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

Some very entertaining work! Excited about the new project haha

 

Impressive is too weak a word!

 

Lots of hard work and great progress over the weekend. 14B rear end completely rebuilt with new 5.13s, detroit locker, new bearings and seals, new brake rotors and pads and a paint job. Also mounted some 14" Bilstein 7100s i had laying around for years. They will be temporary (maybe) as i still wait on my 10" smoothies to come in from Fox for my cantilever setup.

New (wrong carrier) on the left vs the old Gov bomb g80 on the right. The 14b has a carrier break at 4.56s and i ordered the wrong gears. Thick cut gears and the thicker carrier wouldnt let me install the carrier into the housing. Luckily a buddy had a 4:10 and down open carrier and i swapped the ring gear and detroit over to it.


Nailed the pattern 0.07 backlash


And installed in the truck. (u-bolts will be cut down)


Shiny new brakes


Bilstein 7100s mounted underneath and using the stock chevy axle mounts (with some mods)


Also removed the 3" body lift on the '94. It looks somewhat presentable now. I still want to lower it another 3" or so overall.

 

Well, it steers on its own now. I modified the firewall plate with a pass-though bearing mount for a 3/4" shaft and used several different random toyota steering u-joints to make up the connections to the ifs box. Had to drill two holes (badly) though the shock towers to run the shaft. Fun fact, an early 80s toyota steering column houses a smooth 3/4" shaft with a spline on one end that matches the Tundra. Its fascinating how toyota hasnt changed over the years in some aspects.

Modified firewall plate. I cut up the original mount and welded in a replacement panel with the pass-through bearing. The coupler is the original Tundra piece that i cut off the 90-degree joint they use to go to the rack and pinion. This was welded onto a shaft from a Lexus GS400 that i had on the shelf for some reason.


From there we exit the firewall wth the Lexus shaft and u-joint. You can see i misjudged where the holes needed to be drilled in the shock towers by about 1/2". Had to whore them out a little for the shaft to go through.


The early 80s shaft then connects from the firewall to the IFS box with the IFS coupler.




I will pull it all back out tonight and fully weld it and paint it all. Next up will be figuring out the angled hydroboost.

 

Been a while since i worked on the Cream Pie, but im back on her. I picked up a 1966 C10 from a friend and have focusing my time on that. Now im back on our regularly scheduled program. Over the weekend i attempted to fit the hydroboost in the stock location. I couldnt get the master cylinder to clear the shock towers without sticking it up through the hood. Even with an angled bracket that i adapted from an early bronco, the MC would still hit the coil packs on the engine. Only option i am left with for the HB is to remote mount it. I bought a kit that allows you to mount the HB system anywhere on the truck and actuate it with a slave cylinder and a hydraulic line. I think its going on the passenger side perpendicular to the front of the truck. Just waiting on parts now for that aspect. I did get the PS reservoir and cooler mounted.

As i wait on parts, i started messing with the shifters inside the truck. I made a simple linkage to connect the NV4500 shifter to the stock tundra shifter. I made a base that bolts to the top of the NV4500 to mount the stock tundra shifter in its factory place. This allows me to use the shift boot where it needs to be. Note that i cut the carpet out in preparation for some sound deadening and vinyl flooring.


Cut a hole in the tunnel for the 4wd shifter mechanism. This is the OEM chevy 2500 floor shifter. It fits the contour great.


And the finished piece. Factory tundra shift boot with the factory Chevy shifter cover installed. I had to trim the cigarette lighter cover to clear the throw of the nv4500. but with the linkage, it basically made it a short throw shifter. Oh and i need a new shift knob.


Next i need to modify the pedal so i run a cable to the throttle body in the engine bay. This tundra uses a electronic DBW pedal. I think i can drill a hole/weld a tab on it for the Lokar cable i have.

 

A pic of the 66. Its a v8 283 truck with a 3-speed on the tree. Longbed Fleetside. Basically been sitting for 15+ years. Took me 15 mins to get it running but it had its problems. Gave it the full tune up, new radiator, electronic ignition, new tires and painted the wheels, new seat cover, shocks, etc. Rides likes it floating on a cloud. The 3-on-the-tree is awesome to shift. Its going to be a new shop truck once the new wood bed floor comes in. Currently there isnt any left. I have a little more to do, ie valve cover gaskets, exhaust leaks / muffler, disc brake conversion up front, etc. Other than that, its staying stock....for now.


I also sold the 94. These 3rd gen trucks are selling like crazy. Had it on FB marketplace for less than 2hrs and got full asking price. Im going to miss it.


The good news is that i should be focused on the Tundra this summer. With any luck, it should be driving in a couple of months.

 

may i suggest to you an aluminum floor?

https://www.smokeyroadrodshop.com/index.html

 

Those are nice, but way too nice for this POS. Its getting an oak floor.

 

your build thread is freaking awesome btw!

figured i would suggest it, gonna put one in my old truck

 

Some pics.

PSC reservoir mounted and lines ran to the PSC P-pump and cooler.


Re-purposing an oil cooler for the PS cooler. I mounted it to the front of the AC condenser. Need to make a tab for the lower mount still.


Yesterday i started working on the throttle cable. The Tundra used a drive by wire (DBW) pedal for the 4.0l throttle body. I am using a lokar cable for an f-body camaro/trans am that is easy to mount. Ive used it on 3-4 builds already, but this meant i needed to modify the factory pedal. I removed the TPS and cut off the stop and relocated it. I enlarged a pre-existing hole in the pedal bracket for the new lokar cable to pass through and drill a corresponding hole in the firewall. The result is the factory pedal in its original spot. Im waiting on a bracket to come in for the intake manifold, then i should have a working cable actuated throttle body. The LS intake i am using is from a new new body style truck and also ran a DBW TB, so no brackets for a cable were present.


Chipping away a little every day.

 

More work.
Finished the throttle cable install. Works great and i get wide open throttle with no binding.


Next is an experiment. Hopefully it works out. Remote mount hydroboost. The problem i was having is that the hydroboost unit and master cylinder is too long to not make contact with my coilover towers. I tried an angle bracket but it wasnt working out. Enter remote mounting it on the passenger side.

The kit on the table. Its made by a guy here in texas. Its going to be actuated by a stock tundra clutch master cylinder.


Kit assembled with the slave cylinder.


I made a mount and mounted it off the shock tower.


Modified the air intake to fit alongside.




Now all thats left is to run some pressure lines from the pump to the hydroboost, then from there to the power steering box. I get some lines made up today at Napa and start filling the system. A few electrical hookups for the e-fans and i hope to have it running again this weekend.

 

Big day for the cream pie yesterday. My fittings for the hydroboost came in and i was able to fill and bleed the system. Hydro assist works great. No leaks. I can safely let the truck run and get up to temp. Here is a little warm idle video clip of the truck norris BTR cam at idle.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LLj6ndQAuUb5a6GG9

And with some RPM
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tvBgaBE5E8uufy4e9

New brake lines are up next. Then maybe a test drive.

 

I wont be that ambitious. maybe out the shop and around the block.

 

Congratulations!

 

Updates:

Decided to double shear my pitman arm. Gives me a little more piece of mind that if the nut falls off i wont lose my steering.


Got me some shiney new headlights to replaced the cracked yellow stock ones.


And the biggest update of them all, I drove it out of the shop for the first time yesterday. Nothing fell off or blew up and i didnt die. Drove it about 5-6 miles around my hood. Next up is to finish everything else. It also needs a bath and a clay bar.

 

More work yesterday:

I made a crossover bar to tie the tops of the shock towers together. Used an old transmission crossmember i made, but didnt use, and modified it to work. Its bolts on in the event i need to change the engine or bolt on a supercharger.


And bolted on with the coilover reservoirs mounted.




Hood back on. Now i just need to figure out front and rear bumpers. I really dont want to build a front bumper so i plan to see if i can get a 2nd gen Tacoma or 4th gen 4runner ARB bumper to work. The ARBs ive seen for the tundras look like the trucks have massive underbites when bolted on. The mounts will be custom anyways so we will see what happens.


Time to put some miles on it and work out the bugs, then get the AC hooked up because it HOT as fuck down here in TX.

 

Too bad a 1st gen tacoma bumper wouldn't work. I've got a coastal offroad bumper that I haven't put together yet. I'm trying to sell it on Tacoma world.

 

Yeah, i dont think those are wide enough to work. Thought about just buying a coastal for this truck but not a huge fan of having to cut it up to fit how i want it.

 

Man good on ya

 

Some blacked out warn locking hubs to finish out the front end. ordered me a tom woods front driveshaft today that should be here next week.

 

Not sure why the last pic isnt showing up on my end.

 

Had a minor setback during my last test drive. Rear wheel bearings left the chat. These were new bearings. Guess they didnt get any fluid. New ones are getting greased. Luckily it didnt damage the spindle too badly.

 

Looking good out in the wild.

 

Wow! Amazing work!

 

I could never get the feel of the shifter linkage correct so i decided to bend up a more traditional shifter. I closed off the factory tundra shifter hole. Shift feel is much improved.


Drove it to a friends house to pick up my driveshaft. Had to take a comparison shot with his M715. His is LS swapped with a 465, divorced 271, D60/10.5, etc.


Tom Woods made me a nice new front shaft. The cream Pie now has 4wd.

 

More work done this weekend on the truck. Was lucky enough to find a 2005 4.0l Access Cab in the local pick and pull and pulled the AC lines from it to use in my truck. I needed the low pressure suction line from the evaporator to the compressor. I also pulled some trim pieces and a wheel spacer off to use. If anyone is in Houston, this one is in the LKQ on Wallisville Rd.



I also picked up a 2nd Tacoma ARB bumper to use. I like the look of the ARB bumpers but the Safari option they have for the 1st gen Tundras looks like complete shit. I had to build my own frame side brackets and cut up the tacoma bumper side mounts to make it all work. Overall, i think it came out nice. The bumper came with a working Warn XD9000i winch that i will also use.




Mockup


Now this bumper doesnt fit exactly correct to the tundra. If the tundra didnt have the grille attached to the hood, i could have moved the bumper in more like 2-3inches, but i moved it as close as i could and still be able to open the hood. I cut reliefs in the back side of the brush guard to tuck it up as close as i could. Currently the bumper is off the truck so finish weld and paint these reliefs. I had to trim about 5" off the wings to clear the tires.

I had to push it out 2-3" from this pic so i could open the hood. Dumb toyota hood. lol.

 

Looks good.

 

Hey fellow Texan! Wondering why you didn't do a disc brake conversion? Just curious.

 

A disc brake conversion on what? The Tundra has 4-wheel discs.