The PlanEx 1JZ swap
 

I haven't been here in years but I have had a lot of people ask for a build thread since the swap is fairly novel. I plan to put this thread together slowly and justify some of the choices I made while presenting the other options that I had considered.


This is a link to a video that shows the truck in what is basically its current form. If you want to check out more, my instagram is @plan_ex and a lot of the build was shared there.

YouTube

Awesome!!! How does it drive?

Appreciate that you posted once complete, not a thread talking about what swap to do and not completing it after pages of talk.

Engine Choice: Weighing Options

There are alot of popular engine swaps these days and I wanted to share why I chose this swap over some of the other options.

Swaps considered:
2JZ: Taller, more expensive
1JZ: Chosen
LS (LQ, etc): decided against it due to cost of everything downstream needing (my assessment) to be upgraded to support the low end torque.
K24: Will probably do this for a future build, wasn't as popular at the time and was worried about the costs of such a novel swap adding up
TDI: Not enough factory power for my desires, but the gas mileage would have been great
3RZ: Couldn't find one locally, Ebay options were nearly the price of 1JZ, not enough factory power

I wanted to swap something that had a ton of aftermarket support, that would allow me to use factory parts (not a ton of adapter plates and custom parts), and would be great at stock power levels. While some of these options are fantastic, the necessary custom parts needed to get them to work with a 5-speed transmission quickly broke the budget. I have always liked the sound of the 2/1JZ engines and their strength is legendary. I knew that I would be able to build it up over time to meet whatever power goals I could dream up.

At the time of purchase, a 1JZ was approximately $1000 cheaper than a 2JZ, and since this project was being done on a budget, I needed to save money where I could. The savings more than offset the cost of the clutch/flywheel, bellhousing, transmission and transfer case for this swap.

In the end I chose a 1JZGTE VVTI (JZS171) from Ebay from an importer that is no longer around. This engine has less information readily available than some of the previous generations, and if you are planning to keep the factory ECU I recommend going with a NON ETCSI engine, as this is often a source of difficulty during the swap (as it was for me)

From my research I knew that the engine would fit, I could raid the parts bin of Toyota's over the past 35 years and cobble together something that works. The entire drive-train is factory Toyota.

Full list of drive-train components used to follow.

It is an absolute riot. Tons of torque, better gas mileage than my 22re, and turbo noises.

This truck started off as a 22re 5-speed truck and I loved it.

limited slip front, Yukon grizzly rear locker, 4.88 gears, 35" STT Pro's and long travel. It was a fun truck but I always wanted more power. I had dealt with a blown head gasket once before on the truck, and when it happened again I decided to move on to something better.

Starting from a 22re made things a bit more convenient as there is a company called Xcessive Manufacturing that produces motor mount brackets for lots of common and some odd engine swaps. ONE OF THEM HAPPENS TO WORK!!!
MX73 JZ motor mount brackets

This saved me a ton of time trying to figure out mount brackets. They also are slotted to allow for about 3 inches of adjustment front to back.

I used GM transmission mounts as motor mounts.

Energy Suspension GM Transmission Mount

So cool!

I checked out the progress on your instagram page. Must feel good to be driving again!

@PlanetExpress Nice build Drake! Dig the color. I have too many projects or mine would be less neglected than she is lol. I like that your thought process took you outside the box with the 1JZ swap. I bet she's a beast!

Been working on my "Granny" a bit recently.
I am surprised my 22RE runs as well as it does with an auto trans.
Body and frame are in good shape except for the usual winshield rot.
Did I see a rubber seal on your windshield? Just curious if you did that or the PO?
If so, which seal did you go with and do you have any tips?

Looking forward to seeing more of your rig. Post up some more pics!

Thats sick. Id love to do that

Cool to see this car in here, i actually came over a youtube clip earlyer today about this car. looks sick[emoji108]

Sent fra min WAS-LX1 via Tapatalk

Props on an awesome build dude! I remember drooling over pictures of this the first time I saw it on the 1st Gen Facebook group. Definitely a dream setup!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the kind words! The rubber molding was installed by safelite when they had to replace my windshield. My truck did not have the chrome window trim when I bought it.

Next up is TRANS/TRANSFER CASE

Apart from the wiring, this is probably where i did the most research on compatibility and interchangeability to determine what the best option would be for me. I am going to make an effort to share some of those findings with you all in hopes that you wont have to go digging through as many threads as I did to find this information.

Toyota 1JZ and 2JZ engines share the same bellhousing bolt pattern

The R154 transmission is a common 5-speed transmission found in 1JZ and 2JZ JDM applications as well as in the MKIII Supra 7M-GTE (wrong bolt pattern)

The R150F was used in many Toyota 4Runner, pickup, tacoma, T100

The R-series engines share the same forward housing bolt pattern... SO... you can bolt an R154 bellhousing onto an R150F.

R150F tailhousings are interchangeable

However...
CRITICAL INFORMATION
The 1988-1995 (3VZ) variants of the R150F have an input shaft length that is roughly 0.75 inches shorter than an R154 and 1996-2004 R150f (5VZ) variant. An adapter bellhousing is available, but you will be limited to W58 clutch sets. The earlier style R150F is much more common, and as a result, cheaper. So it may be worth it to keep the project moving forward depending what's available in your area.

Another transmission/transfer case option is the R151F from a 22re Turbo model. This setup has a gear driven transfer case, but suffers from the same issues with input shaft length as the 3VZ R150F variant.

My setup:
1jz/2jz R154 Bellhousing
1996-2004 R150F (correct input shaft length)
1988-1995 R150F tailhousing and chain drive transfer case

This setup allows you to use the factory Toyota W56 crossmember. The shifters come through the floorboard in basically the same place as they did with a W56 and 22RE. This setup also allows you to use the R154 Clutch sets, which are cheaper and offer better selections than the W58 options. I went with a factory style pull type clutch set which required me to acquire the fork assembler for an R154 and other supporting hardware.

I do intend to go with a gear driven transfer case eventually, but the adapter would push the entire assembly forward. I would have to modify the crossmember to accommodate this.

Another positive of this setup is that i was able to reuse the driveshafts... saving money where I can.

Anymore updates on this?

Another issue to consider is the location of the exhaust versus the location of the clutch slave cylinder. The 3L (three point slow) and the 3.4L (5VZ) use variants of the R150 as well.

I am surprised you didnt consider the 5VZ. They are readily available, have a very good rep for reliability and are plenty powerful in stock form. But the stock exhaust on the right side presents real challenges for the early toy trucks which have a gas tank in the way on that side.

So cool!

Holy Hell, love this swap. Does the handling suffer enough to notice or is it better?