downgrade engine yet upgrade ponies?

[cr884runner]

I was wanting to upgrade my 3.slow v6 to something for of course more power. The v6 seems to not have a very good power to weight ratio as it only cranking out a lil over 155 ponies and weighs quite a bit. So my dilemma was of course engine swap.

First thing comes to mind in the thought of horsepower is a small block chevy v8. Everyone wants as much horsepower as they can get yet for many people, this is not ideal.

What seems good to me would be to downgrade to a 4 banger and either build it up or just buy a engine from say doa. Money wise it seems more sensible to throw a 4 banger into my truck because I can use the stock radiator, tranny, axle, and not have to worry about oil pan clearance. Power to weight ratio also seems ideal compared to the heavy v8.

What do you all recommend for an engine swap and if you can give any information on such a topic I will truly appreciate it. Thanks a lot.

[fourwd1]

You answered your own question.
Unless you really need the HP of a V8, a built 22RE will give decent power and MPG.

[cr884runner]

Ya I guess I did, but to your knowledge wouldnt everything nearly work to drop in say a 22r? The only thing I figure different is motor mounts, but was hoping radiator would work and thatd it bolt right up to my tranny. Thanks.

[fourwd1]

I think the radiator in/out are the same on the V6 and 4 cyl.
I'm not sure if the R150F tranny will bolt-up to the 4 cyl or not, I can't remember if the patterns are the same. But if not you could probably swap bell housings.

[Sean]

Why not the 3.4 swap? More power, same motor mounts, tranny bolts up and its a step foward instead of back.

Your r150F wont bolt up to a 22re. Maybe if you find yourself a r151F bellhousing, but good luck there. The turbo trannies arent exactly common.

The 3.0l isnt that slow and has plenty of wheeling power for trails or rocks. Snow and mud not so much, but the 22re isnt going to be any better.

If your 3.0 is a dog try doing a compression test. Maybe it just needs a rebuild.

[fourwd1]

Forgot about that, 3.4 is a better idea.

[cr884runner]

Well what about power to weight ratio though? Swapping to a 3.4 means bigger radiator new tranny and axle for rear and if i install it with ifs still on then that means either body lift unless the ball joint spacers are enough clearance for the oil pan.

I love my truck for trails and rocks, but in mud or street she just doesnt have enough get to her. Passing a semi on these roads around here I have to make sure there aint a car another mile down the road and drop a gear and hope for the best. I am running with buddies that have 383 strokers and a 350 whipple supercharged truck that was dynoed at 655 ponies.

Figured buying a new or used 22r and building it up to make over 200 ponies would cost less than doing the chevy swap.

Edit: I confused the 3.4 for the 4.3. Doesnt a 3.4 only make 25 more ponies than my 3.0 though?

[bowshtr]

First, your rear end would be fine with a 3.4

Second, building a 200hp 22re is going to be just as much if not more then doing a stock SBC swap. Your talking almost 100 additional hp to a bone stock 22re. Thats a big jump.

If you plan on doing an engine swap, regardless if you are going smaller or bigger, put it all on paper, the cost, time, and reliability. It will make more sense to you then. You gotta think you tweek out a 22re to 200 ponies your losing a lot of reliablity there. Its not going to be that same stout lil bumble bee. Gonna be more like a pissed off weedeater bouncing around a glass room. Also you have to put into consideration your engine building and fab skills. You can make a decently powerful and reliable 22re, but personally i dont understand why.

[cr884runner]

Ya I totally forgot about reliability. Well around here all we do is dunes or muddin. So guessin SBC is the best bet.

[BuckUrspace]

the cheapest and easiest thing to do would be rebuild your V6 boreit out a little and put some quality parts in it. Research !

[bowshtr]

Building that 3.0 V6 would be like smoking crack! Pointless, moneypit, waste of time! Good luck finding performance parts for them. They arent much of an engine, noone likes them for power purposes, they have head problems, and they arent very reliable to begin with.

[ToyotaMike]

7MGE 7MGE 7MGE......or 7MGTE. Almost bolt in straight six. Found in 2nd gen supras and Cressidas. www.supracharged.com/4runner/7mswap.shtml and www.intellivationdesign.com/4Runner/4Runner.htm

[BuckUrspace]

well smoke up bulshitr! The cheapest and easiest as I stated is going to be rebuild the v6 DOA has performance parts and if you had the recall u r head gasket should have beenreplaced. But toyomike has a good idea to the 7MGTE would be great I think itoe's rated around 190 horses

[ToyotaMike]

200hp and 196 ftlbs of torque! :-D

[Sean]

The 7MGTE is far from a bolt in. It uses similar motor mounts to the 22re and a stock 4cly trans will bolt up but you are SOL starting with a 3.0L for similar parts.
Anyone who has done engine swaps knows that they arent easy at the best of times and the supra engine swap is far from being an "easy" swap.

[b4runner]

Basicly any engine you go with that wasn't designed to fit into that truck you are gonna have to do some kinda fabrication and what not. I am currently installing a 5.0l v8 into my 92 4runner with a f250 5spd transmission and dana 300 transfercase and even with all the "conversion parts", there is still stuff that has to be made up and re worked and it is TONS of work. It all comes down to what you want to spend, how mechanically inclined you are, and what you want to get out of it. If you wanna compete with your buddy's and their 383 strockers, then you have a lot of work ahead of ya, but if you wanna make 200hp you could get away with a ford 302 or a chev 4.3 v6 with the stock tranny. They 5spd v6 transmissions are pretty good and strong and you can get adapter kits that will alow you to keep that transmission and lower the cost of your budget, but if you want 655 ponies you will have to replace everything, either when doing the swap or WHEN it breaks. I agree with one thing though, the 3.0 is a dog of an engine, and i am sure even toyota themselves are ashamed of it, not worth rebuilding.

[ToyotaMike]

No Sean your thinking of the 5MGE which uses the 22r motor mounts and tranny. The 7MGE is a different block and it has the same tranny code as the 3.0 v6. Difference is a transfer case on the back end lol.

[Sean]

From the article linked by ToyotaMike.

"I could have decided to use a G or W series, but I new that they would not hold more than 350hp for very long. The G series and W series transmission will bolt right up to the engine with NO MODIFICATIONS NECCISARY, you just have to the bellhousing from 79-92 non-turbo supra."

"If I had a 22R, the mounts are in different locations on the frame, and I would have the option of keeping the stock mounts. If the stock mounts are kept, you can bolt the 7M to these mounts"

[skydso]

Ever thought about the Toyota Lexus Soarer V8? 320hp and 330f/lbs of torque!

[rsdan]

I can hear the cash registers ringing for that one