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LEXUS 1UZ-FE Engine Swap My blood sweat and tears. It will be worth it!!

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  #31  
Unread 02-20-2009, 08:41 PM
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It's always good to know the local guys with the laser table in their shop.


Before the waterjet cuts out the slab I gotta double check the measurements and determine if any holes overlap and which ones to use. The W59 trans was only using 4 holes to secure it to the engine. The 1UZ uses 6 large ones and the oil pan/skirt used a few smaller diameter ones.



Measurements and adjustments will be finalized on Monday. In the meantime I will use 1/2" spacers between the engine and the transmission to check clearances and to make templates for the engine mounts. I'll have those water cut, welded and powder coated by mid-week.
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  #32  
Unread 02-21-2009, 11:46 PM
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I decided that today I would spend all day cleaning the engine bay really good and go ahead and put some paint on it. I got a little carried away and disassembled the headlights, welded a couple body seams and took care of a couple other details. I have so much room for the engine under there. It's going to be easy. I finished the underhood paint and tomorrow I'll be making my cardboard engine mounts. I have a couple good ideas but it all depends on where the engines center of gravity falls.



I also found a leaking connection in regards to the AC lines right between the dryer and the radiator. I'm pretty happy about that because I surely want the AC to work.
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  #33  
Unread 02-22-2009, 08:09 PM
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This ain't no photoshop this time! Sorry for the English - I feel like a redneck putting a small block into a Chevy Luv.



Setting the engine down into the frame I had to check clearance all over the place for about an hour. I was happy to see things fall into place but some "modifications" were in order without a doubt. But that's what grinders are for!

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  #34  
Unread 02-22-2009, 08:12 PM
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Gettin' her done.


I'm not stopping till it's done. I don't recommend that ANYONE make any cuts to any structural member of their own vehicle. Never, so don't do this at home. BUT if you ever do ANY cutting with any tool ALWAYS wear eye protection that either covers your whole face or seals the contaminates out from around your eyes. Not wearing eye protection can result in massive pain and your whole project will surely come to a screeching halt when you get hurt. Safety First and that ain't no joke.

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  #35  
Unread 02-22-2009, 08:45 PM
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Plenty of clearance on the drivers side. It's like the headers were made to fit in this truck!


Not so lucky on the passenger side. But I have some room to wiggle, especially now after my grinding work, hint hint.

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  #36  
Unread 02-22-2009, 08:50 PM
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It's always handy to have a whole pile of scrap wood around while you are fitting engines. There is no other way to do it that I can think of. It's easily cut down to length, you can use all sorts of different thickness's and it's relatively soft so it won't scratch or dent your nice engine.

I am NOT leaving the oil pan this high up off the crossmember at all.. but this shows how nice it is to have the different thickness of wood to play with.



Here are all sorts of different sizes of wood that I but down really fast to make sure the engine was sitting level as possible while test fitting things. It worked out really nicely.

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  #37  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:00 PM
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Now here is where things can get tricky. DON'T EVEN attempt to put a V8 engine into your Toyota Tacoma if you haven't already done a body lift. There is NO way you'll get it to fit. If you do you will really have to cut down your oil pan to be too shallow. If you use another mid or rear sump then you will really still have to cut it for clearance just the same. If you have a 2 wheel drive Tacoma then things will be a little different and maybe easier since the lack of the front gear housing for the 4wd. If you don't have a body lift I would recommend that you look into a dry-sump system. I almost went for one on mine but my body lift allows the 1UZ to fit. I don't know why you wouldn't want a body lift since you have to have one to clear any larger tire than stock anyhow.

Look closely as this picture is worth a thousand bucks here:


See what I'm talking about? Since the 1UZ engine sits up a tad higher than the stock engine the transmission MUST move UP vertically to mate to it. This isn't a big deal at all with a body lift. For instance I simply moved the transmission cross member up on top of the stock mounting position! It's not going to look like this when I'm done but the measurement is right on and the drive shaft won't mind one bit. You also WANT the 1UZ to sit up a little higher so that it doesn't look so weird sitting down so low in the body when you open the hood. The 1UZ will fit with a body lift, no cutting the oil pan, using headers (manifolds are even wider, not good) and with raising the transmission up a bit just like I did here. So easy.... even a caveman can do it.
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  #38  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:09 PM
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The engine will sit down a little more but I took this picture to look at while I think of a good design for the engine mounts.



Underside shot of the driver's side. Headers clear the steering shaft slightly but there is a collar that will hit it when it turns. No biggy. I'll just cut off the flange and redirect it to go in the right direction towards the middle of the under chassis where it should be going.

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  #39  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:20 PM
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Here is the before shot:


Here is the next move:
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  #40  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:21 PM
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I thought I heard someone say, "Don't do it!!". But it was too late.
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  #41  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:22 PM
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After capping that off and welding it up it will be stronger than from the factory. The result? A perfectly fitting engine.

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  #42  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:28 PM
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After a long day's work I cleaned things up and spent a few minutes making notes for the adapter and deciding which holes to use. Some holes will not be cut into the adapter and a couple will be made for threading the bolts to hold the transmission. Today was good.

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  #43  
Unread 02-22-2009, 09:35 PM
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Also just FYI if you don't have a load balancer on your engine hoist don't even waste your time. It's crucial to your sanity! And for the transmission make sure you have a proper jack, a square table motorcycle jack or 4 wheeler jack with a flat table. The transmission mount is naturally placed by Toyota in the exact spot that the tranny will balance. That means you won't be able to manipulate or remove/install the cross-member with just one jack holding up the middle. It's not that important if you already have the engine in the truck since you can bolt the transmission to the engine to hold the front of it up while you move the jack to the back. But if you don't have an engine to bolt to it's impossible to do it safely. That sucker is heavy.

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  #44  
Unread 02-24-2009, 09:30 PM
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Wow it sure takes a while to load this page. I hope you guys/gals reading this don't mind! Well the last 48 hours has been kinda boring. I've been communicating with lots of people who are helping with different aspects of this build. Mainly the adapter has to be absolutely perfect and it will be after all the measuring and trials and errors and triple checking everything. I'm not exaggerating one bit. I'm not going to have any worries about bolting the engine and transmission together.

The spacing is not a problem either. The headers won't have to be modified AT ALL. The transmission and engine will be very close to level. All I can say is thank goodness for the body lift. I will be extending the steering shaft and using a flex joint on top of that to make sure there isn't any unnecessary stress on the steering components. I don't really care to use a spacer for the steering anymore as that option just seems like a temporary fix to me.

Let's see, the exhaust will be a simple matter. I'm going to have some flanges cut at the same time I have engine mounting plates water cut. I just plan on using my two long straight through 2" titanium mufflers with baffling in them. I guarantee you haven't a clue about what I really have in mind. The exhaust system will be unique, no doubt about that. I can't wait.

Power steering lines will be nearly last on the list... and AC lines will be the next last thing, heh. The can of paint that I used for the engine bay was supposed to be black but sprayed grey. I always thought that was kind of funny and come to find out that someone must have switched the caps on the can I bought! So my second can of paint was actually black so I'll have to go over the whole engine bay again which won't take long.

That's about all I can think of right now.
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  #45  
Unread 02-25-2009, 09:46 PM
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Today we were on a mission. My neighbor Charlie wanted to join in on all this fun I was having so we went to it. We made a whole lot of progress since I was able to fit all the steel plates I cut out while he prepped for welding. It just made things go that much faster. With his help I was able to attack all sorts of stressed body panels all around the front of the truck. There were a few random cracks and also body joints that had pulled apart from previous off-road beatings. This truck has seen more vigorous off-highway action then almost any other street legal Tacoma (besides some TTORA members of course cause those guys wheel every weekend they can it seems).

So anyway getting back to the business:
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