Swapping a VW into a 1st gen IFS 4 runner (2 Viewers)

[dohcdelsol93]

I have a pretty good assortment of aftermarket and OEM disco 2 cooling fans. These fans are much larger than the factory AC fan I had on my parts 2nd Gen 4 runner. Right now I only have a single 18 inch high flow electric fan. There's a large amount of space between the AC condenser and the fan mounted to my radiator.

Even if the AC only improves by 5 degrees it is a huge improvement.

I also need to look at my fan speed. I have no fan movement on the 1st setting. The rest of the speeds increase as you move up. I'm wondering if I don't have some CFM I'm losing out on.

I hope one day to pull up next to another first Gen and compair air flow. I don't want to rip apart the dash to find I'm missing setting one and not the highest setting.

 

[dohcdelsol93]

Finally got the ball rolling with infinity's insurance. Friday I have an adjuster coming out to give an appraisal of repairs

The key switch trim panel is cracked and at least one mounting tab broken. These are not cheap on eBay.
I noticed yesterday the latch on the impact side no longer closes tightly. It appears it's knocked the body side where the tailgate meets forward a bit. This is the side I rebuilt extensively and took tedious countless hours making sure it was a perfect fit. The latch locks but the tailgate no longer meets the body properly for a proper seal.

While loading gear in the cargo area I noticed the outer skin of the impact side of tailgate no longer has structural integrity, you can push the panel in and out with your finger. Flexes like a soda can.

Not sure I should trust the integrity of the full size spare that took a that much of an impact across the side wall.

Will also need to get the spare tire off and on a speed balance machine to see if the rim is bent or if it's just my swing out tire carrier mount.

I was able to put my weight on the tire carrier in the swing out position to get the bumper to sit level again.

 

[jerretxx]

I have a 1986 Toyota 4runner with 1.9L VW ALH engine. The VW diesel swaps bring a lot of life to these old trucks. Best of luck with your build!

 

[dohcdelsol93]

I have a 1986 Toyota 4runner with 1.9L VW ALH engine. The VW diesel swaps bring a lot of life to these old trucks. Best of luck with your build!

I suppose a vehicle of this magnitude is never truly done. To go this far into a rig it's obvious this is a bit more of a hobby, many here have loved ones that would refer to these builds as addictions.

That being said, the rig has been a daily driver over two years now. Its been down for repairs a few times. Once for a head gasket and several for transmission swaps . Never more than a week. Can unfortunately swap transmissions in about 4-5 hours now start to finish, keeping the same transfer case. With no transmission jack or lift. Cherry picker through the passenger side. I finally found a use for those quick release door hinges.

Not sure if the head gasket was due to the PO maybe running it hot, she did gave 180,000 miles on it when I did the swap. An idiot might have loosened the wrong tty bolt while installing a new cam before the engine installation. Much of this build was done on Sunday afternoons after unpacking the boat. The more beer I could drink the less that needed to be brought inside. The beer also helped when trying to wrench in the winters, didn't make me warm but made me not notice the cold

The rear disk brake conversion that was a debate for far longer than it should have been hasn't had to be adjusted since one of my calipers failed nearly immediately after install. Parking brakes are not great but they are significantly better than that of an fj40.

I had two r150 transmissions be rebuilt. One by marlin and once by a local independent shop. Both began having grinding issues in different gears within a month or so. Sent both back for repairs. One was said to have a faulty new input shaft. One was said to have faulty synchros.

The one I'm currently running has gotten to be a Pita to get into first from time to time. Not always consistent. Have been running red line mtf as recommended by both shops but find synchromesh to be currently rectifying most of my 1st gear issue. Before anyone recommends it, yes the clutch is fully disengaging. Every other gear including reverse goes in with ease and all adjustment have been then rechecked.

If I were to do this swap again I'd have purchased a new ax15 from advanced adapters mated to a dana 300 with yota flanges. This would have been a new aisin built transmission.

I'm pretty sure the common denominators in both shop rebuilds are aftermarket Chinese parts.

After both shops went through each transmission once I swapped to a TD conversion adapter to be sure my adapter from DSC wasn't off centered causing excess vibrations or strains to the transmission.


After about 5 months my most recent transmission began giving me a hard time going into first. It started doing only when warm. Then all the time. Once or twice I had difficulty down shifting into second.

That's when synchromesh was put in and took care of 90% of the issues. Even after a 30 minute 70 mph highway run. May switch to RP 10w40 come spring. I need to bump into second sometimes before going into first. Not the end of the world...like driving a 40 with a 3 speed again

I need to get a press and pullers so I can pull these down myself. OEM yota synchros are available and I might as well install a new 1st gear, hub and upgrade to a marlin fork while in there