Hey All,
So, I need some help here. I’ve been reading about this for years, but this is my first post – Feel like I know some of you guys already. A little backstory:
I’ve always wanted a muscle car (newer Pontiac GTO, Mustang GT, etc) but have always needed 4wd and reliability for the activities I enjoy (skiing, offroading), so I got the idea of modifying a taco/4runner to give me the acceleration thrill when the road is dry, but in a car that can offroad, handle snow/ice, and has room to sleep two. I bought a 99’ 4runner w/ 220k and immediately started upgrading. It’s currently running a rebuilt R150F from Marlin Crawler with a short shift, Bilstein struts, and a racing clutch. I wanted to beef up the drivetrain before addressing the engine. Well, the time has come. I’ve got around $4,500 set aside to begin, and more will trickle in as I move forward. I’m looking for around 300-350RWHP for that muscle car feel, and the way I see it my options are as follows:
- Rebuild 5vz, supercharge (won’t quite make 300RWHP, I understand)
- Rebuild 5vz, turbocharge
- Swap 5vz for JDM 2JZ-GTE
A few considerations as well:
- I’ll be moving to Alaska one year hence, where I plan to stay for 10+ years. They do not test for emissions (IE, if I did a JDM swap I would not have to worry about any ODBII compliance work)
- I have very, very little mechanical experience and zero ability to fabricate parts. I can change fluids and break disks/pads, but that’s really about it. I have some friends with experience and an engine lift, so I’m ok with removing the engine with their assistance, but that’s about as far as I can push it without paying them
I also figure I could install the supercharger myself, if I went that route.
- Given that I’ll be in AK, driving out to god knows where in the middle of winter for backcountry skiing, the car must be ABSOLUTELY, utterly reliable – Hence I insist on an engine rebuild if I go one of the two 5VZ routes, having learned about what happens to old, stock 5VZs when they’re pushed to the 300RWHP range
- There is a shop nearby that will do the custom swap, but they have been… Less than excellent thus far. They installed the clutch/tranny, and the clutch was pretty well contaminated the first time around (significant stutter when hot). I’ve seen them do very clean engine swap work on Subarus before, but I just don’t know how much I can trust them.
- Given that the shop near me is kinda eh, I AM willing to drive 6-8 hours somewhere if theres a shop with 4runner-modification experience (Seattle, Salt Lake, and Portland are all 6-8 hours from me). Anyone have personal experience with a shop like this in these areas?
So.. What’s the most cost-effective way to soup up my runner? I’ll settle for the supercharger route if the cost is low enough, but remember, I’ll probably end up having to buy the $2,800 kit if I’m going to have to install it myself (needs to be straightforward), and I figure around $3000-$4000 for a professional rebuild with performance parts (I know a very trustworthy rebuilder in town). The turbocharger would need to be installed by a custom shop – How much would this run? The 2jz route (keeping in mind that they will not have to do any tuning or modify to meet emissions) seems like a lot of fabrication and custom work, but they would be able to pick up a low mileage JDM 2jz for less than the cost of the 5vz supercharger alone.
So I’m really torn here, and I need some advice. My total budget for all the engine work is $6k-$9k, with $9k being the very firm ceiling. I’ll spend more for more power. And of course, it must be super reliable… What am doing guys?!
So, I need some help here. I’ve been reading about this for years, but this is my first post – Feel like I know some of you guys already. A little backstory:
I’ve always wanted a muscle car (newer Pontiac GTO, Mustang GT, etc) but have always needed 4wd and reliability for the activities I enjoy (skiing, offroading), so I got the idea of modifying a taco/4runner to give me the acceleration thrill when the road is dry, but in a car that can offroad, handle snow/ice, and has room to sleep two. I bought a 99’ 4runner w/ 220k and immediately started upgrading. It’s currently running a rebuilt R150F from Marlin Crawler with a short shift, Bilstein struts, and a racing clutch. I wanted to beef up the drivetrain before addressing the engine. Well, the time has come. I’ve got around $4,500 set aside to begin, and more will trickle in as I move forward. I’m looking for around 300-350RWHP for that muscle car feel, and the way I see it my options are as follows:
- Rebuild 5vz, supercharge (won’t quite make 300RWHP, I understand)
- Rebuild 5vz, turbocharge
- Swap 5vz for JDM 2JZ-GTE
A few considerations as well:
- I’ll be moving to Alaska one year hence, where I plan to stay for 10+ years. They do not test for emissions (IE, if I did a JDM swap I would not have to worry about any ODBII compliance work)
- I have very, very little mechanical experience and zero ability to fabricate parts. I can change fluids and break disks/pads, but that’s really about it. I have some friends with experience and an engine lift, so I’m ok with removing the engine with their assistance, but that’s about as far as I can push it without paying them
I also figure I could install the supercharger myself, if I went that route.- Given that I’ll be in AK, driving out to god knows where in the middle of winter for backcountry skiing, the car must be ABSOLUTELY, utterly reliable – Hence I insist on an engine rebuild if I go one of the two 5VZ routes, having learned about what happens to old, stock 5VZs when they’re pushed to the 300RWHP range
- There is a shop nearby that will do the custom swap, but they have been… Less than excellent thus far. They installed the clutch/tranny, and the clutch was pretty well contaminated the first time around (significant stutter when hot). I’ve seen them do very clean engine swap work on Subarus before, but I just don’t know how much I can trust them.
- Given that the shop near me is kinda eh, I AM willing to drive 6-8 hours somewhere if theres a shop with 4runner-modification experience (Seattle, Salt Lake, and Portland are all 6-8 hours from me). Anyone have personal experience with a shop like this in these areas?
So.. What’s the most cost-effective way to soup up my runner? I’ll settle for the supercharger route if the cost is low enough, but remember, I’ll probably end up having to buy the $2,800 kit if I’m going to have to install it myself (needs to be straightforward), and I figure around $3000-$4000 for a professional rebuild with performance parts (I know a very trustworthy rebuilder in town). The turbocharger would need to be installed by a custom shop – How much would this run? The 2jz route (keeping in mind that they will not have to do any tuning or modify to meet emissions) seems like a lot of fabrication and custom work, but they would be able to pick up a low mileage JDM 2jz for less than the cost of the 5vz supercharger alone.
So I’m really torn here, and I need some advice. My total budget for all the engine work is $6k-$9k, with $9k being the very firm ceiling. I’ll spend more for more power. And of course, it must be super reliable… What am doing guys?!
There's posts all over the place about swaps and turbo projects, but everyone has varying fabrication abilities and it's really tough to get an accurate price point. If I do the supercharger setup, I have a couple of questions:
