The Cream Pie - A 2005 4wd/LS/5-Speed/SAS Conversion

This is coming along nicely. But every time I read The heading I'm expecting to see something else.
" Cream pie"

 

Youre sick

 

Now it's a party! Looking good Alex!

 

Thanks Jon

 

Sheesh. This is going to be a sick ass build

 

Pass that..

 

I’ll pick ‘Jumbo Tires’ for $1000, Alex.

 

Been building a 1st gen tacoma/Hilux instead of working on the cream pie, but that all changed this week. I installed the engine and trans. This combo fits amazingly well in the chassis. I did have to take a hammer to the tunnel in a few places to clear the trans and cut a new hole for the shifter, but it looks like i can reuse the tundra crossmember with some mods.

The First gen first gen i have been working on. Im calling her Elma since the previous owner carved her name in the hood of the 79. Its a 79 toyota body on a '98 tacoma 4wd chassis and running gear. I had a rolled taco sitting around so i decided to body swap it to the best generation toyota truck ever.
Build thread if anyone is interested. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/my-79-hilux-body-swapped-first-gen-tacoma.637344/




Anyway, back to our scheduled program. I welded the front frame section and made some plates for the motor mounts. The LQ4 now sitting in the engine bay and in the position it needs to be. Stock exhaust manifolds clear with plenty of room. Even the tundra heat shields are going to work.



Tundra radiator bolted in to check fan clearance. Check.



Tundra crossmember in the factory position. I have a piece of tube holding it up where it needs to be. My plan is to cut off the factory chevy mount from its crossmember and weld it top the tundra one.



The size difference between the DOHC engines toyota use for the 4.0s and 4.7s in comparison to the LS engines is amazing. The LS stuff is tiny.
here is a 1uz next to a LS1

 

The ls is a compact little powerhouse. I'm excited to see your build keep going. Every day I wish I had more power and I remind myself I have a 5.3 sitting in the back of the shop just waiting for a good massaging.

 

This single picture will tell you everything you need to know if people want to talk high mileage Toyota engines vs "high mileage" gm engines....

Great build, by the way.

 

I dont follow.

 

Toyota is known for their longevity. GM, not so much. Just looking at the engines, it's not hard to see the Toyota is much more substantial. I understand that what makes an engine's service life remarkably long is much more than it's outward appearance but, the picture still says a lot.

Mind you, we're talking about longevity. I've said nothing about the ability to make power. The GM is, hand's down, the winner in that regard.

 

I agree that toyota definitely makes better engines overall. Judging the two based on this pic doesnt tell me anything. Its two different engine types. DOHC vs pushrod doesnt make one more reliable over another IMO. Hell, we just scrapped an 05 chevy that had 475k miles on the original LS engine in it. Most ive ever seen. Didnt even smoke.

 

Agreed. Like I said, you really can't tell much about the outward appearance. The picture is more symbolic. 475k on an LS is a LOT. People would be amazed. 475k on a Toyota, people would just be wondering when they need to do the timing belt and they'd be on their way without thinking much about it.

 

Agreed. Reliability has gone out the window with this build. Im going for 500ish HP with the tons and 40s. Should be fun.

 

Kind of a shit pic but i installed the nv4500 and it damn near lines up with the factory mount. Some mods required. I grafted in the stock chevy mount into the tundra crossmember. Had to notch it in the front about 1/2" to clear the trans as well. Came out very nice.



Plenty of room for driveshaft


Even the driveshaft bolts up. This is the factory one piece chevy shaft.


Mounted up the wheels and tires.



More to come.

 

Its like a match made in heaven.
It was meant to be haha

Have you given any thought you your bumpers yet? I'm still undecided for a rear bumper but I know I want a wrap around high clearance style rear bumper.

 

Not much thought. I like the brute force front bumpers. Not sure on the rear yet. Ill make me a set of rectangular tube steps like are on most of my builds.

 

Spent at least 4 hours yesterday cleaning off the remainder of the radius arm brackets from the 05+ super duty axle. It sucked. I also cut about 2" of the drivers side cast housing so i can have room for the lower control arm bracket. After i breathed in 10lbs of grinding dust, i used the engine hoist to put the axle in place. Ignore the custom tierod. After initial placement, i may have to re-think the trans crossmember. It will probably be in the way of the upper link on the passenger side. We will see once the brackets come in.


last week i took advantage of Artec's holiday deals and ordered lots of stuff fromt hem. All brackets, DOM for links (because of free shipping), drag link/tierod, truss, etc were ordered from them. Also ordered all the heims from Ruffstuff. Ill be out of the country for work all next week, so it gives them time to ship it all to me. Hope fully when i get back, i will make the cream pie a roller.

 

Steering box placement is set...ish. May need some fine tuning but this will be the general orientation. I had to notch out some sheet metal in the core support to get it as far forward as possible. Im going to make my own double shear steering arm for it. Frame will be plated and reinforced for the mount.




I hope to start mocking up the 3-link next week.

 

There is an awful lot of ass-kicking going on in this thread.

Nice work!

 

Fact check: True.

 

I saw your Tacoma on CL this morning at work. I wish I had the means to make an offer on it. Someday I'd like to find a Toyota with a 5vz and a stick shift for a DD

 

Link to Craigslist ad?

 

Easy there. Not that one. Lol.

 

https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/east-bernard-2000-toyota-tacoma-4x4-v6/7044729467.html