Not much in the way of updates really, block has been at the machine shop 5 or 6 weeks I think, everyone got COVID, blah blah... I hope to have it back next week, I don't have all the parts to assemble the shortblock anyway.
I was up there on my lot cleaning up before winter, got sidetracked and started goofing around with the truck.
When I pulled the engine, I cut everything, I'm not going to be able to use any of it anyway, really triggered folks on Facebook who don't seem to grasp fabrication though.
So the core support and bumper centers were cut out so I could pull the 22re through the hole more easily. I've seen people use the Mercedes radiator in their swaps, so I was curious how it would fit, so I tossed it in the hole, not even close lol. Set myself up for plenty of brilliant "why not just get a radiator that fits" comments though lol... Like, yes, they sell Mercedes to Toyota radiators at Autozone, right next to the plastidip bruh...
After taking another inch or so from each side, it dropped in,
In that pic, it's down behind the front crossmember, when sitting on it, it's too high still. So that crossmember may come out and be rebuilt lower, won't really know until spring when the engine goes in where the fan lands though.
Plenty of room for the hood to close and the grille to go back on though.
For whatever reason, this pic led to a bunch of, "OMG THAT BUMPER WOULD NEVER PROTECT YOU" comments, that were hilarious, since even whole, it's made out of single wall stamped sheetmetal and wouldn't withstand a goat kick, let alone a vehicle impact lol.
I don't really care for my 4runner to look so much like a Ram D50, so I grabbed a Hilux grille for no real good reason, but it also fits fine. Looks cooler too.
I found this winch plate I forgot I bought about 5 years ago, it was on sale for 28 bucks at Harbor Freight, looked like the bolt holes on the rear were pretty close so I toted it up there last night to see, close, but no cigar, I'll have to fab a whole front bumper, which is all wasted effort if I have to move that crossmember.