22re swap

Maverick26 · Oct 10, 2014

I have been kicking around the idea in my head about doing a motor swap on my 81 Toyota. It has the stock 22r in it now with a weber and I have to say it runs quite well. Cold and hot starts are its down fall but for the most part it runs good... but... EFI runs better. I have looked at the 2RZ and 3RZ stuff and it seems that kind of swap is a lot more in depth and I would end up needing to upgrade my tranny also (can of worms). Seems like I can get a 22re for half the price and just bolt it in and go... kinda.

I have a few questions about doing this in a 1981 truck. How much of the wiring is plug and play? Will the tach work? Do I need a new fuel tank?

I am not really looking for more HP, just more reliable in the cold and hot and change in elevation.. you know.

zukkev · Oct 10, 2014

Relatively easy swap...Did it in Jesse's 79...went from built 20R to 22RE.
IF you are looking for reliable and carb, go with an OEM carb, NOT Weber... My 81 ran PERFECT in all conditions, even sideways---NO issues with cold/hot starts...
IIRC there is a place that does carbs in Florida (used to be a guy up here, but he's not doing carbs anymore)...I have bought a couple carbs from them (one for a honda, and one for a 22R), both were just about in perfect adjustment right outta the box...

zukkev · Oct 10, 2014

To answer, yes you will need a tank (and there are a few diffenent sizes so you need to be careful there for fitment into a 1st gen)...Most of the wiring colors are consistent between old/new, except the plugs are different, so you will need everything for a 22RE (3rd gen pickups are the easiest to do the swap with...), including the coil/ignitor, o2, the relays under the passenger side kick panel, and some of the cab wiring, UM, I am sure I am forgetting some stuff, but you get the jist...

toyodaaddict · Oct 10, 2014

I put a 91 22re in my 80 pickup. the 90's 22re is the easier one to swap, alot less wiring involved. my factory gauges all work as they should, including the tac. you will need to run efi high pressure fuel lines and use a efi tank. I started with welding a re fuel pump into my carbed tank. I quickly realised the efi tank has a pan in the bottom and with only 5 gal of gas in the carbed tank it would cut out due to the gas sloshing around so I put in an efi tank, problem solved. EFI is the only way to go:awesomework:.

here is a link to some info about efi tanks, I posted a bunch of tank dimensions. http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=96354.msg1074145#msg1074145

zukkev · Oct 10, 2014

89-95 pickup are the ones to use...:awesomework:

Mark m. · Oct 10, 2014

Just happen to have a 95 22RE with everything but the tank and fuel lines sitting in my garage.

Mark m. · Oct 10, 2014

If you do the swap you need a tank from a 89-95 EFI 2 wheel drive short bed. It will bolt right in your truck.

Maverick26 · Oct 10, 2014

Mark

Texting you now.

skinny_pedal · Oct 10, 2014

I agree with Kevin. My 79 had the factory carb and every vacuum line connected. I swear it would run upside down.

That being said I love fuel injection

Have you considered propane for even more simplicity?

Maverick26 · Oct 10, 2014

Propane would be ok if it was a wheeler only. I drive the truck a lot and don't want to dink with filling propane bottles all the time.... and I hate the smell.

WHITE TRASH1 · Oct 11, 2014

You can use your current engine by getting the lower intake from an 81-84 celica. They used the old intake pattern on the head while all upper intakes are all the same pattern so you can use whatever year upper you'd like. There is no need to swap fuel tanks either. Use a pump from an mkII supra they are external and run the proper pressure for a 22re.

If you're happy with the webers performance once its running why not tune it so it'll work right? They are stone simple to tune once you understand their simplicity.