I spent 2 years and $7000 doing my 1KZ-te turbo diesel swap. I like it mare than the 350 swap I did in my 85'. but that is more of a personal preference thing. A V8 swap will net you more HP with fewer $$$, but it is certainly no sleeper.
i like the idea of a diesel... im a diesel fanatic actually... the smell of unburnt diesel fuel in the morning is better than coffee... i have two 7.3L... had an 03 5.9 cummins but wrecked it... bad winter storm.... idiot in a car slid and hit me... making me slide off the road and down a 6 ft embankment rolling 3 times...
ive done quite a bit of research on them and i was contemplating a straight 6 but i feel that the 81 just wont have the height unless i do a body lift and i feel it'd be to long... my ideal swap would be the cummins 4 bt due to the 6bt parts interchange... i know id have to do a 3 inch body lift if i did that... but i want readily available parts finding some yoda parts are like finding a hair in a hay stack 302s are like finding hay in a hay stack... i really just dont want to richard with the wiring im pretty good at it but i dont want to spend the time on it...
i measured the bore on the block its a 20r and it needs a new crank a connecting rod and a piston... dont get me wrong id love to keep it all toyota and keep it super reliable... but in the midwest there just arent many "import sports cars" in salvage yards... biggest city close to me is springfield mo and its still tiny... you see more full sized trucks and old muscle cars then sports cars... out here... ill do some digging and see what i can find toyota donor motor wise in the area but i havent found much mainly trans and tcase combos that people pulled from wrecked or rolled runners or pick ups... most of the motors ive found are blown up... alot of farmers use yota truck to feed in the winter/spring months due to snow melting rapidly and rain making mud everywhere and toyotas floating threw the fields and not rutting them up...
i havent got the motor yet but i do have the r150f trans and chain driven case and still have the stock 4speed and gear driven tcase im picking up a second gear driven tcase this weekend as my donor for the crawl box... and im ordering the v6 adaptor and the 23spline input and output this week for both tcases... the motor is my downfall... i need to make a decision and so far just for availability its the 302
