'90 Montero 2UZ VVT-i swap

[Toasty]

Long time lurker, first time posting a thread. I picked up a 1990 Montero that had been parted out from a friend.

Originally I was going to swap in a 2wd SC 400 drivetrain I had just for fun. The plan was quick and dirty low rider to beat to death just for laughs.

I got some free wheels (my favorite price), lowered the machine and actually installed the engine and wiring. I had done a lot of work at this point and then a bunch of unexpected stuff came up. For starters, this truck has been parted out so it was missing most of its interior and the light blue interior is really uncommon these days. I just happened upon a nice blue interior truck in the salvage yard and got everything I needed for about $100, then I got some free matching seats. Scored some better bumpers, '84 grill and new argent headlamp surrounds early on too. The truck had actually gotten really nice and the idea of ruining a classic became bothersome to me.

Around this time I had helped my friend swap a set of 1 tons and Evo suspension on his new LJ, he offered me the spoils of that swap. Plot twist, suddenly I had a free set of fresh Jeep axles. (1979 Plymouth Arrow for scale)

Naturally, out came the impact to remove the IFS.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[Toasty]

Montero IFS is stronger than the Jeep axles and they actually ride really nice with everything maintained and in good working order. The suspension travel isn't great however and since I had free current model stuff I figured it would be good for a trail crusier, I don't need another crawler. On to torching.

These frames are quite rigid, even with cross members removed and IFS torched off it still doesn't want to settle down to match the uneven masonry.
IFS where it belongs.

Clean bare frame exposed.

Having done a few Montero SASes, most of the homework has already been done. The frame reinforcement plates for the Gen 2 just fit the Gen 1 as well, previously I had adapted a F-150 Saginaw steering gear but on this one I want to attempt to keep the stock gear.
Here's my laser cut plates and steering adapter, they bolt in place to locate all the keys. You can't really see them but there are little keys to make fitting towers and pan hard mount easy. Now, I designed these for the Gen 2, the Ford steering gear and using coilovers. With those differences in mind, I can still just cut the keys off and locate whatever I want wherever. This truck I plan to run separate shocks and coils, the coils came from the JL.

 

[Toasty]

Fitting up the frame plates, there's a gentle curve to the front of the frame. Rather than brake the plates with a machine I choose to gradually clamp them down, this makes for a stronger part.

With these frames being as rigid as they are I still opt to place my welds strategically to allow flex because they do flex and need to flex. Normally this is where I'd install the steering adapter and weld it in place as well but I really want to use the stock gear, this will save me probably $400 and a little labor.

So, I'll move straight on to suspension and worry about the gear later. This truck will just be a trail/camping rig, Jeep springs and Bilsteins will be good enough. I didn't calculate valving or rates, the JL is near the weight of the Montero and if the universal Billies don't feel good I'll get some tuned Fox shocks to dial it in.

I chose Metal Cloak for the joints because they're quiet and I run them on my other rigs. I got a pair of Ballistic joints for free and I may use them as a place holder if I need to make custom arms for the rear suspension.

 

[Toasty]

For coil towers I tried the Ballistic adjustables, I'm a little skeptical of their strength long term but a lot of people use them no issues. Since I'm using stock Jeep coils I need the adjustability preferably without spacers.

Conveniently, the Ballistic towers aligned perfectly with the keys for the coilover towers I had designed these plates to use with. Lucky.
Unfortunately, trying to use the stock steering gear meant interfering with the location of the pan hard mount. So, this key had to be ground off and even the mount itself isn't ideal. It's going to be tight if it works at all, luckily I can still go with the Ford part if I can't clear this. I have a plan though.

Whipped up some temporary tabs to try to see if it's possible to clear the pan hard rod and pitman arm, this looks viable and everything clears well enough. I'll make a permanent mount and power forward.

 

[Toasty]

Since space is tight I matched up the hole pattern to the Ballistic part to best in really tight. What's cool is that I can bolt this on and if it works I'll have a self locating pan hard mount if I ever do this again on another truck.

Probably would benefit from mounting a little farther outside the frame but I can change that later easy enough. On to shock towers, this was a fair bit tricky, I like to use Ruffstuff towers over tubular towers because they're very rigid and don't need a cross brace. The bad part is they're harder to install near a steering shaft. On my big truck I actually built in a steering shaft tunnel I order to clear the steering but here I'll be farther back on the frame behind the coil towers. It's tight and barely clears the steering shaft by about 3/16" but that's enough to account for body movement and if it does witness some contact it will be minimal and I can correct it with an 1/8-1/4" body lift.

I also mocked up a lower arm to kinda be a place holder while I fit everything up, previously I had made a transmission cross member that replaced the stock one but included radius arm mounts. This time however the axle width is greater than before and things didn't just fall into place in idealic locations. Instead I found myself mounting directly to the frame behind the trans cross member.

It'll clear the new trans cross member mounting at full compression so I'll consider that a win.
Now, I didn't seem to document my radius arm build but if I find in progress pics I'll update. The arms are .250" wall DOM and for the upper arm I cannibalized the stock uppers to reuse their mounting end. I didn't see a need for it to be something custom but again, if there's a problem I can easily change it later.

I can finally hold my caster angle in place while I work which helps tremendously for fitting the steering and coils.

 

[Toasty]

All welded up and suspension in place, I can now move the truck around easily. Did a little flex test and it moves well enough, I'll need to add some length to my pan hard rod. I built a temporary one so that I could at least steer and move the truck around. I modified the stock Jeep steering links as well for testing but I ordered a Ruffstuff safety heims steering kit. These Jeep wheels aren't staying either they're just a placeholder.

For the pitman arm, I drilled out the joint socket and machined a bung to interference fit and then welded it in place. I used 71M welding wire because it's considerably stronger than the L56 commonly used in custom fab, probably overkill but I didn't want to take any chances on such a critical part.

It's very short but it does steer lock to lock at the knuckle stops so we're good there, it could end up being heavy feeling but I have a backup plan for that as well.

 

[Toasty]

The ride height is about what I wanted but the width is more than I wanted, I'll go with a narrower tire on the new wheels but for now it looks okay. I had this notion to run the Gen 2 Montero rear axle for dic brakes and extra width combined with wheel adapters. I let the JL rear axle go to scrap which I now regret, the width isn't enough to match and now I've seen someone online have a wheel adapter failure. That person was the only reason I had confidence in the adapters, now I need to find another JL rear axle and undo the work I did swapping the Gen 2 rear. Oh well.

My original donor car was a '99 SC400 with 300k miles but it ran strong and I didn't care about this truck, since that changed and I'm now in deep here I opted for a newer lower mileage 2UZ VVT-i and 4wd drivetrain from a 4 Runner. Using the Toyota transfer case saved me from having to buy an expensive adapter for the A650 as well. Removing the 1UZ, A650 and accompanying wiring.

The motor and trans mounts I made for the 1UZ now need to be cut off and I need to cut off the Y pipe for the exhaust because it won't fit the 2UZ and it'll hit the driveshaft.

 

[Toasty]

When I swapped the 1UZ in originally, I had decided to cut the core support out so I could install it with the transmission at the same time. What I did was drill the spot welds out and carefully map out the cut. I installed nutserts where the spot welds were so I could bolt it back in easily. This also should make it easier to service the radiator and condenser if needed in the future because the V8 takes up more room than the V6 everything is moving forward.

I'll need to change these screws to stainless or zinc in the future but black oxide works for now.
After buying nice stock bumpers I scored an old aftermarket bumper from the late 90's or early 00's made by DON, not really aftermarket because Don was just an enthusiast like me but that was the only other option aside from ARB back then and ARB bumpers were super uncommon in the states back then.

I'm going to replace the hoops with mandrel bent tube because I prefer that look but not a bad find.

 

[Toasty]

I removed the stock wiring, unloomed everything and labeled all the connectors to their corresponding numbers in the book.

Recently I got a 4 Runner 2UZ VVT-i from a friend, it's all resealed and up to date on maintenance ready to be installed. I also got an A750 and transfer case to go with it, now I just need to get a donor harness and PCM

 

[JDM Journeys]

Any updates on this wicked project, Adam?

 

[Toasty]

Any updates on this wicked project, Adam?

I just got some motor mount brackets yesterday so I can start mocking this up in the truck AND I scored a deal on a matching JL M220 rear axle, so now I'll have almost new running gear to go with the new drivetrain. It's a lot of parts in the garage at the moment, I need to pick up my harness and send it to @LexusV8 Engines soon. I'd love for this truck to be on the road soon.

 

[Toasty]

New wiring is complete and tested, drivetrain is in place for mount fabrication and Y pipe fitting. I got the motor mounting sorted (no pics) I landed on C6 Corvette mounts for their size and availability. I made all the bracketry and it's packed in place, working on the new transmission mount now (Stock 4 runner). When it comes back out for final welding I'll move my battery box to the driver side and hopefully the next time it goes back in is the last time.
There's still a lot to do for plumbing, cooling system AND brakes...

 

[Toasty]

This weekend I made a bunch of progress on the project, I was set to use the Toyota electronic shift transfer case and I had even gotten a Gen 3 Montero electric T-case shifter to handle the shifting while still looking old school (floor shifter). The more I dug into it I learned that these cases weren't super reliable at the actuator to the point of guys swapping FJ Cruiser cases or others. I started to think I'd make all this effort just to have it be problematic or just not work at all and need to be swapped so, I made the decision to just swap a newer Jeep case. I already had an NP241J leftover from another project and it already had the yoke conversion, I ordered an Atlas adapter and installed it this weekend. This will give me a lower low rage than my Toyota case, 6 gear planetary (stronger), matching yokes to my axles (easy driveshafts), cable shifter and if I ever need to upgrade in the future I can bolt in an NP241OR 4:1 or an Atlas with a little effort.

 

[Toasty]

I installed the engine and fit up the Y pipe and motor mount brackets then removed it all again for welding. Exhaust is my least favorite part so I'm super happy to not have to do this under the truck this time. I still need to weld on the collector from the two 2" pipes to a single 2.5". The plan is a single cat, hopefully that'll be enough to pass emissions.

I drilled out the spot welds and removed the old battery box, It needs to be relocated to the driver side. More importantly I fabbed up some simple motor mount brackets, I'm using C6 Corvette mounts on this one. This thing might actually run some day!

 

[Toasty]

Painted my frame rails and towers then installed the engine hopefully for the last time yesterday. Now on to trans mounting!

 

[Toasty]

Modified my air box, still needs proper hardware and paint.

Installing the new shifters, T4R auto shifter and Eclipse manual shifter for the T-case.

Cut off the brackets from the left fender, fixed the holes and resprayed.

Started on the battery relocation brackets (tray not pictured)

Started on mocking up the radiator, fit seems good.

 

[JDM Journeys]

Wow Adam - this is next level buddy! And that rad does seem like the perfect fit! So happy you're doing this in a gen1!

 

[Toasty]

Wow Adam - this is next level buddy! And that rad does seem like the perfect fit! So happy you're doing this in a gen1!

Thanks! I've been super motivated to get this one up and running since I got the wiring back from Tim, I need to pull the carpet this weekend and finish up the interior.