BigMike's Big Project

[BigMike]

Check out this cool 8) ground wire!

Also, I discovered this custom lumbar adjuster on my passenger's seat. It rocks!

[BigMike]

So that's it. It was alot of work.. From about 7pm until 1:30am. Sheesh. I didnt even stop to eat any dinner, and yet Im not hungry. Man Im all for this truck!

Here's a couple more shots

I dont know if it will even last. Im sure everything will scratch the heck out of it and it will look crappy but oh well. Its done now. Also I know it will get scratched when Im installing the engine, but I wanted to get it painted

Ok, so tomorrow, what you've all been waiting for, the 3RZ will get TEST-FITTED FOR THE FIRST TIME!! Whoohoo! So stay tuned!

BigMike

[mudguts]

This is my first time ever spray painting a vehicle. So maybe you think this is pretty hokey, but I did it. It was too much work and I dont think I will ever do this again. Its not going to be a show truck so I dont know what I was thinking.. And since this is my first time ever painting, I dont want to hear how bad I did. If youve got some critisim then dont do it to your rig. At least this way you can see what it looks like and decide for yourself

No critism here. You are taking the time to do it right thr first time. Looks good.

[Brandon]

looks goood!!!

[CruzrDave]

Looks good mike. I think I'll stop by this weekend to see the 3RZ installed. If only we can get Turbo Tim to work on slowpoke.

[BigMike]

Since Dave stopped by I thought I would share with him some info about my engine vs. his 3.0

Engine	Displacement	Horsepower	Torque	Compression
3RZ-FE	2.7 (2693cc)	150 @ 4,800 rpm	177 @ 4,000 rpm	9.5:1
3VZ-E	3.0 (2958cc)	150 @ 4,800 rpm	180 @ 3,400 rpm	9.1:1

And here it is compared to the 22R-TE (Turbo):

Engin	Displacement	Horsepower	Torque	Compression
3RZ-FE	2.7 (2693cc)	150 @ 4,800 rpm	177 @ 4,000 rpm	9.5:1
22R-TE	2.4 (2366cc)	135 @ 4,800 rpm	173 @ 2,800 rpm	7.5:1 (6.5 psi boost)

3RZ-FE

[Skinny_Pedal]

  but it looks good

[donkeykong]

Coming along very nice. As for critisism...you are your own worst critic.  For the rest of us we can just hold our tongue and rool over your engine

[WHITE_TRASH]

That doesnt look too bad.....for an ametuer (sp?).   Youll probobly be suprised how durable that the rattle bombing really is, unless you are hamfisted (like many of us get sometimes) then the paint should survive great.  Plus its easy to touch up later.

[Bazzi]

these guy´s are all right this looks goot and you should not worry about the rust.... If you clean it all with a sander or something like that then spray some dee ruster and then paint over it it should all be good

[bailey]

Hi BigMike-

Since CO has some similar engine swap laws for smog... I went through the same thing swapping an injected 350 into a friends 86 LC Wagon...  For the Check-Engine Light I spliced into the choke light (not sure if the truck has a choke light or not) wiring, works like a charm and you keep the factory dash, etc...  as for OBD II I believe that '96 was the first year all Auto Co's had to comply with the standard... (yeah was emissioned certified in CO a while back)... if the engine is out ot a 95.5 then it should still be Toy Diag...  so they won't plug into it to pull codes like OBD II.

I missed the part about you swapping in some other dash/cluster?  Whatcha putting in?

A

[BigMike]

Friday,

Hey guys. The weekends here *finally*
But I decided to just come home early tonight. So no updates for today Today we only had 2.5 employees working (out of 7) so it was extremely hectic. Dave and I still managed to get about 15 - 20 packages out though so that's good, but it wore me out. Also I will be working on the engine all day tomorrow and sunday, so Im home early to get some rest.

Thanks for the comments and bailey, Im just gonna go ahead and use the oil check lamp. Also, I am almost 100% certain that the OBD II system is not onboard this system. Actually this engine is not from a Tacoma, but rather an early (I think Jan) 1995 2WD T100. So that means that it was a budget model T100 so Im sure its not OBD II.

I am kind'a worried about what cat to use. I hope they allow me to use just some generic two-way cat because I heard the OBD II cats were $200+ My friend told me that in Cali there are two smog sections per vehicle: 1) Engine spec 2) chassis spec. So he told me to find some info and print it out that states that the chassis did not use a OBD II cat and I am only inspecting the engine, not the chassis. So maybe theres a loophole in the system for getting around the cat; if I need to anyways...

I missed the part about you swapping in some other dash/cluster?  Whatcha putting in?

I'm picking up a complete door-to-door 89-95 *blue* interior in about two weeks. I definately want to get the pieces and make sure I've got it in my hands, but Im probabely not going to convert it for another month or so.

Hey 81Toy4x, you are first on my list if im gonna sell anything from the interior!

Cya
BigMike

[SWAMPER]

Mike did you use regular spray paint or the Rust-o-leum thingy?

[83yota]

WEEKEND? what is that. i get to work 23 days in a row. anyways that rig is looking good. keep working and taking pics.

[BigMike]

First I cleaned the rust with some solvent and tried to get all of the paint flakes off with close-range compressed air.

Then I applied that tan/brown/orange stuff, called "Rust Destroyer", "Patented Rust Converting Primer".

Finally I just painted right over the top of the Rust Destroyer with Black Engine Enamel and that was it.

Plus its easy to touch up later

That was kind of the idea (as with everyone else who rattle bombs). I can just cover up an area, sand it, and shoot it to remove any scrapes.

BigMike

[BigMike]

Ah, I almost forgot- Toyota delivered some parts today and I asked the driver if he was in a tacoma. When he said yes, I knew I had to take some pics. I was so excited that I forgot that the 2wd tacos use the smaller 2.4l 2RZ engines. But it was ok because they are very similar in appearance and I was able to gather some useful knowledge about the tilt angle and how Toyota arranged the engine mounts.

Here's the pic of the 2RZ. The most useful info to me here is that the powersteering resivor is excatly in the same location as mine, and here it is straight up. Thats good news because my resivor is tilted _way_ sideways, so I will just use the revisor to determine the level position of the engine.

BigMike

[bailey]

Yeah... if it is early 95 it should not be OBD II... which is a good thing for you... as that would require at least 2 O2 sensors and the expensive cat you were talking about... 

A

[81Toy4x]

Sweet Mike, I know you aren't planning on swapping it soon so I'm not in a hurry, but when you're ready to sell, definitely let me know.

[Jared]

what is the going rate for taco engines mike?  I plan on saving up and gettin one. 

[Skinny_Pedal]

for a cat. can't u just use a highflow one like a magnaflow

[BigMike]

So your probabely wondering where all the updates have been?

Saturday & Sunday - Double Update time!

Saturday was a weird day and I didnt even start until about 4pm. All I did was test fit the engine a bunch of times and removed some crap like the sway bar, traction bar, and engine mounts. The pics tell the rest!

[BigMike]

Here it is in relation to the stock 'R' mounts. Its not too bad really. I was afraid that since the T100 is wider, I would have to make new engine-side mounts as well as chassis pirches. But actually the T100 mounts fit within the frame rails. Good news..

But as you can see in the second pic it needs to come down alot!

[BigMike]

Here is the comparo of the W59 bellhousing (which I will use) to the W56.

Same transmission bolt pattern of course, but the W56 = "R" block, W59 = "RZ" block.

And lastly, theres a pic of what's left of the passenger's "R" mount

[donkeykong]

Just get a hood with a huge scoop and you wont have to worry about lowering the engine

[BigMike]

I want those extra two guages! Can you show a picture of the dash, because I want to make sure your tach is right for my truck.  Thanks

Ooops, I forgot to take a pic of the dash for the tach. I'll get it tomorrow..


And that's it for Saturday.

[BigMike]

Just get a hood with a huge scoop and you wont have to worry about lowering the engine

[BigMike]

Sunday, The Day of Triumph.

This is the best day for me with this project. Alot happened and I worked really hard from 9am til just past 11pm.

I got the OK from Geiger for our #1 fabricator, Andy, to build the engine mounts and make copies so we can possibly be the first company to offer direct bolt-in engine mounts for your 79-83 frame 3RZ conversion.

So I came in early and got everything prepared for Andy so he will won't have to do so much :bull crap: work...

Here are a couple of pics after the factory engine mounts so I can get the engine down lower and ready for some new mounts!

[BigMike]

Here's the start of Andy's kick-ass engine mounts. Just wait until you see the final pics!  Andy

We got the shifters lined up pretty well. The trans seems to be a bit close to the driver (which is great with me ) yet when measuring the front of the engine time and time again, it was perfectly squared to the frame. Also the t/case is centered so its weird but Im happy to have it in closer reach

[BigMike]

And possibly the coolest thing about this entire job is the exhaust.

I probabely dont have to explain this, but any Toyota truck post-Hilux, 1995+, Toyota switched the front differential to the drivers side. This required a new transfercase, the 2nd gen VF1A, and also required that the new 4-banger to replace the 22R-E would have to have a reverse flow -- The 3RZ has it's Intake on the Driver's side and it's Exhaust on the Passenger's side. And of course in a pickup like most of ours (1979-1994) our rig has it's diff on the passengers side. So one of the major problems in doing the 3RZ conversion in an older truck is the Exhaust to Front Drive Line interference.

Can it be done? What kind of lift will be required? How will the exhaust be routed? Where will the two o2 sensors be relocated to? How do you cross the exhaust back over to the drivers side to avoid the gas tank on the passengers side? yadda yadda yadda


Well to all of these concerns, please allow me to say that they are all..... :bull crap: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



In fact, I am even retaining the stock T100 downpipe from the factory exhaust manifold and it's like it was meant for this truck!!!



It is perfectly close to the inside of the passengers frame rail, I will have no problems getting it to work for the smog guy with the stock suspension AND without a crawler. Remember that in the future the exhaust will have even more space since I will be lifting the front end (gets the driveline down sooner) AND I will have a Crawler so its just more room + more room.

[BigMike]

And here's what Andy's mounts look like now!! He still needs to do some final welds that we will do tomorrow night as the engine will be coming out yet again, but for the last time, and hopefully for a long time!

And here are some teaser pics of what the final running version will look like. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!!