Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi guys, My little 22r is not cutting it any more and I'm looking at putting a 2.7 efi motor in my 1990 4x4, Can anybody who has done this conversion tell me how hard it is, what is required and is it much more power? Thanks.

Ask Searchman, he's done it before and knows a lot about those conversions.

if you search you will find everything you need to know.
In short, i went from a 22r in my 89 lux to the 3rz. It is an easy conversion and well worth it power wise. You need:


Move engine mounts back
3rz engine + loom
ECU
2wd bell housing + clutch slave cylinder
10K ohm resister (to get tacho working)
extend clutch slave cylinder line

There are a few other small bits and pieces but that is most of it

having just done the same conversion last year, its far easier if you have a body lift, theres a couple of small things also. we had to bend the exhaust in the press as it was to close to the firewall, had to wrap the hand break cable in heat proof material. theres little things like that, im in warrandyte so not to far from you, so if you have any troubles yell out and ill give you a hand. yes the power is well worth it, in the wet with 31's on 3rd gear has been known to step out

johno88 wrote:having just done the same conversion last year, its far easier if you have a body lift, theres a couple of small things also. we had to bend the exhaust in the press as it was to close to the firewall, had to wrap the hand break cable in heat proof material.

I did mine without a body lift but had a bit of trouble getting the passenger side top bellhousing bolt in. As for the exhaust, i just cut the EGR valve mount off the exhaust manifold and welded a bolt head in the hole. I also changed to a v6 4runner handbrake which runs the cable down the inside of the firewall

dillza_69 wrote:

johno88 wrote:having just done the same conversion last year, its far easier if you have a body lift, theres a couple of small things also. we had to bend the exhaust in the press as it was to close to the firewall, had to wrap the hand break cable in heat proof material.

I did mine without a body lift but had a bit of trouble getting the passenger side top bellhousing bolt in. As for the exhaust, i just cut the EGR valve mount off the exhaust manifold and welded a bolt head in the hole. I also changed to a v6 4runner handbrake which runs the cable down the inside of the firewall

Yep we also cut off that valve, but we had to cut a small V shape out of the exhaust manifold on the cylinder closest to the firewall and bent it down then reweld it as it was to close to the fire wall. Theres plenty of people on here to answer your questions when you start the conversion if you have any trouble.

johno88 wrote:

dillza_69 wrote:

johno88 wrote:having just done the same conversion last year, its far easier if you have a body lift, theres a couple of small things also. we had to bend the exhaust in the press as it was to close to the firewall, had to wrap the hand break cable in heat proof material.

I did mine without a body lift but had a bit of trouble getting the passenger side top bellhousing bolt in. As for the exhaust, i just cut the EGR valve mount off the exhaust manifold and welded a bolt head in the hole. I also changed to a v6 4runner handbrake which runs the cable down the inside of the firewall

Yep we also cut off that valve, but we had to cut a small V shape out of the exhaust manifold on the cylinder closest to the firewall and bent it down then reweld it as it was to close to the fire wall. Theres plenty of people on here to answer your questions when you start the conversion if you have any trouble.

Yeah when I did my conversion the exhaust was damn close to the firewall, so also had the EGR valve mount cut off and welded up, and just did a 2" bodylift to get clearance, also allowed clearance above power steer fluid reservoir, and allowed clearance for main loom behind the head. It does make life alot easier...

Why did you need a body lift, that has to be the weirdest sh!t ive heard in ages, move the motor foward when you weld on the mounts so you miss the firewall, i know it fits all nice without cutting anything without a bodylift, and a intercooler, standard clutch fan and radiator all fit without a body lift and without hitting the rad support. And without cutting anything off the motor.

I did the conversion into my bundera, the exhaust manifold was no where near fitting, so I made a set of 4 into 1 extractors for it. Well worth it for the extra power! If there is enough call for it I will make a jig and do conversion extractors off the shelf....

mine fit into my 106 no dramas, no body lift with stock manifold WITH the egr plate still attatched, was close to the handbrake tho. I got extractors pretty much straight away tho and there was tons of clearance with them.
Now with turbo manifold and 3" dump, still have clearance but have wrapped the dump cause it was heating the firewall when driving hard, will prob build a heat sheild for this now.

berad wrote:Why did you need a body lift, that has to be the weirdest sh!t ive heard in ages, move the motor foward when you weld on the mounts so you miss the firewall, i know it fits all nice without cutting anything without a bodylift, and a intercooler, standard clutch fan and radiator all fit without a body lift and without hitting the rad support. And without cutting anything off the motor.

I just positioned the engine according to where the bellhousing was, the gearbox (g52) was left in place, and the engine sat where the engine sat, and where it was, the loom at the back of the head had only about 2mm clearance to the firewall, and the exhaust manifold was about the same sort of clearance. Body lift cleared these so there's now heaps of clearance. Also, the powersteering reservoir barely missed the bonnet when closed, so again clearance improved with body lift. And besides, for less than 200 bucks and a couple of hours, all clearances where fixed, and 33" tyres now fit, so it was a win-win situation.

But basically, in my case, and RN130 4runner which was originally a 22r engine, a body lift was needed for clearance issues, not weird at all...

Rory wrote:mine fit into my 106 no dramas, no body lift with stock manifold WITH the egr plate still attatched, was close to the handbrake tho. I got extractors pretty much straight away tho and there was tons of clearance with them.
Now with turbo manifold and 3" dump, still have clearance but have wrapped the dump cause it was heating the firewall when driving hard, will prob build a heat sheild for this now.

Sorry for the off topic, what ecu are you running Rory? How much boost?

haltech e6x, atm 12psi.

Did the same thing in a RN130 4runner.
If it is a ifs 4x4 then you will need to use the 4x4 sump from the RZN169 to clear the front diff. I didn't need a body lift, but am only running 31" rubber.
Had to change to the v6 handbrake to get clearance from the egr plate.
I moved the battery over to the passenger side and used a vn commodore filter box where the old battery sat.
Also changed to the v6 fuel tank with the internal fuel pump.

Thanks for reply guys, dillza why do u use a 2wd bell housing? and i was going to get complete new exhaust made up as it runs down opppsite side right? Johno, No body lift trying to keep it low to shot out of, so i might be needing a hand, ill supply grog. Also guys what radiator is best to use?

I was able to use my 22r radiator, i went to exhaust fix in croydon for a hole new exhaust, 2-1/4 inch with a straight through muffler and hotdog and it sounds fairly good for $330.

Mike4r wrote:Did the same thing in a RN130 4runner.
If it is a ifs 4x4 then you will need to use the 4x4 sump from the RZN169 to clear the front diff.

Just wondering what the differences in the 2wd and 4wd sumps are? I used a 2wd one, but fitted diff drop spacers, those that come in the ball joint lift kit. It gave me about an inch and a half clearance, and also sits the cv's pretty much horizontal, so worked well. Front driveshaft angle increased slightly, but didn't cause any issues.

I also had to change to a v6 handbrake setup, and a v6 fuel tank. Had custom fuel lines made up.

huntn wrote:Thanks for reply guys, dillza why do u use a 2wd bell housing? and i was going to get complete new exhaust made up as it runs down opppsite side right? Johno, No body lift trying to keep it low to shot out of, so i might be needing a hand, ill supply grog. Also guys what radiator is best to use?

Everything i read about the conversion mentioned a 2wd bell housing, I dont know if there is difference between the 2wd and 4wd. In fact thinking about it, i doubt there is a difference. Maybe someone else can clear it up?

smaddock wrote: Just wondering what the differences in the 2wd and 4wd sumps are? I used a 2wd one, but fitted diff drop spacers, those that come in the ball joint lift kit. It gave me about an inch and a half clearance, and also sits the cv's pretty much horizontal, so worked well. Front driveshaft angle increased slightly, but didn't cause any issues.

I also had to change to a v6 handbrake setup, and a v6 fuel tank. Had custom fuel lines made up.

The 4wd sump looks like a soccerball has punched in the side. Fits snug around the shape of the diff housing. I tried fitting the 2wd sump but had to severely belt in one corner to get clearance, lucky it didn't affect the pickup. Ended up taking me a couple months to find a 4wd sump. Toyota want around $400 for the sump and pickup plus a 3 week wait from Japan.

huntn wrote:Thanks for reply guys, dillza why do u use a 2wd bell housing? and i was going to get complete new exhaust made up as it runs down opppsite side right? Johno, No body lift trying to keep it low to shot out of, so i might be needing a hand, ill supply grog. Also guys what radiator is best to use?

I also ended up using the 22r radiator. I cut the plastic fan shroud down to clear the blades. There must be a better one that fits and cover the fan blades better.
The exhaust starts off on the drivers side and crosses over to the passenger side in front of the gearbox mount and then bolts up to the existing 22r exhaust.