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1990 3VZE (v6) (turbo it or swap upgrade to 3.4L)

13336 Views 9 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  shoes1382006
I jsut got me a 1990 4x4ext auto. I wanted to do some performance upgrades to my engine to help it tow my race car better. I have been checking and there's nearly nothing out there and what is out there costs an arm and an leg. Some nice guy finally told me that hey, who don;t you just do a 3.4L conversion and then SC it?
I was like eh? what's that? He said it's the same block I have and will bolt right up to my truck. They told me all i needed was the engine, wiring harness and ecu.

Here's my questions, Has anyone tried this before?
if so, Here's my questions.
1- wiring harness. Does it just bolt and go? What mods need to be done to get it to work or is there a kit?
2- ecu Dies it just plug into the harness or is there mods that need to be done first
3- my gauges.will they work fine or will I have to do some rewiring?
4- does this motor really bolt right up to my truck and trany?
5- Do I need to do an trany/VB upgrade for this?
6- Is there a swap kit for this?

Also shoudl i be considering spending this $ or just keep the 3vze motor and be happy?
If I kept my 3vze I was thinking of having the stocker manifolds ported out, then increace the corssover pipe sizes and exhaust side. then at the connection point install a turbo flange and install a t3 turbo. I would run like 5-6psi only and that should give me about 75-85 more wheel power over what I have now.

my truck has 93k origional miles.

those that have expirence please let me know your thoguths, costs of these projects and maybe even other suggestions if you have them.

Thanks! (sorry for my typing i am a terrible typer)
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1- Offroadsolution.com sells them and they are direct fit!
2- It should direct fit. contact ORS for that
3- you guages should work fine i dont really think you need to rewire them again contact ORS
4- you will need to get a new tranny, the 5vz will only bolt up to the manual trannies from the older trucks and will not bolt up to the auto, please the 5vz tranny is alot better tranny!
5-new tranny
6- Yes, Offroadsolutions.com heres the website link http://www.offroadsolutions.com/technicalarticles/34l_conversion_kit_auto.htm


and as for turboing the 3vz just do you research on it, i beleive that the stock ecu wont be able to handle the turbo, so you would need to get a megasquirt system for that and that basically is a ecu but you controll everything. if you wanna keep your 3vz, the weak link on the motor is the heads, you need to get perfomances cams and get o/s valves and port polish the heads and hopefully should at least get you like prolly 30 more hp! cuz im gonna be doing that and tryin to turbo my 3vz, right now im just doing my research on it and getting my yota ready! if you want more info look on yotatech.com very helpful!

good luck on your journey!
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wow, thanks for the info!
I just finished talking to ORS and they are great guys. he said I would have to change the trany out. so basically i will need a complete wrecked truck from a 99-2k (best years per them) + a transfer case from a 22re (gear driven) and I'm set.

Is it really worth doing a swap?I don't know.
Everyone is tellign me that the heads are prone to blowing the gaskets. So I was thinking of measuring the depth of the holes and contacting arp about studs. (just have to follow their info on ordering 1-off types)
then iw as thinking about a upgraded valve body for my auto trans.

I also know the exhaust manifolds blow. i can either hog the crap outa mine or get headers. headers may not take the heat of the turbo, so I may jsut ghog the stockers out.

I don't knwo if I'll do the internal of the engine or even the head work yet because I'm not looking to get that far into it. Plus mine has only 93K and the guy before me already did a head rebuild and repalced the stock head gaskets so it should be good for a while again.

I was thinking of using jsut an FMU for the fueling since I'm only looking at 5-6psi max on the turbo. They only run like $120 and seem to work well for low boost applications.

Lets keep in touch as your doing a project I'm looking into.

mike
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i found a guy on pirate4x4.com who has done a few turbo installs ont he 3vze motors. i'm waiting for him to reply to my pm about info and stuff.
actually "fullboogie" on here and on yotatech spoke of a bone stock 3vze handling a turbo at 7psi and with the stock ECU was keeping the AFR at 11:1! Im still trying toget my jaw off of the floor at that!

I doubt that it would run well without the help of a piggypack like an SMT6 at normal driving conditions, but apparently the stock ECU can handle a bit of boost at WOT.
You get larger flow volume injectors, the ecu doesn't know/care what it's triggering to spray.
It knows via the O2 to either enrichen or lean the mix.....but the stock injectors don't flow enough under boost to feed the fire.
A larger fuel pump and routing the fuel pressure regulator to get vacuum from the correct spot also helps (after the throttle blade).

Just because someone on some board on the internet *says* they did it....well, that don't mean shit.
Did they really do it ?
Does it actually work ?
Does it work correctly ?

Most likely you'll find the *wrong answer* to one of the above questions.....prod the person well enough and you'll usually get a more honest answer.
This is a thread from slacker's board - someone who's actually done the swap.

http://toyota2wd.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=allgoes&action=display&thread=1138066316
that guy spend about $10k on his swap into a 3200 truck. i'm not looking to go that nuts with it. I'm just looking for more and some towing.

are you guys saying that turboing will not work for my needs? i was told by ORS that the swap will run me $6k-$7k

a turbo setup will run me about $2k-$2200 so it's more cost effective. again, I have not decided either way, but i'm not looking to break into new barriers and stuff. i'm looking for what will work for my needs.
I have been doing some research and discovered a 1u swap will run me about $3k for everything average.

That's a V8 motor with 260 hp and 300 fptq. not too shabby.

a turbo setup will run me aroudn $2k so I'm still not sure what I want to do. I'm not rushing anything as I have a year to start planning. Anyway, and thoughts and expirneces are greatly appreciated.

mike
yea thats a great motor light weight n powerful! but u still need a new tranny i think!
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