes once.

 

[4Rescue]

Oh it's getting gusseted and Birf ball supports and Armor and... etc. Whole trucks getting extra bracing/plating on key areas of the frame to make it a bit more "Land Cruiser-Lite" then Hilux/MT.

I keep hearing that about just swapping the brakes for better calipers/rotors but not ness. going the full IFS hub swap (It's got a good set of Aisins on it now) route and as I keep saying I'm not opposed to wheel spacers so... That may be the winning route. My biggest concern is the hefty man who's decided to take up resident under the hood... the trucks 250-300+lbs (depending on sources) then the comparable KZN130, but then if the brakes come from a 60, they're already for a heavier truck as is.

I'm in kind of a weird position with the steering: Unless I notch the frame (possible) to make it more like a 79-85 and 2wd Frame, I don't think I can run full hy-steer because I'm running OME 2" springs up front and frankly... with what it took to get that oil-pan I'm not hacking it up for better clearance. But I believe I can do crossover-steering (Marlink) or even an Inv. T design, and the trucks got the IFS PS box on it and it's going to be braced as well so... Think it'll steer just fine w/ a good damper on it.

Call it the KZJ135 Bunderra (135 like a 105 get it... :sombrero: ) if you will with it's SFA and 360 Leaf-spring sus. Some people I've talked to about the truck seem to think I'm nuts for doing this to a coil'd/IFS truck if I want to drive it anywhere but to the trails and back, but I drove thousands upon thousands of miles around Australia in an HJ75 Ute with a very similar suspension and I never once wished I was in anything else. It's gonna be a low lift SAS likely driving on 33's 90% of the time with the ability to run 34-35/10.50's for trail work if I want (I can do this now with my 1st Gen 4Runner). This truck has to be able to work day in day out as my DD, hauling trailers, doing Explorations and taking me on rafting trips loaded to the gills... I just find Leafs to be simpler (and cheaper yes) and better for trailering (I may still slip some air-bags on the back of the truck for load stability if I really over-do it cause these motors apparently can pull quite a load as long as you're mindful of your EGT's. Either way SO VERY excited to be moving this along.

Can't wait to get done with Work today and get back to the garage to clean the axle some more/tear it down and hopefully find brown box Santa has left me a package.

Cheers

Dave

 

[djtc]

I don't know if anybody else has asked you but did you ever consider a vw tdi swap? From what I know about the toy diesel swap the vw alternative is much easier and also gets you better fuel mileage.

Heres a short clip of mine.

 

[4Rescue]

I don't know if anybody else has asked you but did you ever consider a vw tdi swap? From what I know about the toy diesel swap the vw alternative is much easier and also gets you better fuel mileage.

Heres a short clip of mine.

Nice sounding swap... What year/version is it??? Do you have a build up anywhere, cause I'd love to see how you did it and what all you did (interested in what flywheel you went with if it's intended to be used off-road etc.)

Please understand from the get-go: I'm not trying to knock your swap with anything I say in this post at ALL mate, I think it looks solid, sounds awesome and I'm psyched to see another diesel swapper here...

I'm actually a highly committed VW nut (been building WC VW's for Rally/Track and Street use for years, owned several old/older D's/TDi's and my Mom has a '12 TDi Sport Wagon that I love to death, Dad still DD's a hopped up 1.8 "big Valve" GTi Motor in a near flawless MKI Caddy that is quite a little ripper, and my last street build was a 4dr MKII Jetta 2.0 16V with 221BHP and a Quaife) as well as a Toyota-holic... I love VW's TDi engines, I absolutely LOVE them, don't get me wrong, BUT:
1) IMO the TDi's that you can get your hands on easily and cheaply (meaning NOT the modern 2.0TDi that they use in the Passat/Jetta and certainly not the pumped up version in the Amorak which BTW wouldn't be a very "easy" swap with all the wiring/computers those engines have) are, IMO, not up to the snuff of pulling the much heavier Hilux Around like I want to be able to. Engines like the 1.9 IDI engine or earlier 1.6 certainly would/does take some tweaks to get up to the baseline power figures of the 1KZ let alone after you do a few simple things to it to get it breathing better.

2) They'll DO IT, and you can certainly pump them up (I'm a huge fan of the MKI and II iron-block "8/16V" petrol engines which were designed to be diesels first and then made into gassers...guess why they're so amazingly tough :smiley_drive: Hell I have an 8v MKII Rally Golf that I've NEVER had to crack top end of it's been so flawless and more then competitive in my class), but they're running pretty hard and don't leave a lot of "extra power" for towing and hauling loads etc. (power figures for the 1KZ don't make it seem like much, but simply putting no a good exhaust and playing around with the resistance values of the E-controled IP can yield REALLY impressive gains and a 3" down-pipe alone does quite a bit aye)

3) Milage: well maybe yes maybe no, on flat ground and at slow/commuting speeds with no load, and I'm sure off-road with good gear reduction and a slow steady foot on the pedal, you'd get better mileage, but I'm willing to bet I'll pull better mileage climbing the steep grades around here (less 'foot in it" required), towing and hauling heavy loads like a Multi-week Rafting trips worth of gear/Boat and I can maintain speed up those grades too w/o seeing EGT's get too hot. Certainly a Smaller engine of simillar design philosophy is going to get better mileage then a larger (by 1.1L more displacement) engine is, but the duty cycles will be different for the same platform with diffferent engines in it. You'll excell at stop/go city traffic, but I'm likely to come out ahead hauling a load over a long distance/grade.

So while I'm well aware of the Engines, no, I guess I never considered the swap cause it's, IMO, not viable for these trucks and my end needs of the engine.
I've actually got a 1.9TD sitting on a bench in the barn hoping to someday make it into a LWB Suzuki Sami. trail toy because THAT is, to me, where these engines are truly at home and most happy and with a Toyota drive-train on some 34/9.50 LTB's ( :drool: ) you'd have a solid/bomb-proof, efficient and dam capable little buggy. In regards to that project though, I'm kinda waiting until after I've gotten this build driving down the road to jump into the process all over again) and the know-how to work on them. Actually that's something else about the 1KZ-TE that's really promising is that they're actually fairly simillar to the VW TDi only bigger and anyone comfortable with working on the TDi's should be at home working on the IKZ as well.

FWIW, I've complicated my build. By not getting a half-cut, finding out I have a 2wd engine and then having to track down a 4wd oil-pan/strainer etc. then changed to an SFA plan, started to worry about some parts interchange/compatibility and on and on as I'm sure you know with swaps this happens.. a LOT. ALL of the time delays are because of something that I didn't have etc. or in general MY doing (wrong parts ordered from japan did suck but...) and it's meant that it's had to get "back in rotation" at the shop, not because the Engine is "hard" to fit into the bay. When it's all said and done I'll have essentially packed an engine (when stock) with the baseline power of a Jeep 4.0L (lower HP maybe, better torque and power delivery and more potential) with the fuel efficiency of a 22RE in the bone stock possibly even 2wd pickup "territory" (mid 20's to maybe 30's if I'm going downhill with a tail-wind) and be able to tow, haul, wheel you name it with a LOT more ease then a VW TDi swapped truck of this size would I think.

Either way, as I said I still LOVE VW TDi's and VW's in general, but this came down to building a "lifer" truck for myself and having lived in OZ and had a 70-series Cruiser, I, like other enthusiasts wanted to go "all Toyota" and do this swap. Just so happens other markets GOT this exact combo and this truck/engine popped up together close to me so I jumped on it and I've learned a LOT doing it. I'm just SO dam excited to get it running/driving, even if that IS, still a ways off potentially.

Cheers

Dave

 

[djtc]

Hey Dave thanks for the lengthy response and you have some valid point there. Ive had the old turbo diesel aaz in the truck before and it was a little slow but it pulled my 944 turbo on the highway at 110km no problm doing 27mpg but now with this newer 1.9tdi which i converted to mechanical injection from electrical with a land rover defender injection pump, bigger nozzles and a vnt turbo the thing spool right off the line and pulls alot harder than the older diesel and gets around 32mpg with low egts even on long pulls.As for the flywheel Im using the 22re flywheel with a custom ground 10" surface area to accept the 5vz clutch ( went with an aisin clutch).

Ill start a thread on here soon .

 

[4Rescue]

Hey Dave thanks for the lengthy response and you have some valid point there. Ive had the old turbo diesel aaz in the truck before and it was a little slow but it pulled my 944 turbo on the highway at 110km no problm doing 27mpg but now with this newer 1.9tdi which i converted to mechanical injection from electrical with a land rover defender injection pump, bigger nozzles and a vnt turbo the thing spool right off the line and pulls alot harder than the older diesel and gets around 32mpg with low egts even on long pulls.As for the flywheel I'm using the 22re flywheel with a custom ground 10" surface area to accept the 5vz clutch ( went with an Aisin clutch).

Ill start a thread on here soon .

That is IMPRESSIVE to say the least man. I know those little engines can make some power but I really have always felt they're kind of "topped out" at a certain point (I've built/maintained them, but never really "souped them up" to that level) but again that is awesome you're able to crank out that kind of power and keep her running cool (may steal a few of those mods for my 1.9 some-day, I've not seen the Defender IP mod, that's really interesting to me aye). The 22RE flywheel sounds like another clever idea for good low idling/sustaining power too and keeping the "little" mill spinning and chugging. Smart sounding build, I look forward to seeing a thread mate. By "VNT Turbo" do you mean a Variable Vane/Pitch system on the impeller or...??? That tech. is amazing for ANY turbo system.

Like I say, I love that you did the swap (even more impressed by the ingenuity you've put into huffing her up aye), I just chose to go "All Toyota" and for a bigger disp. engine.

I think the real HEART of this discussion is that Diesels are AWESOME and that a "little" 1.9L engine can outperform a 2.4L Gas engine. Diesel kicks ***, no matter what the "it's not worth it... i did the math" crowd says, IMO there's simply no better type of engine currently for a 4wd that needs to do all kinds of things and still be daily drive-able/get good mileage.


______________________
SO... Today??? Wow, well TODAY I had HOPED to get the Axle disassembled/finally cleaned... yeah that was the PLAN... {and now I'm going to hijack my own thread}

My 1st Gen has been having weird cooling issues (losing coolant, none in the oil and randomly heating up etc... T-Stat issues I thought) and yesterday it finally blew... the T-Stat gasket thankfully, NOT the HG and the Upper-Rad. hose as well... BUT, first turn of the easily accessed right-hand (looking at the front of the engine) T-Stat housing bolt and "SNAP"... "Oh Great" I thought... yep, I napped it off. But then I took the upper half/outlet-pipe off and realized I had some stud to work with... well, two days and SEVERAL broken "high quality" extractor bits later, I still don't have the bolt out. I spent 6-hours on it and yeah... This reminds me of installing the OME suspension on the truck. One of the Steering Stab mounting bolts was completely seized/welded on and after several hours it finally broke the stud/let go and we didn't find it until a day later when we were mowing the yard and I saw a hunk of metal laying out there right before I ran over it with the tractor... and that was 75+ ft. directly backwards from where we were working on the truck.

I've drilled it, basically have it down to a 2mm hollowed out set of threads and it STILL won't come out. I'm wondering if I can find a way to quickly freeze whats left of it (maybe CO2) and hit it with a cold chissel lightly to get it to contract and break whatever ridiculous "bond" is keeping it in the last 5/8's of an inch of the threaded hole (which sadly is cast in such a way that you can't just drill it straight out and through the bottom. Breaking several extractor bits is also quite "fun" too... seriously, you'd THINK they'd make them a BIT better then they do considering WHAT they do, but no... They broke like

It was so hot here in Portland Today (I'll take 125+F in Australia over 80-90 in Portland ANY day... So bloody hot/sticky and we're not even on the east coast... YUK) that I couldn't even take pics or be bothered to try... Basically the 2nd bolt closest to the head on the T-Stat on an 89 22RE... is seized in there like nothing else... Man I wish I was rolling around in the new truck on days like this.

Cheers

Dave

Edit: HAHAHAHA a google search turns up So many threads of the EXACT same thing happening on "Yota-(questionable/hit-miss)Tech" HAHAHAHA. I feel SO much better knowing that many other people have done this. Seems a steel bolt into an aluminum casting, if not properly protected will cause electrolysis and bond the two together...

 

[DaveInDenver]

I don't know if anybody else has asked you but did you ever consider a vw tdi swap? From what I know about the toy diesel swap the vw alternative is much easier and also gets you better fuel mileage.

If I was to do a swap it would likely be the VW 1.9L TDI (or maybe a 4.3L GM V6, LOL). The VW is all the speed and parts availability of the 22R-E with better gas mileage and low risk of damage to the W56. There are performance upgrades available I guess to some extent, I dunno. From the factory the 22R-E was 115 HP and 140 lb-ft. Most of the 1.9L variants are around 105HP and 175 lb-ft from VW. Seeing as mine is tired it would be at least a flat across swap and probably an improvement.

The Passat weighs 3,200 lbs with a payload of 1,000 lbs and got 42 MPG on the highway and 30-something in the city. So it's not unreasonable to expect my truck to see a jump. I get about 19~20 on the highway now and off highway it's in the 12~14 range. It might not see more than 25~30 on the pavement but I would expect a /very/ significant improvement in low range.

My 1991 weighs 3,300 (I've put it on a diet lately, even cutting off armor, gasp!) and has a payload of 1,400 lbs. I exceed the GVW slightly, but not much. It's around 4,750 lbs fully loaded with max outfit, so I'd be +500 lbs over the Passat. I think the experience would be fine, the turbo should be better overall since part the problem with my engine is being normally aspirated living at 5,200 ft and routinely driving up to 10,000' means it struggles a lot. When I go back to lower elevations it's noticeably faster.