22re rebuild help .. what is best ..?

[canopypilot]

Long story short i am trying to figure out what is the best path to take for a new motor in my 85 4runner. The motor runs but it gutless with 33s and a lift. everything is stock.

I looked at LC and it looks like something like 4k for a motor , then a few more bucks for clutch flywheel injectors and a header.. so total about $5500. I would end up with 150hp.

DOA claims 150hp motor.. for a bit less I would still need to add the clutch flywheel and headers so maybe i would save 1000 bucks. I dont really know what the quality difference would be.

I could just have a local place build a block buy a head from LC ..and the other parts but i would not have the higher end bearing rods ect that LC puts in.

Lastly i would just do the head on my old motor do a head and injectors and drive it until it dies. i have no idea how many miles are on it. what i would waste would be the cluth if in a few months the motor dies. of course i have not even done a pressure check to maybe the motor it toast anyway.

Anyone have a good plan to get the most bang for your dollar when doing a new motor on a 4runner. i would like to save some money at some point I will end up doing the dual transfer case or getting a new tranny.

I do not do hard core rock climbing mostly a daily driver and some off road camping stuff like that so I dont need a race car just a good solid motor with some more HP.

any suggestions?

 

[99blackSE]

LCE has top notch stuff and you get what you pay for. That said, unless you're really going to reef on the old girl often, I think you could get away with a rebuilt from Oregon Engine Rebuilders or 22reperformance.com for less cash. I've heard mixed things about DOA so I myself would tend to shy away from him.

While you're at it, re-gear if you haven't.

 

[fourwd1]

Re-gearing for the 33's or going back to stock size tires would be good options.
An LCE or DOA engine is great if you have the $$.
How many miles on the engine? Slapping a new head on a worn out block isn't going to do much.

 

[canopypilot]

I do not know how old the motor is. i understand a new head on add ons to a tired motor is not going to get me much. the motor could have as much as 240,000 i have not checked the numbers I am assuming it was replaced at some point but i could be wrong.
Hope you do not mind but what does it take to regear for the 33's or should I say what is the best way? Does it really make that much of a difference i am guessing something like 10% but thats a guess.
I am kind of leaning towards LCE just because i figure if i keep the car for ten years or so it would be worth it . I am planning on taking it on some long distance trips so I would get some value out of a good motor. its a few bucks by the time i do all the junk that needs to be done. injectors headers flywheel ect. (I shuold have kept the FJ40 but I hated driving that beast on the street. it was just to much hassle to tow it everywhere)
I could save about 2k by having a local guy just build a motor and put a better cam. LCE said they have some type of crate motor that they like. so I guess one option is just to get a crate motor and add the header and redo the injectors. i think if I do that sure i will see a little power but I think i might be saying that was not much more than what I already have. Maybe i should regear first and see how much that does then move forward.
I guess i need to find someone who has a lce motor and ask how much they really saw. I am questioning the real 150 hp. some of the stuff i have looked up about the rebuilds ect show about 10hp improvement so I wonder does LCE really get that much more out of their motor?
I dont mean to over think this but if I am going to drop basically more money than that car is worth I want to be sure I am going to be really happy with it. I would really hate to go thru all the effort to get an LCE motor built put it and not really see a huge difference. its too late to go back to stock wheels its already lifted ect ..

 

[canopypilot]

after reading an article now i have to wonder should i be going down the v8 path. I wanted to avoid all the costly mods but a stock v8 for what 1600. what is makes me not want to do it is all the time it will take to mod everything like the AC ect ... all that said I really need to figure out does LCE motor really put out as advertised. i dont need a race motor but for 5k i want to know i put a new motor in it. I want to be happy every time i start it up. is that too much to ask for !!!!!

so its either figure out what parts i want in a motor have it built local or order one from LCE. i need to do some math tomorrow and figure this out i think my wallet will make most of the choices for me.

anyone have suggestions on what i should or should not do in that light would be helpful. I think i will see what i need to do to regear it first and do that right away that should be fairly simple task?

 

[99blackSE]

What I'll be doing come spring is hunting down a rusty sucker that has a lower mileage motor. Probably pay 6-800 bucks for the whole truck. If I get another 100,000-150,000 km out of that motor then I'm laughing as the body will be dust by then anyways. A possibility...

 

[T?@\7]

If i had the clams on hand id spring for one of the fancy new(ly rebuilt) motors like 22reperf or LCE but, like mentioned above, IF you can find a decent low mileage stocker, you'll get another 150K ++ out of it, and for much cheaper, but you'll stilll be putting like 90hp (prob less) down to the ground....

If you have $5k to throw at it than do it and don't look back, tell us what we have to look forward too! More juice please!