Have a 22R engine & looking to buy a dead, (but very cheap), '83 Chevy S-10 for it. Am wondering if adapter will be needed for transmission as '82 Toyota was 2WD or any other major retrofitting issues?
The easiest path to success with this project is to use a Toyota transmission. No adapters needed to mate the 2. You will need a new driveshaft made up. If you use the front half of a Toyota and the back half of the S-10, a driveshaft shop can mate the 2. You will need custom mounts fabricated for the engine mounts and trans mounts. You will have to work out the radiator hoses and adapters. Then there is wiring. If the 22R is carbureted, the engine wiring won’t be too bad. You’ll need a wiring diagram for the truck and the engine so you can connect things properly. You may need a new oil pan - not sure is the 22R is front or rear sump (you need a rear sump.) Adapters for the gauges, speedometer correction or aftermarket speedo, aftermarket tach, throttle linkage, clutch linkage or hydraulics, custom exhaust, custom shifter, and on and on… a thousand little details to mate these 2.
No one makes any such adapters nor kits to do this. S-10 owners want to put Chevy V8s in them, not Toyota 22R engines. You either need to be able to fabricate and weld, wire, measure or have a wheelbarrow full of cash and a shop that can do the swap for you.
And what will you have at the end of the project? A 25 year old 100 hp 4 popper in a 36 year old small GM truck. If that’s what you want, go for it!
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Not sure how much you think this will cost but it could really be expensive . If a 1983 S10 is what you want I would look for one that someone has done most of the work to make it look good. Try the Ebay and Hemmings sites for a start.
Lol! We (my man & I) can weld, fab, measure, wire & creatively engineer with the best, but I agree & concede. He being the eternal optimist, had the attitude that we’d “just slap in that 22R motor” easy peasy. While as myself being a tad more realistic, knew all theses little things would kill us. But thank you for sharing your wisdom!
Christina
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Cool! Thank you for the followup post!
You would be surprised how many times we get asked questions like this from people with far less skills than you two! They think cars are plug and play like computer parts. If the S10 is in good shape there are easier swaps within the GM family that would make a cool truck. Not as unique as a 22R but much easier.
A truck ls (4.8, 5.3) motor would probably be a relatively easy and cheap swap. Compared to a Toyota engine anyway. Plus you’d have quite a bit more pep.
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