[RyderDie]

I am aware there is a lot of posts on this topic but they are all about a decade old now.

Just bought an '84 with near perfect blue interior and quite nice exterior, no rot to be found. Got it for a good deal but the 5m balancer ate the crank. Head was gone through and surfaced before they spotted the crank. Guy and his kid planned to LS swap it but kid lost interest. It is an automatic but I can still appreciate it as a cruiser. (Might do manual swap eventually)

I do have an '83 5m but I have not gone through it yet. It does not rotate all the way. I don't know if the crank survived but I like the idea of not changing to v-belts so that is my backup plan if I cannot locate everything I need to pull this off. I also have a short-bock 7mge that I planned to pull apart before buying this supra anyways.

My main question is for those who have done this if I am forgetting any part I need to do this after my hour or two of research.

What I do have:
-7mge block, crank, and rods (multiple whole engines)
-5mge head, oil pump, pan, crank timing gear, timing covers, mounts (whole engine besides crank and balancer)
-Accessories from both

What I do not have:
-6mge harmonic balancer (located one for sale but have not pulled the trigger yet)
-???

My current plan is to go through the short block, swap in the 5m pistons, potentially get a thicker head gasket to drop the CR a little from 9.8, and run on stock ecu (??).

Only a couple things I am not fully confident in. First is whether or not the stock ecu and injectors will run the higher compression ratio without lean issues or knock etc. I know 9.8 from 9.2 is not the craziest jump in CR but I am not aware how flexible Toyota made the system. Second is if the 5m oil pump, drive, and pickup swap right on or not. All my 7m's are mid-sump.

Help me fix my ignorance as this will be my first hybrid build. I have been slowly getting parts for a 20/22r hybrid, but since the supra is a 100x nicer, I plan to do it first. I would love to get this car back on the road but I am not rushing anything in the engine.

Thanks for any info/corrections/suggestions.

 

[Funkycheeze]

I'll be the devils advocate here and tell you to sell/scrap everything and go with a 2JZ-GE. It'll make more power, be more reliable, and much easier to get parts for.

 

[RyderDie]

I have thought about a 1/2jz, but in my area they are few and far between. Parts may be easier but the engine itself it fairly uncommon around me. Travelling is not much an option due to my newborn. Last one I saw was a weak rod 2j and it sold for about 5k. I think with that and how front sump kits are back ordered, I'd prefer to keep the car closer to its stock configuration with a 5m or 5/7m hybrid. Since I have 95% of the parts already and I think it would be a lot of fun to get working. With the kiddo its hard justifying spending 3x what I spent on the car for parts.

Thanks for that suggestion though. I would love to eventually have a 2j in my fleet one day.

Out of curiosity, how much have you put in your '84 and 2j to get it where you like it? Also how is that r154 holding up?

I've got a '85 pickup that's getting a 7m with an r154/r150 hybrid, gonna be a fun ripper I think. I personally like the R series trans but they have they haters.

 

[Funkycheeze]

The engine swap alone was 15K in parts and that was 5 years ago. R154 handles the power just fine, the stock rear end not so much.

I am suggesting a non turbo 2J build, much cheaper.

 

[gamble]

Non turbo 2j with a w58 or even the stock auto could be done pretty cheaply for sure, assuming you can get one from a local junk yard, and they are in a TON of cars still.

Nothing wrong with your 5m plan, i'm just not well versed in the hybrid ways to help out there.

I think R series trans have haters for the value per dollar these days, when they were like 300 bucks used they were a smokin deal and you ignore the clunky shifting. At 1000+ you are in the range of buying something else that shifts nicer and is newer overall.

 

[Funkycheeze]

I rebuilt my R154 with some upgrade parts like the thrust washer etc. with new synchros it shifts really well.

 

[RyderDie]

From what I've seen there's a few users, like 3000cc MK2, on here who have done this but I do not think any are active. I just like the idea of being close to its stock form and want to make sure the engine would run comfortably. I didn't specify too well but this is not going to be a track/drag/race car but a solid cruiser to enjoy a drive from an era gone by. For whatever reason, these are pretty rare cars in the Texas panhandle. They didn't really rust away here but for whatever reason there aren't many around.

I just bought all the upgrades there is for the early r154, thrust, forks, etc. so that it's as tough as can be. I also plan to search up how this guy apparently figured out some oiling mods to help the R-series trans fling oil around better. Might have been a snake oil thing but worth digging up.

But I would agree that's a fair assessment of the r154, the early style is 100% just a truck trans r150 with different gearing and bell for the different clutch. The bearings, forks, thrust, and a ton more are all the same parts. A few guys even swap the 2wd r150's into their cars since they are at most $150 nowadays. Cheap enough to have a spare or two and not feel the hit when it blows up. The late style definitely has more beef to it with bearings and the shift forks having good inserts but it still just a beefed up truck trans. For the time, and the power, it was good but that Aisin trans definitely has a ceiling. For my 300ish hp target on my '85 truck project, it won't be the weak link.

If you hear of any who knows any info on this hybrid motor lemme know! My backup plan is to just convert to v-belt using my other 5m.

 

[AJ]

Ryder, where are you located BTW you can add to your profile a general location... many of us look at profiles and PM directly if we have parts available...

 

[RyderDie]

Oh gotcha. I'm in Amarillo TX.