4x4Wire's TrailTalk Forums: 3.0L to 5.7L

Time has finally come to swap from the 3.0L 3vze to a 5.7L 350 Chevy small block V8. I've been talking about it for years, but I am finally able to make it happen, thanks to 4x4wire.

I decided to keep my stock R150 5 speed transmission. Several reasons why. I like 5 speeds. Stock crawl ratio is twice as low compared to that of the TH350/NP203, and no driveline modifications will be nessisary. And I know my trans shifts good and is reliable.

The engine came from a 1976 Chevy K5 Blazer. It was a "crate" motor dropped in a few years back by a friend of the family. I beleive its stock internals, but I don't know for sure. Its got 4 bolt mains, edelbrock performer intake and carb, GM HEI ignition, and ebay block hugger headers. The motor ran great when I pulled it from the Blazer, so I diddnt rebuild it. I replaced every gasket besides the headgaskets, replaced the timing chain, and basic tune up parts like plugs, wires, cap, rotor, pcv, fuel filter, etc. I then gave it a paint job. Here are some pics.

As she sat in the Blazer.

On the engine stand, stripped and degreased

4 bolt mains

Valvetrain looks good

After paint

After getting the motor prepped, I started on removing the engine from the 4Runner. I am working on it in my single car garage, so space is very limited. I decided the best thing to do would be to cut the core support out so I could lift the engine out on the hoist in the garage. With the garage door open, there is not much room overhead. Plus the core support is damaged from a run in with a tree, so it needs to be straightened anyway. So I cut all the spot welds with a spot weld cutter, and removed the core support. I yanked the engine out separate from the trans.

The engine ran great before I pulled it, just had a injector leak. I was able to part it out and make some money, which helped to buy parts for the swap. I also made some money on parting out the old Blazer.

After the engine was out, I stripped out anything no longer needed for the 350. I then painted the engine bay flat black, since the rest of the truck will be painted flat black soon. Also while the engine was out, I decided to fix the shoddy SAS job performed a few years back. The spring hanger sat crooked, and the frame tubes for the shackles were not fully welded, leaving gaps in the frame. I Cleaned the frame up, patched holes, moved the hanger forward, leveled it, and welded it back on.

Then came installing the clutch and bellhousing parts from Advanced Adapters. The kit uses a stock Land Cruiser slave cylinder. It uses the same clutch line fitting as stock. The kit comes with a special rod to use in the cylinder and a special clutch fork. You also have to remove the stock crank bushing and install a custom unit provided it the kit. I drove the old bushing out using the punch tool that was included in spark plug repair kit I had used on the 3.0. It was a perfect fit. I filled the bushing cavity with grease and pounded it out. I used a 10.5" 153 tooth flywheel. Its made by Zoom, part number 50-656. The pressure plate is a high pressure unit from Centerforce. The clutch disk is a custom hybrid unit specially made by Centerforce. It uses a stock Aisin center section, with a 10.5" friction disk. The stock friction disk is much smaller. Everything bolted up nicely. There were a few machining defects, but they appear to be strictly cosmetic.

Kit components

Pilot bushing installed

Tool used to install bushing

Clutch components installed

Defects in bellhousing

Bellhousing installed

The bellhousing does not include a rubber boot for the shift fork. I reused the stock one, but it still leaves a gap. I'll worry about that later.

Engine and trans bolted up

Then, with a series of chains and ratchet straps, I installed the engine and trans together to get an idea of where she will sit with the transmission in the stock mount.

It quickly became obvious that the engine was way too far forward with the trans in the stock location. So its going to have to get moved back a few inches. AA does sell a motor mount kit that includes a trans mount relocater, but I'm going to come up with something on my own. I'm either going to copy their design, or cut and weld the stock crossmember. That is where I left off. I need to do some measurements and decide if I want to make an adapter or cut and weld the crossmember. I'm leaning towards cutting and welding. I'm thinking I could cut the center section of the crossmember, move it back a few inches, and weld it back in along with some extra material to bridge the gap, then reinforce it with some gussets. I don't have the money to buy a new crossmember. Maybe later on down the road. I shouldnt have to do anything to the drive shafts. My rear drive shaft is already pulled half way out of the slip with my lift, so moving the trans back a few inches will actually be good since it should put the slip back somewhere around where it was stock. The front drive shaft is a square tube, and had plenty of extension left, so I shouldnt have to touch that either.

I'll update this thread when I get more work done. Its coming along slowly since free time is hard to come by with a 7 month old baby and my wife working late hours.

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88 4R, 350 V8, R150 5 speed
97 4R, stock, daily driver 20mpg
98 Sienna, baby and dog hauler, wife's ride