I've got an 84 EFI, so the early motor, but it is fuel injected, what kind of difficulties am i going to run into making it work? I want to find a head, and do the stuff to it before installing it like bigger valves, and a cam, but am i going to be able to use the intake manifold i currently have? and will i need a different exhaust plan? if so i would want to find a header for it to use on my EFI

 

the 20r head has a different intake bolt pattern then the 22r head, so you cant run the efi manifold on it. Thats also part of the improvement over the 22r head since the ports are better shaped for air and the runners are super short. The only manifolds ive seen for them are carb'd. The exhaust side is the same as a 22r so any manifold will fit.

so as long as you plan on getting a carb'd intake manifold and a carb or carbs( if i were you i would get a cannon side draft with dual carbs ) then you shouldnt have any issues, if you want to keep your efi stuff on there its probably gonna be a pain cause even if you adapt the efi manifold to the head the ECM doesnt have much flexibility with the fuel/ignition map. You might not see as huge ( being relitave so as not to start an arguement ) of gains as if you went carb'd

 

Would it b better for me then, to just do the EFI safen upgrades? cam, headers, the little stuff?

 

probably, i dont know how the efi computer will do with a cam installed, im sure other people on here have done it that can tell ya the improvements. Ive never driven one with a cam in it that was efi so i dont wanna say yes it will do X, cause i cant vouch for that. The rest of that list i give a thumbs up to though

 

I know LCE sells EFI safe cams, and i've seen some people write about them, and hadnt noticed anyone complain about it, maybe i'll get lucky and someone can write in about their use of the old style 22re with a cam?

 

I put a carburated cam in Suzuki07's 22RE. Runs very torquey with those new 10:1 pistons in it too

 

And yours was the early model?

 

Yep.

But mines a 22R pop up motor like yours, (but with a 20R head and a holley 2 barrel carb.

Putting fuel injection on a 20R head is not easy. If it was, I would have done it already.

Suzuki07's truck is a later model though...

 

Yeah, I was hoping to keep the EFI cause from what I understand its hard to find on the 84, but it definitely is not fast. I think mainly because of the automatic in it, but I would really like a little more umph out of it

 

Did a TRD stage II cam and LC headers on a '89 22RE; worked great. Later on when the truck sat idle for several years and all the electronics died, I converted it to Weber 45's.

 

you could just try and get an engine builder head. i think his shop is in oregon

 

what is an engine builder head?

 

I don't think EngnBldr sells new early heads, just the 85+ heads. He can build up an early 22R head for you though. EngnBldr.com is his site if you want to take a look though.

I have run a cam in an EFI truck. It made a difference. I had to put in a new head and timing chain, so I figured it couldn't hurt. That was all I did, still stock exhaust. But my 20R in my '80, that just had a cam and a header was so much faster than my '91 it wasn't even funny.

The Toyota Automatics are pretty efficient, they don't rob a lot of power like a TH350 or 700R4. They are more closely related to a Ford C4 or AOD, only pulling about 12-15% of your HP. That snot a huge amount more than a manual anyway. This is why I decided to swap an auto into my truck from an 86 Turbo like yours. You can also run a stand alone computer for it to tune your shift points, let the motor rev higher where your power is. You can actually make them shift faster than a manual, and you can run them in manual mode with the controller. There are also some simple things you can do in a weekend to create your own shift kit, and firm up your shifts. You have a good transmission in your truck.

Anyways, there are ways to adapt your EFI to the 20R head. You can get a custom lower manifold made, which I have done before. Or there is a company that was prototyping an adapter to bolt a 22R EFI manifold to a 20R head, it just spaces your runners out about 3/4". I am not sure they have released it yet.

Here is the company I was thinking of. It looks as if they decided not to make it.
22RE-20R Intake Adapter | Extreme Roc Rigs

However DOA Racing apparently makes one, that would require you to drill and tap a few holes in your 20R head. Or I have heard that he will do the machining on your head himself, port it, and port the 22RE lower intake so that they mate together without an adapter.

So you have some options, but I doubt that any of them will be very cheap.

 

So what if i decide to go without the 20r head, since the plates kinda seem like a non progressing item. Could i make big gains through an exhaust, and cam? as well as switching away from the airbox and going with the cone style air filter?

its also very reassuring to hear that these old automatics are good trannies, i was concerned that it was a big horsepowr robbing tranny

 

I'm not really the one to ask about the 22R, there are more knowledgeable people on here. I have only been deep into a 20R, and did basic maintenance and a cam swap on my 22RE. I will be getting deep into a 22R at some point, but not for a bit.

Like I said, there are options other than the adapter plate, such as machining the head, or building an intake. I have everything here are the shop to build an 20RE intake with a late model upper plenum.

And ya, the tranny is pretty good for what it is. It came in the Supras too, and can be built to handle 700HP without much power robbing. A TH350 or 700R4 takes a lot more power to run, I think close to 30%.

 

I think it will be something to come with time. Having a 20/22re, that is.

But I know there's talk about how well the 20r head flows, but the early 22r like mine, does it still have better flow compared to the late model 22r? As well as, even with the fuel injection on the early style 22 it has different intake patterns?

I want to do a came and headers and see where that takes me before I get too extravagant internally and in making custom intakes, but also do the supra AFM and get away from the air box

 

The easy stuff like headers, cams and intakes/carbs are where you will see the best value for the power you'll get.

I spent too much money on my cylinder head. Went all the way only to find out that a mild build is more fun.

 

The early 22R head doesn't flow any better than the newer head. But the newer EFI manifold flows better than the earlier one. And I believe there are larger throttle bodies out there, but I am unsure. I haven't done much research into the EFI stuff.

If I ever go EFI on my truck, it will be because I want to turbo it. And in that case, I will build my own intake manifold with a custom plenum and probably use a Ford 5.0 throttle body from Holley.

 

You can run a upgraded cam on the EFI with decent gains. A lot of the after market cams have the same specs for carb and EFI. I had good results from LC cams check and see if they still carry the split duration cam works great on carb and EFI. With header and a Webber or side drafts you wont believe the differance in out of the hole torque compared to stock. If you stay with your current head I'm assuming its double timing chain, You can upgrade to the newer style rocker arms, and see an improvement as well. Good luck in what ever you decide and keep us up to date.

 

Thanks for that! I'll definitely start a new thread when I start making engine upgrades, and can let you guys know how it does for me