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

[H8PVMNT]

OK got a new laptop so I will be posting pics and updates.  In the last few weeks a lot has happened.  Got a bunch of free money!  5.29s are breaking in OK.  Drove to work a few times.  22r is coming in nicely.  Finding and addressing cobwebs and working bugs out.  Now I need to get this thing to resize pics...   


Stay tuned for my top secret distributor re-curve trick.

[helipilot77]

Have you tested out your carb mods on any hills yet. I'm anxious to here how that works out for you.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Have you tested out your carb mods on any hills yet. I'm anxious to here how that works out for you.

No I still have to put a u-joint in my front drive shaft.  Baby steps you know.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

So I found out the V6 radiator really is vastly superior.  I know you all have done this but I have never tired one. I was finally down to only one spare 4 cyl rad and it was too crusty to do it's job. I was running just under red until I broke 75 mph and had enough air flowing. Having a serious lack of parts here I broke down and bought a new radiator and got the V6 rad for a few more bucks.  Runs a good 10-15% cooler on the temp gauge than a good 4 cyl one would.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

OK here's a little trick worthy of notice.  I was in a wrecking yard in Oregon a few years back and there was an '81 Celica with a 22r.  My '80 pickup had a working but nasty distributor so I pulled the distributor from the Celica to maybe use on it.  I had to change from the square Celica plug to the round truck plug, but I noticed quite a seat of the pants difference. Not huge, but certainly a bit quicker reving and liking the upper rpms more without losing anything on the bottom end.  Upon further inspection I found the weights and springs are different in the Celica distributor.

My vac advance on my 22r distributor was not working.  A vac advance was like $160, a reman distributor was only like $130, so I ordered the Celica part instead of the truck part.  Sure enough, different weights and springs.  Instant re-curve kit!   

So be sure and pull Celica distributors when you see them.  They make the 22r more "eager"...

[4xChinook4]

right on. Will jump on one if i ever come across it.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[kneedownnate]

Good notes on the distributor trick!  As for the radiator, an old 86 parts truck of mine came from the desert and had an oversized 3 row radiator.  I kept it and put it in my 80 several years ago, though it took massaging the lower corners and adjusting the hood a little higher.  I have no radiator shroud on it either, and this year while driving in 116 degree temps, I noticed my needle was still burried so low.  While moving last year during high heat also, the truck kept pulling heavy loads with the same results.  Cannot say enough good about runnig a bigger radiator!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Have you tested out your carb mods on any hills yet. I'm anxious to here how that works out for you.

OK finally drove up a really steep dirt climb where I've seen carbs have trouble.  Creeped up as slow as I could to try to load the carb up.  It was just like EFI, not even a bit of bog or hiccup.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

After a bit of break in the 22r has really woke up.  Very drivable.  Starts right up like fuel injection.  I don't even have to pump the gas pedal.  A real deal mileage test has shown 13 mpg worst tank hot doggin' it and 16.5 mpg best tank open highway. Not good enough for me so I took out my 119 main jet and put in a 112 jet, the smallest I have.  I reset the idle screws and adjusted the timing. 

The 119 jet had a little better off idle and around town acceleration but the 112 jet holds long hills better on the highway.  Initially the 112 jet bogged a bit when you tipped in the throttle but after dinking with the idle mixture and timing a bit it tuned in nice and smooth.

The around town loss with the 112 is nominal and the highway hill pulling is very noticeably better so I'm going to run the 112 for our road trip and see how we do on fuel consumption. This is going to be some good info for that up and coming aisan carb thread.

This weekend we are putting the steel roof on the cabin and then Monday we take off for the OR coast for a vacation. I might even be able to hit TSF if I'm lucky.   

I'll post pics and results when we get back.

[Cheesemaker]

I have next thurs-sun off, as of right now.  But that can change without notice. 


We are at level 3 fire danger right now.  And as of now, shovel, ax, fire extinguisher, and water are mandatory in the woods right now. 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Finally playing with photos on the new laptop.  I will stop being lame a post more again.  Work has been really busy.  Made some progress on the house as well.

V6 Radiator from NAPA...  WAY better!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

5.29 G2 gears set up easily.  .107 worth of shims if I remember correctly, on good used factory bearings. Fronts set up just the same.  Use he sweet stock solid spacer sleeves from 1st gen thirds.  Gear contact was more centered and more contact than other gears I've tried in 5.29.  Usually the pattern on 5.29s I've had in the past ends up more on the inside of the gear tooth.  Maybe the "double lapping" ZUK was talking about.  Used "Prussian Blue", not as photogenic as the nice yellow stuff but you could read the pattern well in person.

They run nice and quiet, survived break in and I have about 3,200 miles on them now.  I'd say these are in fact "good" ring and pinions.  I recommend them for sure.  5.29s were a good choice for the 22r and 35s, no big surprise there.  Good for pulling hills and even a bit of towing.

Using the Lucas 85/140, changed at 300 miles with very little break in material on the plug.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Vacation pics.  No wheeling was had but a lot of time on the beach.  Boys checked out Ft. Vancouver...

[Cheesemaker]

Dude, you were in my neighborhood!!   

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Dude, you were in my neighborhood!!   

I know but I never even got down to Tillimook.  We needed another week at least.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

OK here is a cheesy beach drivin' shot...

 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Back at the homestead...

We started harvesting honey.  It's kind of stronger tasting because of the pollen we have.  Tastes a little like mint and nettle, also chokecherry.

We will have a few hundred dollars worth of honey for the winter.  The bees got angry.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

So last winter we jammed fiberglass insulation in the cracks between out logs.  It helped a lot but we still had many drafty spots.  You really notice a 1/4" air gap when it's -30 degrees F.  This summer we were able to afford a really cool chinking product.  Comes in 5 gallon buckets and you jam it in a big gun.

My excellent wife is getting it done while I'm at work this week.  It looks really cool.

[zippo]

What do you do under the floor? more fiberglass?

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

In an effort to get the maximum bang for our buck or rather the most insulation out of the space, we are adding a space technology type shiny reflective barrier to the ceiling insulation.  It is supposed to reflect something like 98% of the heat and add a ton of real time R value even though it's just a thin layer. You can instantly feel the effect when you get it stapled up in a room.  We'll see how much better it is this winter for a real test though.

Weird.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

What do you do under the floor? more fiberglass?

Nothing yet, I am ordering up a bunch of that rodent-proof foam board to screw up under the joists.  If that isn't enough we will put fiber glass bats in there too or blown in.  The floor was pretty cold last winter.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Getting 17 mpg with the 22r. Good solid pull, starts up and climbs hills like EFI.  75 mph on the highway is no problem with the 22r/35s/5.29 setup.  SO MUCH BETTER than a tired 22re.  More bottom end lug down than a 22re for sure. I am happy with it in regards to drivability and it's so simple it's pathetic.

We were supposed to go wheeling last weekend but I had a noisy alternator, so I replaced it, then it wasn't charging.  Ended being the IC Regulator.  I got a new one in Saturday afternoon and it charges fine now.

I have heard other guys having this same problem when changing an alt.  Maybe did I fry the old IC Regulator some how in the process?

Since we weren't wheeling I decided to fix a slow pinion seal leak. I had roughed up the seal when I was setting pinion bearing preload.  I didn't have an impact available so I couldn't get the 200 ft/lb torqued on the bench pinion nut off.  Who put this thing on there, King Kong?! 

Anyway I dropped out the third so I could get it on the bench in the "fixture" to get the old nut off and put a new seal in.  The cool thing was I got to look at my gears again after putting over 3,000 miles on them.  They show a nice centered, good pattern with no wear other than being shiny where the tooth contact is.  Peace of mind and the G2 gears are worth while for sure.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I had to take the 4Runner on a work expedition because the work truck doesn't have any ground clearance.  I had to inspect some remote cabin site properties on the Missouri River for tax appeals.  You have to take the ferry to get there.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

So I found one of the disadvantages of carb...  It was over 100 degrees, crawling in a coolie.  Slow and hot.  I had what I think was a vapor lock on that trip.  I have to do a quick confirmation on my fuel pump to make sure.  In messing with things I swapped to a spare on the trail.  Finally found the float bowl empty and blew out the hard lines that run under the manifold and a little cranking got us fuel again.  Took a bit of doing though.

Anyway I have a solution to the cause of the problem if it was a vapor lock so I will be posting that up soon for some carb tech.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

More news on the vapor lock...

I used the fuel lines from the 1984 stuff, which seems more dialed to cold starts and fast warm ups.  It has the cold mixture heater which I like, but it also has steel fuel lines that run right under the manifold. This cleans up the engine bay and was probably intended to get the fuel lines de-iced faster if there is any engineering reason at all. I think it would be fine to keep the return line under there because it would gradually warm the fuel going back to the tank in the super cold temps, which would be good.

When I blew this portion of the supply line out we were able to get fuel again so I can only assume this is the location of my vapor lock in the supply line.

Here are a couple pics of the offending lines:

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Now here is my 1980 pickup, which has a rubber supply and return running from the fender well.  Not as tidy, but another example of one of the small differences that make 1st gens superior and more well thought out.  This thing has never vapor locked while idling around in the summer heat and it still starts in the -29 below dead of winter with a little coaxing.

I will try to emulate this setup on my 4Runner.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Back at the homestead...

We didn't have enough time this summer to haul in the field stone we wanted to enclose the crawl space.  It gets pretty drafty on the floor with only floor sheathing between our toes and the arctic chill.  We decided to run a temporary fix this winter and stuffed some loosely baled straw under the perimeter.  Soon we will be putting some rodent proof foam board insulation on the bottom of the joist for an air barrier.

Should help with the cold toes.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

So I have to add a bit more about God's provision this summer.  We have tried to make and resource as much as we could on this house, and we have been continually blessed.  This year we had a few real needs that we just weren't sure we could afford. Some things you just can't make out of old stuff or natural things.  Or at least the products available are vastly superior.

We really needed about $5,000 for a basic off grid solar setup, about $4,000 for a roof, $2,000 for chinking.  I really needed a fresh chainsaw.  Vapor barrier, insulation, lots of other odds and ends. We still had a bunch of back state income taxes to pay off and other misc junk debt we just couldn't budget.

God provided for all our needs with a bit of an inheritance from the sale of a home my grandpa had.  We weren't originally supposed to have a share of it but very late in the game my grandma decided a share should go to the grandkids as well as the sons.

So we aren't rolling in it but we were able to buy just about everything we needed this year on the house and we are just about out of debt as we can be.

Now we are going to try to apply the biblical principal of tithing 10%, saving 10% and using the rest for whatever our needs are.  I've had a tough time with this over the years as I've struggled check to checking it and paying bills.  So if anybody is on board pray for me to be faithful in this plan.

I am also going to start keeping track of little junk I spend money on in a little book to see where it goes and then make decisions based on how stupid I look to myself after a few months of self-accountability. It's shocking that I probably spend enough on espresso every year to buy a new set of IROKs . This one is a tip from "Poor Richard's Almanac".

[kneedownnate]

Keeping track of small expenses is a great idea!  I did this for several years, first while working through highschool and then several years after.  It was amazing to look back through that note book and see where the money went.  It got bad enough that I just stopped using it...

[helipilot77]

Littlesteve would tell you just to switch to tea 

Too bad you aren't closer, I have 4 bags of Eco batt R-21 I would give you. The hay bales will definitely give you some relief though.