Looking at putting a TPI 305 into my Toyota pickup. I plan to run a TH-350 behind it. I don't know if this is the correct forum for posting my Q's, but here goes, and Mods can move it if necessary. here goes. I am looking for just a stock engine. Did any TPI motors come with non-serpentine belt setups, if so, what years? will a shorty type water pump work with these? are the exhaust manifolds interchangable with the old style rams horns? These motors have the same bellhousing bolt pattern as the old small blocks, right? Will a turbo 350 simply bolt up, if I get a motor that has a flexplate? If I got a complete motor, including all sensors, and a computer, would all I need is just a wiring harness, such as a painless wiring harness? Anything else you would care to add would be helpful also. Thanks in advance.

Sam

 

85-87 are v-belt setups, but the water pumps are long not short. Thats kind of a moot point anyway, with a little effort you could do just about whatever you want to with the accessories if need be. The only issue is the upper alternator bracket, it does mount to the TPI but I'm sure you could fix one of the earlier brackets to fit ok if you tried. Basically, a TPI is just the intake, the engine is nothing special, its just a small block chevy. The exhaust is a standard SBC bolt pattern, no issues there either. Same goes for the bellhousing, typical SBC. If you get the motor with all the sensors and such, get the wiring harness and use that. Its easier to see if its all there that way too.

I have to say, if you are going to run a SBC in there, may as well run a 350 instead of a 305. It'll make more power.

 

I'm actually going with a 305 because it makes less power. Kinda doesn't make sense, I know. But for my application, I would actually rather have a V6, only it would actually end up costing more to do a V6 than a V8. A 305 is well matched to my needs.

 

Just my opinion, but I think you're on the right track there. If I were in the same position, I'd go with the 305 over the 350. A lot of people are of the school of thought where "hey, you're doing this, you might as well do that", but sometimes it's more about matching up the needs and wants of your combination. My roadster will max out at a hefty 2000 lbs. tops; probably more like 1500, so I'm going with a 305 in it. And to placate my motorhead friends, there's a 383 in the wings for my obese Camaro.

 

Except for the alternator & water pump, which have a multi-groove, flat belt on them - a shorter version of what we now call "serpentine".

 

would this make putting a shorty water pump on the motor difficult?

 

In order to run the short water pump, you need all new mounting brackets and pulleys as well.

 

Depending on the year of your Toyota, you may have a problem with hood clearance. TPI may work to your advantage here. My hood hit the carb. Also, if you buy a set of block hugger street rod headers, for less than $100, you can have dual exhaust fabricated fairly easily. The transmission tunnel will have to be tapped up a bit to clear a t-350 without rubbing.

Mark

 

My Sgt. at my base has a toyota pickup with a 350 in it. It's also got custom stainless steel headers. It' s NICE and runs great, however he bought it like that so I don't think he has much info. on how it was put together. I could ask if you want though. (It's an '87 toyota I believe)

 

I have been doing some more thinking about this swap, as I don't have any money for it yet, and would like to get everything ironed out before I begin.

As far as tranny tunnel and hood clearance, there should be no problems there as I have a 3" body lift, and was never afraid to use a BFG, or a sawzall for that matter.

My buddy has a carb'd SBC in his '81 toy, and he had cooling issues with a 4 core radiator, which he believes was due to his running the block huggers. He replaced them with stock cast manifolds and changed his exhaust around some and the problem seemed to go away.

I am planning on using a Griffin 19x22 aluminum radiator, shorty water pump, stock cast manifolds and a cowl hood, and either a clutchless mechanical fan or an electric fan out of a Ford Taurus, so hopefully I will not have cooling issues.

My questions are does this sound like it will cool adequately, and how is your cooling system set up, Mark? I also was not clear exactly on what it will take to run a shorty water pump and v-belt accessories. Fabbing brackets is no problem. Thanks again for all your help.

Sam

 

I used a 4 core radiator and have very little cooling issues. You have to remember my motor is far from stock and needs a bit more to cool. I also run a shorty Edelbrock pump and a flex fan. I have an electric pusher fan as a backup. My 383 runs about 200 most of the time when it warm out. If you are using an automatic, put a remote cooler with a fan under the bed and not into the radiator. This helped big time. If you want, I can snap some pictures.

 

What's your tire size?

Rear gear ratio?

Are you hill-climbing/rockcrawling or mudding or sand dragging?

 

Some pictures would be great, Mark. Always cool to see a V8'd toyota. Is yours 2wd or 4?

The truck's intended use will be general wheeling, rutted muddy trails, steep hillclimbs and rock gardens. Will possibly see sand from time to time, but not too often. It's not a comp rig at all, just a weekend wheeling toy.

Setup will be a TH350, dual transfercases for extra low gearing when needed, and 4.10's in the pumpkins. Tire size will be 38".

 

In January I sold my 350 TPI engine to a guy in Washington DC & he's putting it in a Toyota Landcruiser. I don't know how similar your truck is to a landcruiser, but if you would like I could give you his email address & you could talk with him about what all is involved in the swap, plus he might have some parts left over from his previous engine "a smallblock 383 stroker with non serpentine belt set-up.

Bruce, (70GTO)

 

been doing some reading and searching and measuring....I think I can fit the whole serpentine assembly in my truck if i just relocate the radiator forward, which I was planning anyways. so I can run all the stock accessories. Do you know if I can run a GM 1 wire alternator on a serpentine setup?

 

I'd recommend a 383 or 400 with a camshaft that has low duration and big lift (can be achieved with higher ratio rocker arms). The 38" tires will reduce the effective gear ratio so you'll need some extra low-end grunt to turn those tires. The smaller the displacement, the less torque the engine can and will produce.

 

Too much torque = broken axles. I would go up to a 350, simply because I could find one stock and cheap. This will be a pretty budgeted swap, I don't have the money to go with a full built engine. I don't really need that much power, even with the 38" tires. My buddy is running a 70's smog era 350, completely stock with 38's and he has plenty of power. Plus I want EFI, and don't like the TBI setup, despite it's ease of swappability. What cam would you recommend with a 305, or with a 350?

 

For a cam I like the Comp 12-300-4 with some 1.7 rocker arms.

Broken axles? :shrugs: I guess I'm too used to the Dana 44's

 

My 1987 Toyota rear when high 11's on slicks before it blew. Two of my current u-joints are stock Toyota (two piece driveshaft) and I have over 500 runs on them, including a handful of low 10 second runs. Though I long ago went to a 9" the Toyota rear is pretty strong.

 

The Toyota 8" is indeed pretty stout, I'm not too worried about it, but when you get up into the 38" tire range and start using 2 transfercases (for rockcrawling, double low gears), even a 4 cylinder can break them. Now I just need to find a wrecked F-body. Thanks for your help guys.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the axles unless you are using slicks. The tires will spin before the axles are under that much stress

 

He's using 38" tires. That's enough to break them especially with the dual transfer case setup he's talking about multiplying all that torque.

 

In fact its not the axles themselves that are the weak spot, its the pinion. Get in a tough spot and SNAP! Thats why I'm leaning towards 305, with my gear reduction i dont really need gobs of power. I mean I could turn the tires with a 4 banger, but what fun is that? I just need a little extra oomph and fuel injectinon, the 305 (or 350, it doesn't matter, which ever's cheapest) take care of both of those problems.

I think my plan will be to get a wrecked f-body with all the wires, computer, sensors, accessories, etc., and do a basic tear down and rebuild, new pistons, rings, bearings, have the heads rebuilt, new cam, and then go.

 

If it is in your budget, get something big... I've always been a truck guy, pretty much any types of trucks, street rods, offroaders, Monster Trucks, rock crawlers, etc...
Don't be fooled by anyone, an axle takes a lot of load.. you may not break an axleshaft but I've seen the splines twisted, ripped off, and broken in half enough to know it isn't hard to do. The ring and pinion will take most of the power, it is so easy to tear up a pinion it isn't even funny.

I love seeing "car guys" (most aren't but think they are), the put in a ton of power.. all they can think is more power, more power, then they drive real hard and that kinda stuff... but they neglected to beef up the rear axle. I bet half the people on here have never opened thier axle or even changed the oil.

Anyway, a used axle should cost less than $100, a Dana 44 is a pretty tough little guy... or you could step up to a Ford 9 inch which is basically indestructable... or a Dana 60 if you are daring. A friend of mine picked up 2 Dana 60 full floaters (front and rear) complete from hub to hub, even had good brakes... for $200 Canadian... If you are going to spend money and a lot of time, don't cheap out like everyone else.. go all the way.

 

axle swaps get expensive REAL quick. this is a 4x4, so I can't just swap the rear. A dana 44 is about equivalent in strength to the toy stuff once you get some real sized tires on there. Swap out the rear, then you have to get a matching width and gear'd front, new front and rear drivelines, new rims and thus new tires.......it becomes a huge mess fast. Plus I give up precious ground clearance . I'm not racing the thing, just wheeling. Well, maybe the occasional Honda on the way to the trail. This thing will see ZERO track time. I'm not looking for a speed monster or a torque monster, just a little more than my 4 cyl. As I said earlier, a V6 would work just fine for my app, but V8s are more plentiful (and sound cooler ) and therefore cheaper.

 

Oh, in that case but an I6 in Cheap, easy, plentiful. A friend of mine has a Jeep XJ with an inline 6 and 35 inch swampers, no swaybars, 4 inch lift, and a 9500 pound winch, basically it is a street legal Cherokee that is a kickass wheeler. I can't remember what it ramped but we were flexing on 3 foot snow piles for pictures and it still could have lifted that wheel over a foot before lifting onto 3 wheels. Anyway, he is running Dana 35s and we've never had a problem with them or the engine... people badmouth I6s but they make a load of torque which is what wheeling is all about. We are yet to get stuck... pulled a lot of people out too.

 

Are you serious? I can see you talking about the D44A with the alloy center section, but the all steel version? I've seen broken Toyota pumpkin style diffs broken with the 22R and 35's.

 

the gears on the D44 are a little stronger than the Toy 8, but that's where it ends. If I were to swap axles, it would be a D60 up front and a Corp. 14 bolt out back, but that is a few years off still. As far as I6's go, I'd have a heck of a time getting one to fit in my engine bay. Those are some long ******. I'm sticking with a 305 and toy stuff, I can always go bigger later.

 

I would still not put a 305 in it. Like you already said, you can upgrade the suspension or drivetrain later. Why limit your motor upgrades then. Put a stock or very mild 350 in it and you have a wide range of upgrades later. I cannot see spending money on a 305 and having to swap it out later.


Mark

 

Well it looks like I'm going to go 350 then. I'll just be "nice" on the throttle. Know if I can run a GM 1 wire alternator on a serpentine pulley setup?

 

yeah

get the one wire alternator and change the pulley on the fron to the serpentine peice or just get the one wire conversion for your current alternator from summit racing