Date:         Mon, 13 May 1996 20:19:37 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         ddes@anet-dfw.com (David Schwarze)
Subject:      RE: '73 Toyo-Westy


>Toyota engines are the most reliable you can get. Best thing that ever
>happened to the Chevrolet Chevette, is when GM started buying 1.8L
>engines from Toyota and putting them in-- reliability shot upward.

They are good engines, but the 22R has a problem with leaky front oil
seals.  Fortunately, they are easy to replace.  I've done it about three
times.

>If this is a 22R engine, it is the sweetest engine Toyota has. Pretty
>torquey for a 4-cyl, smooth powerband all the way up to the redline,
>which is itself pretty high. It's a DOHC engine. Check to see when the
>timing belt was replaced-- in the truck or car, it's no more difficult
>to replace than any other timing belt. But, depending on the installation,
>it may be kinda tough to get to in this VW conversion (I had to unbolt
>the rear engine mount and raise the engine about an inch in the V6anagon,
>just to adjust the alternator belt!).

Steve, where do you get this stuff?  :^)

The 22R has a timing chain, not a timing belt, and if the chain is bad it
is a whole lot of work to replace because it's inside the front cover.  The
engine doesn't have much horsepower for a 2.4 liter (yes, it's a 2.4, not a
2.2!!)
but it is a decent engine.  Oh, and it is definately NOT DOHC.  Toyota did
put some DOHC heads on some of their older engines, but very few made it to
the States.  The ones I have seen were made by Yamaha (the head, I mean).
Of course, in the Eighties, Toyota started making DOHC engines all over the
place, but not on the 2.4.

I think the sweetest motor Toyota ever made was the 2TC, a 1600cc engine
that was in the early Corollas.  I've owned two of those, and the rear end
wore out before the engine did.  One had 300K miles, the other had 170K and
I delivered papers in it.  Bought it for $300, drove it 20,000 HARD miles
and sold it for $500, still running smooth as the day it rolled off the
assembly line.  That car (a '73 Corolla) had a 5-speed and was pretty peppy
- it had no trouble getting into triple digits.  I'd love to have a 2TC in
a bus - someone a while back mentioned on this list that it was a common
conversion somewhere (South America?).  Sometimes I think I should have
kept that car, but it had a rust problem.



-David

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David Schwarze                   '73 VW Safare Custom Camper       (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA               '73 Capri GT 2800                (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com        '87 Mustang Lx 5.0          (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des     '93 Weber WG-50                  (Da Piano)
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