mtnbiker4evr13
Trail Whale
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2018
- Location
- Asheville NC
Project #...uh.. many... 
Last year I started looking in the usual places for a replacement body for my aging 2nd Gen 4runner crawler I built in 2010-11 (it takes good pictures but rust in frame/body needs attention) that has been treated more like a buggy and with 2 kiddos thought a straight fresh start would be helpful to get them on the trail some. I came across another 94 rolling chassis in SC 3.0 2wd auto but no engine/trans which was a perfect fit. Being from SC and 2wd it is really straight and has no rust (I'm from the land of salt so that's incredible). So it has been deemed too nice to slap all my crawly bits under for now and getting it moving would be cool.
Yes my standards of "nice" are pretty low but I'm a cheap date.
So to get it moving lets find something easy.. or cool to power it. Looked at 3VZs or upgrade to 5VZ since they are easy and bolt in, Mercedes OM617 for MPG/Torque but decent fab and work to power ratio is kinda meh, TDI is about the same as the OM but cool, LS 4.8/5.3 for obvious reasons and down the rabbit hole of newer Toyota's 3RZ, 2GR, 1MZ etc. which are cool but not what found me. I have eclectic taste in vehicles and have project ADD which I'm coping with. So perusing some classifieds I stumble on a 95 Volvo 5cyl Turbo White Block motor/trans takeout a guy is trying to move pretty cheap, after initially giggling to myself about how cool that would be in my Willys but totally impractical.. I dismissed it. Then looked again, thought some more and figured WTH may as well pick up a cheap turbo motor for funsies. Continued with the Willys thing, drew up a rough adapter for Volvo to T18 but found the Volvo 960 bellhousing you need to swap the white block to RWD is an Asin Warner 30-40 pattern which goes by other names, A340, AW4, etc. Need different oil pan since it came out of a FWD 850 and is a full deep pan front to back leaving no axle/steering clearance.
Hmm.. A340, thats what came out of the 4runner, "Oh heYYY that would bolt up" and welcome to my brain. It also works out that the Volvo 850/S70 flywheel you need to do a manual transmission RWD is like $450 and I'm cheap so automagic might be a cool alternative.
The plan:
Got 95 Volvo B5234T 5cyl turbo motor (225ish HP estimated)
Got Volvo 960 Bellhousing
Pending: Shortened Volvo 960 rear sump Oil pan (comes from a 6cyl car and needs to be cut down) Oil filter still mounts front pass in RWD configuration, may need to angle or remote mount filter.
Need: Toyota A340F from 3.0 T100 (has correct speed sensor for A340E electronics in 4runner and is pass drop chain drive Tcase)
Low lift SAS or toss takeout IFS diff/axles since 4runners use the 4wd front end stuff, no mounting tabs but there's clearance. Have had extra 85 housing/knuckles/high pinion diff and 3rd gen elocker rear axle sitting around forever. Could go stock SFA springs or I think I have some stock XJ coils that could be radius arm or 3linked somewhat easily. Leafs are cheap and easy just like I like it though.
Aiming at fun driver/commuter that can run some trails, Potts Mtn, DBBB etc.. already have a crawler so it can go more of a truggy route. Transmission control will be the tricky part, the 3VZ ECU controls the transmission based on inputs from temp, rpm, throttle, speed and turns power into disappointment er.. shifts and forward motion. I'll have to cut down the Volvo harness to stand alone and figure out how to throw the signals at the 3VZ ECU in something other than gang signs and disappointed looks. If the transmission thing is a bust there are 2JZ AW30-40 to R154 adapters readily available so I conceivably could use that to get to a R150 like my green runner.
"That's a lot of cylinders in a row" one might say in reference to engine bay space, which yes that is true. Also the distributor mounts parallel to the cams on the rear of the head like a sparky pony tail making firewall clearance even worse. That was kinda where the Willys idea fuzzed out, don't want to cut the tub. But people stuff 7M's into 2nd gens and that's a whole 'nother cylinder... if you squint, it looks fine. The 960's I think used Coil on Plug and it can be adapted to the 5cyl engines... IDK I don't speak Volvo. Logic/Reason < Swedish Meat Runner
Thought I would get a build thread started to jot ideas, follies and generally talk to myself but don't expect tons of movement quickly.
Last year I started looking in the usual places for a replacement body for my aging 2nd Gen 4runner crawler I built in 2010-11 (it takes good pictures but rust in frame/body needs attention) that has been treated more like a buggy and with 2 kiddos thought a straight fresh start would be helpful to get them on the trail some. I came across another 94 rolling chassis in SC 3.0 2wd auto but no engine/trans which was a perfect fit. Being from SC and 2wd it is really straight and has no rust (I'm from the land of salt so that's incredible). So it has been deemed too nice to slap all my crawly bits under for now and getting it moving would be cool.
Yes my standards of "nice" are pretty low but I'm a cheap date.
So to get it moving lets find something easy.. or cool to power it. Looked at 3VZs or upgrade to 5VZ since they are easy and bolt in, Mercedes OM617 for MPG/Torque but decent fab and work to power ratio is kinda meh, TDI is about the same as the OM but cool, LS 4.8/5.3 for obvious reasons and down the rabbit hole of newer Toyota's 3RZ, 2GR, 1MZ etc. which are cool but not what found me. I have eclectic taste in vehicles and have project ADD which I'm coping with. So perusing some classifieds I stumble on a 95 Volvo 5cyl Turbo White Block motor/trans takeout a guy is trying to move pretty cheap, after initially giggling to myself about how cool that would be in my Willys but totally impractical.. I dismissed it. Then looked again, thought some more and figured WTH may as well pick up a cheap turbo motor for funsies. Continued with the Willys thing, drew up a rough adapter for Volvo to T18 but found the Volvo 960 bellhousing you need to swap the white block to RWD is an Asin Warner 30-40 pattern which goes by other names, A340, AW4, etc. Need different oil pan since it came out of a FWD 850 and is a full deep pan front to back leaving no axle/steering clearance.
Hmm.. A340, thats what came out of the 4runner, "Oh heYYY that would bolt up" and welcome to my brain. It also works out that the Volvo 850/S70 flywheel you need to do a manual transmission RWD is like $450 and I'm cheap so automagic might be a cool alternative.
The plan:
Pending: Shortened Volvo 960 rear sump Oil pan (comes from a 6cyl car and needs to be cut down) Oil filter still mounts front pass in RWD configuration, may need to angle or remote mount filter.
Need: Toyota A340F from 3.0 T100 (has correct speed sensor for A340E electronics in 4runner and is pass drop chain drive Tcase)
Low lift SAS or toss takeout IFS diff/axles since 4runners use the 4wd front end stuff, no mounting tabs but there's clearance. Have had extra 85 housing/knuckles/high pinion diff and 3rd gen elocker rear axle sitting around forever. Could go stock SFA springs or I think I have some stock XJ coils that could be radius arm or 3linked somewhat easily. Leafs are cheap and easy just like I like it though.
Aiming at fun driver/commuter that can run some trails, Potts Mtn, DBBB etc.. already have a crawler so it can go more of a truggy route. Transmission control will be the tricky part, the 3VZ ECU controls the transmission based on inputs from temp, rpm, throttle, speed and turns power into disappointment er.. shifts and forward motion. I'll have to cut down the Volvo harness to stand alone and figure out how to throw the signals at the 3VZ ECU in something other than gang signs and disappointed looks. If the transmission thing is a bust there are 2JZ AW30-40 to R154 adapters readily available so I conceivably could use that to get to a R150 like my green runner.
"That's a lot of cylinders in a row" one might say in reference to engine bay space, which yes that is true. Also the distributor mounts parallel to the cams on the rear of the head like a sparky pony tail making firewall clearance even worse. That was kinda where the Willys idea fuzzed out, don't want to cut the tub. But people stuff 7M's into 2nd gens and that's a whole 'nother cylinder... if you squint, it looks fine. The 960's I think used Coil on Plug and it can be adapted to the 5cyl engines... IDK I don't speak Volvo. Logic/Reason < Swedish Meat Runner
Thought I would get a build thread started to jot ideas, follies and generally talk to myself but don't expect tons of movement quickly.
Last edited: