I decided to keep my stock R150 5 speed transmission. Several reasons why. I
like 5 speeds. Stock crawl ratio is twice as low compared to that of the
TH350/NP203, and no driveline modifications will be necessary. And I know my
trans shifts good and is reliable.
The engine came from a 1976 Chevy K5 Blazer. It was a "crate" motor dropped
in a few years back by a friend of the family. I believe its stock
internals, but I don't know for sure. Its got 4 bolt mains, Edelbrock
performer intake and carb, GM HEI ignition, and eBay block hugger headers.
The motor ran great when I pulled it from the Blazer, so I didn't rebuild
it. I replaced every gasket besides the head gaskets, replaced the timing
chain, and basic tune up parts like plugs, wires, cap, rotor, pcv, fuel
filter, etc. I then gave it a paint job. Here are some pics.
As she sat in the Blazer.
On the engine stand, stripped and degreased
4 bolt mains
Valve train looks good
After paint
After getting the motor prepped, I started on removing the engine from the
4Runner. I am working on it in my single car garage, so space is very
limited. I decided the best thing to do would be to cut the core support out
so I could lift the engine out on the hoist in the garage. With the garage
door open, there is not much room overhead. Plus the core support is damaged
from a run in with a tree, so it needs to be straightened anyway. So I cut
all the spot welds with a spot weld cutter, and removed the core support. I
yanked the engine out separate from the trans.
The engine ran great before I pulled it, just had a injector leak. I was
able to part it out and make some money, which helped to buy parts for the
swap. I also made some money on parting out the old Blazer.
After the engine was out, I stripped out anything no longer needed for the
350. I then painted the engine bay flat black, since the rest of the truck
will be painted flat black soon. Also while the engine was out, I decided to
fix the shoddy SAS job performed a few years back. The spring hanger sat
crooked, and the frame tubes for the shackles were not fully welded, leaving
gaps in the frame. I Cleaned the frame up, patched holes, moved the hanger
forward, leveled it, and welded it back on.
Then came installing the clutch and bellhousing parts from Advanced
Adapters. The kit uses a stock Land Cruiser slave cylinder. It uses the same
clutch line fitting as stock. The kit comes with a special rod to use in the
cylinder and a special clutch fork. You also have to remove the stock crank
bushing and install a custom unit provided it the kit. I drove the old
bushing out using the punch tool that was included in spark plug repair kit
I had used on the 3.0. It was a perfect fit. I filled the bushing cavity
with grease and pounded it out. I used a 10.5" 153 tooth flywheel. Its made
by Zoom, part number 50-656. The pressure plate is a high pressure unit from
Centerforce. The clutch disk is a custom hybrid unit specially made by
Centerforce. It uses a stock Aisin center section, with a 10.5" friction
disk. The stock friction disk is much smaller. Everything bolted up nicely.
There were a few machining defects, but they appear to be strictly cosmetic.
Kit components
Pilot bushing installed
Tool used to install bushing
Clutch components installed
Defects in bellhousing
Bellhousing installed
The bellhousing does not include a rubber boot for the shift fork. I reused
the stock one, but it still leaves a gap. I'll worry about that later.
Engine and trans bolted up
Then, with a series of chains and ratchet straps, I installed the engine and
trans together to get an idea of where she will sit with the transmission in
the stock mount.
It quickly became obvious that the engine was way too far forward with the
trans in the stock location. So its going to have to get moved back a few
inches. AA does sell a motor mount kit that includes a trans mount relocater,
but I'm going to come up with something on my own. I'm either going to copy
their design, or cut and weld the stock crossmember. That is where I left
off. I need to do some measurements and decide if I want to make an adapter
or cut and weld the crossmember. I'm leaning towards cutting and welding.
I'm thinking I could cut the center section of the crossmember, move it back
a few inches, and weld it back in along with some extra material to bridge
the gap, then reinforce it with some gussets. I don't have the money to buy
a new crossmember. Maybe later on down the road. I shouldn't have to do
anything to the drive shafts. My rear drive shaft is already pulled half way
out of the slip with my lift, so moving the trans back a few inches will
actually be good since it should put the slip back somewhere around where it
was stock. The front drive shaft is a square tube, and had plenty of
extension left, so I shouldn't have to touch that either.