Eric's 91 4Runner UZ Swap

[91_4x4runner]

Finally got a little bit of time today (about 2 hours) to start working on tearing the SC400 apart, so I figured I might as well start a buildup thread. Didn't take any pictures as I was trying to get a little work done with very little daylight.

Began by tearing out interior pieces including trim pieces, both front seats, electronics, AC controls, stereo, and everything else I could easily get to.

I want to reiterate that Lexus pieces are worth their weight in gold. I am selling both headlights, the shifter bezel (PRNDL), and the console trim for 200 bucks.

Got bored being crunched in the little car and decided to move to the engine bay.

Removed the fenders, bumper, aluminum crunch tube, various plastic pieces attached to bumper, hood, air box, ignitors, battery, partial removal of AC Condensor. Started unplugging electronics but needed to do some work on the 3.0 (lost lots of radiator fluid and burning oil) so I could get to and from school/work.

Seemed to be a pretty productive day and I can't wait to get out there and do more. I'll take some pics tomorrow hopefully.

[Smitherz]

I would be selling that stuff on eBay as fast as humanly possible!! Every penny counts when the cost of the parts you will need starts adding up. I'm just trying to forget how much money I've dumped into my engine swap.  It's all for good though. Don't take anything in the engine bay apart that you will need. I would try and keep it all plugged together until your truck is prepped and ready for the engine. Keeping it in the engine bay is much better than stretched all across your garage.

[91_4x4runner]

Looks like I might have a little time this weekend to get the engine out of my Lexus. God I can only hope I have time.

Better than keeping them in the garage, all the parts go inside the Lexus

[Cebby]

Once you have the rad out, can you take a pic and post some dims off of it?  The LS rad is too big for us to use - maybe the SC's is a better fit?

[91_4x4runner]

Aight, I took a look at it tonight by myself while propping the hood up and it's roughly 30" wide by 2 1/2 " deep. I couldn't get the height measurement due to the hood weight and darkness, but i'm going to say about 20"

[toylexus]

i have a question for 91_4x4runner. Several actually. What year is your SC400? Also, if you look at the exhaust system, does it have 3 catalytic converters? If it does, is there also an oxygen sensor behind each cat? I'm trying to find out if the wiring for the post-cat O2 sensors is connected to the engine wiring harness or connected to a body harness that meets the ecu harness at a fuse block. The rig i'm working on has to meet california emissions     You've got a pretty sweet deal having the whole car there!

[91_4x4runner]

Yeah, I definitely have a good deal with having the entire car there because I can make up twice the price of the car. Rocks unbelievably. I haven't had a single day to work on the car in the past few weeks due to school and job, but I'm going to allot my entire saturday to it.  I'll be cutting my exhaust off and getting the trans. unmounted then, so checking that out shouldnt be a problem.

[91_4x4runner]

Finally getting closer to the swapping days. Been waiting on SuperRunner for the bellhousing kit for a while now, so I might just go with Dellow or CRS.

I've decided that I'm probably not going to run A/C and instead mount the York in the place of it. (some of this due to space and time constraints, other due to the fact that I can roll my windows down)

Gotta get my motor mounts made and some plates for the EGR removal.

Hopefully I can get something done soon.

[Smitherz]

I'm sure SuperRunner will come through. Although his kit isn't a final product but it will be cheaper and I have heard some whacky things about dealing with those particular Aussie companies. The A/C hooked up is pretty much a luxury I think. That is a little project on it's own and can always be addressed later on. I haven't used mine in a loooong time but I plan on getting mine working down the road. I met an awesome A/C man who loves racing and can't wait to see my project complete so I'm positive he'll help me out when the time comes. I'm in the same boat as you... just hoping I can get something done soon (waiting for my heads).

[91_4x4runner]

For the thousandth time, it looks like the goal of my project is shifting. I got hit pretty hard with a budget deal so here's my current game plan. I found a 94 4x2 4runner (auto) for 300 bucks with a locked 3vze.

The standard conversion is going on hold until I can rebuild funds again (I'm going to use the stock SC400 trans, saving myself about 1K from the kit)

I don't think that I'll have any clearance issues with the rear sump since I'll have no front differential (again, saving money from the sump modification)

I have a complete harness and everything from the donor car, so the only thing I can see that will need fabrication is the exhaust, motor mounts, transmission mounts, and the driveshaft.

I figure that I can get most everything fabricated relatively cheaply by my dad's cousin (fabrication engineer).

Ideally, I should be able to keep the price under 1K.

Give me your thoughts.

[91_4x4runner]

Been breaking stuff up in small chunks... I only get about an hour a day to work on the dang thing. Got my radiator, AC condenser, PS resovoir, and rad. overflow out today.

Finally getting down to the meat of it. At this slow rate, it ought to be out by Monday. (Grrr)

[91_4x4runner]

Bought new suspensions parts for the Z this weekend. 540 bucks worth of springs and struts. I set a deadline of 3 more weeks before I have to get the SC out of the yard (i've been stripping it completely in free time) and move the Z in.

[91_4x4runner]

Small update:

I bought a complete top end rebuild kit from Lextreme, which includes pretty much every gasket and seal I'll need (hopefully).

I've been disassembling the Lexus dash trying to get the rest of the wiring harness out. The engine and harness are ready to be pulled, I just need to find a place to put it. The guys at Lexus definitely made it as difficult as possible with their "rats nest" of wires. I think they could've done a cleaner job, though they probably didn't think anybody would be pulling apart their handiwork to do an engine swap.

This has all taken much longer than I had anticipated. Mixing my schedule with too many things has burned me out pretty bad.

 Take care, Eric.

Couple hours later EDIT: I've got the engine and transmission balanced on the hoist and on the car. The problem is that the hoist has cast iron wheels, which don't roll too well through dirt. Overall, it was incredibly easy to pull it out (the hoist does a good job of telling you what you forgot to unplug/unscrew). I'll have it on the stand by the end of the day.

[91_4x4runner]

Well, the engine is off and sitting on a tire in the back yard. Had one hell of a time with the hoist, but we hooked a car/chain up to it and backed it out with little trouble. Transmission is now disconnected completely (minus the torque converter).

[Cebby]

Nice progress!  I've really got to get back to mine...