My 3.0 has lasted 270K and it won't die no matter how much I desperately want it to.
Don't get me wrong, it has left me stranded plenty of times, but the damn thing keeps kicking.
It's a very unsatisfying driving experience though, and it is time for something better.
Here's another interesting swap I came accross:
Wagigknp '89 SR5 Xcab buildup - YotaTech Forums
7M-GTE. It looks like a huge PITA to swap the guts from an R154 into a R150f body though. Plus that would mean actually buying both transmissions, and I'm a cheap bastard.

 

A mostly stock 7mgte won't do a W58 dirty if driven with an ounce of mechanical empathy.

 

2JZ and basketball-sized turbo or bust.

 

The way this conversation is going, I don't think we'll be in for a small amount of work regardless of the powerplant used. I may as well go ***** deep. To me, it seems like getting the transfer case in the correct orientation will be the hardest part of any of this.
So it really comes down to cost of components vs power gained vs internet cool points.

 

I'm telling you 5vz dammit.

I've been trying to justify an LR4 in the red jeep the last few days, but holy **** the stuff from Novak is stupid expensive. Looking at about $4100 plus a motor to get it done.

But man it would be SO AWESOME. Lose a couple hundred pounds off the truck, getting it solidly under 3000lbs, and 285hp/295ftlbs in stock form.

L33 would be ****, too. 310hp/338ftlbs. An extra hundred pounds less than the LR4.

Stock AX15 lives just fine behind either of them, or update to the NGS370 6spd at the same time for maximum win.

 

That's what I said in your driveway the other day!
The easy button in that scenario is to just find a T100 and swap everything over.
That's expensive, and I might as well just keep the damn T100.
It would be much cheaper to swap everything from a Sportage and boost the **** out of it, or perform massive reconstructive surgery on the firewall, stuff in a 4.0 from a cherokee, and use an adapter to run a Dana 300 T-case.
We'll have to rewire a bunch of **** anyway, so I may as well do it cheaply.
The only positive to the 3.4 is that we wouldn't have to cut the firewall and the driveshafts might not have to be modified. I'm not sure about that though because the A340 and R150 are different lengths.

 

I thought the 5vz swap was like a weekend affair? Why do you need a whole T100?

 

It would be a weekend job if I were keeping the auto trans.
The T100 is the only vehicle that came with a 5VZE and a 5speed and transfer case with a passenger side drop. Add to that all the pedal assemblies and er'thing, and I've basically made a slightly smaller T100.
The 5 speed swap is what makes the whole deal a kick in the nuts.

Edit: I forgot to add that the current T-case is integrated into the auto tranny's body. There's no way to mate anything else to it.

 

I mean... would you rather have a T100? Or your super badass Cali Bro Truck with T100 running gear?

 

Super badass Cali Bro Swag mobile of course. I'm just thinking that there is more than one good option, and since they are all going to be a ton of work, I may as well do it relatively cheaply.
Obviously, it would be pretty cheap to just drop in the 3.4, do some exhaust work and call it a day, but I don't trust the auto trans to handle any additional power, which is pretty pathetic considering how anemic the 3.0 is.
Do you think the T100 gear would be any more reliable than the Jeep stuff?
I would imagine either would be stronger than the Kia stuff, but a complete Sportage drive train can be found for ~$500 any day of the week.

 

What if you find a manual trans setup originally for your truck. Then just bolt a 5vz to it.

 

Awe snap, I might have just gotten really lucky and found one with the beefier 23 spline Tcase for $200.

 

Bingo. The pedal is easy and cheap. Hydraulics easy and cheap.

 

Alright, I guess that settles it. It needs to at least have some positive pressure in the intake when we're finished though.

 

I'm sure we can figure something out. 5VZ likes turbo, or those superchargers really weren't bad.

 

Boom, just made a deal on a R151, T-case and pedal assembly.

How close are you to Cumberland?

 

20-25 minutes. Need me to go pick up a thing for you?

 

Yeah, you want to pick up a transmission?
I just got a line on a long block for about $350 locally. I don't know what kind of shape it's in.
The deal on the pedals fell through, but that's very minor.
This might actually come together relatively quickly if I keep finding parts cheap.

 

Sorry to everyone that wanted to see the FE3 swap, but I'm finding too many rare parts for cheap to pass on doing the 3.4 swap.
Don't worry though, there will be turbos and megasquirt (If I can keep Ben from trying to use a Haltech or some powercards).

 

Let me know on the transmission, i can do that for you. I'm free on Sunday and evenings during the week.

And i know i texted you awesome things yesterday, but i had a "come to jesus" moment and realized that the XJ is going to cost me an absurd amount of money to build the way i want, and that a B2600i 5spd 4x4 will be much cheaper.

So i think i'm going to do that and either see how much boost the 2.6 4 banger can take, or do a diesel R2 swap and boost it.