'86 Toyota Truck buildup questions

[stealthawd]

New to the board, not new to my truck or the automotive world...have some general questions.

I currently have an '86 Toyota 4wd truck. I LOVE this truck...have wanted one since they came out in '86. I bought it in 2000 and was waiting to finish my car to start on playing around with it.

It currently has a suspension lift and a body lift (3" and 3" I believe) and 34" tires. It handles horribly and is geared wrong for the tires. I put in a used 22R motor and it is very reliable, just way underpowered. Enough "history"...

I am wanting to do several things to this truck:

1. 350 small block
2. Redo the suspension and lifts to something "better"
3. Exoskeleton
4. Rhino line the interior, swap seats, etc.
5. Wheels
6. Tube style bed

These are the big parts of the buildup. Does anyone have any suggestions as to headaches I will run into along this build or pointers to make life a little easier.

I am an engineer by trade and own my own engineering and product design company. I have full access to machine shop and fabrication shop for the build as well as design ideas. My main areas of "help request" I guess are the 350 engine and suspension although ideas or pictures on any of the above are welcome.

[Hermit]

No doubt stuffing a small block into your 4x4 will require serious suspension work. I have not actually tried this type of mod myself (the 350 in a t-truck) but have done a few others in the past. The motor mod itself will keep you busy for a while since there will be plenty adaption work. But nothing is impossible.

The weight change will definitely require that you beef up your suspension so your truck will handle properly. Being an older vehicle the suspension no doubt has some wear already so an upgrade to a stiffer suspension will give you the excuse to put in all new parts!. You already have the 3" min. lift that is required.

Is your truck a 5 sp manual? If so this will make the mod to a small block much easier as the 83 and newer 5 speeds came with a removable bell housing and there are kits available for this conversion.

As for the engine, well here is where the real work comes into play. I will give you a quick run down on the required mods that I know of.
1)Firewall conversion due to xtra length and distibutor location on the 350
2)front radiator & grill sheet metal area moved forward approx. 1 1/2" due to engine length.
You should have no problem fitting the engine between the toyota frame rail except the turbo mods. which require more lift. Just be sure that you end up with enough oil pan (for suspension travel) & distrubutor clearance when you stuff in your new small block.
I hope some of this helps! Good luck with your toyota mod and keep us all posted. I love to hear about the mod work on these puppys.

OH WHAT A FEELIN!!
*HERMIT* the T-Tech

Looking for a good rear chrome bumper for a 91 4x4 DLX Toyota pickup

[stealthawd]

Yeah...I have already planned and whacking around on the firewall due to the location of the distributor and motor size. My current suspension, although aftermarket, is in need of replacement, so that will be happening regardless of motor swaps. My truck is a manual and when I replaced the 22R motor, we did so with the tranny still in the truck, so I know it comes apart.

This is going to be a lot of fun as well as time consuming. Most of the work will be frame-off I am sure.

[CuriousBuilder]

A few years back I built a '85 Toyota with a 302 in it. I purchased the motor mounts from Http://www.northwestoffroad.com made for an easy drop in. The advantage to droping in a ford is that the distributor is in the front. If you choose to use the engine swap headers that you can purchase, you've made the right choice...I didn't go this route and looked for about 4 months to find some manifolds that would work for what I needed ( also I was in high school and didn't have the money for nice headers). I also used a ford transmission i would not suggest this unless you plan on beating the living s*** out of your truck. Wiring I did right from all the toyota harness, get a manual so you can match up the wire color codes and everything should work fine. You might be able to tighten up your torson bars enough to get your suspension stable. any more questions about what I went through...just ask.

[rogerman]

Hey i wanna do that rhino/lineX the interior keep me updated on how it goes