This build is incredible! My dad and I swapped a Ls motor into a 66 Chevelle, but I cannot imagine swapping one in a Toyota pickup. The lack of room definitely creates innovative ideas. I am duly impressed.

 

Thanks! A friend of mine just dropped one into his early '60's Nova and that turned out really sweet. I wouldn't mind you posting a shot of yours right here if you're inclined.

 

Been working on the nickel and dime stuff trying to get all the left over parts off the shelf and back on the truck.

I needed to mount a battery cable connector and found a spot that I think will suffice. Its up and out of the way while not too hard to reach. If it works out, I'll add some protection.



Also wrapping up the interior with a sound system and a console between the seats.

 

Stunning rig! The attention to detail is awesome. Many of us can learn a lot from this build.

Well done. You must be really stoked cruising round in this.

 

Wow, Thanks! Yup, I'm digging it!

Been fighting the death wobble issue but have it whipped. Everything on the axle was tight and the caster measured to 6-7 degrees (neg), so the only thing left was shocks. I bought ones with adjustable dampening, set them on med hard compression and that seemed to do the trick. I didn't have nearly enough compression dampening before and that allowed excessive bump steer, setting off the DW. Life is good!

Can't wait to get out and bounce it off a few rocks. Thanks again for the kind words!

Les

 

1000 mile update:

1. Chronic leaks from lower coolant hose and steering fluid lines, low pressure side cured by replacing regular hose clamps with lined clamps and replacing the silicone hose with plain old everyday reinforced rubber.
2. High coolant temps cured by a) correcting the mis-wiring of the fan relays along with b) reversing the polarity of one of the pulling fans, making it actually a puller...
3. Solving an intermittent short (blown fuse) in the tail/interior light circuit by insulating the hot pigtail routed for shifter/accessory lighting and TC lock up, neither of which are currently used.

All relatively minor issues. I also wonder about the speedometer accuracy as 80mph comes up real easily. Gotta watch that.

 

Was the flip up front clip a necessity?

 

No, not necessary at all. It was just an idea I had and wanted to see if I could make it happen.

 

Hey guys I have a 2000 Tacoma Prerunner 3.4L. I'm looking into a Ls1 swap with a 4l60e transmission. I was wondering about the conversion mounts and everything that I would need to make this possible. I already have the motor and transmission just need guidance on where to go from here! Thanks for all the help.

 

Start off by creating a thread dedicated to your rig. Include lots of pictures (people like me love pictures) and talk about the final goal- street racer, rock hopper, etc. You'll get a lot more attention that way as opposed to being buried in some boring long forgotten thread.

 

So I've been asking myself if this truck will ever make it out of the parking lot and the answer is, "Oh, yeah!" Packed up the truck along with the KTM for a weekend of playing in the dirt at Taylor Park. A quick run up Tincup pass from the Tincup side (no ATV/UTV bypasses taken...) and back revealed everything is good. Its a fairly short run, not terribly difficult, but enough to expose mechanical weaknesses. My concerns about engine and transmission cooling as well as clearance between front diff and oil pan were laid to rest. The only failure of the day was that cheap ass rocker on the ARB switch. Those things are ridiculously fragile. For what those cost, there's no excuse.

 

Glad your shakedown run went well! Truck looks awesome!

 

Thanks, Ed. I'd like to load up and visit your area sometime.
We tossed the yard work last weekend in favor of a quick run up to Bill Moore Lake, west of Denver. It's a moderate trail with a couple challenging sections that ends near timberline which always means scenic.

 

LSx based vehicle Will do that to you! bring a hand held GPS to confirm. Speedo should be 2-3 mph optimistic at 70mph.

 

lol, I'm better at minding my manners than I am at concocting excuses...

Hey B.Y., just curious. That's quite a list of accomplishments in your sig. Got any pics? Boast a little!

 

Fantastic build! What kind of MPG/Range are you getting with it? I did not notice that in the thread.

 

Thanks. I haven't taken an accurate MPG survey but, I would estimate 16-18 average. The truck is once again under the knife with a radiator relocation (forward 1.5in.) and fan reconfiguration that I hope will solve the overheating issue while running in low and slow.

 

Decided a radiator fan reconfiguration was in order which also means the radiator would be relocated to make room for new fans. I originally had the radiator mounted as far forward as possible (at the time). The twin pullers fit around the water pump pulley and intake boot with a little blade trimming.


I found that 2- 9in. and 2- 7.5in. fans would cover the most area while allowing space for the pulley.


Went with this option, mounted new Spal fans


The only problem now was contact between intake boot and the upper RH fan. The radiator would be moved forward a bit more which I knew was gonna suck as the lower saddle was welded to stay.
After much cutting and grinding, the space was cleared.


The upper cross member and plastic grille also required modification


The upper hold down braces extended


Relays located and mounted


New saddle fabricated and mounted, bolted in this time...
Fused power pulled from the frame mounted terminal block


Upper stays installed


All wired in and ops checks done. The new fans move a ton of air, way more than the ones that came off. All that remained was modifying the FWD upper cross member and rerouting the headlight harness which tucked in nicely within the grille.


Connected all hoses, cleaned up a little cabin electrical, filled the radiator and fired it up. With the temp up, the fans cycled on and off on schedule, which I thought was a reeeely good sign. Took a quick trip around the area, returned to the barn for some clamp retorque and final checks. More driving tomorrow.

 

Nice work on the fans and relays. Do they all come on at once, or do they come on in stages as the temp rises? Awesome work as always, I'm a big fan of your build and fab skills!

 

Thank you, Brother!
All at once as temp dictates. I like the idea of multistage activation and don't think it would be hard to do. I'm also looking at placing a thermal switch in the trans fluid cooler line so I won't have to rely on my short attention span...another easy task.