Topic: Motor swap opinion W/ poll!

[rockcrawlinredneck]

O.K. Here is the deal with some of the future plans to help make a rational decision.

Right now I wheel a 1st Gen (See pic below) with a stock 22R and all the usual stuff sitting on 40" MTR's. I am happy with the rig over all but would like to have a little more power for snow wheelin and getting to the trail in general. It has current street legal Ca. registration and want to keep it that way. My future plans when I can afford to do it (could be a while, could be a some what of a short time if I find a deal, but don't see it happening for at least a year or better.) is to find a 3rd gen extra cab with a 3.0 and a 5 speed. I would swap all of my goodies over to it and swap in a 3.4 Taco motor.

Here is my dilemma, I can get a smokin deal on a 4.3 Vortec with the complete wiring harness, adapter and clutch to run a Toy tranny behind it AND the stock 4L60E (I believe) auto tranny. If I swap it in I would have to do all of the referee and smog stuff to make it legal until I build the new rig.

If I swap a 3.4 Taco Motor I have to find and purchase all of the stuff to do it, no telling on the price of that if I cant find a "package" deal so to speak. I would also have to do all of the referee and smog stuff to make it legal until I build the new rig.

If I do the Vortec I get a smokin deal on the motor and the rest of the stuff I listed to go with it, I get a good motor with good power to reach some of my goals.

The problem is I am pretty set on a 3.4 for the new rig when I get to that point, so the Vortec would have to be sold when I build the new rig. However, if I do the 3.4 in the current rig I loose the "deal" and have to pay the going rate for the 3.4 and the parts to do the swap. I would not have to buy another motor when I build the new rig. I don't know how long it would take me, money wise, to acquire all the 3.4 parts either so... Given the circumstance's and plans, what would your decision be.

Thanks for the help, sorry for the confusion, I am stuck though.

[87pickup]

3.4 in I that thing would be sweet. I would expect to spent 4K to do the swap depending on the deals you get but thats my guess.

[TacoRunner]

3.4, forget the 4.3, you will have no room under the hood with it. Stay with the Yota man.

[82 HiLux]

your truck is freakin' sweet.

i would use the 3.4 myself

[All_Set]

Where is the either option? 

Grab the smoking deal, turnaround sell it, buy 3.4. 

The 4.3 WILL do the job quite nicely though.

[bigarms23]

i would 4.3 its a cheaper swap than a 3.4

[BLACKDOG]

I say go 4.3.  You want the power now, and you can get a smoking deal now.  3.4s are still pretty pricey, and you've got to get the transmission and stuff for it, whereas with the 4.3, you've got it all in the deal

[4RunnerChevy]

I am biased, I say 4.3.

[BigMike]

The only thing that concerns me with this is what year is the 4.3?

[bigarms23]

forgot to mention parts for a 4.3 are more readally available

[87pickup]

I think if you are putting a 3.4 in your next rig then you will save money in the long runjust doing a 3.4 now instead of a 4.3 and then trying to sell it later. I am doing a 3.4 in my next project and wish i had done it from the get go because i wont recoup half the cost of my 3rz conversion when it come time to get rid of it.

[4RunnerChevy]

The only thing that concerns me with this is what year is the 4.3?

What year is the 4.3 ? '93+  I assume.

[Yoat Goat]

Keep it toyota!

[Plekto]

Right now I wheel a 1st Gen (See pic below) with a stock 22R and all the usual stuff sitting on 40" MTR's.
***

I read exactly that far before clicking the 3.4 Toyota button.   

Oh - find an accident recovery/dead Tacoma.  Basically all you care about is the harness/computer/engine - so look for one that has the rear end crushed or is a loss due to a rollover or whatnot.  Note - you can also find the 3.4 in several other Toyotas as well.

It also can fit a number of after market mods and superchargers and so on if you really want to destroy some rocks.

[Rocksurfer]

Keep her stock

The most I've had is a 20r to 22r conversion.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Keep her stock

The most I've had is a 20r to 22r conversion.

That's the most YOU have had and YOU were happy with it... The OP obviously is not happy with stock considering he is doing a swap to something else.


Personally I like the 3.4, it is a good engine overall but for my money I'd do the 4.3 in a heartbeat.  Great engine with the largest aftermarket support of any engine ever built other than the 350 chevy but hey, the 4.3 is just 3/4 of that..    The 4.3 is also a perfect match to a yota drivetrain IMO.  Not so much power than you are constantly broken (like my old 84 with a overbuilt 350) and it fits much better in the engine bay. 

[toyomr285]

3.4 in I that thing would be sweet. I would expect to spent 4K to do the swap depending on the deals you get but thats my guess.

I agree with this guy

[TacoRunner]

Great engine with the largest aftermarket support of any engine ever built other than the 350 chevy but hey, the 4.3 is just 3/4 of that..    The 4.3 is also a perfect match to a yota drivetrain IMO.

Your IMO or what ever, the largest aftermarket support for a chevy maybe, you forget about that little motor called 302 that has just as much aftermarket support as the 350. Why do all chevy guys think that their motors are the only one's with more than just a few companies to choose from for aftermarket support, stop the oldschool thinking. The 4.3, while popular can hardley call it a perfect match. Wouldn't a perfect match be something that bolts up and still delivers more than original power.
What kind of numbers are you talking about with the 4.3 anyways? I think most of us know what the 3.4 puts out, but what does the 4.3 deliver.

[TacoRunner]

By the way, the 3.4 is already a tight swap between the frame and 4.3 will be even tighter. Stick with the 3.4 that way you know that when you are in the middle of no where you can still drive your junk home. Stay with the yota man. (Reliability man, Reliability )

[WHITE_TRASH]

Actually the 4.3 fits in there rather well.  I have done 3 of these swaps before and they all fit very nicely plain and simple.  Pretty much any non carbed or tbi 4.3 will put out over 200 hp stock and a whale of a lot more if you start tossing parts at it.

Old school thinking? Really?  The OP said he had two options and one of them was a sweet deal on a 4.3 with all the adapters needed to make it work.  It will extra parts to make a 3.4 fit in there just like a 4.3 the parts are just different and that's that..

As for a 302 having a great aftermarket following you are of course correct.  Simply put the small block chevy is swapped into a whole lot more rigs in my area than small block fords are.  But that has jack shiat to do with this discussion..

[TacoRunner]

I was not talking about old school thinking being, "lets use a Chevy motor". I was refering to the fact that, it seems as though Chevy guys always think that Chevies are the only ones with aftermarket support. And that Chevies are always less expensive to build. And I know that people use Chevies in many many vehicles. No doubt there. If that motor fits nicley, good. Do you happen to know the torque rating on them. And maybe at what RPM.

[WHITE_TRASH]

Yes I do know the specs on them but that all varies by year and what injections system is on them.  Google is your friend.

[BigMike]

The only thing that concerns me with this is what year is the 4.3?

rockcrawlinredneck hasn't replied to my question, so I'll just explain my opinion.

If the 4.3 you are looking at is a 1996 or newer and it is a port fuel injection and not a throttle body injection, then I would go with the 4.3 ONLY if money is tight. If you could afford to go either way, I would choose the 3.4 because I am partial to Toyotas and keeping everything Toyota.

The nice thing about the 3.4 is that 95% of them (if not all of them?) are OBD-II which means it will have newer and better technology for understanding and learning your driving profile, and also you can get a very cheap OBD-II scanner (http://www.obddiagnostics.com) and it is amazingly easy to diagnose a problem.

The 4.3 won't be OBD-II if it is pre-1996 and that is a MAJOR turn off for me.
If the 4.3 is a throttle body injection, then I bet the 3.4 would run circles around it in performance and especially fuel efficiency.

By the way, the 3.4 is already a tight swap between the frame and 4.3 will be even tighter.

Remember this is going into a 1st gen truck, and 1st gen cabs have 1-3/4" less room between the firewall and the radiator. Swapping a V6 into a 1984+ yota is going to be a lot easier with the additional room for the engine fan with more wide radiator options. It will be a tight fit for the 1st gen no matter what.

What kind of numbers are you talking about with the 4.3 anyways? I think most of us know what the 3.4 puts out, but what does the 4.3 deliver.

The 3.4-liter is generally rated at 190hp/4800 & 220tq/3600.

The 4.3 ranges from 130hp/3600 & 210tq/2000 for the 1985 throttle body version...
to... 200hp/4600 & 260tq/2800 for the 2002+ multiport injection versions.


EDIT:
....and before you start bragging 'oooo the 4.3 has more torque than the 3.4' Well, it is nothing to brag about, it IS infact nearly 1 liter larger displacement. I find it embarrassing that many 4.3s have less power than the 21% smaller Toyota engine. That tells me the 4.3 is low tech in my opinion.

So perhaps I've shifted my opinion to the following:

Either pay big bucks for a newer 2003+ multiport injected 4.3 or pay big bucks for a 3.4. If not I would wait until I could afford either.

[GJToyotabug]

i like that idea OR go 3RZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rockcrawlinredneck [OP]]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to the thread with the engine year. It turns out it may not be such a good deal. The guy says he "thinks" it's a 98 or 99 engine with about 100,000 miles on it. When I asked about the "complete" wiring harness he said that it had been put in to some buggy or somthing similar and the harness had been "slightly" modified but does not look like it was "hacked" up. So it may be more hassle than it's worth to figure out the harness issue's, if there are any?

[bigarms23]

sure you dont want to throw in a ramjet 502?

[rockcrawlinredneck [OP]]

sure you dont want to throw in a ramjet 502?

That is what I was gonna put into a Scout project I was gonna tackle. My wallet thanks me for not diving into that one.

[boggerunner]

where is the 3rz option, they are a great fit into a first gen. 
i just finished up a 3rz swap into my 90 4runner, man that thing is peppy!

[NorCalToy]

how long before your planning on buying the new rig?

[rockcrawlinredneck [OP]]

how long before your planning on buying the new rig?

That's the problem, I am not exactly sure. However, I am planning a Moab trip next year for EJS. My attitude is if I am trailering all that way to wheel, I am not holding back because I don't want to scratch/dent/flop my rig. It may come back looking like a tuna can smashed around a roll cage! With that being said I may have to find a way to afford the new rig sooner rather than later if you know what I mean.