7.4 Liter V8 in '86 Mini? (1 Viewer)

[bkg]

Wow. Ok, well I can understand a few things of what you guys are talking about. But, the only thing is, it cant be all that spendy, and I know for a fact that I won't be able to make all this work - it sounds a little complicated, and i really dont think its worth all the trouble. what kind of engine would you guys suggest for putting in a '85 or '86 mini? whats the best power, effeciency, etc.

I almost lost my diet coke to the keyboard at the highlighted section...

I've done 2 3.8 buicks and 2 4.3 swaps into my old truck... The 3.8 buick was $3K for the swap. I have documented receipts for OVER $4000 to put a 4.3 TBI into my old truck. That included a $1200 rebuild of the long block. It is NOT cheap. The adapters for the tranny alone (R150) ran close to $800, plus misc clutch parts.

BTW - I don't buy the $8-10K 350 into a Cruiser price... No way in hell.

The best solution for you, if you want more power and reliability is a 2.7 3rz from a Tacoma. Using that and it's bellhousing, you can bolt it to your original tranny, do the wiring yourself, fab the motor mounts, etc. There are plenty of people doing this swap now, and you should be able to find all the info you need on PBB or Marlin's web site. Also, 150HP and good mileage will be a ~45% increase in hp w/o the associated gas-gussling you'll encounter w/ a 4.3. If you want more power than that, go 3.4 or go home...

 

[tonkota]

swap it out if you like to deal with rebuilds every 110K.
the stock motor shoulnt b messed up.
they last well over 300K.

Huh? You are a smart fella! All generalizations are false. Think about that for a minute &

 

[ats4x4dotcom]

Go the big block, I put an LS7 in my 40 series shorty, and they are the best sounding V8, and the down low torque means you dong have to flog the thing to get it to do what you want.

The 40 I had we made 98" wheelbase, and widended the track 4" and ran 38"s using 60 series springs, with power steering and 4w disc brakes, and it was a fun thing to drive.

We had to hand make the extractors, we moved the motor and gearbox backward to balance the weight distribution of the vehicle, you can make it work, as long as your not working to a budget.

 

[desertguy]

Alright, well from what i am reading here, a 454 swap obviously will be a big headache. Has anyone around here ever done a 2jz-gte swap? The 2jz-gte is the '93-'98 supra twin turbo, and the 1jz-gte is the nonturbo version. The twin produces about 330 hp while the nonturbo makes about 220. You can buy a twin for about $2200, but it is a jap spec JDM. You could probably also get a tranny from an old junkyard supra or something like that. Maybe the 7mgte/7mge (7mgte = supra '86 - '92 turbo; 7mge = nonturbo) would work, but looking through the forums, I found one project on this type of swap, but it was only a question. I dont know if something like this is even worth it. Thanks for the feedback though. **ps. according to gumby on that forum, a couple of these engines swap straight into the 22r mounts and tranny. If this is the case, its probably exactly what I would go for.

 

[2ndGenToyotaFan]

Here's a huge write up on a 7mge swap:

http://bbs.off-road.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1424863/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

Rick's e-mail is in his profile.

A 7mgte swap:

http://www.yotapower.com/4runner/7mswap.htm