Topic: Off Grid: 3RZ to old school 22r swap, really...

[H8PVMNT]

So a few of you have been following my overfueling issues with the 3RZ.  After swapping out the majority of the sensors, fuel pump, testing refference signals and dinking with a scan tool to about $400 worth of nickel and diming I finally threw in the towel.  See, up here in BFE Montana there are no late model parts trucks and very few guys with any kind of knowledge. When I finally pulled the plug I was getting 6 mpg and had what I would estimate about 50 horse power.

All the while my trusty 1st gen with a leaky stock 20r pulled double duty as skidder, tractor, wheeler and daily driver.  Once during that time I had to put a $5 fuel filter in it after driving it home with a piece of ball point pen in place of the clogged filter located within in easy reach in the engine bay (that's what I'm talkin' about!) To be fair one time last winter it wouldn't start so I had to yank out some of the fuzes and take a dirty steel wire brush to get the green stuff off of the contacts that accumulated in the fuze block from constant moisture from fording frozen water and slush it's subjected to on a daily basis when feeding horses and cows...

This got me to thinking... and longing for this kind of bonehead simplicity in my 4Runner. Now don't get me wrong, the 3RZ was great.  It got up to 26 mpg and plenty of power for pulling the hills and trailors, but the '80 just keeps plugging along and cost nearly nothing in the process. It still started in the -30 degree winter we had even when my 3RZ wouldn't.

So I have this spun out dual row 22r I yanked from an '81 raisinized beater comp truck we had.  I pulled a carb harness out of an '84 pickup, found alot of the other stuff in my shed and posted up the 3RZ, overfuel issue and all in for sale here on Marlin. MrHilux87 paid me what I needed and had me crate it all up and ship it to hom in CA, where skills and parts are more available and aparently doner vehicles are getting scarce.

Now I find myself refabing motor mounts to fit a 22r, searching for an old rusty flywheel and ordering desmog plates from LCE...

The goal is a nearly bone stock dual row 22r with no smog equipment and every trick I can do to make the carb run near vertical.  I want a basic egg timer mill that will plug along like my '80 pickup with as little emisions as possible but retaining the stock cold start features.  I may even use the old school steel rockers and early carb cam just for spite! As much 1st gen goodness as possible...  Then regear to like 5.71s to compensate for the 90 HP engine  .  After I get it going I may try to add some self-sufficiency/expedition items like dual batteries, wood fired block heater (just teasin' but maybe), on board shower, welder, air etc.

As a special bonus after a week or two I will be working on this with no garage or even electricity in third world conditions on our land that requires minimum of 31s and 1 locker to access where we are building an off grid cabin out of salvaged timbers and wood we are milling from logs. 

Pics of the ungloriousness of the project will follow!

Just wait, in a year or two everyone will be ripping out their perfectly good EFI for old carb setups... Horse power and drivability are for sissies!

[SNOW WALKER]

LOL I don't blame you. I too live in Montana, but down in Belgrade. I did a 22rte swap and it was a pain in the ass. I started with an 86 22re and had to swap the whole harness headlight to taillight. Twice! The first harness had some broken and bad wires some where. LOL But after I got the bugs worked out she has been awesome. I just won the 44 and under class at the Bozeman mud bogs. Once you get That beast running again we need to get together and do some snow wheelin'. By the way my in law had an Lc 22r stroker in his first gen and it Rocked! Carb and all. There is something to be said for keeping it simple.

[zidaro]

Haha, subscribed!!!

sick house you got going right there btw.  JEALOUS!!!!!!!!

[UtahGuy]

After I get it going I may try to add some self-sufficiency/expedition items like dual batteries, wood fired block heater (just teasin' but maybe), on board shower, welder, air etc.

Don't forget the gasifier.  If you're going to run a carbed motor and live off-grid, you gots to have a gasifier.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Don't forget the gasifier.  If you're going to run a carbed motor and live off-grid, you gots to have a gasifier.

I heard of a guy out here somewhere who did this in an older 2WD nissan and kind of made it run but I guess the aparatus took up the entire back of the pickup...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

LOL I don't blame you. I too live in Montana, but down in Belgrade. I did a 22rte swap and it was a pain in the ass. I started with an 86 22re and had to swap the whole harness headlight to taillight. Twice! The first harness had some broken and bad wires some where. LOL But after I got the bugs worked out she has been awesome. I just won the 44 and under class at the Bozeman mud bogs. Once you get That beast running again we need to get together and do some snow wheelin'. By the way my in law had an Lc 22r stroker in his first gen and it Rocked! Carb and all. There is something to be said for keeping it simple.

I would love to do some snow wheelin' down there.  We have a couple secret local trails but most up by Great Falls get closed to everything but snowmobiles after Jan 1st.  We went to the other side of the little belts just west from Judith Gap once and that was pretty awesome snow wheeling.   It was even legal and had no sleds on it. That trip we were just scouting and took the '80 with lockers and 31's aired down to 5psi.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Haha, subscribed!!!

sick house you got going right there btw.  JEALOUS!!!!!!!!

Thanks, we are doing it with no loans or borrowed money.  The goal is a mortgage free, dry warm box by winter.  Right now we are living out of a camper and our kitchen is a kind of tarp tent with a 120 year old wood cook stove in it.

I got the opportunity to take a really great local job as the appraiser for the county that I love with great insurance and benefits and lots of remote field work. We took a serious hit in earning potential though. Our appraisal business was really struggling the last couple years because I had a kind of rural middle of nowhere specialty and my clients were mostly middle man outfits who really beat you down on your fee. More expenses + less fee = $0.

This year we had to decide to either make the house payment or eat, so we said the heck with it and deeded the house back to the bank so they wouldn't have to forclose.  We were going to build a tiny sleeping cabin on our small piece of bare land and in the process of looking for materials we stumbled on a set of log walls someone wanted torn down.  They were going to give it away for fire wood! We went and tore it down and catolugued the pieces...

[Nation]

 

[SNOW WALKER]

Ya they close most trails after Jan first here too, but we have Flathead pass in the Bridger mountains witch is a county road. LOL a gnarly one with lots of snow drifts. Check out my youtube channel Snowwalker2010 for a few vids of some fun we had last year.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

My spun out crank was beat beyond repair without welding the #2 rod journal, which the machinist doesn't like to do.  My buddy and parts guru Don over in Lolo MT is emergency shipping me a usable crank and a couple extra rods. If you guys ever have anything you just can't find hit the guy up:  Wolff Auto (four zero six) 273 -  7213. He has a business parting Toyota 4x4s and doing the occaisional 3.4 swap.

The cool thing is 22r, 22re and even 20r cranks are all the same!

We shut off the power at the old house (actually chose to buy materials to case out window holes this payday instead of paying the power bill this month) so this project is officially off grid...   

I will miss you fridge and air compressor!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I told Don I needed a crankshaft on Friday the 8th and recieved one in a box via fedex in my office Monday morning the 11th!  He even threw in a couple fresh rods. That's service! 

The skinny little fedex girl had a bit of trouble lugging the 45 lb crankshaft box up the stairs into the courthouse.

This one has no visable damage to the journals so I should be good to go...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Here's my damage on the 22r. This happened while layed over at a 50 degree angle in the mud, starving for oil with a billion miles on an '81 trailblazer with no title...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Steve the cat getting milk right from the cow...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Yanked out a perfectly good 3RZ 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Hauling rough cut lumber for the window and door casings of the house from the middle of nowhere...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Out with the new, in with the old... Cutting edge early 80s technology baby!

22r mock up for new old motor mounts. Note to self, quit making everything out of 1/4" or better so it's easier to cut stuff off later on!   

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

And one of the boys swimming with a horse and a close up pic of Betsy the cow...

[chim]

Looking forward to seeing the build!.. and in all honesty.. the build of the compound over the toyota.. sorry haha!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Looking forward to seeing the build!.. and in all honesty.. the build of the compound over the toyota.. sorry haha!

I won't be able to afford a compound. We just carry guns everywhere.  Well not really but sometimes...  The property is bordered by an old rail road grade on the back side, a big creek on the other and it has a smaller tributary creek accross the front between our site and where our land touches the highway.  The access is an unimproved two track that floods about 30" deep 2 months out of the year and is a huge mud hole for another 3 months.  It's really fun when it floods and freezes, then you actually need a huge Toyota to get home. It really is a great filter for well wishers, unwanted guests and salesmen.

I do plan to sit on my covered front porch in overalls with a shotgun next summer though.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

New old crank will be turned down to .020, it had allready been turned once.  Funny this will be the third use of this particular crankshaft.

[Cheesemaker]

What was the cost of the crank?  That crank looked almost new in the picture.  I need to rebuild a 22re and I know that the oil seal in the front can raise hell with the crank over time. 

Cause the motor I put in my 87 has leaked oil from day one.  And the engine builder told me that is how Toy motors are and to live with it.  Been told that the oil seal for a 85 Toyota Celica (iirc) is different than all others and will fix the leak.  Cause I don't want to use speedy sleeves. 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

What was the cost of the crank?  That crank looked almost new in the picture.  I need to rebuild a 22re and I know that the oil seal in the front can raise hell with the crank over time. 

Cause the motor I put in my 87 has leaked oil from day one.  And the engine builder told me that is how Toy motors are and to live with it.  Been told that the oil seal for a 85 Toyota Celica (iirc) is different than all others and will fix the leak.  Cause I don't want to use speedy sleeves. 

Don sells what he describes as "good cores" for $75 plus freight. He has a few more. He preffers to sell a good rotating assembly/bottom end but  of course ends up with the occaisional spun bearing that didn't go too far, which was the case on this one.  If you are looking for a rear crank seal surface in really good shape I would tell him just what you are after, then he can pick the best one etc.  This one does look pretty good.

I have used speedy sleeves with success on the front seal surface on the pully.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Just scored a free 1992 Ford Festiva! Guy was putting up a sign "free car" at the curb. It runs good and has three colors of body panels on it... sweet! Anyway, can't turn down a 37 mpg car to keep the miles off my Toyotas on the commute. I'm thinking a budget rally car build would be cool after I get the 4Runner sorted out.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Talk about service, this crank is an LCE stroker. The mains are done and the rod journals can be polished and will be good to go. Probably won't be using it and it is posted for sale, kind of, pending a conversation with Don, who might want it back...  I had better let him know what he sent me!

[Cheesemaker]

Your too good!!  I would have shelved that crank and bought another.   


As for the Festiva, SCORE!!!  I never get cool finds like that.  Had an ex gf that had one.  We called it the Ford Party.  Cause we could get three kegs in it.  The rear suspension was pretty much collapsed tho!  Fun times!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

He is sending me another stock crank ASAP and I am going to try to sell the LCE crank to pay for the machine work that's into it and give Don a cut if I do OK on it. Maybe I can buy my clutch if there's enough left over.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Sold LCE crank to Rob down in Bozeman for his sweet 1st gen project.  Sent Don back $100 . 

It rained like 8" in two days last weekend so we got nothing done on the house or anything and had a total mess in camp.  We were going to haul house logs out of the woods but the guy who lets us get logs won't let anyone in when it's muddy. It's in the 70s and 80s again now so everything is getting a little less sloppy. I don't mind the mud when I get to play in it but when all you do in it is animal chores and you have to cook outside it totally sucks to get blindsided by an unexpected monsoon weekend...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

So I picked up another complete botton end for free and Don sent me another 22r crank. Fedex girl was kind of put out to have to drag another one into the office. I will start making progress again.

Side walls are done on the house!

[chim]

Post some pics of the house

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Post some pics of the house

I will soon it's getting cool.