Project Need More Doors gets a new engine, aka 4.3runner

[fnoff]

Awesome thread. Makes me happy I live in Ohio

 

[Deleted Member]

Kick ass work man!!!

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Thanks!

Since winter is coming I thought I'd try to work on the AC system finally. I used some adapters from https://coldhose.com/ and have started making up the hoses. I need to get them crimped, but working from home and watching the kids has sorta put a crimp on those plans. Hopefully next week.


Soldering/brazing the aluminum lines was also fun. Hopefully they hold.


Kevin

 

[Hodgiemoto]

So I guess I should finish this trip up. The bad part is I have no pics so this is kinda anti-climatic. Driving through the burn area I had bigger things on my mind than taking pics. I really wish I had put my go pro on the rig and recorded the drive though! Sorry for the wall of text.

We aired up at the top of kaiser pass and then drove down to Huntington lake and the ominous smoke plume. It was beautiful all the way down until we got to hwy168 where we turned left. We still hadn't seen any fire fighting crews, police, rangers, anyone at this point, so we just kept on going. We had heard some radio chatter that the china peak ski resort was being used as a fuel depot for water trucks so we were still hopeful of not having to drive through the fire. Shortly past china peak we realized that was simply not the case as we saw first hand all the devastation from the previous 2 days of forest fire expansion. It was pretty scary driving into this mess and seeing logs and tree trunks on fire on both sides of the road, but after seeing a few fire crews(finally) casually driving the other way up the highway we realized the worst part of the fire was over in this area. This was really the aftermath and while things were still burning, it wasn't explosive like it had been previous. It was mostly random tree trunks or logs here and there still on fire. Occasionally you'd come around a bend in a section that hadn't burned and there would be bushes right next to the road on fire.

The smoke was bad. My biggest fear at this point was the vehicles breaking down for whatever reason and having to leave them there or getting stuck. I was hoping the air filters wouldn't get clogged by all the smoke. The road however was clear. Every once in a while we'd pass a water truck going the other direction. We passed the sno-park where we spent friday night and almost didn't recognize it. All the trees are now charcoal sticks and there is quite the view out over the valley of the destruction. The smartest decision we made was to move our tow rigs. But would we even be allowed to get to our tow rigs at this point? My phone finally got reception and started beeping away from all the messages since friday. I was too busy driving to answer though.

We made it down to the town of Shaver and luckily it was still standing. Here we were able to make the left onto dinky creek road to get out to our tow rigs that were located a ways down towards bald mtn. Everything looked good over here and there were plenty of fire crews and forestry people clearing land for fire breaks. The further we went down dinky creek road the better conditions got and it was clear that there was no fire this direction and the tow rigs would be ok. We breathed a sigh of relief when we got to the tow rigs and proceeded to load up as quick as possible. I briefly answered a few text messages asking if we were out yet, with "working on it".

At this point we knew we had to drive back to shaver, but we thought we were out of the worst of it. We thought the fire was all up the hill from shaver lake and to the north. Boy were we wrong! We started driving the rest of the way down 168 from shaver and at first it seemed normal, and then you'd notice more and more burned areas. Once again you'd come around a turn and there were bushes right off the side of the road just burnin away! Now were towing through this thing! Luckily no one seemed to care about us. We just kept going. Time to get out of this shit. The devestation just kept coming all the way down to the 4lanes. We couldn't believe that the gas station at cressmans had burned! We hit the top of the 4lanes and were finally out. I was finally able to relax a bit and call my wife who was overjoyed to hear my voice and learn that I wasn't in need of rescuing.

We drove down the hill to prather and stopped to get fuel at the shell station there where we got crossed off a search and rescue list. It was very cool to see the local offroad community come together to support people they have never even met.

My wife tells me I can't go anywhere that's going to catch on fire again.:rolleyes:

Kevin

So that was you guys in the colin.smith.slo video then right? Quite an adventure! I love colins videos.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

So that was you guys in the colin.smith.slo video then right? Quite an adventure! I love colins videos.

Yeah, that was us. Ha ha.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I guess I should update this thread.

I did get the AC working finally. I kinda had to since we decided to take this thing to Death Valley. I pretty much bi-passed all the toyota AC electronics and only used the hi-low pressure switch wired in place of the GM pressure switch and that allowed the compressor to kick on. However it would stay on all the time, so I found an adjustable thermister switch for $20 at napa and wired that inline and put the thermister just downstream of the evaporator under the dash. The AC now cycles and the evaporator doesn't freeze up. I got that done and a bunch of other little things right before we went to Death valley.

We towed the 4runner out to Panamint Springs resort and spent the week driving the 4runner out seeing the sights and exploring. My wife likes to see all the touristy stuff and I like to explore the backroads. I was very concerned about the 4runner breaking down in the middle of nowhere and leaving my family stranded, but I guess all the work I did up to this point paid off as we only had one problem. The AC quit on the third day and I chalked it up to a minor leak in my cobbled together lines so I didn't investigate any further. When we got home I found out that the AC clutch wire connector was bad and not making good contact. You could push on the connector and make the clutch engage and let off and have it disengage. Wish I had known that out in DV as it was 90+ most of the time! Oh well, I was still very impressed with how well the runner worked with the heat, grades and distances. We never once drove the tow rig anywhere.

Devils golf course:


The road up to Cerro Gordo:


The Salt Tram looking down into Saline Valley:


Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, with Joshua Trees:


Rhyolite Nevada ghost town:


Headed to Titus Canyon:


Titus Canyon:

 

[rockota]

Saw your post on expo... makes me miss my 94

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Some more updates before the DV trip.

I made a fridge slide. I think I actually had this done before the Dusy trip but I'll throw it in here. Its just leftover 1/2" plywood with some drawer slides a friend gave me. It has no locks on the slides so it kinda just does whatever it wants. The reason for the fridge slide was to try to make food more accessible while on the trail. Anyone with kids knows how important that is. I have to stuff the back full of camping gear when we go so not having to unpack everything for lunch is a huge win. Later on I built a shelf to help keep the light stuff up and out of the way also. It works great. I can actually pack up all the stuff in the tent and put it on the shelf instead of having to throw it on the ground while packing up.






Some pics from a recent trip. This was just an overnight stay and the back is stuffed with stuff! The husky bins fit really nice.


Other things, I finished off the trans shifter finally. My wife graciously got me a lokar shift boot and black shift know for christmas. I think the all black combo fits in well with the interior and doesn't look too out of place.


New springs. I installed some new 5" all pro springs. I was hoping for more lift height, but I only got about a half inch. I'm really not sure what I had previously other than those were also all pro leafs. This lead me down the road of wanting to link the rear and build a rear mount fuel cell. That'll have to wait for a bit though.


I scored some new shocks. I got fed up with the stupid FOA shocks and got a good deal on some used 2.0 x 12 foxs. I rebuilt them and what huge difference they've made so far in the ride of this thing. I'm still working on shock tuning, but its still night and day better than it was! These also have compression clickers in the resis and they are actually pretty usefull in the rear going from empty around town to fully loaded on trips.


The last major upgrade was getting the battery squared away. I bought a cheapo AGM through O-reillys and then redid my battery cables using these military style terminal ends. It really cleaned up the battery connections and winch cable wiring. I should have no more battery acid corrosion issues to deal with.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

So that brings us pretty much up to date for now. I'm kinda at a crossroads as to what to do with it though.

On one hand I have a ton of improvements to make on it that I feel would go along ways towards making this thing more useable and nicer to drive/wheel. As usual simple things like onboard air are blowing up into major projects and other major projects are just getting bigger. I've been doing this for 20yrs now and know what I want and how I want it to be and I like projects.

However, I keep thinking there must be a better platform to start with by now? Something with more power and more space, but equal off road ability. I've been looking at FJ80s, FJ100s, JLs and JTs, as well as 4dr tacomas. The JTs are most tempting, but I think I'd be sacrificing a bit offroad and I'd have to sell everything I have to make it work financially, plus I'm still not sure how family camping out of a pickup would work as far as keeping things dry and dust free. The JLs and JKs simply don't have the storage space in the back. My measurements tell me a 1994 4runner has 25% more storage space than a 2020 JL. I know the cruisers are wider and taller, but I don't know about depth. I believe they have less rear overhang than a 4runner. The cruisers big downfall for either of them is lack of gearing options. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears, I'm sure I've missed something in there.

Kevin

 

[azdirt3.0]

I guess it depends on how much of a project you're looking for but I would probably choose a FZJ80 or 4th gen 4runner

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I guess it depends on how much of a project you're looking for but I would probably choose a FZJ80 or 4th gen 4runner

I need to look into how much space they actually have vs what I have now. I know the 80s are capable, but like I said the gearing is pretty bad compared to what I have now so that's a definite hit in the performance aspect.

What really spurred on this thought process was the 100 series cruisers. My parents have one and I've always liked it. They're IFS, but that can be changed. The idea of more space and comfort for the family is really appealing. I'm just not sure how well it would work size wise on say the Dusy-Ershim trail. One of the most appealing aspects was simply being able to tow a rv trailer out to the desert or wherever, then having a comfortable base to camp out of.

Oddly enough a tahoe is only slightly wider, taller and longer than a 100 series with more power and a drivetrain with more options available. Of course now your essentially looking at a full size truck.

I'm not always sure its worth pouring more $$$ and time into a current pile to make it better vs cutting your losses and trying something different. Even something new though will require a ton of time and money to make it capable, so its probably better to stick with what I know for now.

Sorry for the ramblings.

Kevin

 

[azdirt3.0]

I need to look into how much space they actually have vs what I have now. I know the 80s are capable, but like I said the gearing is pretty bad compared to what I have now so that's a definite hit in the performance aspect.

What really spurred on this thought process was the 100 series cruisers. My parents have one and I've always liked it. They're IFS, but that can be changed. The idea of more space and comfort for the family is really appealing. I'm just not sure how well it would work size wise on say the Dusy-Ershim trail. One of the most appealing aspects was simply being able to tow a rv trailer out to the desert or wherever, then having a comfortable base to camp out of.

Oddly enough a tahoe is only slightly wider, taller and longer than a 100 series with more power and a drivetrain with more options available. Of course now your essentially looking at a full size truck.

I'm not always sure its worth pouring more $$$ and time into a current pile to make it better vs cutting your losses and trying something different. Even something new though will require a ton of time and money to make it capable, so its probably better to stick with what I know for now.

Sorry for the ramblings.

Kevin

I had an 80 for a couple months after my 2nd gen 4runner. There is a decent bit more room in the back and the 4th gen runner my friend had at the time was almost the same size as the 80. Not sure if the increase in room is enough for you to make the switch or not. I have a friend here in town that currently has an 80 and a 100, the 80 is stock and the 100 is pretty built. He much prefers the 80 for about everything, and there seems to be a few week areas of the 100 (alot can be fixed with a solid axle swap tho...).

There always seems to be 100 different ways you can go with a new rig tho

 

[azdirt3.0]

Or just build a sequoia on Tons and 40s like one guy I know

 

[Projectjunkie]

Very clean build, a 90 3.0 was my first car

I want the same family wheeler, at the same cross roads, I keep thinking a gmt800 Denali, factory 6.0 4l65 awd with a real t case, engine and tranny re fresh, and built super duty axles would be perfect....

But, it might be too big for your trails

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Very clean build, a 90 3.0 was my first car

I want the same family wheeler, at the same cross roads, I keep thinking a gmt800 Denali, factory 6.0 4l65 awd with a real t case, engine and tranny re fresh, and built super duty axles would be perfect....

But, it might be too big for your trails

Yeah, it doesn't seem like there is a good option really. If its big enough to be comfy for the fam then its a bit too large for tight trails. If it fits the tight trails then its too small to carry all our stuff when camping.

I guess I should stop complaining and just enjoy what I have. I can't really afford anything newer and I have a crew cab ram I could use for easy exploring stuff anyways. As usual its cheaper/kinda easier for me to mod what I have into something usefull than just changing directions.

I'll post up some future project ideas for this thing in a bit.

Kevin

 

[houstoniancj]

This is a great build thread, subbed.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Ok, so some things I'd like to change on this. You know how it goes, even if the rig works well, there is always room for improvement right?

This thing actually drives pretty well for what it is, but I know it can be better. Its noisy and has some odd shakes and vibrations. Having the AC working really does help though with road noise, but it still could be better.

First, and the one I should be starting on soon if I could get rid of this cold, is getting rid of the speedo cable. If you read the original body swapping tale you'd know I replaced the 94 electric speedo with an earlier cable driven speedo. It works, but the cable is old and gets pinched by the EGR tube on the exhaust manifold and firewall. The speedo generally sounds like its going to explode when its cold and the needle jumps around alot. I bought Marlins electric speedo drive and I'm hoping it is able to drive the original 94 electric speedo.

Secondly, mounting a roof rack on the roof. I actually have a rack I made off of my jeep buggy that fits perfectly, I just need to figure out a way to mount it. So far all I can come up with is drilling into the roof and installing some nutserts, then hoping it doesn't rain. I'm not sure I can find roof rack rails for this thing used anymore and I don't really want to pay for new ones. Also, my rack doesn't have a floor to it. Its just meant to sit on top of an existing roof and provide a cage to keep things in more or less. I figure if I can get the chairs up there and maybe the sleeping bags that will open up some room inside for other things.

Third, noises and vibrations. This one is an obvious fix, but not cheap and gets more complex as we get deeper into it. The biggest noise and vibration issue is obviously the tires. The MTRs work great off road, but suck the life out of me on the highway. I guess I'm getting old. I also don't need a mud tire for what I do. I really just need a good sidewall. Going to an all terrain would quite things up a lot and probably increase my mpgs a tad. I'm pretty sure the MTRs aren't round anymore either judging by the vibes. I've attempted to rebalance them with minimally better results. I think the 20yr old steel rims aren't helping either. I'd like to stay with 35s but step up to an aluminum 17" rim. I don't want beadlocks as I don't seem to need them for what I do and I don't want the rotational mass either. This would probably make the single biggest impact on driveability.

Of course its not that easy. The drivers front seems to be wearing oddly due to what I assume is a bent front axle. I don't want to shell out money for new tires to just wear them out again. I could straighten the front end, but......

Some other driveability issues I have with this thing is the bumpsteer and vague steering feel from leaf springs and crossover steering. Leaf springs kinda suck for lateral stability, and well, for other reasons too. The bumpsteer on the highway when hitting overpass transitions or just on surface streets on oddly slopping surfaces makes the steering saw back and forth and is just annoying. I'd like to run a panhard on the front of this thing to help get that all under control. Coilovers and links would help out the ride too. Thats all good and well, but the rabbit hole here is that stock toyota axle are a bit too narrow to fit coilovers in between the tire and frame rail. I think as it is my tire almost rubs a 2.0 smoothie shock body at full compression. So now with a probably bent front end and wanting to fit coil overs I'm looking at how to get a wider axle. That conundrum is a whole nother topic for another post!

Onboard air. I need a more permanent onboard air solution. I've been borrowing a smittybuilt portable air compressor for trips. It works just fine, but I realize it takes up valuable space in the cargo area. I've always used an engine driven compressor and would like to do the same, but I need to keep my AC system. My current thought is to move the alt on the pass side down as far as reasonable, then move the AC compressor over the top of it and make the factory AC compressor location on the drivers side the actual air compressor location. It would help tidy up the AC lines too if I could pull it off. If I wasn't an idiot I'd probably just spend some money on an electric compressor and mount it somewhere under the hood on the drivers side.

Lastly, moving the fuel tank. I really dislike the low hanging stock 4runner fuel tank. Its annoying and vulnerable. I had started a thread on this a while back then simply dropped the idea. After going to DV though my mind picked up on it again as having a 25gal tank would sure be nice out there! Getting the ground clearance and at least the peace of mind of not having it hanging down in the way would be nice also. It would also open up the possibility of linking the rear if I wanted.

As you can tell projects seem to snowball rather quickly with me!

Kevin

 

[bump530]

Bringing back this thread,... I put AC in my 4.3 swapped 4runner about the same time you did (even ordered stuff from the same place). Is the toyota AC box (cant remember the actual name) controlling your compressor? I wired mine that way and while it does work, the computer has no clue that its on to adjust the idle. The Gm computer will adjust the idle after a few seconds, but I think it could be better.

Nice build by the way. Mine still has a single case behind the 4l60e, but I have all the stuff gathered to add another behind it. Im hoping to start that soon. Im hoping it doesnt blow thru the brakes in low low lol.

 

[chays2464]

We need to see the new bling Kev

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Yeah, it doesn't seem like there is a good option really. If its big enough to be comfy for the fam then its a bit too large for tight trails. If it fits the tight trails then its too small to carry all our stuff when camping.

I guess I should stop complaining and just enjoy what I have. I can't really afford anything newer and I have a crew cab ram I could use for easy exploring stuff anyways. As usual its cheaper/kinda easier for me to mod what I have into something usefull than just changing directions.

I'll post up some future project ideas for this thing in a bit.

Kevin

Problem solved...

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Problem solved...

I've thought about that, or at least a really stripped down simple trailer to carry more gear, but from what I've seen the trailers on the trail are just a problem waiting to happen and one more thing to maintain. What I've got works for now. I just need to get whatever I can out of the back and find dedicated storage for all of our stuff.

I did have a big update recently. I'll post up some pics when I get a chance.

 

[DannyK]

You have built a really nice rig, and done the extremely difficult part of getting the motor swap legal in CA. I would think it could fetch really good money from someone else in CA.

As someone else mentioned, a Sequoia with an SAS would be a great step up in cargo space and has a V8 like you mentioned wanting.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Bringing back this thread,... I put AC in my 4.3 swapped 4runner about the same time you did (even ordered stuff from the same place). Is the toyota AC box (cant remember the actual name) controlling your compressor? I wired mine that way and while it does work, the computer has no clue that its on to adjust the idle. The Gm computer will adjust the idle after a few seconds, but I think it could be better.

Nice build by the way. Mine still has a single case behind the 4l60e, but I have all the stuff gathered to add another behind it. Im hoping to start that soon. Im hoping it doesnt blow thru the brakes in low low lol.

I did not use the toyota AC computer box. I attempted too, but couldn't figure out how to make it work. I can't remember exactly what I did, I'd have to look at my notes, but I do recall I used the pressure switches on the GM compressor and the toyota pressure switch. I was thinking that the toyota switch would allow it to cycle and the GM switches would be an overpressure cutoff. It all still routed through the GM computer to turn the compressor on and off. This setup worked, but it would never cycle off. I was concerned with the evaporator core freezing up. I did find you can buy an adjustable AC thermister through napa for like $20 and that cured the cycling issue. It now cycles on and off like it should. It works ok, but definately isn't as good as a factory system.

I had it working when we went to Death Valley last year and it worked fine for a couple of days then quit. I figured all the freon leaked out of the system and didn't look into it any further. We spent the rest of the trip in 90deg heat with no AC. When we got home I looked at it and it turns out that the compressor clutch connector, one of the pins had backed out and wasn't fully seated. I could put my finger on it and the compressor would engage and then quit as I pulled my finger off of it. I fixed the connector and its been working fine ever since.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

You have built a really nice rig, and done the extremely difficult part of getting the motor swap legal in CA. I would think it could fetch really good money from someone else in CA.

As someone else mentioned, a Sequoia with an SAS would be a great step up in cargo space and has a V8 like you mentioned wanting.

I've never been impressed with the sequias and I think at that point I'd just get a tahoe for less $$$. I still think they are too big for my taste.

I did start to look at dodge durangos. Here me out here, they are V8, auto, 4 door and even have third row seating in a still reasonably sized body. Yeah, they are kinda piles though! I still can't get any clear answers on the amount of cargo space they have either.

I think I have too much invested in this toyota to change at this point.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

A little update before the major update.

I did build a roof rack for it. This is a rack I built out of EMT that I would use on my jeep buggy and it just happens to fit perfectly on the roof. I used some aluminum angle and bolted that to the roof with some sillycone to use as the rails. Made some brackets and made it work.



We went back to Coyote Lake up in the Sierras. The truck did great! No issues this trip and the roof rack worked out well. Kids fishing in the creek:


Mountain awesomeness, not a soul around:

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I knew at this point I was tired of the front leaves and wanted to link it, and I knew I needed a straight front axle as well as wanting something wider.

I started playing around with some 99-04 superduty outers I have in the shop. The inners are 30spline and slip right in the toyota diff. This is pretty much like the old All-Pro axles. Obviously you can go pretty wide with this setup if you want to.


Short side comparison:


In the end I decided that this was just too much axle and didn't make much sense. As much as I hate the closed knuckle birfield goop mess, its ideally suited size wise to what I need for this truck.

I did also consider going back to IFS. For what this trucks intended purpose is it would be ok, and it would be fun to build a centermount long travel system. Once again though, the cost of A halfshaft was simply more than I really wanted to put into this project.

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

I settled on going 3" wider on the housing and making my own custom housing. Trail gear just happens to sell a 3" longer short side 27 spline axle shaft. I know, I know, I should probably just go with the 30 spline stuff and I could've gone wider, and yeah people make custom shafts. First off, I'm cheap, secondly, I didn't want to have to buy $700 worth in shafts. Keep in mind I still haven't ever broken a stock birf, even locked on 35s. I have upgraded to 27spline longs before the dusy trip so that trail gear 3" longer shaft works out well. Also, it makes the front finally slightly wider than the rear, but not so wide that I would then need to upgrade the rear. I think that shaft was $100 on the shelf in stock.

I cut up a friends old bent housing to use for parts.


Cut and turn some knuckle balls:


Cut and turn some tubing. Tubing is 3" 1/4 wall dom.






You can see where this is going now:

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

With the housing tacked together I started the seemingly endless process of cycling the suspension to make sure everything clears. As usual there is a lot going on and everything effects everything else. You've got to start somewhere then just start working out the details until its where you want it.


I decided to get some flat steering arms from Front Range instead of using my old raised All Pro arms. Luckily I have this little horizontal mill that worked out perfectly for milling the knuckles.




I was going to reuse my old shock hoops, but decided to redo them as I wasn't happy with the shock location.


I also replaced the oil pan with a higher clearance 2wd pan to help clear the diff at full stuff.


Had to massage a few things for clearance.

 

[bump530]

Looks good. I have the same trans pan clearance issue as well. I was hoping it would get better with the dual cases. I also have an issue with my drag link hitting the harmonic balancer when the passenger side is at full stuff

 

[Ghetto Fab.]

Once I finally had everything where I thought I wanted it I started gluing it all together. A lot of things were sort of temporarily made for cycling so now was the chance to clean it up.