lce or doa

[cdc]

hello everybody i was originaly going to have a local guy rebuild my engine, but i am now leaning towards buying one from either lce or doa. doa is a little bit cheaper, but not much. i have talked to tim on the phone a number of times and he seems super knowlegable and nice. plus doa has a better warranty. i have a 89 extended cab 22re. both engines claim to be around 150 hp and 155 pounds torque. i have also bought a nwor header and lce exhaust system with a k&n cold air. anyway, any info would help me make my decision. its not everyday i spend 4,000 on a 4 banger. .........ouch

[fourwd1]

I haven't done business with either, and have heard good and bad about both. Let us know which you go with and the results.

[toyomudman]

I can not remeber the web site right off hand, I believe its Yotatech, but I read about an 8 page forum about how a toy owner was screwed by doa. On the other hand I have also, on the same forum, seen a link to Pirate where doa was good. I personally have not had any dealings with doa or Ice. Do some research on other forums if no one has had dealings with either company on Toyotaoffroad. Just my .02 and good luck.

[Hoodlum]

I buy from LCE and I have had nothing but good things to say about them.

[speedy]

LCE is responsible for a large portion of the parts on my engine. I have nothing bad to say about them. Everything shows up pretty quick is works as advertised.

[92rocdoc]

LCE is always the way to go dude, They are the only group that I buy from for the shop.

Scott

[cdc]

well i did it. i bought a efi pro long block from lce. also got big bore throttle body, high flow hand polished intake manifold, hd flywheel, centerforce clutch, new injectors,k&n cold air intake, headers, full exhaust system, rebuilt tranny, motor mounts and sooooooo much more. to much to list. this should all go good with my new procomp 4" suspension and new 33x11.50 toyos. cant wait till its done. i will submit some pics. and by the way lce is very very helpful over the phone, everyone there will take their time on the phone with you. i can not say for certain yet but i believe that lce has gained a customer for life......

[cdc]

oh ya did i forget to mention my flex a lite fan and front and rear warn bumpers with a warn winch and my mean green alternator.....damn i am excited......now i just got to pay for it.

[bowshtr]

Thats a lot of money to spend for just a little bit of power. Why didnt you just build a small block v8 with twice the power for a fraction of that price?

[riseagainst88]

ha I agree, could have been half the cost as well

[bowshtr]

i priced out a short block for 200 bucks plus machine work another 200 or so then a nice set of heads for 1500 then pistons and top end kit for 600 and a crank for 250, machine crank another 100. So 2500 buck with trans i could have 400 hp

[ToyotaMike]

But not as reliable and I wouldn't do a V8 swap with the price of gas these days. I'm going with engnbldr.com 's rebuild kit. only $300 and it's good parts. He's also really quick to answer e-mail questions.

[bowshtr]

Most people I know that have put a well tuned v8 in their toyotas are getting about 3-4 mpg better then the stock 22re.

When i was runnin my toyota on the street it was suckin down some gas. Gettin about 12mpg But i am sure big tires and wind resistance had something to do with that.

[cdc]

i didnt buy a toyota to throw a chevy engine in there. i like the 22re. i dont need a ton of power. ya i could have bought a bunch of good parts from engnbuilder but i dont have the time right now to rebuild it and i dont like any of the local guys that i talked to about rebuilding it. so there ya go. lce it is, its a lot of money but its just money

[cdc]

ive heard of well tuned 22re getting 28 mpg on the freeway, theres no way a well tuned v8 is going to get that. its just logic you have twice as many cylinders.

[Sean]

toyotamike said:

But not as reliable

Says who? People have put a million miles on a SBC. With todays modern machineing you can build a small block that pukes out 400hp and will rev 4500rpm all day long while remaining rock solid reliable.

Im not saying the original poster should be doing an engine swap. I am just questioning this BS rhetoric about the reliabilty of toyota motors. I know more people having problems with their toyota motors then chevies, and when chevies need fixing you dont have to get a second mortgage to do it.

[ToyotaMike]

Yeah cause $300 and a little time is so expensive. but to get the same reliablity out of a chevy you have to upgrade hardware and quite a bit more. I have a chevy and 3 toyotas of different makes. I've priced and am rebuilding all of them.


Edited for clarity.

[Sean]

toyotamike said:

Yeah cause $300 and a little time is so expensive. but to get the same reliablity out of a chevy you have to upgrade hardware and quite a bit more. I have a chevy and 3 toyotas of different makes. I've priced and rebuilt all of them.

You dont have to upgrade anything for a chevy to be reliable. Only if you are doing performance mods, but that goes without saying for any motor. But you know that cause you own a chevy and have rebuilt every motor in existance. Being 23 years old you must have a world of experince. The fact that you claim to have three toyotas and have had to rebuild everyone doesnt exactly speak highly as to their reliablity. But then again i think you are talking through your ass.

Again for anyone that can read, im not saying toss the 22re. Im saying the SBC in stock form has gone a million miles without a rebuild. Its as reliable as anything out there and anyone that has owned a few will tell you as much.

Course i rebuild motors for a living, so WTF do i know right?

[bowshtr]

In all honesty the 22re is a very good engine when you dont beat the piss out of it. Start putting bigger tires, heavier drivetrain and a heavy throttle they just dont hold up!! For being as small as they are they are great! I love the ones i have had and at the same time i hate them! Think about how hard you have to run a 100hp 22re to keep up with a stock 250 hp SBC. It only makes sense that the SBC in more extreme conditions will hold up. The 4banger has to use all of its 100hp just do a fraction of what the SBC will do.

I am only 23 as well and I dont have the all the knowledge as most of guys out there, but what i do know i will talk about and what i dont know im not going to shit out my ass!

From my experience and what I have seen the SBC is a better way to go! I know several people with over 300k milse on their 350's with only minor seal changes over the years. They still to do this day with that kind of mileage will outperform the 22re in reliability and fuel mileage! I am not trying to harp on toyota here and im sure neither is Sean, but there is just a simple point that has been made.

[Sean]

I know 23 year olds that are already journeyman mechanics and definately know what they are talking about, dont get me wrong. No one no matter how old or experienced can know everything though.

Its just the 23 with 4 vehicles that he has rebuilt the motor in everyone one of that made me raise an eyebrow. I will point out the painfully obvious, that if he has rebuilt all three and he is saying he is going with the engbulder kit for the rebuild he is about to do, why does that motor already need to be rebuilt? Either there is some BSing going on or some poor engine building.

If i were to judge toyota and chevy relabilty based soley on the chevs and toyotas i have owned it would be a no brainer, i would have to say chevy. But im smart enough to know that my personal experience owning these vehicles is a drop in the ocean of actual vehicles on the road so my judgement would be uneducated at best.

Here is the reality about relability like it or not. Pretty much every car manufacturer has made at least one great model or motor as it pertains to reliability. And they have all made lemons. The SBC and the 22re are both well known as reliable motors. To try and say one is more reliable then the other based on monocular personal experience is foolishness.