"Dirty White Girl" the 85' TOYOTA 4RUNNER

Well, i have never kept a build thread for the old "dirty white girl" but have always wanted to so, here I go! Here is some info and the modifications i have done myself over the past 8 years.

1985 Toyota 4RUNNER SR5

22RE engine, W56 transmission, dual RF1A transfer cases with stock 2.28 gears, Trail Gear adapter and Trail gear crossmember, Allpro Offroad transfer case disc brake kit, and Front Range Off Road twin sticks

63" Chevy leaf springs on the rear, stock toyota rear leaf springs up front with Trail Gear 6" shackles on both ends.

14" Bilstein 5150 reservoir shocks

Trail Gear shock hoops on front, square tube shock crossmember on rear

39.5x13.5R16 Super Swamper IROKS on Pro Comp Rock Crawler Series 8 hole steel wheels.

rear diff is welded, front diff is open both have stock 4.10 gears

shortened stock rear drive shaft, square tube front drive shaft

Sky Offroad Design front axle truss with 'TOYOTA' logo

Trail Gear high steer kit and IFS steering box with frame support plates. I also have a drilled and tapped IFS steering box and a 6" surplus ram i bought to do hydro assist steering i just never have got around to buying the rest of the parts to put it together.

3" Trail Gear wheel spacers

Trail Gear front axle drive flanges

front leaf spring hanger that moved the axle forward 1" and a winch plate welded on the front

back leaf spring hanger that is moved back 6" from stock location. the rear of the rig is bobbed 13.5 inches.

Trail Gear U bolt flip kits on front and rear axles

This build thread will showcase the engine swap that i have just started. Unfortunately, I blew up the 22RE at Windrock back in August. Crank bearings made an aweful screech and then locked up! Fortunately, a friend just happened to have a 1UZFE V8 with the A340e 4 speed automatic from a 1996 Lexus Sc400 sitting in our motorsports garage. He bought it a few years ago as a project engine for his SC and never touched it after puting it in the garage. So i made him an offer and now it is going in my 4RUNNER!!!

We pulled the 22RE valve cover, head and oil pan to check for damage. There was a lot of metal flake in the oil and shavings in the pan. Yanked the block and drivetrain out of the truck with the Toyota fork lift and tossed that junk aside!

The engine bay was reeeaally crusty. 30 years of oil and dirt came right off with some purple power in the pressure washer I drilled out the spot welds on the grill/radiator crossbrace and removed it to make way for the LEXUS V8. Everything else pertaining to the 22RE got pulled from the truck and i sprayed a fresh coat of rustoleum automotive gloss white on the engine bay.

Yeeeeessssss... I like where this is going!

The tailhousing cover on the A430e got removed and all AT fluid drained so that the Inchworm Gear transmission/transfer case adapter can bolt up. Lowrange Offroad had a mix up and sent the wrong adapter to me so, while im waiting on the correct part I went ahead and separated the transfer cases from the W56 trans, drained the gear oil and cleaned them up.

Dig the engine swap.

I would probably look at throwing an RCV output in that back case before you get it all back into the rig. Other than that, carry on. More woopows are always cool.

Stretch said:

Dig the engine swap.

I would probably look at throwing an RCV output in that back case before you get it all back into the rig. Other than that, carry on. More woopows are always cool.

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Upgrades will be added when the stock parts break for sure. RCV axles are already on the wish list! As for the output shaft we have a few TG on the shelf for backup already. Our garage owners Smith tube buggy tends to break them at least once a year with 44s and 4.7 dual cases. For now, im just focused on gettin the Lexus engine running and mattin it!

Love the swap! Alot of the drift guys around here are swapping in a Lexus V8 and mating it to the old RWD Celica/Corona/Camry/Carina 5-speed transmissions. Pholmann machined a couple of the flywheels for a buddy of mine, who put that combo into a Lexus SC400 (only came in automatic), and one in a Nissan 240. Anyway, I dig it! In for updates!

I finally recieved my Inchworm adapter last friday. UPS lost my package somewhere after memphis. Thankfully Low Range Offroad was understanding after sending the wrong parts the first time, so they 3 day expressed another kit to me! I didnt have much time to do work on it this weekend but we got the transmission output shaft cut down to the correct length, and test fitted everything without RTV. We crushed the transfercase input shaft seal on accident so i have another one on the way from oreillys. We lowered it in the truck and found the problem areas on the fire wall and floorboard that will need to be clearanced or cut out. Its going to be doable without a body lift, but it is reeeaaallly tight!

really cool setup

what is the length on that beast of a trans/t-case. the picture looks like it is ready to direct mount to the rear axle

I would plan on buying a standalone ecu for that engine. ( this from experience with those engines)

84mallcrawl said:

really cool setup

what is the length on that beast of a trans/t-case. the picture looks like it is ready to direct mount to the rear axle

I would plan on buying a standalone ecu for that engine. ( this from experience with those engines)

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I have been looking into programable ecm's because I did not get the computers with the 1uz im completely lost in this department! If you have any suggestions let me know! I have been researching AEM, megasquirt, autronics. There are a lot of options and i really dont know what i need. Electronics are not my forte'.

The 5 speed w56+dual cases=45" from bellhousing to tip of output shaft
The automatic A340e+adapter+dual cases=50"
Its only 5" longer than the old setup. I will shorten the rear driveshaft and extend the skid plate mounts to accomodate the difference. Im not sure yet how much further back the entire engine will sit compared to the 22re setup. Im going to mount the 1UZFE as close to the firewall as possible, so wherever the trans output lands is where it lands.

I would look closely at the ms2 megasquirt. the 1uz engine is really an odd ball engine when it comes to the ecu controls. the ecu has 2 sides to it a fuel side and an ignition side. the ignition side is two 4 cylinder ignitions tied together with 2 ignitors, 2 coils, 2 distributors, and 10 plug wires. the ignitors are standard toyota units, the coils look like a standard toyota unit but they have a very low primary resistance requirement. the mass air meter on them is also different, it uses a light and vibrating mirror to measure air flow. the engine will run without the aiirflow sensor. The number one killer of all the cars that came with this engine orginally is the capacitors in the ecu. If your engine came from a SC400 it has a secondary hydraulic pump where the water pump would be on a SBC. the LS400 version has an idler there

I spent a couple hours searching for a donor car to buy. I found a few around atlanta for 1200-2000 that are still driveable. I might be going car shopping this weekend after the AOP bounty hill. :****: i think it will be easier and shorter time period to get the truck running versus doing a standalone ecm and piecing everything else together. I would rather just swap over all the oem equipment from a donor than spend weeks or months hunting parts i need!

ls 400 is a front sump engines and 89 and 90 had a different wiring harness

I picked this up in atl last weekend for $800 all the electronics i need would be lots more $$$ if i bought them individually and i reckon i can get $ back from parting out the rest of the car or scrappin it.

Its been a few weeks since any progress has been made. but last night we "re-shaped" the firewall with a 5 pound mallet, cut the floor tunnel to clear the trans shifters and all 4 engine/trans mounts were mached up. It actually fits really well in the truck. I had to modify the headers 3 bolt flanges, changed them to a 2 bolt, to clear the frame rails but it was a fairly easy install. I got cut at work today by a piece of fookin scrap and ended up with 6 stitches so i wont be doing much work to the yota in the next week or two. Ouch. In the meantime ill be doing 12 ounce curls with a busted knuckle.

Customized Trail Gear bomb proof engine mounts

Those Lexus seats would be in the Yota!

5BrothersFabrication said:

Those Lexus seats would be in the Yota!

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We are planning on swapping the seats console and dashboard into the 4Runner. I will have all the luxuries of the Lexus! Heated adjustable seats, adjustable steering column with driver memory, electronic shift programming, and i have the option of putting a steering wheel with paddle shifters from a LS400 in it!!! The stock SC400 radio was upgraded to a Planet Audio double den indash also!