ewarnerusa

I just finished my deckplate mod on my 4-cyl tacoma 2.7L. I was unsure how to do it for a while because the airbox is smaller and not flat, there didn't seem to be a good place to put it, I couldn't find a 2.7L-specific write-up, etc..... But after all that brainstorming I figured I was trying to reinvent the wheel so I just chopped a hole in the front and dropped a 4" deckplate in there. Total project cost = $7.55 and a couple hours of work. It works great, I just put the EFI fuse back in and fired it up. Like everyone says, you can hear the difference right away. The throttle response is quicker. My test drive was cut short due to a sudden thunderstorm, but I'll be getting plenty of testing in I'm sure! The windshield washer reservoir refill is partially blocking the hole, as you can see in the pic. I'm not too worried about it. Is anyone working on the windshield-washer-fluid-reservoir-refill-relocation mod??!! haha. Is anyone interested in a write-up? I'm not sure how to do one on this site, but I took pics along the way if anyone would like to know. GO 4-BANGER!!!

PoorHouse

Nice work, pic looks good.

Do you have any pics of your topper? I'm thinking of the same one and would like to see how it looks on a Tacoma.


Always good to see another Montana person on here.

Enjoying the heat wave?

Schuey2002

Nice job! I've already done a deck plate mod on my Taco ( about 2 years ago) in the same location on the air box..

I took a zip-tie and a ran it through that hole (you can see it in your pic) on the radiator support and around the neck of the "windshield-washer-fluid-reservoir".. After cinching it up, it pulled it over enough to be able to get to the deck plate just that much easier..

butnut

I never plan to cover up with a deck plate, so I just cut a huge square opening in the same place. Some gutter guard keeps stray critters out. Those Japan under headlight scoops would let some nice fresh air in...nice install BTW.

Tacoma Dude

Just did mine earlier today!
I've been so excited about it I posted another thread, mentioned it in chat more than once, posting here...

I almost can't wait until I have to drive to work tomorrow!



Oh yeah, nice install!

ewarnerusa

haha! Thanks for the compliments! I couldn't wait for my drive to work, either. I took a 10-mile detour on the freeway just to test it out! I think I can really tell a difference on the freeway, I could maintain 5th gear/75 mph up a hill that I used to regularly lose power and even downshift on. I accelerated from an on-ramp up a hill to 5th gear/75 mph while still going uphill, too. So I'm already pleased that it give me a little boost. I'm up to 540 hp now....just kidding. GO 4-BANGER!

ewarnerusa

Here's a pic with bad lighting, I'll try looking for a better one when I'm at home. You are thinking of the ARE MX topper? I really like mine, it is very nice. The only problem I've ever had is I broke one of the side slider windows and it cost $100 to replace. The window had a small chip on the corner that I think was there when I bought it new, and one day I slid it closed and it just shattered. the dark tinted windows are great, and the little skylight is cool, too. It has an LED 3rd brakelight that needs to be wired up, and an interior light that is powered by 2 C batteries. I paid $1200 new when I lived in Colorado Springs, are you getting about the same deal?

PS - the heat wave is crazy, i'm so glad I have A/C!

PoorHouse

I am looking at the ARE MX and the Raven cab high. They both start at about $1100. Optioned out with interior lights, headliner, 3rd brake light, front slider, etc. are $1250-$1300.

Your's looks great, it would be nice to have a little extra room...

ewarnerusa

Here's a photo from this weekend at Rock Lake near Deer Lodge. The girlfriend and I were taking a walk when I gazed back and saw this beautiful sight.

calrockx

hey that's cool you did the deckplate mod to the 2.7 engine. my friend has a tacoma with that engine, and i'm trying ot get him to do it too. so how about that write up or some more pics? i already did it to my 3.4. so it basically the same procedure?

ewarnerusa

Thanks for the compliments! Yeah, it is the same procedure for the 2.7L as the 3.4. The airbox is a little funky because it is not flat like the 3.4. The plastic is thick and not only is it "ribbed" instead of flat, but on the inside it has the grid-like surface. I wouldn't try cutting it with a dremel, I used a jig saw. A hole-saw would work great, but a 4-inch bit costs about $50! Actually, I think the hole is 4.5". You have to be careful of not cutting the plastic air pipe on the inside of the air box, too (see the pic below). But the procedure is the same, and the cutting might involve a little less labor because on the 2.7 you can just take the bottom part of the air box out that you have to cut. I think on the 3.4 you have to take the whole assembly out, top and and bottom of the box, unplug sensor wires, take off hoses... Is that right? I have pics at home, I'll post more if you're interested. But like I said, it really is the same procedure as the 3.4 one. It might actually be easier. Here are two pics.

ewarnerusa

Hey calrockx, here are more pics.


Here's the airbox taken out with the stencil of the hole drawn on it. Even though the 4" deckplate pretty much takes up the whole front of this airbox, you still want to put it as far to the top and to the left as you can, because the refill for the windshield washer fluid gets in the way (see previous post pics).



Here's how I secured the air box for cutting. I used some C-clamps to hold it to the bench to keep it in place. Then I used a drill with the largest bit I have (like a 1/2") to put a hole in the inside of the stencil circle but close to the line. Then I could fit my jig saw into that hole and start the cutting process around the stencil.



This shows the inside of the air box before the cut. You can see that intake pipe is right under the outer wall of the air box that is to be cut, so you have to be careful of not cutting too deep. The jigsaw blade was long enough to cut into it, so I just used a scrap 2x4 piece as a spacer between the jigsaw and the airbox while I was cutting so the blade would never go deep enough into the airbox to cut that pipe. I thought about removing this pipe altogether. But then I figured that I have to put the deckplate cap back on, I want it to work at least as well as it did when it was stock. So I left it alone.



Here we have the hole cut and I've put big globs of the sealant into the troughs of the wavy air box. This is just to seal it up since the box isn't flat. It worked good for me. I also lined the inside of the deckplate with the sealant when I dropped it in. The last step is to just stick the deckplate in there and screw it in. You have to turn the deckplate around a bit once it's in to make sure that each of the screw holes has some plastic to screw into. Another problem with it not being flat. Hope these helped! The final pic is just the one I previously posted, with it fully installed. Have fun. -Ed

calrockx

cool, thanks. those help a lot .

kevin444

you should remove the elbow. Theres a metal rivet holding it in. Drill it out and pull that sucker out. Awesome job BTW. I did it two. Let there be light with the 2.7's!