Engine placement and rear setup help

[2jz_Dime]

I have a 1991 s10 ext cab, I am currently swapping a 1994 N/A Supra 2jz ge with a 5 speed standard. I plan on doing alot of racing events in my area like auto cross, road racing and even drifting.

I have researched some about engine angles and have found that most engines are set at 3 degrees tilt to the rear of the engine. Is that correct? What should I have mine at for what I want?

I am also lost on what rear suspension I need for the truck. I have a ford 8.8 lsd narrowed for the truck. I planned on a coilover 4 link but I keep getting told not to because of binding issues. What is your opinion.

[RobNoLimit]

I'd say 2 or 3 degrees is the range. As far as the rear, the pinion should be parallel to the crank. Driveline torque will flex the the pinion up appx 1 degree. So, if the crank is down in the back 3 degrees, set the pinion up in the front 2 degrees.

[jerome]

I have a 1991 s10 ext cab, I am currently swapping a 1994 N/A Supra 2jz ge with a 5 speed standard. I plan on doing alot of racing events in my area like auto cross, road racing and even drifting.

I have researched some about engine angles and have found that most engines are set at 3 degrees tilt to the rear of the engine. Is that correct? What should I have mine at for what I want?


Figure out what the driveshaft angle relative to the ground will be at ride height. Make sure that your engine angle is within 3 degrees of that driveshaft angle so that you do not have issues with the front u-joint having an operating angle greater than 3 degrees.


I am also lost on what rear suspension I need for the truck. I have a ford 8.8 lsd narrowed for the truck. I planned on a coilover 4 link but I keep getting told not to because of binding issues. What is your opinion.

I would go with a 3 link with converging lower links and either a panhard bar or a watts link for lateral location. 3-links generally will allow for a better balance between anti-squat and roll steer characteristics than a 4-link can provide.

[PCHRODS]

You need to post up some pics.....That's a pretty unique engine combo. we would love to see more. Kudos for thinking outside the box.

[2jz_Dime]

Thank yall for the help. If I would have read the sticky at the top it would have cleared the 3 link 4 link thing up lol. Ill make a thread when the engine is in the truck and ill post pics there. Right now im finishing the engine up and waiting on money for a good clutch and flywheel combo. ($1000)

[2jz_Dime]

Thank yall for the help. If I would have read the sticky at the top it would have cleared the 3 link 4 link thing up lol. Ill make a thread when the engine is in the truck and ill post pics there. Right now im finishing the engine up and waiting on money for a good clutch and flywheel combo. ($1000)

PCHRODS - your motto "--Self motivated by doing things that people say can't be done--" is the main reason for the build lol.

[PCHRODS]

I look forward to it...."subscribed"

[super chevy]

In for pics

[ArtosDracon]

Greetings from another S-10 guy! This is all going to come down to your level of comfort in fabricating the rear. The front suspension is entirely fixable with enough time and right combination of either parts or fabrication.

The rear end, once you go away from leafs, may as well be chopped off at the firewall, so you can use tubing turned flat and get the body down around the frame, and a custom back-half to do a linked rear. I've seen dozens of bolted on or hacked together rear suspensions on these and the ones that work well and hold-up through some beating, are the ones done meticulously, and usually from scratch.

[2jz_Dime]

Thought I would share a few pics, the build has been slow...very very ...slow.

This is when i was trying to figure out where I wanted the engine to sit. I have a rear sump pan so it has to sit far back anyways. Notice the cab unbolted and moved back.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/15yrffj)

Where its been sitting for a while.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/na0vhyj)

And the trans cross-member cut and tacked just to hold while I fab engine mounts.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/npln1yj)

This is my first "non bolt in" engine swap. So if you see something I can improve on please say.

[RobNoLimit]

Lookin good. this is a fun build we did a while ago.

[silvermonte]

Rod do you recall how far off the ground that s10's frame sits? My frame sits about 5" off the ground right now but it does not have the body on it.

[RobNoLimit]

well I'll tell ya what we did. It's a stock chassis and IFS with bolt-on stuff. We used a dropped Impala spindle to get 12" brakes, and it has '70 chevelle big block springs that we cut, little by little to get the ride height (lower arm level at RH) we had to modify the center link and tie rod ends to get rid of the bumpsteer created by the spindle sway. The rear is old school dirt track. Chrysler 165 lb rear leafs with spherical bearings in front and sliders in the rear. Ford expo 8.8 rr axle. We set the cab right on the chassis - no mounts - this requires some trimming of the floor to get the cab to sit flush on the four corners, then we welded it all together. That's the poor boy 2" channel job. The bed mounts and core support were dropped to match. The trans tunnel must be raised to do this, but the truck comes out way stiffer. It's really not that low, 5 1/5" at the rail. The fenders and bed sides are pre runner glass, 3" wider front, 4" rr. We wanted a different look, to be un-mistakable, so we came up with the "Urban-Rally" idea. Don't mean to thread jack, just wanted to give you some ideas and hope. Keep it coming.

[2jz_Dime]

well I'll tell ya what we did. It's a stock chassis and IFS with bolt-on stuff. We used a dropped Impala spindle to get 12" brakes, and it has '70 chevelle big block springs that we cut, little by little to get the ride height (lower arm level at RH) we had to modify the center link and tie rod ends to get rid of the bumpsteer created by the spindle sway. The rear is old school dirt track. Chrysler 165 lb rear leafs with spherical bearings in front and sliders in the rear. Ford expo 8.8 rr axle. We set the cab right on the chassis - no mounts - this requires some trimming of the floor to get the cab to sit flush on the four corners, then we welded it all together. That's the poor boy 2" channel job. The bed mounts and core support were dropped to match. The trans tunnel must be raised to do this, but the truck comes out way stiffer. It's really not that low, 5 1/5" at the rail. The fenders and bed sides are pre runner glass, 3" wider front, 4" rr. We wanted a different look, to be un-mistakable, so we came up with the "Urban-Rally" idea. Don't mean to thread jack, just wanted to give you some ideas and hope. Keep it coming.




Id love to have that much tire up front on mine. I wonder if I could run the impala spindles with QA1 coilovers. What engine is in the s10?

[2jz_Dime]

The engine is mounted!!! The mounts are overkill but hell if its worth doing, then its worth over doing. I thought I would be able to use the original mounts but they ended up touching the upper control arm bolts. My pawpaw ended up doing the welding because I didn't trust myself with welding something so important.

Does anyone else know of a 2jz in a first gen? Im just curious if I am the first.
sorry about the blurry photos.

First off here are the bushings I used for the mounts. They are a decently hard rubber.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/n1dch0j)

Marking the engine mount backing plates.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/nm6frlj)

A minor mock up of the mounts. Angle iron for the mount base. My pawpaw said he has used this mount set up on several engine swaps including my dads old "Chev-ord" (63 ford with a 400 small block chevy).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/n618iz7j)

The complete mount.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/nci94pj)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/n6v7kv8j)

With the manifolds on. Cleared them with great distance, meaning a header or turbo manifold will fit with ease.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/n12ke0j)

Now the front view. The engine looks like it isnt centered but it is. We measured in 3 different spots and the engine is centered. We dont know if the 4.3 in the s10 was off center more in one direction factory. The engine is leaning 1.5 degrees to the right which we will fix with a shim under the bushing.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (https://imageshack.com/i/mrt9f1bj)

Thoughts?
(copyed from my s10forum.com build thread "project inline") Ill post a link on here when I make a build thread on this forum.

[silvermonte]

Seems like you have the hard part out of the way now.

[2jz_Dime]

Seems like narrowing the ford 8.8 may be a bit harder lol.

[ArtosDracon]

Lookin good. this is a fun build we did a while ago.

Sorry to threadjack a bit, I was wondering if you've decided to relocate the front swaybar. Last I saw it was mounted to the upper control arm and it wasn't quite ideal. Love this truck BTW, I've said for a while that if I ever do a second gen, it's getting baja fenders so I could run tons of tire and cut weight at the same time.

[silvermonte]

Seems like narrowing the ford 8.8 may be a bit harder lol.

Ive thought the same thing, but from what Ive read it seems simple enough.I havnt done it yet tho so I really cant tell you first hand. You really only need to cut the one side and put in a stock axle on that side and then the everything will be square with the driveline.

[ArtosDracon]

Ive thought the same thing, but from what Ive read it seems simple enough.I havnt done it yet tho so I really cant tell you first hand. You really only need to cut the one side and put in a stock axle on that side and then the everything will be square with the driveline.

That is essentially it, you convert it from an offset third member to a centered one by either removing the axle tube from the long side and replacing it with one from another axle on the short side, or you simply cut a few inches out of the axle tube on the long side and replace just the axle shaft with a short side one. Do please make sure you take the time to align everything though or you're going to have vibrations if you're lucky and you're going to ruin splines or break axle shafts if you're not. If you don't have the appropriate alignment tools, take it to a shop that does so it can be done right.