304 Swapped 4 Runners

Heya Guys,

This is my first ever thread.
I've recently bought a 4 runner. I'm wondering if anyone else on here has a 304 swapped 4 runner and would like to let me in on how they've done their exhaust (did you get them custom fabricated from scratch or did you go pace makers or something like that and cut them to fit?)

Secondly, I need some inspo for airbox and snorkle positioning and design (did you buy a premade one, if so where from? Or did you have it all made?)

Thirdly,
For those with body lift, how do you manage to have a reliable handbrake? I've heard you can buy universal cables and cut them to suit the factory mounting with the body lift.

Fourth,
Has anyone done a surf rear end conversion? The "canopy" style seems to be the way to go, the motorized rear window has to be the biggest design flaw of this car. I mean, its cool, but it's gotta go. I'm looking at converting to the surf rear tailgate/window but it would be nice to see if someone has done it first.

Cheers guys, anything info is helpful at this point.

 

Welcome. Can't answer most of your questions and what is a 304 conversion? The rear window is what sets the 4Runner apart from all other SUV's. It should never go away and thankfully hasn't since the 80's.

 

Who makes a 304?

 

AMC

 

Thank you! I never heard of a 304 before.

 

No prob Bob. I believe it got replaced by the straight 6 which actually makes more power. Definately seems like an odd swap.

 

Definitely not an odd swap. The 304's come out of the 91-99 Holden VT and VS SS commodores aswell as the Calais series. I'm not asking for opinions, simply information. Forgot this forum would be majority US peoples.

 

It was one of the most common swaps for a 4 Runner in Aus in the late 90's early 00's. With a cast iron block, the 304's have far more grunt than the straight six, not to mention they are way more reliable.

 

Man, you need to post some pictures of your runner before and after the swap. That would be cool to see!

 

People here don’t know what a Holden is. Hehe Only US 304 was AMC. It was not good or bad, just average afaik. Certainly anyone here doing that swap would have one of if not THE only one(s).

 

There she is, yeah ok, may have to look for an Australian page. Thanks guys.

 

I hope you find the information you're looking for!

Welcome to the forum!

I'd love to see some pictures of your project.

 

nice, continue to share more of your project. Deep down we all like to learn more about the 4Runner.

 

Will do, in the process of making a nice big cold air intake and 3 inch stainless snorkle. After that its a complete strip of the headers and exhaust and from there Ill be making my own headers and exhaust to better fit the car and transfer heat more evenly.

 

Just curious,

The rear window is very cool, but with a shitty motor combined with the fact that the only way you can access the rear of the car is by making sure the bloody window motor works seems quite counter-productive.
If you know of or have done some kind of modifications to make the rear window motor more sturdy & reliable, I'm all ears. But last time I checked, no one makes any better motors or parts to make it better. So the solution I have, is surf rear end conversion. (I didn't buy the 4 runner because of the "cool" rear window feature). It makes it very hard to do the 12v setup I want to do if I am worrying about being able to even access the rear of my car.
I hope th

 

Had a 1975 CJ5 Jeep with the 304 as a teen. Talk about an absolutely ridiculous stupid combination. Had her up on 2 wheels a few times. Still surprised I never flipped her.

She was glorious.

When Jeeps were not today's Fiat garbage.

 

Sure is a good looking rig man ! Worthy of some road tripping for sure ! That 304, I haven’t that number in awhile. Had one in an old International Scout here in the states way back when.

That big ole antenna up front, is that a HAM ?

 

Good looking rig and I can't believe all that room in your engine bay. Those of us with the 3.slow don't have any.

 

Cheers guys, I'm very stoked with it, allows me to have a lot of fun and get creative with oil cooler placement and stuff. Does anyone else here have an arb compressor and locker kit?

And @bthp223 I'm not entirely sure, you're probably right.

I'm off to a place called Stradbroke Island for the weekend to give it a go on the sand. Wish me luck fellas.

 

Good luck, and remember we all like to live vicariously through other’s pictures and videos

 

Anyone have a recommended cooler for the manual trans??

 

A cooler for a manual transmission?

Why?

Manual transmissions don't pump fluid. Or am I missing something?

 

I'm not the most mechanically minded person. My mate has an L98 swapped patrol. He said the first thing he did was put a cooler on, to make the box last longer, I'm really just taking jabs in the dark here in the hopes that someone may have figured it out.

 

I'm assuming he has an automatic then. An automatic transmission pumps fluid around to shift gears and so forth. They absolutely benefit from a transmission cooler.

A standard transmission does not shift on its own so it has no pump and no way to cool it. You would have to add a pump.

A quick Google search shows there are some manual transmission coolers for very high performance applications. I highly doubt a transmission cooler for a manual in a 4runner is going to net you any benefit.

 

Ok, cheers for the info!