This conversion is about 20 years in the making with the planning and collection of parts. Recent changes at my shop as far as storage has forced me to either move on this project or sell it off in pieces. I do need a functioning pickup again and I do miss driving it and in reality both the truck and its parts aren't worth a whole lot as far as cash value. Certainly the drivetrain isn't worth what I originally paid for it back in '97 so I've decided to finally build it and get it up and running as planned.

Here is how it looked about 8 years ago. It has the V6 engine and these early ones were notorious for blowing head gaskets. This one blew both of them about 10 years ago so here she has sat. I'd get about 3-5 notes a year under the windshield wiper asking to buy it. But its got a blown motor and its on a salvage title. Meaning: It ain't worth squat, other than its use to me as a truck and that I happen to still like it. So I never entertained any offers.

I'm not full size truck guy which is why I like this old beater so much but I do want full size truck power and..... sound. I bought this '93 LT1 small block complete way back in '97. It was a killer powerplant at the time but with the introduction of the newer LS powerplants and the passage of time it too isn't worth much. However, I own it clear so I'm going to put it all to good use. More later...
Thanks for looking!Justin

Thanks Wrenchtech! Its all comes down to personal preference. I've read the opinions that you should keep your Toyota all Toyota and that's fine I can certainly respect that but for me personally a Lexus /Toyota V8 doesn't interest me. I'm sure they make for a nice conversion and the ones I've seen do look nice sitting in an earlier engine bay but I'm drawn to American muscle besides as I posted earlier I already own this powerplant and am completely upside down in its investment at this point. The engine originates from a '93 Camaro Z28. I bought it way, way back (1997) from Billy Grahams Camaro/Firebird salvage in Alabama. Don't know if he is still around but what a great guy to deal with. He shipped it to me absolutely complete with all the accessories and their related lines, ECU, Harness , smog pump ETC. Everything and I mean everything peripheral needed to successfully transplant this engine into another vehicle. I also had the T56 six-speed it was mated to but sold it years ago. As for performance...With David's (engine builder) ability he could have it turning out 750HP if I asked and paid him to but do I really need that? Because I can't leave well enough alone I did snag an old GM performance LT4 upgrade kit so when its all over I'm aiming to have just a nice Healthy and reliable LT4 that will probably be good for a solid 375-400HP and most of that output should be down in the lower RPM ranges. This is another personal preference, I like low, grunty stump puller motors. As for the transmission clearance, I was prepared to cut and modify the tunnel or shim the body just high enough to clear. A 2 or 3 inch body lift kit was out because the truck sits high enough and I had one some time back and just hated the instability (body roll) it created. As of this posting I'm a lot further up the road as the drivetrain is now fully mounted in the chassis. I'll try and get this all caught up but I can say it went smoother than I was expecting. Thanks for following this and best of luck with your conversion whichever way you decide to go.Justin

Commitment time on the tranny.

Per instructions the output shaft has to be shortened just ahead of the splines that where once used for an internal dampener.

Wrapped the tranny like it was getting a hair cut and carefully zip wheeled the excess off.

The end was file finished and polished next.

Now able to mock it up fully for the first time.

The adapter housing has accommodations for a more forward gear selector. I'd figure this one out later.


Decided I wanted that selector as close to the shifter tower as possible for a more correct look and feel; That later.

Another requirement for this kit was a 23 spline output shaft gear drive transfer case. As I'd discover those where only found on the four cylinder Turbo version trucks. I faintly remember those in the 80's and they are sort of a rare bird. Most standard gear drive transfer cases have a smaller 21 spline which this one certainly had. The way around it was to buy a lower 4.70 gear set from a company called Trail gear which had the 23 spline output shaft as part of the kit. Problem solved, I'd have a lower crawler gear and most importantly it was now going to work with the transmission adaptor kit. A buddy helped me install this kit several years ago and one of the requirements was that we had to grind away some of the inner housing to get the new larger gear to clear. A potential problem is that this factory casting is very light and a few guys where experiencing cracking in their modified housing.

Advance adapters offers this heavy duty replacement housing machined especially for the larger lower gear sets.

I went ahead and ordered one as I figured I've got the extra weight of this HD tranny/drivetrain and the extra output of a V8. For 200 bucks it's just good insurance. Installing that next.

Fast forward several weeks and we are now over at my buddy Rick's shop who was nice enough to help me with this conversion. Getting back to that gear selector location change I wanted: I learned that Toyota made two different transmissions for this particular transfer case. An EFI version and Carbureted version. The Carbureted version has the more forward selector location and I of course had purchased an EFI version. Fortunately the transfer cases are Identical and its as simple as just changing the shifter rails. You can see the new shifter rails with the claw ends poking out of the new housing.

Done! New HD housing and shifter rails installed.

Original EFI version shifter location gets a factory cover plate. Now ready to install this for good on the tranny.
Thanks for looking!Justin

Getting her ready to accept the new drivetrain.

To make everyone's life easy the core support and inner fender liners where removed.

We just plasma'd them off at the firewall but before its done I'll fabricate new flanges with capture nuts so this entire front assembly will remain removable for easier service of this larger V8 engine. Actually its not larger than its old V6 only just slightly longer as I'd later realize.

Out with the old

Prepping the chassis itself next.

My buddy Rick plasma cutting the old motor mounts off.
Cleaning up the remaining slag

Surfaces all clean but we'd eventually have to cut past those platforms and into the actual frame rail to have enough room for the new mounts.

Time at last to join the motor to its new tranny.

One Looong assembly.

Time to find out whether this is all going to work or not. Fitment into its new home begins.Thanks for looking!
Justin

Got the new drivetrain sitting in the Sweet spot.

As we jockeyed it for best position the first of several obstacles quickly made themselves known.

This rearward axle mount is in direct interference with the bellhousing and the eventual starter motor. I'm running the suspension lift and you can see the drop brackets that came with the kit. By Cutting this mount free and eliminating the brackets I can easily remount it lower and hopefully out of the way. Will know once the entire motor is set up.

But for now it just needed to go. The other side would also have to go.
Par for the course with custom retro fits.

With that mount gone the motor really slipped into place and at a really nice angle. I mocked up the water pump for a more accurate final length and to see how far it was going to intrude into the core support. With most of these conversion the radiator must go forward and you end up losing the hood latch. I'm trying desperately to avoid that and at first glance I think I might get away with it.

As for engine height the front of the oil pan just has to clear the steering link. The motor is spaced off it here in about its final position.

Other clearance concerns: Surprisingly good clearance with tunnel and bell housing. Worst case scenario would have been a required body lift but I was desperately trying to avoid that too.

Plenty of room down here and to develop a new axle amount and/or position.

What was most relieving was to find the shift towers in nearly the stock position save for they are a touch wider apart. So glad I moved that rear sector forward . My initial measurements had the shift tower a lot more forward than this but much to my great relief its almost equal. I was getting worried it was all falling into place a little too easily.

With all these planets in near alignment we began building the new front engine mounts.
Justin

Further motor mock up and a few minor but expected clearance issues.

Welding in the new motor mounts

Engine now mounted with good oil pan clearance .

Now time to mock more of the engine up with heads and intake.

Again this motor started life as an LT1 from a '93 Z28 but being as I can never leave well enough alone I found this complete factory NOS GM Performance LT4 upgrade kit on Ebay several years ago. So once David has completed the rebuild it will be a nice healthy LT4 as what would have been found in the '96 Grand Sport Corvette.

Interference with the fire wall immediately cropped up on the right side with the head and valve cover.

Left side fits beautifully so far.

Head and valve cover encroach into the embossed relief for the A/C evaporator box.

A quick relief was added so we could keep going. I'll go back and address this later. Also below this cut the lead corners of the tunnel hit the bell housing so they'll have to be reworked a bit.

Same story on the drivers side but nothing really serious much to my great relief and surprise. Again this will be a clean up detail I'll fix later.

End of the water pump is damn near even to where the end of the original powerplant sat. Really pleased with the position and fitment so far.

Onto the next challenge of exhaust manifolds.

Justin

New drivetrain fully mounted in the chassis.

Upping the ante with the more parts. Exhaust manifold will require some additional clearance with the firewall and so will the eventual emission system I can tell already.

Brake lines will also need to be rerouted but just enough clearance in to run a pipe through there.

Left side will require much more work as I couldn't even mock it up. This side dumps out the center and collided with the torsion bar.

The other axle mount down below there will also have to relocated. I'll deal with all that later...

Could have been worse..

transfer case/ mount sits farther back so the original crossmember could not be reused.

Fabricated this quick tubular version which utilizes the original mounting location

And stock mount. This is pretty much just a holding fixture until we finalize its design.

What I am most shocked and pleasantly surprised with(not to mention grateful) is the clearance I have in with the tunnel. I always thought I was going to have clearance issues with this behemoth of a transmission. I was prepared to either shim the body or major surgery on the tunnel to get them to clear but fortunately neither where required .

Can't keep the cooler on this side of the tranny due to the eventual drive shaft but it keeps it sealed from the elements for now.
Justin

Exit port issues on the left manifold required me to look into headers a little sooner than expected as those cast iron units don't really lend themselves for modification. I have always wanted the header system by SLP. Much to my disappointment the company is still around but they have long since discontinued parts for this old motor.

After some searching I was able to snag this NOS set. Had to step up a bit but this is the system I wanted.

Slightly larger than old cast iron units

but will definitely flow better.

Along with more performance they really are a work of art.

Initial mock up.

Right side fits about the same as the manifold did.

However one of the tube runners does reach back deeper. Have to compensate for this clearance and for heat. Really glad I bought these before I welded that firewall back up.

Left side of course has the same issues as the manifold.

Exits right over the back of the A-arm. Some mild rerouting will be needed but I can at least modify this tube.

I've complicated things more as other mods needed include the steering shaft but we'll get it all dialed in before its over. It will be worth the extra effort for the added performance not to mention they just look nice on there.

Good clearance with the inner aprons.

Continuing on down this rabbit hole. Thanks for looking!Justin