3.8 series II engine swap 1984, 4-runner

[jimzbank]

Started build around January. One day a week at my brothers shop.

so far...

1984 4-runner
5" Trail Gear lift - f/r
True Tracs f/r
35" Goodyear MTR's on 15x10 ar-26's

3.8 exhaust manifolds needed to be closer to engine. I had to make those. Oil pan needs to be modified to clear axle and steering components(next).

Bell housing from a 97' TJ bolts to stock Toy 5 spd and the 3.8 modification needed to clear starter. Needed change input shaft w/ one that in about 1.5" longer.

Motor mounts where easily made.

If there is any interest I will go into more details and post some pics.

[jimzbank]

Almost forgot, the engine is out of a 97' Camaro

[fourwd1]

Stock Toy 5 spd? you better be easy on the accel pedal.
G52 is OK but not the strongest Toy tranny, but the t-case ill handle it.
Why not a TH-350 or 700R4?

[jimzbank]

I like the idea of a dual t-case, I like standards and also I can always get a v6 tranny and adapt to t-cases. Pretty much I'm only goin to beat this thing off-road in low range. When I'm on the road I'm in no hurry, I'll be happy with keeping up with traffic. We have a lot of hills around here and with the 4-cyl 32" tires 4.56 gears it made me laugh to pass the same person 4 times on the way to work within 15 minutes. I'd get them goin down the hills.. LOL But with 35"s I don't think it would be safe. This should last me the summer at least, then in the fall I'll be getting 30 spline long-fields, dual t-cases ?possibly a v6 tranny?
It was parked for 5 years, it was pretty ruff. Last spring we gave it an overhaul, now all this (lift, motor, tires)this spring, I don't want to break the tradition of spending all my money and time on this every year. If my wife only knew how much I am spending on it. I would be living in it. lol
Thanks for the heads up.
Jim

[4rocky]

Have been researching installing a Buick 3800 Series II into my 1985 4Runner. Thought it would be an excellent upgrade. It presently has a 22Re with W56 5-speed. I would be interested in any additional information you can post.

Research indicates using 3800 from Camaro or Firebird with Bell Hosing from 1992 or later Jeep 2.5L I-4. What bell housing did you use? What bell housing modifications were required to install starter? Did you install front input shaft form Jeep AX5 5-speed into the Toyota transmission to get required input shaft length? Did you use flywheel from Camaro? Any details on the engine mount used?

[jimzbank]

Thanks for your interest. I was begining to think that nobody cared I just put the hood on yesterday 22sep08. It has more than enough power to push 35" (4.56) down the road at highway speeds no need to down shift any more for hills on the highway.
The bell housing is from a 97' tj with i-4. The modification was to cut out for the starter. it is on the driver side for the 3800 and passenger for the Tj.
My tranny consists of:
stock toyota case and main shaft
97 I-4 AX5 and up rotating asm - forks
I tried just replacing the front input shaft - the pitch did not match the toyota. I guess the AX5 pitch was changed in 88' and thats when I upgraded to the AX5 asm and remaining internal parts.
My brother owns a shop and he did 90% of the thinking on this. He THINKS that it would be easier to use a AX5 tranny and just change the tail shaft to toyota. I will talk to him later and confirm this.
As for the motor mounts we used the stock fram mounts and isolaters and just made mounts on the motor to the Toyota isolaters.
I will try to post picks as soon as I can.
If you have any more question please let me know.

Jim

[jimzbank]

just out of shop. still no hood


I had no idea how much this thing would flex.
tested in my brothers shop, I thought i would have plenty of tire clearence..... I thought wrong




test run pics

[jimzbank]

I did use the Camaro fly wheel. The cluch set up uses the Tj master and slave. Now that I know how to insert pics I will take more and post them within a couple of days. We are heading to Rausch Creek off road park ,"http://www.rauschcreekoffroadpark.org" , this weekend. I should have some nice trail pics next week. We went last year and it is a really nice place to wheel. If any one wants to join us please call my cell and we can group we have 3-4 rigs we aren't going to get crazy. My cell is 724-456-4523. We shold be there on Thursday evening till sunday afternoon.

[Hoodlum]

Sept 23, 2008 9:18:05 GMT -5 jimzbank said:

I did use the Camaro fly wheel. The cluch set up uses the Tj master and slave. Now that I know how to insert pics I will take more and post them within a couple of days. We are heading to Rausch Creek off road park ,"http://www.rauschcreekoffroadpark.org" , this weekend. I should have some nice trail pics next week. We went last year and it is a really nice place to wheel. If any one wants to join us please call my cell and we can group we have 3-4 rigs we aren't going to get crazy. My cell is 724-456-4523. We shold be there on Thursday evening till sunday afternoon.

Me and my friends are there a lot.We used to go every other weekend but with all of the build-ups and re-builds it's been a very slow year for wheeling.But this will change here real soon.If nothing is planned for the weekend I may stop by and hang out for a while.I won't be wheeling since my Tacoma's rear bumper is about to fall off(ripping the frame apart) and my truggy is work in progress.But at the same time I need to get away from the house/shop for a few hours and just hang out.The park is just over an hour's drive for me.If I can make it up there I'll give you a call on the cell.

[jimzbank]

4rocky

engine compartment, still cleaning up


I just took some pics of installed motor mounts.