1UZ into my Off-Road Long Travel Tacoma

[Smitherz]

Yeah there are a lot of options to use out there if you have the means to do a little machining. The Adaptronic isn't as plug and play as you think. It would be a big mistake to run it standalone with a supercharger at first. There are so many things you have to get familiar with to get it operating effectively that you would have a lot of problems trying to sort out different symptoms while tuning. It's a huge learning experience as the guide that they provide is kinda of vague and you have to do a lot of research on their forum to really get the meaning of all the adjustments and how to use it. And power? Who knows. I'm going to be using a different clutch and custom flywheel by the time I get around to doing any dyno pulls. But with all the mods I have it's going to rip I know that. I have a lot of tuning to do until then.

 

[Smitherz]

Just a quick update. I have the Adaptronic all wired up in its home in my glove box. Since I have all the wiring done right I have wrapped it all up and it's nearly permanent at this point.



I also put the wheels and drive shaft back on the truck so you KNOW I'm getting ready to drive this sucker. So with the new ARP hardware (thanks to Mr. Lextreme : ) the wiring operational, radiator sealed up and not leaking, clean oil and a makeshift intake hose I've nearly completed the swap. The last thing I need to do in the morning is make a couple brackets to hold the tranny crossbrace in place for the time being. My gearbox sits a little higher than the stock location and I'll be driving it to a friends shop to do the welding there next week. It's not a huge operation as this will only take me half a day to cut and reweld a couple things.

The front bumper, grill and headlights all fit right into place and bolt together really easy. It's just nice to work on it without all of that stuff attached.


The truck idles up perfectly and idles down when it gets up to temp. I revved it out a couple of times and boy does it sound good! My neighbor said, "that sure don't sound like a Lexus!". This is going to be fun.

 

[jdmhn8]

Been following you build for months. Lots of great info in here for 3rd gen 4Runner/1st gen Tacoma owners looking to do this swap.

Your exhaust solution was stupidly easy and looks like the most effective way to route it.

Looking forward to start my swap as my 5VZ just blew up this week!

Can't wait to see your final product.

 

[Smitherz]

Hey thanks I can't wait to drive the thing. I've fallen victim to Murphey's Law once again today as my alternator isn't up to the task of charging the battery. That's what you get with an original LS alternator! That must be the ONLY thing I haven't replaced yet on this engine. Tomorrow I'll get a new one first thing.

Yeah I'm loving the exhaust and I'll be making another system to swap in place that will be street oriented (more quiet). The one you see on there now is my offroad system and it comes off with only 2 nuts that clamp the v-bands down where they connect at the headers. I'll be able to swap out the loud for the quiet system in less then 5 minutes when I want to go from one to the other. =]

It's a good thing you've been studying up on everything that's involved with the swap process. It's intense. I studied this site and others for at least a year before I decided to go get an engine to start the build. And there were still things that came up that I didn't even realize would be a big deal. So get ready for some surprises! Every week I get a surprise of additional parts I need or just anything else that takes more money to get this project to the finish line. And like I said: today another $160 for an alternator. You gotta throw the receipts away and just laugh about it or you won't ever finish.

 

[Smitherz]

And for everyone's viewing pleasure I took a video of the engine firing up today while I was troubleshooting the alternator. It starts up on it's own with the turn of the key like it should. I have the Adaptronic tucked nicely under the dash and it's working quite well. Of course the wheezing air sound is the idle speed solenoid doing it's thing. I need to connect that with the air intake system or get a little filter for it or whatever. It's funny to watch my friends come over and stick their fingers in it. They get zapped but it's harmless. It gives em a jump though.

I revved it up pretty high yesterday and it's really loud but it sounds so good! One of my neighbors asked when I was going to finish the exhaust system. I informed him that it WAS done. hehe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmhoAtU7-cY

 

[Smitherz]

I drove the truck this afternoon. It is fast.

 

[Hiluxus_CW]

I drove the truck this afternoon. It is fast.

got a video...?

 

[mshawari1]

I drove the truck this afternoon. It is fast.

Conguratulatuion !!

 

[cribbj]

Hey Ryan, congrats on learning the Adaptronic, and getting the truck driveable! That's a great feeling when you've been able to get the thing tuned yourself. Hope you have a wideband hooked up?

 

[toy4whatever]

Can you post some more pics of the front hood latch and the cross bar you made? I havent decided yet if I want to do this on my '90 pickup. Looks like it would give me a lot of room. Only thing with mine is I'm keeping the A/C. Thanks.

 

[Smitherz]

I haven't had ANY time at all in the past few days and I have to work as fast as I can in the morning so I can have time in the afternoon to find a new pressure plate and clutch disk for a new flywheel I have. The other POS isn't working for $hit. Yeah it drives but it's NOT RIGHT. This engine is a ripper for sure. Me and my friend drove across town to show some friends at a truck shop and we were just laughing the while time like Beavis and Butthead. It's so loud we were just laughing at how ridiculous it is. Some kids in a truck were checking mine out as we drove by and then I gave them some throttle for them to listen to and their eyes popped out of their sockets. I'll have video and all that fun stuff when I get the time. I can take the transmission out and back in in about an hour now.

Thanks Mshawari1 I finally have a V8 woohoo!

Cribbj thanks man. Also this Adaptronic is awesome. Runs nearly perfect and I haven't even dialed it in at ALL yet. It starts up like magic and it idles down when it warms up like it should. All that stuff is easily adjustable. I know a good amount about this stuff and I thought the Adaptronic would be easier but it's a steep learning curve when you are trying to get it running and I'm glad I had to make myself go through some troubleshooting because it forced me to learn a LOT more from their forum and by talking with other owners of the system. I have a lot to learn and I'm glad I have a lot of nerd in me or else this would be hell!

I'm going to get some sweet videos when the truck is in top shape and worthy of it. Every one is welcome to subscribe to my youtube channel thing so you get notified when I post more vids. I want to steal a friends GoPro camera and play with it too. For now the clutch is acting up and I'm kicking the whole thing to the curb in favor of my new flywheel and whatever I find to make the next clutch kit. It makes me laugh to hear the race car engine in a Tacoma that looks kinda normal. People hear the noise and they have to look around to figure out where it's coming from because there isn't a Nascar in sight.

 

[Cobber]

Well done Ryan.

Get that clutch sorted and have some fun.

 

[Smitherz]

Thanks big C. This thing is a dream come true for me. I popped the clutch out this evening and I should be able to grab a different disk and make it work just fine. I want to take my time and get a performance clutch to match the good flywheel. I have a feeling I can get a 6 puck disk to work with the pressure plate configuration. I'll be taking it around to talk with some race car builders and get their input. I might end up re-drilling it also. I have a couple options. I'll be putting things back in tomorrow and I should be on the road again. I really need to just do some normal driving and easy tuning... that way I can run all the old fuel through it! It's one year old fuel and apparently it's working just fine. I have 1/3 of a tank to use up then I need to top it off with a fresh tank.



Transmission out then in - then out again and in - and one last time... I'm getting really fast at this operation. I'll be able to disassemble the whole truck with just a few hand tools now that I know exactly which ones I need to do anything.

 

[Smitherz]

Here's a good one. The only video I have so far. Friends were fighting it out for a ride in the truck and the loser had to take a video while we drove away. Trying to keep the revs from going to high for now. Also kinda have to baby the clutch while I put together my new one. Also I'll begin building my 9" rear axle because I know I'll be needing that soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8grTIRTG3w

 

[Jay351]

That is so great... words fail me...

 

[Smitherz]

Haha thanks man. I did some great burnouts today! Then when I was in another town visiting some friends at a shop my radiator sprung a leak so I used some super expensive industrial epoxy for radiators. The only catch is that it takes 24hrs to cure so it's parked until I get a ride back tomorrow to go back and get it. Now that's custom!

 

[Smitherz]

Just a small update. Just been adjusting the clutch and I think I got it nailed today. I also grabbed my old Flowmaster and threw it underneath so that I could actually hear myself think when I drive. It's cutting down the flow a bit but hey, I'm not choking in the cab from the gas now and it's nice and quiet so I can hear the engine now! I love it. I'm gathering materials and components to begin a roll cage so that means all the cross supports will be cut out underneath and replaced with custom cage cross members. When I do this I'll be re-routing a whole new exhaust system probably with just a larger Flowmaster muffler.



Of course I have more tuning to do with the computer and now I can actually focus on that with the clutch working properly and such. It's coming together and I'll actually be driving it around running errands tomorrow. I'm really dying to build bumpers all the way around this truck so I'll be concentrating on that kinda stuff and hopefully get that and some inner fenders made out of aluminum before the summer gets here.

 

[extremetoy2000]

Haha thanks man. I did some great burnouts today! Then when I was in another town visiting some friends at a shop my radiator sprung a leak so I used some super expensive industrial epoxy for radiators. The only catch is that it takes 24hrs to cure so it's parked until I get a ride back tomorrow to go back and get it. Now that's custom!

5 minute JB weld. Its lasted 3 years on my radiator.

 

[Smitherz]

Damn forum screwing up again.. adding whacky attachments. Yeah I used the crazy epoxy and it's holding just fine. The next thing is JB weld... actually the next thing I do is buy a brand new generic size aluminum radiator and begin modding it like I should have done in the first place! Never take a used radiator. I bet that JB would have held though. I have JB on a plastic streetbike fuel tank near the front of it where it bolts to the frame and it's been holding for over a year while I've been doing wheelies and some jumps and such. Amazing stuff.

 

[extremetoy2000]

I have no idea what those attachments are about.