*EDIT*
This is going to become a 3VZE to 7MGTE Swap thread. Throwing in some key words and this at the top of the first page to help searchers find info because as there is a lot of info on 22re - 7mgte swaps, the 3vze- 7mgte is significantly more complicated. Big ticket items that need addressing:

Cut and weld oil pan to fit over differential
Make new pickup to fit new oil pan
Make custom engine mounts (complete!)
Fab transmission mount (Complete!)
have drive shafts cut/expanded
pull input shaft of R154 transmission and put into the R150 transmission. Optional: keep 5th gear of either R150 or R154. (Complete! Used R154 5th)
Custom fab new downpipe and exhaust
purchase intercooler (Complete!) and fab intercooler piping.
splice harness to work in truck.
Fix clearance issue with brake booster (HAMMER TIME) (complete!)
throttle cable (Complete) and clutch line routing.
Gas lines

That about sums up the major stuff...Happy Happy Happy


Been searching for a while for a reasonably priced late 80's early 90's Toyota pickup. I want this to be my forever truck. It will do my monthly dump runs, Home depot runs and anything else i need it to do. It might go off road but it will not be my 'toy'. I want it to look stock and be reliable. My build will not be over the top, simply reliable and get the job done. This build will be bit by bit and I don't know if it will ever truly be done.

I got this for $1,800.

Engine leaks oil (among other things) and has a little knock. It is the V6 3.0L engine.
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It has the 5 speed transmission. I dont know what type it is. I hear it might be a W series transmission but it also might be an R series...Still researching. It has 230k miles and has the dents and dings to prove it. IT is clean overall though, which is nice. Interior is clean, dash has cracks. needs a radio. Clean up some of the switches and stuff but should be ok.

my plan is to do an engine swap. A buddy of mine has done this swap before and has inspired me to do the same. The engine will be a 7mgte. But that will be down the road (i think, if one happens to appear it will be sooner than that!)

What i need in the meantime is to fix the V6. It will also need new CV joints and possibly wheel bearings.

 

What does this v6 (3VZE) need? 7mgte would be sweet! The 3.4 out of a tacoma is also a popular replacement for the 3vze. You have a R150F transmission.

Get some manual hubs to help extend CV life. They swap on very easy from your ADD front "hubs".

And welcome to the forum!

 

I am set on the 7mgte motor. I used to own a 7mge supra and i loved that engine. I always wanted the 7mgte so it is more of a personal choice than a 'whats the best' choice.

What does the 3vze engine need? well it has the check engine light on, power to the starter is really low so it turns over very slowly on start up, the spark plug wires shock you though the rubber (OUCH!) and it runs rough. It feels weak but i did not run it past 3.5k rpm as i drove it home to minimize potential damage from the knocking sound. So it might have ok power if I reved it up.

The knocking sound is a mystery so far. You cannot hear it at idle when listening to the engine from outside. You can hear it when in the cab and as the rpm's increase the knock increases. It could be an exhaust leak but i dont think it is.

My plan of attack is to get the starter figured out. I think the connections to the starter are corroded or the wire is simply shot. something is causing big resistance to the starter.

Next is a toss up with new plugs/wires and finding where the knock is coming from. I also will try to figure out why the check engine light is on...might be the knock...I just dont know yet. I'm hoping the knock is in the bottom end so i can just try throwing on a new rod bearing and hoping for the best.

As far as the manual hubs. Thanks for the tip! Def might be something i look into. Funds are always going to be a limiting factor so right now funds are only going to things that are broke.

Thanks for telling me the trans! I actually just found that using the Wiki function on this site. Very informative. I hope it will bolt up to the 7mgte without needing the 7mge bell housing...

 

Sounds like a cool build, looks like you got a nice truck to start out with! Look forward to seeing the engine swap take place! I know of a couple guys on here running supra engines with good results. I personally don't have lot of experience with these engines, what's the difference between the 7mge and the 7mgte? Does the 7mgte have a turbo?

 

Great looking truck. Makes me miss my old 89 extended cab. Looking forward to your build. They never get truly done, what makes it so great with these trucks. Welcome to Yotatech.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome.
The 7mge is non turbo while the 7mgte is turbo. They share a common block and some parts but the gte has lower compression and is built a bit tougher to handle the turbo. I been checking around for an engine. I want to get a full car as i would part out the rest of the car to cover the cost of the engine...

I just bought my first parts today. Plugs, wires, cap/rotor and oil filter. Hope to spend some time on it this weekend.

I need to get some junk yard parts too. I need driver side brake light face plate and rear window latch. I also need to get a tail gate handle and what ever covers go over the back side of it.

New cv joints are $54 each at napa as rebuild units.

What else am i missing....

 

This is going to be helpful!
http://www.troublecodes.net/toyota/t...up-or-4runner/

I started her up yesterday. turned the key and nothing for about 1-2 seconds, then it slowly turned over. It did start though. Ran rough but no check engine light till i revved it up. So not sure what's going on there...Tried to listen for a knock and cant hear it. Maybe some loud valve chatter but nothing i would think causes a knock...This weekend is going to be fun!

I have been tracking down some 7mgte's but nothing in my price range yet.

 

Found a recently rebuilt '92 7mgte. Needs a couple things but the price is right at $350. It will probably sit in my garage for a while till i collect all the other necessary parts and Funds. But getting the engine is half the battle (i think). This is pending as i am scheduled to get it tomorrow. Things can always change.

Didn't get much done over the weekend as i had hoped. Just took the skid plate off, drained the oil, and examined my plan of attack on dropping the front diff. I cannot find a good write up anywhere on removing the diff so it's going to be learn as i go...
Oil was burnt and had gold in it! well it sparkled like gold...

Couple pics of underneath. Note the oil grim buildup...



I noticed that one of my lower ball joint's needs to be replaced too. I am thinking new ball joints all the way around, new CV joints, new shocks and an alignment is in order.

The wife is going to be heading up to visit the in-laws this weekend so i can put in a couple really long days in getting this thing on the road.

 

Nice find on the motor, hope the deal goes through!

 

Sad news...More research reveals that in order to do this swap, one must transfer the internals of a R154 transmission into the R150f. This process moves the transmission and engine mounts thus needing custom fabrication. It also requires new drive shafts. I got a buddy that can do this but it means i really need a donor supra. It also means $$$.

Just gonna focus on getting what i got running nicely and keep looking for that donor supra.

 

BIG UPDATE
Spent all weekend on the truck. Few pics as my hands were very very dirty most of the time.

Dropped the front Dif, Note, have a breaker bar and a buddy, it's quite easy. 3 bolts 19mm, 2 vacuum hoses (2 12mm bolts), 1 electrical connector. Well then you have the CV joints (6 bolts each 17mm) and the drive line (4 bolts 14mm). Its heavy so use a jack.

you also have to remove one bracket for the steering bar and the steering dampner.

The rod bearings looked a little scuffed and the last person to rebuild the engine was a moron. We found a wire brush bristle in the oil pan, along with plastic bits which looked like crushed glass. the Rod caps were also put on backwards on half the rods. We replaced all 6 bearings.

Also replaced both lower ball joints, CV joint shafts, and shocks. Wheel bearings were ok. Put the new plugs/wires/cap and rotor on.

And the verdict? Still runs like ˟˟˟˟, still knocking but at least it has good oil pressure. I figure it is a bad wrist pin so I am going to run it till it dies. Actively searching for a supra now.

Big list of what is needed to do the swap
New mounts, Transmission mount, cut new openings in floor for shifter relocation, new drive shafts, full exhaust, replace input shaft and 5th gear in R150f transmission with R154 transmission input shaft and 5th gear. 5th gear is optional but the truck's 5th gear is pretty tall. fix clearance issue with brake booster. oh, and also replace rear diff of truck with supra LSD

Here is vid of the engine knock.

 

I have neglected posting here...I have an August 2015 deadline to be up and running with my truck.
I bought this...

Which was a package deal with two other Supras. One shell and one complete red 89 turbo auto. Already sold the Auto for what i bought all three for! This wrecked one is a runner, but it is in rough shape. Here is what it looks like now...


Engine is on engine stand and awaiting a good cleaning. Turbo feels nice and tight, no free play. Engine has corrosion but is complete. Not frozen.

Need to finish taking supra apart and getting it moved out of the garage to make room for the truck to pull its motor.

(i tried to make the pictures work but no luck. Should work if you click on them and it opens in onedrive...

 

UPDATE 12/23. Merry Christmas everyone.

I have a buyer for the 3vze engine for $200 which i will be making that transaction on Saturday. I have disconnected pretty much everything to pull the engine, just a few odd's and ends. I also removed the grill to start trying to mock up the intercooler location. I will have to modify the hood latch support...Not sure if i can just remove it and do no other support or what.

I also bought 4 truck jack stands ($25 at auction!) so i have the whole truck off the ground which makes it easier to work on.

Sold two of the three supra's i bought. Also having success selling parts off the supra in the garage which is very nice as it is keeping the wife pleased and should fund a fair amount of stuff i will need when i get to putting things together.

I have the R154 transmission apart and ready to be Frankensteined into the r150f transmission when that point in time comes.


I think that is about it. I still feel very confident in my August 2015 time frame.

(Edit, since i use one drive I am experimenting on how to do pictures, bear with me)

 

3vze and trans has been removed. 3vze sold. Progress.

Now with pics. or pic singular...

Anyway. Pulling the motor with trans still attached was...interesting. YES it can be done, although it is quite difficult. The transfer case will not fit past the front diff if it is bolted in place so what i did was unbolt the two mounts and loosened the front mount. This allowed the diff to swing ass end down and give the clearance needed. then the transfer case hit the passenger side diff mount. I had to climb on top of the truck and push down with my feet while my buddy torqued the motor to passenger side. We eventually got it to slip past. Crazy difficult. Then, The hoist maxed out on height and i had to physically lift the rear end of the transmission up to get it out of the engine bay.

Had every intention of pressure washing the transmission yesterday but...i had the house to myself so i relaxed, watched some football.

Next step is to get the transmission built, oil pan cut and re-welded, and engine mounts. Getting that engine out was a huge step as it was holding up everything.

 

Another Month and another Update.
First, I had a wonderful trip to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in January...Here is a glimpse of what it is like to golf on the Oregon Coast in January...


Back to the truck...Here is where i was at beginning of January

No engine and ready for work...

First two weeks ago i finally got my transmission put together. All R154 (supra) gears were put into the R150f case except the R150f output shaft so it mates with the transfer case. This is an involved Job that i would never be able to do myself, thus my friend did it with my help...er...supervision...This requires a hydraulic press and a home made jig that fits the different gears to press them off.

This was the only picture i took as i had dirty hands. the transmission on the table is the R150 (press not pictured). The one in the background is the R154. So my truck now has Supra gearing. This whole job took 4.5 hours with someone who had done it a few times before...

Next, I started working on the truck to prepare it for mating the engine/trans. First thing i did was cut the top bar that runs above the radiator off. I got a spot weld cutter for $1.50 from Harbor Freight. Worked like a charm! then used a cutting disk on my grinder to cut the middle out leaving enough metal behind to bolt it back in place.

This will make putting the engine in very simple compared to lifting it over that dumb bar. It will also allow me to fabricate my mounts for my intercooler...Yes, I did a test fit...more later

To prepare the truck, I had to cut the stock mounts off and grind it flush to the metal. I used a 6" sawzall to do the heavy work. Really glad i did as doing that with a cutting wheel would have been so hard. After using the sawzall i used the grinder to grind the metal and welds all the way flush.




Then while i had all my tools out i decided to cut the baffling out of the oil pan to prep for oil pan modification. The best way was to use the spot weld cutter on the accessible spot welds and then use the cutting wheel to carefully cut the corners/tabs off where the other spot welds were and then grind flush with a grinding wheel. I only took a finished pic, no before.


And finally, I decided to put the intercooler where it will go. I knew it was going to be a tight fit and wasnt entirely sure it would even fit. I had to cut the three middle grill supports off to make the grill fit but to my amusement, it fit like a glove! All i need to do it make a top mount/bracket make some small modifications to the lower support and it will fit great! I also took out my intercooler piping to see if it was going to work, and it should fit really really well. Huge confidence booster!




What about hood latch? well...sadly i will have to use Hood pins and delete the hood latch mech...but small price to pay for fitting this huge intercooler behind the grill!

Next step is get the engine mounts from my buddy who is cutting/welding them at his house. It will be a tube/bushing type mount. The trans mount is just gonna be two steel plates that will extend back from the stock transmission mount. I also bought $125 of goodies from Rockauto...new clutch alignment tool, clutch slave, valve cover gasket, spark plugs, and wires. Just the bare minimum to get this engine running when put in place. I will need to figure out the radiator hose situation as i will be using the stock radiator for the truck. I saw some flex hose that is a universal part that i might try...but that is a ways down the road. Next goal is to get engine and trans in the truck and go from there.

 

Oh, I also took the throttle cable off the donor supra and put it on the truck. No pics...It was quite easy, i was worried because trying to get under the dash of the truck to access the gas pedal connection is tight, but with a little patience it went smoothly.

 

Wouldnt you want the slightly lower ratios of the r150F, with it being a truck and all? Keeping the same axle gears?

 

YES! also, NO!

Since my friend has done this swap and has been driving his for a few years now i have his input on the matter, because like you, i had the same question.

The 7mgte is a hell of a lot more motor than the 3vze. For practical use, the R154 gearing matches better with the 7mgte engine's performance. Also, these 7mgte's are pretty restricted in the Supra's...with these swaps, the exhaust gets opened up (huge deal for turbo's) as well as intake and massively more effective intercoolers which often increases the HP by big numbers. I am told the truck gearing is too low to really harness the power in a usable way. The one bonus to the truck gearing is you get more low end torque via gearing but you have so much power it becomes hard to not spin the tires constantly. The 7mgte is not a good engine if you are wanting to do technical, slow, off roading. Even with the R154 gearing, on wet pavement it will boost spin the tires up to 4th gear, its insane.

I'm expecting 280-330 HP from this 7mgte just based on the 3" exhaust, and huge intercooler.

 

Things are moving quicker. I can sense the excitement building as i continue to put in a lot of hours over weekends.

This weekend was probably my most complete as far as time spent doing stuff.
First, Saturday, I finally got around to re-splitting the transmission case and sealing it. Now, if you have not worked with transmissions before, there is a learning curve...I consider myself a relatively smart person, but i felt like a really dumb person Saturday.

First, I got everything clean on the surfaces to apply RTV.
Before:

After


Got it put together, torqued the bolts down and put the shifter housing on when i noticed i forgot the little shift knob holder which is what the end of the sifter sets in to make contact with the gear selector. I had to unbolt the transmission again and put it back together.

THEN, after torquing the bolts, I tried shifting. No Dice. The transmission was in 1st gear when i put it together, It did not cross my mind to make sure the gear selector was in the 1st gear slot. So, I had to again, tear the transmission apart again and this time i got it right. It shifts perfectly, and feels really really nice with the Marlin Crawler shift bushing in place.

I then bolted the R154 bell housing and test fit the clutch to make sure everything was as it should be.


And bolted to transfer case


My leftover transmission parts


The rest of my Saturday and Sunday was spent pulling parts off of the donor car supra. Going to try and reuse as much of it as possible to save money.
This included pulling the limited slip differential that i will be putting in the truck.

I am ending up with a lot of scrap metal which i am piling in the back of the truck, so when my truck is finally running, first trip is to the scrap yard!

 

I took some pics of the truck as i previously stated i bought some truck sized jack stands. I now have the truck way off the ground which allows water to drain out of the back (before it was pooling in the bed) and easier access for my fat ass under there.



Hoping Sunday will be when the engine/transmission is mated to the truck. At least, have the mounts made and stuff. Then the only thing between me and my truck running will be easy methodical stuff. I dreamed last night that i started it and it ran beautifully.

At this rate, I dont see why I wont complete this project (Swap, running and driving) in the next month or two. (My goal is by August 2015). Next step would be determining if the engine is a keeper or not and if it is, invest in a new timing belt, water pump and other misc upgrades for reliability. Then on to comfort and looks stuff.