I have a 1985 Toyota with a very tired (note the compression--and that was the high one) 22R. I know it's a very popular, very well supported engine to simply go through and drop right back in, but I wanted to do something a little different. We already have a tdi conversion package for 88-95 Toyota trucks and 4Runners, so i gathered up some parts that weren't quite sell-able to the public and mod'd them for an early straight axle truck. I got this truck while surfing Craigslist for a font axle for a SA swap for my 88. Truck was nearly rust-free, so it became a new project instead of a donor.
Part one was the donor engine. The "complete" 2002 VW tdi donor I bought wasn't as complete as one would hope (or as the ad suggested). I hunted down wiring, connectors, ecm, and all the ancillaries via CL, Ebay and other salvage yards. It was at least out of an automatic, so it had the 11mm injection pump.
First step was to set the engine in there and see how it fit. On these early straight axle trucks, the driver side (frame) mount interferes with the tdi alternator, so it would be easier (I think) to move the frame mount than relocate the alternator.
This truck came with factory AC and i really would like to retain it. The tdi compressor however makes contact with the anti-wrap bar up front. This truck is a stock 200K mile old, and no lift. Not everyone may want to do this, but I'm opting to cut off the anti wrap bar to clear the compressor. This truck is destined for a RUF and axle truss, and either of those would delete the little bar anyway.
I started with our DCS# 2254 kit and started fitting things up. In the IFS trucks, it works great, and in theory, you could make the adapter work in the early trucks. In the IFS application, it requires moving the trans forward a couple inches to clearance things like the oil pan and diff and allows for the vac pump to remain at the back of the engine. I didn't want to move the trans and have to make driveline changes. So as a way to fit it in and just move the engine forward, i modified a non-sellable 2254 plate to act as a 1 inch spacer to just move everything forward that little bit so it fit without moding the truck. To extend the crank adapter an inch, i used a piece of 7075 bar stock and made a 1 inch spacer. this was I could use all OEM Toyota for the clutch/flywheel just like the DCS #2254. I know, we have a machine shop, so yes I cheated.
Next was to relocate the frame mount on the driver side. I basically just reproduced a frame mount to weld in behind the OEM location (started out at 3.250, ended up at about 2.250") so i could cut away the original one.
Kind of while all the fab work was underway, i collected enough pieces to put a wiring harness together. Printed off the wiring Schematic and laid it all out on a board and dove in. It's a stock Stage 1 Malone tune for now. I have since updated to the Flaszilla 3.
I put the fuse box and fan controller (from a 98) over on the passenger inner fender. The VW 109 relay was replaced with a bit more rugged all-weather generic relay for the key-on power to power up the fuse box and and wake up the ecm.
The ecm mount is straight from a VW dealer.
ECm and battery are all over on the driver side inner fender.
And that salvage yard engine. wasn't much left to salvage. When it showed up, it would actually spin, but it was definitely making contact inside.
this is what was inside.
Initially fitting the engine revealed that (at least on this engine) the coolant outlet didn't quite clear. Even with it 1 inch further forward with the spacer plate, it still wasn't enough room to clear and get a hose on and off.
So i cut the tube off and just re-beaded the end. in retrospect, i wish id left it a bit longer to facilitate hose R&R.
Next for fitment was the vac pump at the rear of the engine. I know with the extra inch the spacer added, that i could probably have gotten it off and on to get the tool in there for a timing belt replacement, instead I opted to model a very thin vac delete for back there and use an electric vac pump.
I modeled the first one in Solidworks and just 3D printed a beta version. It uses the OEM VW o-ring.
Once the 3D version was a good test, we made a physical part. It's now actually a DCS part #2397 vacuum delete.
With the frame side of the motor mount done, it was time to mock up the engine side. New motor mount under the original Toyota shell.
Driver side with the frame mount relocated.
once everything worked, paint the frame and set it all back in.
